Restricting cars to achieve 0-100km/h in 5 seconds, I wholeheartedly applaud.
There was a time when "accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 3 seconds" was an exclusive term for supercars worth tens of millions, a performance only Ferrari and Lamborghini were qualified to possess.
Today, new energy vehicles have announced the arrival of the era of "horsepower for the masses" — you only need to spend about 200,000 yuan to buy a "performance monster" that can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3 seconds or even less than 2 seconds.
In recent years, speeding incidents on the road and serious accidents caused by "catapult starts" have pushed the "horsepower for the masses" into the whirlpool of public opinion, and some new energy performance cars with high cost - performance ratios have also become the targets of public criticism.
Recently, the Ministry of Public Security organized and completed the draft for soliciting opinions of the national standard "Technical Conditions for Safety of Motor Vehicle Operation". One of the newly added clauses is a bombshell for all car - making enterprises pursuing performance: "After each power - on/ignition of a passenger car, it should be in the default working state where the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h is no less than 5 seconds."
(Photo/National Standard Information Public Service Platform)
The wording in the "Compilation Instructions" is even more straightforward: "In recent years, there have been many incidents of out - of - control start and acceleration of pure - electric vehicles... Most of them are due to the driver's lack of preparation and control ability when using the high - acceleration mode."
That is to say, the car runs too fast for the driver to control.
Who approves, who opposes?
Not surprisingly, this draft for soliciting opinions will trigger a debate. Whether to limit the performance of new energy vehicles is precisely the most core value conflict since the automotive industry entered the electrification era.
The voices of opponents mainly focus on the concerns about "one - size - fits - all" and "treating the symptoms rather than the root cause".
Some people believe that this is "limiting the car rather than the person". The car blogger ibuick pointed out: Since the clause has admitted that it is a problem of "the driver's lack of ability", why not solve it at the root? Why not revise the formalistic content in the driver's license examination, and why not implement "driver's license classification"?
Many people doubt whether this clause can really solve the problem of street racing. The blogger @not Zheng Xiaokang said that restricting the acceleration time to more than 5 seconds cannot solve the problem of "rebellious teenagers" making noise on the streets. Cars with an acceleration time of 5.5 seconds or 6 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h can also be deadly when they pick up speed. The real solution should be to set up more driving academies and let "hot - blooded people" drive on closed race tracks.
(Photo/Social media screenshot)
Some people also believe that the market should solve this problem. The blogger Yiran said that he opposes both the "ban on the single - pedal mode" and this "acceleration limit". He pointed out that in American history, those cheap "muscle cars" (such as Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger) also had a high accident rate. The solution at that time was to let the market bear the consequences: For cars with a high accident rate, insurance companies would raise the insurance premiums accordingly, and even refuse to insure new drivers. And this doesn't require new rules, just use the existing insurance tools.
These views sound reasonable. They defend the freedom of engineering innovation and the right of market choice, and some of the practices are also worthy of reference. But they ignore the most fundamental, urgent and fatal problem: It is very difficult for an ordinary person without professional training to drive a high - horsepower car that can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3 seconds skillfully and safely.
This is not a problem of the driver's level, but because the driver is a human being, not a god.
The science popularization blogger "Senior Xiaosuanmiao" calculated an account to explain how terrifying the physical concepts of "accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 3 seconds" and "accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 2 seconds" are: 100 km/h is approximately equal to 28 m/s. For a car that can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 2 seconds, the acceleration is 14 m/s, close to 1.5g of gravitational acceleration. This means that for a 140 - pound driver, at the moment of stepping on the accelerator, the seat will exert an additional 210 - pound thrust. For a car that can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3 seconds, the acceleration is 9.3 m/s, approximately equal to 1g, which is equivalent to the seat giving you an additional 140 - pound thrust.
"In such a state, an untrained driver, especially a young person who is not very familiar with cars, is likely to be in a completely uncontrollable state. It's even lucky if the car just rushes into the green belt. It's not uncommon for the car to be destroyed and the driver to be killed."
If you have watched the movies "F1: Drive to Survive" and "Rush", you should be able to intuitively understand that the people who are truly capable of driving those "performance monsters" are extremely rare in the world. They must undergo strict training and even have certain sports talents. Even such experts still have a relatively high probability of having a car accident.
(Photo/"F1: Drive to Survive")
We can't make hundreds of millions of drivers across the country quickly master the driving skills of "accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 3 seconds" or "accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 2 seconds" through the training courses provided by car - making enterprises or the driving schools run by social enterprises. Therefore, limiting the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h is a simple and effective method.
Limiting the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h does not weaken the car's performance
The automotive industry has not been without detours in limiting car performance.
What opponents often use as an argument is the famous "gentlemen's agreement" in the history of the Japanese automotive industry. At that time, in order to avoid supervision, Japanese manufacturers voluntarily limited the horsepower of passenger cars to 280. What was the result? The blogger "Bandaokaka" pointed out that this agreement "cut off the development path of high - performance cars in Japan", resulting in Japanese cars becoming second - rate products in the world and being unable to produce first - class supercars.
However, the new national standard's regulation of limiting the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h to more than 5 seconds is fundamentally different from the Japanese car - makers' practice of limiting the horsepower to less than 280. The Japanese method was a one - size - fits - all "castration" of the vehicle's performance ceiling, while China's new national standard skillfully sets a safety floor.
It does not weaken the vehicle's performance. The 1000 - horsepower and 3 - second 0 - 100 km/h acceleration performance you bought with your money still lies in your car's system. All you need to do is manually switch the driving mode after each start.
This small switching action also has an important meaning. As the well - known car reviewer Han Lu pointed out: "When you switch, it is also a reminder to yourself: You are responsible for the consequences."
That is to say, in the mode where the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h is more than 5 seconds, the vehicle's acceleration performance is consistent with that of most vehicles used in driving schools, which is the muscle memory that both new and experienced drivers are most accustomed to. In this state, even if the driver makes a misoperation, the vehicle's reaction is relatively mild and controllable.
When the driver consciously and actively clicks on the "sport mode" or "catapult mode" on the screen, they complete an "acknowledgment" action, which is equivalent to signing an "informed consent form" with the vehicle and public safety: I know that I am starting a "performance beast", I think I have the ability to drive it, and I will bear 100% of the subjective responsibility for all the subsequent consequences.
If a serious car accident occurs in such a situation, you can't blame the car's performance for being too strong anymore, and don't scold the car - making enterprises for developing dangerous vehicles. For those car - making enterprises capable of developing higher - performance cars, this is actually a kind of protection.
We drive family cars, not F1 racing cars
The pursuit of speed is engraved in human genes.
In the 1930s, the Auto Union racing cars funded by the German government had set a record of a speed exceeding 241 km/h on the race track. In 1987, the Ferrari F40 was the first to break through the 200 - mile - per - hour (i.e., 322 km/h) mark, thus setting the standard for supercars.
On the F1 race track, what drivers and engineers pursue is to fight against the restrictive rules of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and try every means to drive faster. However, most of us are not racing drivers. We usually don't drive on the F1 race track, and the cars we drive are not Ferraris. We drive grocery - getting cars, family - oriented cars, and family cars, and we drive on complex public roads.
Whether you agree with the limitation of the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h in the draft for soliciting opinions of the new national standard or not, you should recognize some simple common sense in life.
First of all, the safety standards for car manufacturing are designed for "slow cars". In the existing car crash tests, whether it is the C - IASI of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center or the E - NCAP in Europe, the maximum speed for frontal collision is generally 64 km/h, and for side - impact collision, it is 50 km/h.
This means that the ultra - high - strength hot - formed steel, crumple - zone energy - absorbing body, one - piece die - casting, airbags and curtain airbags that car - making enterprises have invested hundreds of millions of funds in researching and developing are all designed to save your life at a speed of 64 km/h.
When your car speed exceeds 100 km/h, or even reaches 150 km/h or 200 km/h, all the "five - star safety" certifications are useless. Once a collision occurs, only God can help you. In a "performance monster" that can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 2 seconds, it only takes about 1 second for you to accelerate from 0 km/h to the "speed at which the crash test fails".
Secondly, there are no speed - unlimited public roads in China. The speed limit on urban expressways is usually 60 - 80 km/h, and the maximum speed limit on highways is 120 km/h. Moreover, many cities are "congested cities". During the rush hour, you can't even drive at a speed of 60 km/h.
So, where can the "accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 3 seconds" ability that car - making enterprises are frantically competing for be used? On China's public roads, this performance can't be fully utilized at all. Its most common scenario is to let the driver get a brief and vain "kick in the back" feeling at the moment of starting at a traffic light.
(Photo/unsplash)
Moreover, most of the time, the road conditions we face are a complex "battlefield". You not only have to be on guard against those vehicles that ignore traffic lines and change lanes randomly, but also always beware of those pedestrians who suddenly appear from nowhere, electric bikes that scurry around, and those slow - moving "old - people's electric vehicles" driving in the middle of the motorway.
In such a difficult driving environment, the uncontrollable instantaneous torque and the "kick in the back" feeling like flying a plane are not driving pleasures, but accelerators leading to road tragedies.
Always remember that you can only compete in acceleration and top speed on the race track. On public roads, safety is the most important thing. Only by driving safely can you enjoy the pleasure of driving happily, have the leisure to enjoy the scenery on the road, and safely reach your destination with your family in the back seat.
This article is from the WeChat official account "New Weekly" (ID: new - weekly), author: Zhou Zuohuai, editor: Taozijiang. It is published by 36Kr with permission.