Chapter 246 - 240 Financial Statement_1

C-level Base, which essentially served as a support to the B-level Base, had a new task: to produce an unmanned cargo version of the deeply modified H1W.

Compared to the H1, the H1W had an upturned nose because it was designed to be launched in conjunction with the An-1250 and shuttle-shaped fuel tank. Although its cargo bay was somewhat irregular, it could still accommodate large satellites.

While incorporating some new technologies, the production cost of the H1W was significantly reduced due to the lower operational requirements of unmanned craft, which allowed for fast production. It rolled off the assembly line in November and was completely ready for its maiden flight in December.

The fuel tank was also simple—a disposable pressure vessel—, with the only expensive part being the insulation material covering its surface, as the extremely low temperatures of liquid hydrogen and oxygen could not be allowed to spread unchecked.

Xie Liaofu still named this new launch method the "Spiral" plan, in remembrance of the past, giving it a strong hint of foreign characteristics.

The "Spiral" plan wasn’t announced to the public; it was really just a cost-effective and low-payload method of launching objects into space, which, compared to the H1 being placed on a rocket, was still somewhat excessive.

Xie Liaofu had returned to the base to continue his AI reform while contemplating the Cloud Ascend project.

Aero-space planes were not unfamiliar to him; Tupolev and Sukhoi had quite a number of designs, many of which he could now draw from memory.

Whether it was trust in Xinyuan Company’s speed or not, the Aerospace Development Committee granted Xie Liaofu the position of Chief Designer for the new Cloud Ascend project before its approval, with Institute 3 taking on some of the design work. Although it was officially a joint development, Xinyuan would contribute much more.

The advantage was that production capacity was not a concern. The Cloud Ascend project would be assigned to factories within the national system for production, allowing several planes to be constructed simultaneously without using Xinyuan Company’s resources. This would also promote technical advancements in scientific research units across the country.

...

"Xin’an Automobile revealed its car sales for the first two quarters, with passenger vehicle sales exceeding 550,000 units and total sales topping 600,000 units. Insiders say: The biggest bottleneck in sales is production capacity, not demand."

"Full automatic intelligent driving? Be wary of the killer on the road!"

"The death toll caused by the models XW151 and 161 has risen to over 17."

"Chen Jun: I urge car owners to be extremely cautious and use only the auxiliary driving system. The auxiliary system is by no means fully autonomous driving, and Xin’an does not advocate behaviors that fully rely on the vehicle’s autopilot."

"What are the benefits of new energy dump trucks? Do they cause disturbances?"

"In the first half of the year, China experienced over 310 incidents of new energy vehicles self-igniting, with this brand ranking first."

"Ningde Times: The new generation of batteries will make a qualitative leap in charging speed."

"The growth rate of domestic new energy vehicle brands is 37%, according to the Science and Industry Committee: A comprehensive ban on the sale of fuel vehicles is expected by 2020."

"The number of new charging stations nationwide is expected to increase by 340% this year, more than half of which support over 100KW fast charging."

"..."

In September 2016, the national automobile market underwent massive changes compared to the original world timeline.

Xin’an Automobile’s sales surged in an upsurge, with all six of its car models selling well. It’s true that the limiting factor for Xin’an’s sales was production capacity.

Xin’an Automobile, besides its own production, had a fraction subcontracted by Southern Automobile. Since the technology was the same, there was no difference.

The supply of chips largely restricted the sectors of batteries, electronic control, and vehicle computers; the majority of semiconductor manufacturers were adjusting their lines for upgrades, which impacted production quantities. Additionally, many raw materials were cut off by foreign suppliers.

Another issue was the shortage of aerospace materials for high-end car models. As sales increased, what was once a wealth of nose cones or second-stage rocket, and engine debris being used for car doors or engine hoods, now amounted to just small items like wheel hubs, door handles, and steering wheels. The supply simply could not meet demand.

The tremendous sales brought Xin’an more than 10 billion yuan in profits, but the two major shareholders tacitly did not take dividends, preferring instead to invest this money into infrastructure development.

At that time, charging stations weren’t yet prevalent across the country. To popularize electric vehicles, Southern Automobile exploited its connections and state subsidies, building charging stations everywhere like mad and incidentally spreading its fast-charging protocol.

When other car manufacturers started producing, they would have to consider charging stations. To support fast-charging, they would be compelled to adapt to Xin’an’s protocol and purchase specialized chips.

In major cities and sizable regions, a minimum supply of charging stations was guaranteed. Xin’an was also actively promoting the installation of home charging stations.

This was known as nurturing the market. With charging stations in cities, on highways, and at homes, the range anxiety of new energy vehicles became much less pressing. More brands were willing to enter the market, and the number of users gradually increased. Coupled with strong national subsidies, everything was steadily improving.

Ningde Times and Byadi were also beginning to gain momentum. Their battery technology was gradually maturing from unorthodox methods and started putting pressure on Xin’an’s lithium battery combination technology.

But the latter was not idle, backed by two giants—with money and technology at their disposal. Not only were they driving suppliers to develop new batteries through sales, but they were also constantly registering patents, maintaining their position as the ceiling of domestic BMS.

However, the intelligent driving system brought some legal woes. To date, there had been more than a dozen traffic accidents, all caused by drivers completely handing over control to the XW driving system and going to sleep.

Although the XW151 and 161 performed perfectly during Chen Jun’s field tests, real life is never short of accidents, and the XW series wasn’t so powerful as to guarantee infallibility.

After all, Xin’an had never claimed to support fully autonomous driving. Theoretically, cars didn’t either. It was only that users had enabled several functions that just happened to be able to drive the car on their own.

The high dependence of users on the XW series indeed provided a vast amount of driving data. Through the Meridian satellite network, Xin’an had already patched the released driving systems multiple times, significantly improving user experience.

Moreover, the 4G infrastructure was already pretty solid, and the next major update could rely on terrestrial base stations for greater accuracy and functionality, and even truly start working on intelligent driving.

Though the intelligent driving system had caused some trouble, the BMS battery management system was surprisingly reliable. Up to that point, none of the self-ignition incidents tallied by Xin’an was due to improper battery management; they were all other accidents.

There was even a case where a battery exploded within the battery pack, the BMS warning was ignored by an indifferent owner who drove for half a month without issues, and then went to the dealership for an inspection and replacement. It could only be said that the BMS, borne from aerospace experts, truly possessed aerospace-level reliability—it was exceptionally secure.

Among all manufacturers, Xin’an could be rated at least 97 out of 100, with the missing three points left for room to improve.

Yet another player, though not doing poorly, was constrained by production capacity and feeling a decreasing sense of presence, its founder hopping mad.

Tesla had, so far, logged over 7000 units in market sales, with a global total probably exceeding 50,000.

The Tesla of now was not the one that relied on the Modu Super Factory to help Musk become the world’s richest man.