Saudi Arabia wants a car industry, launches Ceer with two EVs
Saudi Arabia wants a car industry, launches Ceer with two EVs
沙特阿拉伯意图发展汽车工业，推出 Ceer 品牌及两款电动汽车
KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia—It may come as a surprise to some, but Saudi Arabia has never had a domestic automaker. That changes with Ceer. A joint venture between the country’s Public Investment Fund and Foxconn, it’s the Kingdom’s first home-grown automaker and a significant part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan to diversify its economy away from oil production and bring technological innovation locally by the end of the decade.
沙特阿拉伯阿卜杜拉国王经济城——对一些人来说可能感到惊讶，但沙特阿拉伯此前从未拥有过本土汽车制造商。随着 Ceer 的出现，这一局面被打破了。作为该国公共投资基金（PIF）与富士康（Foxconn）的合资企业，Ceer 是沙特首家本土汽车制造商，也是沙特“2030 愿景”的重要组成部分。该愿景旨在实现经济多元化，摆脱对石油生产的依赖，并在本十年末将技术创新引入本土。
Ceer in Arabic means to “drive forward,” and this forward-looking approach applies to the vehicle lineup. The flagship vehicles you see here—the Exobot sedan and SUV—are demonstrations of what the company is capable of and the vision it sees for future vehicles in the portfolio. It plans to have seven new cars in its portfolio by 2030—some of which will be hybrids—and while that doesn’t currently include sales outside the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region, Ceer says it’s building a competitive, world-class product and that if the demand is there, expansion is possible.
“Ceer”在阿拉伯语中意为“向前驱动”，这种前瞻性的理念也体现在其产品阵容中。你在这里看到的旗舰车型——Exobot 轿车和 SUV——展示了该公司的制造能力及其对未来产品组合的愿景。公司计划到 2030 年推出七款新车（其中部分为混合动力车型）。虽然目前的销售范围仅限于海湾合作委员会（GCC）地区，但 Ceer 表示，他们正在打造具有竞争力的世界级产品，如果市场需求存在，未来将有可能进行扩张。
A flagship shouldn’t be boring, and Ceer met that brief. Both SUV and sedan would look at home in Westworld. The SUV had something familiar about it, and Ars auto editor Jonathan Gitlin said it reminded him of the Isuzu VehiCross. Maybe this is a modern-day interpretation of that vehicle? After seeing the SUV in person, I can tell you I can’t unsee that reference.
旗舰车型不应平庸，而 Ceer 很好地完成了这一要求。这两款 SUV 和轿车看起来就像是《西部世界》里的产物。这款 SUV 有一种似曾相识的感觉，Ars 汽车编辑 Jonathan Gitlin 说它让他想起了五十铃（Isuzu）VehiCross。也许这是对那款车型的现代诠释？在亲眼见过这款 SUV 后，我不得不说，这种联想一旦产生就挥之不去了。
Both vehicles have falcon doors, called a Shahin Wing here, to get in and out of the vehicle. The doors add to the drama befitting a flagship for a startup automaker and will certainly draw attention out on Saudi roads. The doors don’t open wider than a standard car door, so it shouldn’t be much of a challenge in a tight parking lot. As long as the roof isn’t too low, presumably. Not having a B-pillar makes access to the second row much easier, but I’d be surprised if those doors appear on any of the future cars the company is planning to build. The region’s extreme climate will certainly put the engineering of the doors to the test.
两款车都配备了“猎鹰门”（此处称为“Shahin Wing”），用于进出车辆。这种车门为初创汽车制造商的旗舰车型增添了戏剧性，无疑会在沙特的道路上吸引目光。车门的开启宽度并不比普通车门大，因此在狭窄的停车场应该不会造成太大困扰（前提是车顶高度足够）。取消 B 柱使得进入第二排变得更加容易，但如果这些车门出现在公司未来计划建造的任何车型上，我会感到惊讶。该地区极端的气候无疑将考验这些车门的工程设计。
One unique feature of the doors is built into the glass. The lower portions of the door feature electrochromatic glass that can be dimmed at the press of a button. Especially useful in the SUV: If the driver needs more side visibility, the lower part of the door becomes clear at the press of a button.
车门的一个独特功能集成在玻璃中。车门下部采用了电致变色玻璃，只需按下一个按钮即可调节明暗。这在 SUV 上特别有用：如果驾驶员需要更好的侧向视野，只需按一下按钮，车门下部就会变得透明。
During the reveal presentation, Ceer CEO James Deluca mentioned that during an early briefing on design, the Crown Prince inspired the team to look at what is already out there and take a different path. “If the world goes left, we go right,” he quoted the Crown Prince as saying. Other design details call out Ceer’s national heritage. Both models have 32 independent elements in the front and rear light bar. Thirty-two, because 1932 was the year the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was established.
在发布会上，Ceer 首席执行官 James Deluca 提到，在早期的设计简报中，王储激励团队去审视现有的产品并开辟一条不同的道路。他引用王储的话说：“如果世界向左走，我们就向右走。”其他设计细节也彰显了 Ceer 的民族底蕴。两款车型的前后灯带均包含 32 个独立元件。之所以是 32，是因为 1932 年是沙特阿拉伯王国成立的年份。
Inside, a 48-inch digital instrument cluster stretches across the entire dashboard, running a custom infotainment system that is inspired by the Riyadh skyline. To help deal with the extreme climate of the Kingdom, there’s a new cooling mode for the cabin that creates a cool air barrier between the roof and the glass and the passengers’ heads that the company calls Halo cooling. A 10-inch center cluster handles media controls, and there’s an 8-inch screen for rear passengers.
车内，一块 48 英寸的数字仪表盘横跨整个仪表台，运行着一套灵感源自利雅得天际线的定制信息娱乐系统。为了应对沙特极端的气候，车内配备了一种新的冷却模式，在车顶、玻璃与乘客头部之间形成一道冷空气屏障，公司将其称为“光环冷却”（Halo cooling）。一个 10 英寸的中央控制屏负责媒体控制，后排乘客则配有一块 8 英寸的屏幕。
Ceer believes in bringing your own device, and the vehicle should be able to integrate with a mobile phone. In an interview with Ars Technica, Chief Technology Officer Markus Leitner confirmed that Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will be available at launch. The infotainment system is unique Ceer intellectual property co-developed with Foxconn and the other partners. Of course, over-the-air updates will be available that can improve any aspect of the vehicle, including performance and range.
Ceer 提倡“自带设备”（BYOD）理念，车辆能够与手机无缝集成。在接受 Ars Technica 采访时，首席技术官 Markus Leitner 确认，Apple CarPlay 和 Android Auto 将在发布时提供支持。该信息娱乐系统是 Ceer 与富士康及其他合作伙伴共同开发的独特知识产权。当然，车辆将支持 OTA（空中下载）更新，可以改善车辆的任何方面，包括性能和续航里程。
Despite all of the touchscreens and technology, Ceer is emphasizing physical controls where it makes sense. The gear selector is on the column, like on a Mercedes, or all manner of machines from Detroit. There are physical buttons for changing the climate control and adjusting the volume. It’s almost like the executives at Ceer are paying attention to our complaints.
尽管拥有众多的触摸屏和高科技，Ceer 还是在合理的地方强调了物理控制。换挡杆位于转向柱上，就像奔驰汽车或底特律生产的各种车型一样。车内设有用于调节空调和音量的物理按钮。这看起来就像是 Ceer 的高管们一直在关注我们的抱怨。
The launch model Exobots will have a 112-kWh battery pack with over 310 miles (500 km) of range for the SUV, and at least 373 miles (600 km) for the sedan under the New European Driving Cycle (ironically an old standard that has since been replaced by WLTP in Europe). In the real world, 300–400 miles seems like a reasonable expectation, which would put it on par with the latest BMW and Mercedes platforms.
首发车型 Exobot 将配备 112 kWh 的电池组，SUV 的续航里程超过 310 英里（500 公里），轿车至少为 373 英里（600 公里），这是基于新欧洲行驶循环（NEDC）标准测得的（讽刺的是，这是一个在欧洲已被 WLTP 取代的旧标准）。在现实世界中，300 到 400 英里的续航似乎是一个合理的预期，这将使其与最新的宝马和奔驰平台处于同一水平。
Performance is the main goal of these vehicles, and with 1,111 hp (828 kW) and 1,100 lb-ft (1,500 nM) of torque, the Exobot should be able to hit 62 mph (100 km/h) in a hair over 2 seconds for the sedan, and 2.4 seconds for the SUV, with the standing-quarter dispatched in 10 seconds. A tri-motor setup with torque vectoring has been chosen to deliver the power to the wheels to reach those numbers. Available air suspension should smooth out any of the rough terrain.
性能是这些车辆的主要目标。凭借 1,111 马力（828 kW）和 1,100 磅-英尺（1,500 牛·米）的扭矩，Exobot 轿车从静止加速到 62 英里/小时（100 公里/小时）仅需略多于 2 秒，SUV 则为 2.4 秒，四分之一英里加速仅需 10 秒。为了达到这些数据，车辆采用了带有扭矩矢量控制的三电机布局。可选的空气悬架应能平稳应对各种崎岖地形。
The vehicles will use an 800 V electric architecture, and the company is quoting a DC fast-charging time of around 30 minutes to 80 percent. Based on the size of the battery pack, that’s on par with what we’ve experienced from vehicles like the Kia EV9 and the Hyundai Ioniq 9. The 800 V system also powers the vehicle’s steer-by-wire system. Does that mean it’s getting a yoke? Yes.
这些车辆将采用 800V 电气架构，公司称直流快充至 80% 电量大约需要 30 分钟。基于电池组的容量，这与我们从起亚 EV9 和现代 Ioniq 9 等车型中体验到的水平相当。800V 系统还为车辆的线控转向系统供电。这意味着它会配备轭式方向盘吗？是的。