The latest buzzword in electric vehicles could be said to be half-price electric vehicles.


The reason why electric vehicle sales have been sluggish since the latter half of last year is because the cost-effectiveness of electric vehicles is lower than that of hybrid vehicles, and among the various shortcomings, the most critical one is the price of electric vehicles.

In other words, the implementation of half-price electric vehicles ultimately means maintaining the same price range as internal combustion engine vehicles, and the focus is on developing various new technologies and reducing manufacturing costs to achieve a low electric vehicle price.

To achieve this, various new technologies are required based on low battery prices, and the most critical game-changing technology is the development of a multi-speed automatic transmission for electric vehicles.

Over the past several years, I have mentioned the need for automatic transmissions in electric vehicles through various media outlets, and in fact, with the recent release of mass-produced electric vehicles equipped with transmissions, this need has become even more evident.

There are many essential conditions for developing a transmission for electric vehicles, so it can be said that it is difficult to apply them easily.

In particular, since safety due to movement is the most important factor, durability is essential as a fatal problem can occur if a problem such as a breakdown occurs during operation. This can be said to be a basic condition.

Basically, 5 years and 100,000 km is an important obligation as it is the basic free warranty period for electric vehicles.

Even if development is complete, it is expected to take several years to be established in electric vehicles, taking into account practical testing.

In particular, as electric vehicles are installed in a modular form in the future, the transmission is also likely to be modular, so it can be said that a system composed of a single form is being built.

That is, it must be built as a single-piece transmission system.

Of course, in the case of a Korean venture company that has already developed a 7-speed automatic transmission for electric motorcycles, it is possible that it will not take as long as expected to apply it to general electric vehicles, as many tests have already been conducted by several manufacturers and it is being supplied as a mass-produced model.

Even Chinese manufacturers have already declared that they will install the domestically developed transmission in regular electric vehicles within 2-3 years, so it is likely that it will appear sooner than expected.

With Tesla already leading the global market with the topic of half-price electric vehicles, it can be said that who and how quickly can satisfy the demand for electric vehicle price reductions and high efficiency with new technologies including high-speed transmissions will be a key issue.

Chinese electric vehicles have already begun to shed their previous negative image and have achieved top-tier electric vehicle quality and price competitiveness, led by BYD, so it is highly likely that they will grow into global electric vehicle leaders first.

As the first mover in future electric vehicles is increasingly likely to be a Chinese manufacturer rather than existing global manufacturers such as Toyota or Volkswagen, the application of automatic transmissions to electric vehicles is also expected to be a significant turning point.

In China, there are initially about 500 electric vehicle manufacturers.As price competitiveness has increased, the number has recently decreased to around 50, and it is expected to decrease to less than 10 in the future, showing the fierce competition.

The fact that the competitiveness of China is increasing compared to other global manufacturers means that it has the conditions to take the lead in further enhancing competitiveness in the future.

Another condition for automatic transmissions to be installed in electric vehicles is that the structural parts of electric vehicles are primarily electric energy-based and away from hydraulics, so electrification will be the basic requirement. In particular, there is not much space that can be secured in terms of structure because it is directly connected to the motor.

In particular, since electric vehicles generally use only one motor for general models and use two motors for models that require a certain level of performance, how to connect the transmission to each motor is an important task.

There are likely to be various methods introduced, but the method of mounting them in an odd-even configuration on each axis suggested by the venture company would be a good method.

In any case, we must ultimately consider ways to secure space and find the optimal conditions, especially in the design of a platform exclusively for electric vehicles.

The conditions for research and development are very demanding, as all gear changes must be performed in a narrow space and transmitted to the wheels.

In other words, a small space requires new characteristics that allow for organic multi-stage operation with a small number of parts.

This means that the transmission must be armed with advantages for all, including space, number of parts, and price.

Recently, with half-price electric vehicles becoming a hot topic, the price of the automatic transmission equipped in them can also be considered a variable. Even if there are various advantages and efficiency gains, the high cost will ultimately lead to a significant increase in the price of electric vehicles, making it a pie in the sky.

Ultimately, the conditions for economically implementing the price of the transmission can be said to be a key condition along with the various conditions mentioned above.

Another characteristic is that although it is currently in the technological development stage and has a large diversity with many models being released, it has the potential to become an open technology with great universal validity in the medium to long term.