In 2019, Porsche released the world's first 800V high-voltage platform mass-produced car, the Porsche Taycan. In 2021, the domestic new force Xiaopeng also released the first 800V mass-produced car in China, the Xiaopeng G9.

This year, the market has welcomed an increasing number of 800V models, including the Lotus ELETRE, Xiaopeng G6, Hechuang V09, Jike CS1E, and Wenjie M9 that have been launched successively. And currently, platform architectures including BYD e-platform 3.0, General Motors Outlander platform, Geely SEA Haohan platform, Mercedes Benz EVA, Hyundai E-GMP, Xiaopeng Fuyao architecture, etc., can all support 800V high-voltage technology.

The 800V platform has become a battleground for automakers, not only because it can solve the primary pain point of fast charging for new energy vehicles, but also because compared to the 400V platform, 800V new energy vehicles provide a completely new driving experience.

In recent years, with the breakthroughs in key technologies such as 800V high-voltage fast charging, 800V battery packs, motors, electric air conditioners, and other 800V power devices in the 800V high-voltage architecture, the large-scale exploration and application of the 800V high-voltage platform is about to begin.

Not long ago, one of the key components of the 800V high-voltage platform, the first domestically developed 800V 10kW thin film water heater, was successfully mass-produced and delivered to overseas customers at the Heimhorz Zhenjiang factory. Low temperature fast charging has always been the main bottleneck hindering the widespread adoption of new energy vehicles. The mass production of this product can fundamentally solve the pain points of fast charging and is also a major technological breakthrough in the field of new energy vehicles in China.

Zhenjiang Heimhorz Heat Transfer Transmission System Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Heimhorz") is an innovative enterprise that 36Kr continues to pay attention to. Previously, 36Kr had reported multiple rounds of financing totaling hundreds of millions of yuan. With the support of top capital such as Guoventure Capital, CICC Qichen Fund, Sinan Xinhai Fund, Guoke Kaiyan, BAIC Industrial Investment Capital, Sunshine Ronghui Capital, Zhongke Chuangxing, Guoke Jiahe, etc., Heimhorz not only maintains its position as the world's second largest player in this field, but also continuously iterates new products and horizontally expands its energy storage supporting product line.

Recently, 36Kr had an in-depth discussion with Jiang Yi, founder and CEO of Heimhorz, on some industry concerns in the cutting-edge field of 800V high-voltage platforms.

The 800V platform is a big test for host manufacturers
All powerful domestic automakers are investing in the development of 800V high-voltage platforms, and the next 1-2 years will be the time window for the concentrated launch of 800V models, "Jiang Yi clearly stated his market judgment and introduced," The core purpose of high-voltage systems with 800V and above is to improve efficiency, including time efficiency and energy flow efficiency

Firstly, the intuitive feeling brought by 800V high-voltage technology is a significant improvement in charging speed. The earliest 800V platform model, Porsche Taycan, can increase the charging power to 350kW and charge the battery from 5% to 80% in 22.5 minutes, which is a qualitative leap compared to the fast charging time of about 1 hour for 400V models. With technological advancements, a new energy vehicle equipped with a 100kWh battery pack now takes 30 minutes to charge to 80% on a 400V voltage platform, while it can be fully charged in 15 minutes on an 800V platform.

Secondly, doubling the voltage of the 800V high-voltage platform can bring better power performance. When the upper limit of the vehicle charging power is higher and the system copper loss is lower, the motor inverter can achieve higher power density, and the torque and power of motors of the same size are also greater.

In addition, the high-voltage platform enables better energy consumption control of the vehicle, thus increasing its range.

In the increasingly competitive new energy vehicle market, consumers have higher expectations for range, charging speed, and driving experience. OEMs are eager to gain a differentiated competitive advantage by deploying 800V high-voltage platforms.

However, due to the regional characteristics of our country, the low temperature in winter in many areas has seriously affected the range, service life, and charging speed of new energy vehicle batteries, which also restricts the further improvement of the penetration rate of new energy vehicles.

Jiang Yi mentioned that the industry urgently needs high-voltage and high-power water heating electric heaters to improve the winter performance of battery packs. This is not only a market opportunity brought by upgrading from the 400V platform to the 800V platform, but also a huge challenge to technology, process, and mass production capabilities.

As a leading global provider of efficient thermal management system product research and development, manufacturing, and sales services, Heimhorz's main product is the thin-film water heating electric heater, which provides the "heat" required for winter heating of power batteries and cabin heating for new energy vehicles. It can effectively solve the core pain points faced by low-temperature fast charging of low-temperature pools.

Jiang Yi further introduced that in the past, PTC ceramic heating technology was commonly used for water heaters in new energy vehicles. Due to its material characteristics, the upper limit of its working voltage is usually 750V, which cannot meet the requirement of rated 800V voltage. In application, there are often obvious insulation problems, which bring safety hazards to the whole vehicle. Previously, there were no mass production and delivery cases of PTC water heaters with a rated voltage of 800V in China.

Seize the opportunity for large-scale production
In response to the pain points of host manufacturers and even end users, Heimhorz initially focused on the following important aspects when defining the product: high power, plumbing, wider voltage range, and higher control accuracy.

Jiang Yi mentioned that for the 800V or higher voltage required for new energy vehicles, the technological route needs to be fundamentally changed. Thin film water heaters have the ability to adapt to higher operating voltages, which can solve this problem well. However, the development of this technology is challenging and difficult, and there is no mature precedent to learn from. Only a very small number of international big brand automotive parts companies have mastered this technology globally.

At present, only the well-known overseas automotive heating product Tier1 Webaster has the core technology and mass production capability of high-power thin film heating, except for Heimholz, worldwide. Heimholz's film products are fully developed in a positive direction, with completely different technical details in film structure and film forming process. In terms of performance and results, different paths lead to the same goal. In the first two months of 2017, Heimholz Company submitted more than ten patents to protect its intellectual property rights in films and heaters.

So far, Heimholz has 54 patents, including 35 invention patents. It is expected that more than ten new patents will be added this year, and the total number of patents will reach around 65 by the end of this year. Heimholz and Webaster have jointly formed a relatively complete patent barrier in the field of 800V thin film water heaters.

The development of thin film heating products for automobiles is a professional field with a relatively high threshold, and the development process of thin film products reflects interdisciplinary integration. There are not only mechatronics technology, flow field thermal field simulation design technology, but also automotive electronic control and power electronics technology, and even welding technology for special materials.

With independent innovation, Heimhorz has broken through a series of key technologies related to 800V high-power thin-film water heating electric heaters and achieved the industrialization of a series of products. Since its first generation 800V 8kW product was mass-produced and exported to European and American new energy vehicle companies in 2020, after several years of mass production practice, the performance and quality of the product have received unanimous praise from overseas customers.

The mass production of 800V 10kW products has further expanded Heimholz's product line. Faced with the different needs of domestic and foreign users, Heimholz relies on its product research and development innovation capabilities, and equally importantly, achieves cost control.

Heimholz has set very strict cost targets, which also affects its selection of technical routes. Throughout the development process, it has always followed cost constraints to achieve the final mass production of the product.

Jiang Yi emphasized: Therefore, our costs are very competitive and we can provide customers with products with the best cost-effectiveness. Heimholz effectively shared the cost pressure of the host factory and treated the interests of customers as their own interests, so as to be truly accepted by more customers.

At present, our 800V 10kW product has received multiple orders from domestic and foreign customers, and the maximum working voltage can support up to 900V, "Jiang Yi told 36Kr. The 800V high-voltage platform has been clearly stated to be about to become the mainstream of the industry, and Heimhorz is actively preparing technology and product reserves for the next generation of 1000V and 1250V voltage platform products, while laying a solid foundation for the evolution and development of new energy vehicle technology towards higher voltages.

Looking at the diverse new energy market
The modern automotive industry is at the top of the pyramid in the civilian industrial system. Due to the emphasis on safety and quantity, automotive components have very high requirements for quality, especially quality stability.

Jiang Yi mentioned that from the beginning of mass production, Heimhorz has been paying great attention to optimizing the quality performance and stability of its products through continuous iteration. This is also the most recognized aspect by overseas customers. Customers have evaluated Heimhorz's products as having the most stable quality performance among all component suppliers.

And, while meeting the requirements of functionality, Heimhorz has always pursued better performance through continuous research and development, and the energy conversion efficiency of its products has reached over 95%.

On this basis, ensuring supply is a responsibility that Tier 1, Tier 2 and other suppliers must bear. Heimhorz completed the expansion of its production capacity of 400000 units in October 2022. This also gives Heimhorz the confidence to adopt a more aggressive market strategy, including measures such as giving discounts to OEMs and increasing technical service efforts.

Jiang Yi pointed out that traditional automakers have been preparing for the development of new energy vehicles, and we believe that traditional automakers will have a significant breakthrough in the field of new energy vehicles in the future.

The next new product from Heimhorz can not only save costs for OEMs, but also simplify the complexity of the system in the new car design process, "Jiang Yi further explained." Last year, the total production and sales of new energy vehicles worldwide exceeded 10 million, and China contributed 60% of it. In fact, as car models become more diverse, not every car will necessarily be equipped with only one heater in the future, and some may even be equipped with two or more. Series products provide OEMs with higher degrees of freedom in car design

When it comes to the future, Jiang Yi is full of optimism. He said that upgrading the 800V platform will be a long-term topic in the future, and for the heater as a key component of the vehicle, having only two suppliers worldwide is far from enough. Heimhorz looks forward to working with its friends to grow and strengthen, and to bring better new energy vehicles to the market.

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