Frontier News | Initiating the Campaign for Four - Wheel - Drive Equality, the Second - Generation Haval Xiaolong MAX Starts from as Low as 116,800 Yuan.

On April 16th, the second-generation Haval Xiaolong MAX under Great Wall Motors was officially launched. There are a total of 5 versions, with a recommended retail price ranging from 131,800 to 169,800 yuan, and a limited-time replacement price of only 116,800 to 154,800 yuan.

This new car has a length of 4780mm and a wheelbase of 2810mm. Not only is it significantly larger than its competitors in the same class, but the longer wheelbase also provides a more spacious interior.

Moreover, compared with the previous generation of Xiaolong MAX, the new car has been completely refreshed in terms of appearance and interior. It is also equipped with the Coffee Pilot Plus intelligent driving system, which supports intelligent parking, high-speed NOA, and urban memory navigation, as well as the third-generation Coffee OS 3 intelligent cockpit.

Of course, the most special configuration of this car is that the second-generation Hi4 plug-in hybrid four-wheel drive system comes as standard across all models.

While many automakers are making high-speed NOA and other intelligent driving functions standard, Great Wall has made a more challenging choice, which is to make the four-wheel drive system standard. This not only requires overcoming cost issues but also breaking through technical barriers.

However, as new energy vehicles become more and more popular, after the three-electric system replaces the three major components of fuel vehicles, acceleration performance has become an inexpensive ability, which has also given rise to the demand for safety. A vehicle with speed but no control is like a time bomb when driving at high speed.

That is to say, new energy vehicles need more control and safety than traditional fuel vehicles, which means they need four-wheel drive more.

The second-generation Hi4 innovatively adopts a distributed layout of dual motors on the front and rear axles to achieve a series-parallel electric hybrid four-wheel drive architecture. The vehicle is equipped with a 1.5L dedicated direct-injection hybrid engine + Hi4 four-wheel drive + a 150kW rear axle. The engine and the front and rear motors are connected in parallel to provide three power outputs, enabling the vehicle to reach a combined power of 238kW and a combined torque of 595N·m, with a 0-100km/h acceleration time of around 6 seconds.

This car can also adjust the torque output of the front and rear axles through the Hi4 intelligent four-wheel drive technology, distribute the torque of the slipping axle to the non-slipping axle, and increase the torque output of the non-slipping wheels, thereby reducing the occurrence of slipping and improving the vehicle's acceleration and climbing performance.

When encountering an obstacle, its inherent advantage of an axle load distribution close to 50:50 allows for a full-range free transfer of torque between the front and rear axles from 0 to 100. When two wheels are stuck on an obstacle and unable to get over it, the other driving wheels can be used to drive the vehicle to complete obstacle crossing and get out of trouble.

The four-wheel drive system also brings better handling to the second-generation Xiaolong MAX. It can transmit road information every 10 milliseconds, accurately identify the driver's steering intention, and quickly adjust the torque distribution. It has strong adaptability in scenarios such as low-adhesion roads, climbing, high-speed cornering, continuous cornering, and being stuck.

The second-generation Hi4 also provides a solution to the problem of high fuel consumption in traditional four-wheel drive systems.

The second-generation Hi4 can intelligently switch working modes based on actual road conditions, ensuring that the engine always operates in the economic zone and the power transmission path is always in the high-efficiency zone. Specifically, compared with single-gear series-parallel systems, Hi4 leads in efficiency in three major working conditions: normal urban driving, rapid acceleration or climbing in the city, and deceleration braking, with a maximum fuel consumption reduction of 7.93%.

Compared with series range extenders, Hi4 leads in efficiency in five major working conditions: urban driving, rapid acceleration or climbing in the city, high-speed cruising, high-speed overtaking, and deceleration braking, with a maximum fuel consumption reduction of 18.82%.

Ultimately, the Xiaolong MAX equipped with the second-generation Hi4 achieves a WLTC combined fuel consumption as low as 0.97 L/100km and a CLTC fuel consumption under power depletion as low as 4.2L/100km. This also makes the cost of using a four-wheel drive vehicle even lower than that of a two-wheel drive vehicle.

Coupled with the intelligent driving system, intelligent cockpit, and other configurations, overall, this is a four-wheel drive SUV that is cheaper, more fuel-efficient, safer, and has better handling compared to two-wheel drive vehicles.

In the era of fuel vehicles, the four-wheel drive system has always been an exclusive symbol of high-end models. The complex transfer case structure, additional drive shafts, and differentials not only significantly increase the cost of the power system but also make the vehicle heavier, resulting in higher daily usage and maintenance costs. This "aristocratic configuration" of the mechanical era has seen a reversal in the wave of electrification.

The launch of the second-generation Haval Xiaolong MAX by Great Wall has officially fired the first shot in the equalization of four-wheel drive, and has also promoted new energy vehicles to officially enter the four-wheel drive era.