Chapter 128 - 124 The Amazing Year-End Bonus_1

B-level Base, Lin Ju drove the XC4 around the open space for a few rounds, then stopped.

"What do you think, Mr. Lin, it handles well, doesn’t it? I drove here on autopilot the whole way, and it didn’t have a single issue."

Sitting in the passenger’s seat, Chen Jun was smug, causing Lin Ju to break out in a cold sweat.

This XC4 had hit the roads for testing with camouflage stickers, and Chen Jun was too confident in the XW151, letting the system take control of the car along the navigation route—it was reckless, to say the least.

This was no SC09; the XW151 system and the X32115 chip were products of several rounds of crippling, especially in this era of imperfect IoT—the fact that it made it here was probably mostly luck.

Coming from Mountain City and including charging, it took over two days. Perhaps it was the test vehicle’s appearance that made people deliberately avoid it, and the presence of a convoy that drew extra attention. To say that this system was ready for full autopilot was a stretch.

But Lin Ju was satisfied. The limit of the X32115 chip was here; to go further would either require improved manufacturing processes or the widespread adoption of silicon carbide wafer production to truly develop ternary chips by the foundries.

Clearly, the latter was more troublesome—it would mean setting up an entirely new system, needing to produce a range of new equipment from scratch. To take this on would consume too much energy and it would require waiting for the right moment to launch, at which point countless businesses would rush to be the first to push forward.

And that moment wasn’t too far off...

"We’ve now produced 100 engineering prototype vehicles, preparing for road tests around the country and at the same time continuing to boost the number of pre-orders. What do you think, Mr. Lin?"

Lin Ju nodded, but as he stroked his chin, it was clear he had something to say:

"I think the XC4 is lacking a bit of hype. Maybe we should add some more space elements. Like this,"

He thought for a few seconds:

"I remember the second-stage debris and fairings from New Yuan-2 mostly fell into the ocean, and the drop points are well known—they were all retrieved by the coast guard. We could recycle these materials into engine hoods or doors, rims, and door handles, then add the signature of Chief Designer Androff or an engineer, and inscribe a phrase on them, how about that?

Besides, once the car owners take delivery, they could enter a free lottery. Among the first 50,000 to pre-order, we could randomly draw 10 people, split into two groups, to travel in space for 24 hours."

Chen Jun: ...

Just because there are spacecraft, does one really get to do whatever they want, sending people into space as if it were a bargaining chip? Do you really think this is the almighty lure that people will flock to?

Yes, they will.

The lowest configuration of the XC4 starts at 490,000 after subsidies, with the highest configuration only slightly above 600,000. To win a space trip worth tens or hundreds of millions for that price is an unbelievable bargain, right?

This lottery, it’s hardly any less rewarding than the 648, is it?

Chen Jun genuinely believed that once the news leaked, the first to pre-order wouldn’t be customers, but rather the middle and upper management of their own group.

Space travel, with even a 0.02% chance, who wouldn’t want to give it a shot? For the average person, the chance in a lifetime is infinitesimally close to zero, right?

In a group of ten thousand, being the one chosen is already easier than astronaut selection.

And that idea of manufacturing parts from rocket debris? Absolute genius. Driving around in that, you can truly feel like you’re not in a car, but in a rocket! A real showstopper.

Did I mention I ate yet? How do you know my XC4’s rims were forged from the second-stage debris of New Yuan-2’s Y3 rocket and bear the handwritten signature of Chief Designer Androff?

That kind of status, it might just outshine the hand-painted coachline of a Rolls-Royce, right?

After all, aerospace is one class above automotive manufacturing, no matter how low-end it may be.

At this moment, Chen Jun truly felt that cross-industry companies were much stronger than traditional manufacturers. Ever heard of dimensional reduction striking?

"No problem, but Mr. Lin, I’m placing an order now too. I’m within the 50,000 people, so don’t leave me out!"

Lin Ju shook his head, "Xin’an and New Yuan are the same. I can disclose to you in advance that one of the year-end bonus items is an opportunity for space travel, and not just a few. Space tourism isn’t actually that extravagant for us."

"Hiss~" Chen Jun successfully raised the temperature of December by 0.01 degrees, contributing another +1 to global warming.

If the year-end bonus included space tourism, wouldn’t he as the CEO have a very big chance? Almost a certainty?

"Mr. Lin, I need to get back to work. Making customers wait eight months is too long. Xin’an Company will strive to deliver the first batch of XC4 before the Spring Festival!"

"Mind the quality."

"No problem, Mr. Lin! I’m heading out."

Chen Jun came and went like the wind, the middle-aged man once again filled with the passion of his youth for his work.

But that didn’t mean the matters at Xin’an were concluded.

Apart from the XC4, Xin’an, in collaboration with Southern Automobiles, was also working on electric dump trucks, and their progress was nearly complete.

Southern Automobiles had an extensive military vehicle business and a wealth of experience in heavy truck manufacturing. However, electrifying heavy trucks wasn’t as simple as replacing the fuel tank and engine with a battery and motor. To fully harness their performance, it was necessary to start from scratch with the design.

Moreover, the demand for electric dump trucks was very high. Southern Automobiles sent people to conduct surveys in various cities, asking construction sites and local governments, and they received favorable responses:

The government promised that if the dump trucks were electric, some road and timing restrictions could be relaxed, opening dedicated time slots for access. Construction sites, because they weren’t long-haul, had no objections to charging or battery swapping and were looking forward to using electric dump trucks to reduce costs and avoid playing cat and mouse with traffic police.

The main issue was that trucks carrying fifty tons or more required many stacked batteries. Management systems and cooling needed to be enhanced. Although the electric motors had enough torque to handle the trucks, cooling and cost were other considerations. They were planning to finalize and produce test vehicles next year.

However, electric construction machinery faced a cold reception. The construction sites’ reaction was lukewarm because these machines were not only fuel-guzzling beasts but also a source of extra income for many people. The problem wasn’t technical.

In addition, they were developing an SUV and a family sedan, and the effort put into these two models was even greater than that for the XC4. After all, they were prepared for the widest and most complex user group and had to be more reliable and durable.

Then there was the construction of rapid charging stations in major cities, the universal general-purpose charging piles, and dealing with the power grid, among other aspects. After all, it was still the pioneering period for new energy vehicles, from cultivating users to building an ecosystem, all of which needed pioneers to gradually carry out the work.

Fortunately, New Yuan now had a transcendent status, and Southern Automobiles was also a well-established state and military enterprise. Xin’an Automobile, backed by both giants, faced no obstacles in this regard and had a smooth path ahead.

...

On blogs, major video platforms, the New Yuan official website, and YouTube, there was a new 24-hour non-stop live streaming channel: the Tiangong Space Station external livestream.

The six cameras in the three-module station filmed the planet and the universe from different angles, automatically switching every once in a while and occasionally playing a segment of light and soothing music.

This livestream alone had daily viewership in the hundreds of millions within the country, with several hundred thousand people online even in the middle of the night.

It was just a few cameras, yet they commanded such great appeal.

Initially, due to an oversight by a platform manager who forgot to turn off the tipping feature, they received over 6 million worth of gifts in 3 hours. Ultimately, all of it was refunded.