"Matrix Technology" is about to launch new energy express vehicles to accumulate power for the manufacture of unmanned express vehicles

"Orange Shi" can replace express partners with new energy vehicles for express delivery, and use this new tool to provide couriers with more income channels.

The pattern of my country's express delivery industry is changing.

According to data released by the State Post Bureau, China's express delivery business volume was 3.67 billion pieces in 2011. In 2014, the total number of express pieces exceeded the 10 billion mark for the first time. In 2019, the number of express pieces reached 63.52 billion pieces. The total number of express items this year is expected to exceed 100 billion. The continuous increase in the number of express delivery means the market demand for more couriers. However, with the intensification of population aging, my country's 16-59-year-old labor force is continuing to decline. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from 2012 to 2019, my country's labor force has decreased by more than 26 million people.

Under the contradiction between the increasing number of express delivery and the declining labor force, the workload of existing express delivery personnel will gradually increase. A few years ago, couriers were often able to deliver goods home. Nowadays, due to the circulation of a large number of parcels, rows of self-pickup cabinets in the community and mountains of parcels in the rookie station have become the norm. The couriers who operate these packages are using electric tricycles to transport packages. The price of an electric tricycle is not high, about 3,000 yuan, and it has high flexibility and large cargo capacity. It has almost become a standard for couriers.

But the defects of this vehicle are also obvious. Due to the unclear right of way, express tricycles have hidden traffic safety hazards whether they are driving on non-motorized or motorized lanes. Its body is much larger than ordinary electric vehicles, and it is easy to bump bicycles or pedestrians on non-motorized lanes. On the motorway, the speed is weak. Since most express tricycles are purchased by couriers themselves, in the event of an accident, the express company does not have a clear legal obligation to be responsible, and such vehicles are not equipped with commercial auto insurance. Therefore, regardless of the injury or the injury, the consequences can only be borne by the courier himself.

Not only that, the driving experience of express tricycles cannot be called comfortable. Due to the low price, this type of car has no shock absorption effect, no sun or rain, and no protective measures.

An automobile manufacturing company discovered the shortcomings of this type of transportation and wanted to replace express partners with new energy vehicles for express delivery, and use this new tool to provide more income channels for couriers. This company is Matrix Data (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd., referred to as Matrix Technology. The company's new energy express vehicle brand is called "Orange Shi". Matrix Technology CEO Gu Zulin introduced that this brand name is homonymous with "chengshi" and the English "chance", which is intended to bring new income opportunities to couriers and help them achieve their careers.

New energy vehicles customized for couriers

Matrix Technology's upcoming car is the Orange 01. The exterior design refers to the MUJI style. However, in order to make the car suitable for street and lane delivery, the body is much smaller and the cargo box is larger. Its width is less than 1.5 meters, its length is less than 3.5 meters, and its height is 1.7 meters. The cargo box has a volume of 2.6 cubic meters and can transport 0.6 tons of cargo. The roof is equipped with a roof that opens and closes to facilitate the transportation of high-height goods such as refrigerators and air-conditioners. Gu Zulin said that the design process of this car invited the courier to personally participate.

Orange 01 new energy express vehicle

The orange car is a new energy car that can be licensed legally. In order for the courier to buy it at a cheap price, this car minimizes the cost of the battery and pursues the realization of "small power and high endurance." The Orange Shi car has undergone a lightweight transformation in the chassis design, reducing the weight of the vehicle, and the battery power consumption per unit time is also reduced. The 10-degree electric battery used can achieve a range of 120 kilometers, which is the endurance of an ordinary electric tricycle. three times. In order to facilitate the long-distance delivery of couriers, Orange Auto has independently developed a battery management system (BMS) and designed a group of three "car power banks", each of which has 3.3 kWh of electricity. With the help of the charger, the vehicle can travel up to 240 kilometers at a time.

Orange cars are also equipped with a connected car system, which may become an important role in the construction of smart cities in the future. Local governments can monitor the operating status of the orange car to understand the express delivery situation, so as to ensure the safe driving of the courier and the smooth urban traffic. Compared with electric tricycles that cannot be connected to the Internet, Oranges are easier to manage in a unified manner. For the courier, the use of the orange car can also obtain safety. At present, Matrix Technology is assisting the Jinan government to build a model project "Jinan Mode" for a smart express city. Based on the orange car networking function, it will provide precise subsidies for new energy express vehicles, thereby gradually replacing express tricycles in a market-oriented way.

New revenue from express vehicles

Matrix Technology wants to provide couriers with not only a low-cost solution for new energy vehicles suitable for courier work scenarios, but also to use this car to bring new income channels to couriers. Under this vision, Matrix Technology has built an Internet app "Brother Drive", where couriers can receive orders for advertising, delivery, and errands after entering personal information on the app.

The work scene of the courier is suitable for advertising, because the scope of activities is relatively fixed and there are customer groups with clear portraits. The orange car is equipped with an information board behind the body that can be used for advertising. People with advertising needs can contact the courier on "Brother Drive" and let the courier publish accurate "message express" on the information board. In addition to advertising, the information board can also be used as a platform for couriers to display themselves, allowing them to use pictures, stickers, etc., while working in the streets and lanes, while showing their individuality.

The endurance of the orange car can support the courier to carry out long-distance transportation after completing a day's workload. In order to allow the couriers to increase their income during their free time, Matrix Technology has cooperated with urban distribution platforms such as Didi Freight to provide delivery orders for the couriers who "brother is driving". Gu Zulin said that the income generated by the courier through the "Brother Drive to" platform will not be drawn, and all will be owned by the courier himself.

In fact, the government has also noticed the shortcomings of ordinary express tricycles and is planning to replace them with new energy vehicles. In July last year, CCTV and Xinhuanet published relevant reports. According to the report, the Beijing Municipal Government plans to gradually replace the existing express electric tricycles and takeaway vehicles by using legally regulated new energy vehicles.

Although this plan has not yet been implemented, a small number of car companies have already noticed the inclination of the policy and began to plan the layout of new energy express vehicles in advance. In June 19, Foton Motor launched the "Dige" with a range of 100 kilometers. In April 20, Wuling Rongguang launched a new energy logistics vehicle with a cargo volume of 5.1 cubic meters. Compared with similar products, the orange car brand's lower pricing makes the product positioning more vertical, and its own Internet platform monetization model is its unique feature.

Matrix Auto is implementing the "Orange Partner Program" and has formed a local push team of about 20 people in Jinan, responsible for communicating with the person in charge of the express station , and attracting them to become the sales agent of Orange Auto. Matrix Auto has built its own "Orange Partner Mini Program", and after approval, it can become an agent of Orange Auto.

One to zero conversion-from manned vehicles to unmanned vehicles

The introduction of new energy express vehicles is not the ultimate goal of Matrix Technology. Gu Zulin said that with the increase in express delivery business and the declining labor force in China, the supply of future express workers will exceed demand, and the express industry is calling for the entry of unmanned vehicles. In fact, some companies have already started to try: JD, Suning and other companies have launched unmanned express vehicles for the "last three kilometers" delivery. The Ali Cainiao ET laboratory where Gu Zulin once served as the product director is a department that specializes in the development of unmanned logistics vehicles, but the unmanned vehicles of these companies have not been able to land on a large scale.

Currently, major Internet technology companies are deploying driverless technology, and each has its own strengths. Ali Dharma hospital is committed to research and development of unmanned algorithm; Wo game technology, speed Teng-Year , as well as Huawei, Xinjiang and other large companies are developing a longer service life of the laser radar. With the support of trillion-level investment scale, autonomous driving technology has achieved breakthroughs, but the implementation of unmanned vehicles has been difficult to achieve. A key bottleneck is the lack of the role of OEMs to join.

Matrix Technology's goal is to mass produce unmanned express vehicles that can run on motorways. This is also the original intention of CEO Gu Zulin when he left Ali's rookie ET laboratory and came to a OEM. The experience of building multi-generation rookie logistics unmanned vehicle products in Ali made him realize that the next stage of the autonomous driving industry is mass production. The focus of mass production is not the autonomous driving algorithm, but the unmanned vehicle itself, especially the complete cabin. No one's express logistics vehicle.

A car needs to meet national quality standards and obtain production qualifications before it can go on the road. Otherwise, even if it has advanced autonomous driving algorithms, there is no carrier that can be implemented. New energy OEMs without autonomous driving algorithms can complete the development and production of complete vehicles by purchasing chips, sensors, etc., but it is difficult for algorithm companies to realize the OEM’s capabilities in vehicle design, supply chain management, cost control, sales and maintenance channels, etc. It is difficult to produce complete vehicle products that meet the qualification requirements. Therefore, the positioning of the autonomous driving algorithm company is usually the supplier of the OEM.

Gu Zulin

Gu Zulin is the designer and creator of G Plus, the predecessor of Ali Dharma Academy Xiaomanlu. He left Ali at the end of 2018. In August 20, he officially joined Shanghai Haocheng Intelligent, which was formerly a vehicle design and development company, as president. Technology. Recently, the company completed its reorganization and changed its name to Matrix Data (Shanghai) Technology.

Gu Zulin established a "No. 0" laboratory dedicated to the research and development of unmanned vehicles in the company. In this laboratory, employees are not developing autonomous driving algorithms, but the entire unmanned vehicle. Gu Zulin said that it takes at least 24 months for a new car to go from the sketch design to the production line, during which time it will have to communicate with nearly a thousand suppliers. The internal structure of unmanned vehicles and manned vehicles is completely different, and the suppliers and manufacturing processes are also very different. It is necessary to overthrow the manufacturing experience of manned vehicles.

The name of the "Zero" laboratory contains the work goal: to realize the product development of "zero manned" unmanned vehicles and the "zero month" switch from the existing manned vehicle production line to the unmanned vehicle production line. The specific tasks of the laboratory are: design the entire unmanned vehicle, reuse existing suppliers to the greatest extent, and train the company's current manned vehicle production line workers so that they can immediately switch to the unmanned vehicle production line. When the sensors and chips make breakthroughs and meet the requirements of vehicle regulations, the manned vehicle production line will roll off the unmanned vehicle within one month, and complete the transition from "Chengshi 01" (manned vehicle model) to "Chengshi 00" (unmanned vehicle). Model). "Our unmanned vehicles will be off the production line at least one year earlier than other companies, and will be the first to seize the market." Gu Zulin said.

Chengshi 00 Express Unmanned Vehicle

In order to prepare fully for the unmanned vehicles on the road in the future, Matrix Technology is developing an unmanned vehicle cloud dispatch system, which is used to optimize the path for unmanned express vehicles to pick up and deliver goods. At the same time, it is also developing a safety VCU (abbreviated as SVCU) that supports OTA for express vehicles. SVCU can monitor possible errors in algorithm instructions and brake suddenly when encountering danger.

Currently, the research and development of Matrix Technology's unmanned vehicle is underway. During the Double Eleven period, the Orange Manned Vehicle will be launched first. Its selling points are battery management system, high endurance and unique Internet monetization platform.