A comprehensive analysis of the five major selling points of Enjoy S9, Huawei is

tech | 2024-07-25

How can a pure electric luxury flagship sedan be sold at a premium? This is the biggest challenge facing all automakers today.

BMW first tried "oil to electricity" conversion, but from the i7 to the i5, none have been successful. Mercedes-Benz's EQS is very luxurious and has little range anxiety, but it still cannot break the spell. After trying the ET7, NIO directly designed its next flagship luxury sedan as a crossover. Although the U7 from Aiyuan is also a flagship sedan, its selling point has become the performance coupe.

Only Huawei has truly created a pure electric luxury flagship sedan, aiming at the "last profit fortress" of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi. Whether the Enjoyment S9 can break through the encirclement of the 56E is the thing I am most curious about.

01

Telling a Universal Story in Design

The biggest feeling from this time participating in the static shooting of the Enjoyment S9 is:Huawei can now also tell a story of design.

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Previously, the AITO M9 was also a flagship model, mainly focusing on the current perception of technology, such as the display of front and rear lights, without explaining why it was designed that way. However, this time, with the same 9 series flagship, the Enjoy S9 brings a more complete design concept of "Inside-Out," which means "unity of inside and outside," emphasizing "the unification of technology and humanistic sentiment." At the same time, the design inspiration for the Enjoy S9 is also more specifically expressed, coming from "the cosmos," that is, the universe and the stars.

For example, starting with the brand name "Enjoy," it is associated with the stars. The Enjoy S9 does not use a graphic logo but directly uses the English characters "STELATO." This name is somewhat similar to Stellantis, also originating from "Stellar," which means "interstellar." The only difference is that the root of STELATO comes from "Auto," which is automobiles, so the design explanation for the Enjoy S9 is also related to "galaxy" and "starry sky."

The headlight design of the Enjoy S9 is similar to the previous HarmonyOS smart driving products, both being oval-shaped and very smooth. However, the lower half of the Enjoy S9's headlights has a new expansion, featuring a dotted pattern—this design is inspired by the combination of numerous constellations, hence the headlights are also referred to as "Galaxy Headlights."A more detailed aspect is that the design of the entire Galaxy Light Group appears to be three-dimensional, but in reality, most of these circular holes are on a single plane. However, the designer of the Xiangjie S9 has incorporated over 10,000 cut and refractive surfaces inside, which sparkle like stars when viewed from different angles, and the varying brightness creates a three-dimensional effect.

Of course, the Xiangjie S9 also features the iconic through-type daytime running lights and air curtains on both sides, with the entire front face design remaining as simple and neat as ever. The laser radar on the roof of the Xiangjie S9 is Huawei's latest 192-line model, and it is also the most important perceptual component of Huawei ADS 3.0.

Although it cannot be said that the Xiangjie S9 has any innovative features, it is still quite appealing to the eye and meets the aesthetic standards of an executive flagship with its balanced and dignified design.

In terms of exterior design, this time the Xiangjie S9 has also catered more to the "Universe" concept in terms of color and wheel design. For example, there are two exclusive color schemes: Universe Red, Starlight Gold, Gilded Black, and Deep Space Gray, all of which are named in association with the starry sky. In particular, Universe Red can display a "red-purple-black" color that changes with the angle through the car paint process, inspired by the gradient colors of the Rosette Nebula; while Starlight Gold is a matte gold color that appears golden in sunlight and silver in moonlight, giving it a more textured appearance.The actual shot of this Xiangjie S9 features a 21-inch multi-spoke wheel, which is made using forging and milling techniques and is named "Star Radiance Forged and Milled Wheel," which is also a selling point.

Similarly, the rear design of the Xiangjie S9 has been seen by everyone before. Apart from the through-type taillights, there is hardly any other styling, making it very concise. However, the entire trunk shape is shorter compared to a typical sedan, with the C-pillar termination point almost touching the taillights.

Additionally, the entire roof is made up of a panoramic skylight and rear window formed by three pieces of glass. There is also a high-position camera on the roof, but there is no traditional shark fin antenna, which may indicate that Huawei is very confident in its communication capabilities and does not require an additional antenna.The Mystery of the Lowest Drag Coefficient in Mass-Produced Luxury Cars

While the exterior of the Xiangjie S9 may not appear to be particularly innovative, the true essence of its design lies in addressing the issue of air resistance.

It is a well-known fact that the magnitude of air resistance is most fundamentally related to the frontal area, and the current methods to address the size of the frontal area are primarily two-fold—streamlined shape and vehicle height.Let's first examine the streamlined design of the Xiangjie S9. With a length of over 5 meters, the side profile of the Xiangjie S9 is very sleek, without a dedicated waistline design. Instead, it features a highly tensioned curve that outlines the body. The S9 also adopts a fastback-style roofline, with the C-pillar sloping down all the way to the rear of the vehicle, eschewing the traditional three-box look in favor of a short trunk.

According to Huawei, the entire shape adheres to the "optimal airflow-matching curve," which can significantly reduce air resistance.

In addition, the Xiangjie S9 incorporates numerous low-drag design details: front air curtains, hidden water channels, the first model in the Hongmeng Smart Drive series to feature a streaming media rearview mirror, flush windows, hidden door handles, and smooth body lines, all aimed at reducing drag during travel.In terms of dimensions, the Xiangjie S9 has a length, width, and height of 5160, 1987, and 1486mm, respectively, with a wheelbase of 3050mm, making it a standard mid-to-large-sized sedan. Compared to products like the 56E, although the wheelbase is a few millimeters shorter, the electric platform layout offers advantages, such as not having an excessively long L113 distance, which gives it a more spacious interior—Huawei claims that the cabin space reaches 3460mm.

It's quite interesting to note the body height of the Xiangjie S9—1486mm, which is even lower than the Mercedes-Benz E-Class's 1493mm, not to mention the BMW 5 Series's 1520mm. It's important to recognize that the most challenging component to arrange in an electric vehicle is the battery pack; placing it on the chassis reduces the Z-axis space inside the vehicle. However, compromising on the vehicle's height would make the car look proportionately odd, and it would also increase wind resistance and reduce range.

The Xiangjie S9 has clearly not compromised, achieving a body height of 1486mm, which is quite impressive, and as will be mentioned later, the interior space is also excellent. Huawei also stated that the Xiangjie S9 will have the lowest drag coefficient among mass-produced luxury sedans globally, with the specific value to be revealed at the launch event.

It can be said that the Xiangjie S9 has set a benchmark—if other manufacturers still cannot design a spacious interior and low drag with a vehicle height below 1.5 meters, then it must be a matter of craftsmanship.A brand-new interior with a galaxy theme, no longer a one-size-fits-all approach

Before this, Huawei had not disclosed the interior of the Enjoy S9, at most releasing high-definition images of the rear seats and space. When I first saw the interior of the Enjoy S9, I understood the reason, because the interior of the Enjoy S9 is completely different from the previous models of the Ask and Wisdom series, adopting a brand-new design scheme.

The interior design of the Enjoy S9 is called the "Universe Cockpit," which is a wrap-around cockpit atmosphere. However, the overall tone still adopts a balanced and symmetrical design, which is very much in line with the style of executive luxury cars, without using the layout that leans towards the driver found in sports car models.

Interestingly, the Enjoy S9 features a two-tier front dashboard design, which Harmony OS refers to as the "Galaxy Ring Dual Terrace." It can be seen that the car has two platforms, with the Galaxy Ring diffuser body's high-frequency speaker design in the center, and it also has different ambient lighting effects during voice interactions, which looks quite high-end and technological.

The vertical surface between the two platforms is called the "Smart Galaxy Ring Design." The designer pushed the front dashboard forward, which can also replace the traditional HUD display. At the same time, the sides of the entire vertical surface are the display screens for the streaming media rearview mirrors, and this layout is quite common nowadays.In fact, a challenge in design is whether to use a dual-screen, triple-screen, or some other approach in the middle?

The HarmonyOS Smart Drive designers are truly innovative, not following the conventional approach of using a continuous screen design. Instead, they have employed a floating design for the common 15.6-inch large screen, supported by a stand at the back, and the entire rear facade is adorned with a panel called the "Galaxy Scroll."

The entire panel is dotted with twinkling lights, and Huawei explains that the design inspiration comes from the "twinkling stars" as seen from space 3000km away from Earth, or it can also be interpreted as a map of the Silk Road, which indeed reflects a strong sense of humanistic spirit. It is said that the entire panel is the first to use an optical film technology in the Enjoy World S9, which, through the Fresnel pattern characteristics of the optical film, has a special texture arrangement to present an alternating effect of bright and dim stars.

By pushing the front LCD instrument further away, the Enjoy World S9 also uses a dual-flat-bottom D-shaped steering wheel, which prevents any obstruction of view. Additionally, the independent 15.6-inch large screen is closer in interaction distance. Most importantly, the flat front dashboard provides a broader view, and because of the double-layer design, it does not have the higher feeling like the Mercedes-Benz EQS, but it still retains the "embrace luxury" that a luxury car should have, instead of the "emptiness" found in Tesla's design.Of course, the brand-new design of the front cabin is not limited to just the Star Ring Dual Terrace design.

This time, the Enjoy S9 has also adopted a design similar to the dazzling crystal trim found in BMW's 7 Series and 5 Series, which should be considered a first for Chinese brand vehicles. This crystal light strip can achieve an ambient light with 16.8 million colors and offers a gradient effect, which is quite spectacular. The difference from the crystal ambient lights in BMW models might be that it is not as wide and the crystal-cut facets are not as pronounced, mainly playing a role of adding the finishing touch in the entire cabin.

At the same time, the Enjoy S9 is also flagship in terms of material usage, even employing a "high-end custom" design concept. For example, the seats come standard with Nappa leather throughout the vehicle, and interior colors like White Sand Apricot and Amber Brown use a significant amount of diamond-quilted stitching, giving a feeling of a million-dollar luxury seat; the wooden trim inside the car is also chosen differently to match different car colors, with White Sand Apricot trim coming from European Beech, brown trim from Cameroonian Ayous wood, and Russian Linden wood, among others.

Moreover, the sliding cover of the entire wood grain trim is similar to Mercedes-Benz, with a very good damping feel, which can bring a sufficiently luxurious experience to the driver. It can also be noted that Huawei has redesigned the panels for most of the speaker covers this time, with the aluminum trim featuring a sinusoidal curve of dotted patterns, also a design that showcases a sense of exclusivity.04

A Rear Experience Even Maybach Doesn't Have

If the front cabin is all about innovative design, then the rear is where the full sensory experience is maximized, and the S9 by Enjoy World almost boasts the most powerful rear experience in the sedan segment.

The biggest selling point of the Enjoy World S9 is that it introduces the rear zero-gravity seats for the first time in a sedan. Previously, zero-gravity seats were an exclusive feature of mid-to-large SUV models, but now in the rear of the Enjoy World S9, you can achieve "one-click flat" by simply pressing the hidden button on the door panel trim.

Once the zero-gravity seats in the Enjoy World S9 are activated, they will first recline the front passenger seat completely and then move it forward. Subsequently, the right rear seat slowly reclines, reaching a fully stretched position where the lumbar angle can reach up to 108 degrees, and the knee angle can be as large as 128 degrees, with the electric headrest automatically lowering by 45mm. Moreover, thanks to the 429mm width of the leg rest, passengers can comfortably place their legs on it without any pressure.Additionally, there are some details worth mentioning. Under the front passenger seat, there is a cushioned area designed for passengers to rest their feet; meanwhile, the seatbelts for the rear seats are integrated into the seats themselves, ensuring excellent restraint performance even when the zero-gravity seats are deployed. Furthermore, the quilting pattern on the rear seats extends all the way to the leg rests, exuding a sense of luxury.

For the convenience of passengers to rest, the Enjoyment S9 even features a storage compartment located below the rear air vents, allowing shoes to be stowed away to prevent them from interfering with the deployment of the leg rests.

Later, I discovered that there is a button on the door panel of the right rear side for switching between front and rear electric controls, enabling rear passengers to freely control all the angles of the front passenger seat, not just its forward and backward movement. The small foldable table behind the front passenger seat is also present, allowing executives to work on the go.

The zero-gravity seats are just the first selling point of the Enjoyment S9's rear seats; the second is the executive-level central armrest.This central armrest features a 9-inch control screen. It may not be unusual to have a rear control screen in flagship models, but what's remarkable is that this screen can be infinitely adjusted between 0 and 45 degrees for easy operation. When you retract the armrest, the screen will also automatically retract.

Behind the rear central armrest, there is a thermoelectric cooler, and upon opening the lid, there are two Type-C charging ports, one of which also features an ambient light. When you open the middle armrest cover, you'll find a storage compartment, which is lined with velvet, and at the front, it conceals a 50W wireless charging fast-charging panel, offering a complete set of functions.

Lastly, there is the in-car laser projector that everyone has already seen on the AITO M9.

For this Enjoy S9, both the screen and projector switches can be operated on the central armrest screen. This small screen likely uses Harmony OS 4 and can be connected with Huawei smartphones for screen mirroring. If you don't have a Huawei phone, the main function is to play videos, which can be projected by swiping up with three fingers.Just in a normal sitting position, after turning on the projector, it will be noticed that the projection distance of the Xiangjie S9 is relatively close. At this time, the projection image's position and size can be adjusted through the armrest screen, which is convenient for the rear passengers to use.

It is also worth mentioning that this time, the Xiangjie S9, because it has fully electric rear sunshades, skylight sunshades, and rear window sunshades, can initiate a cinema mode with just one touch. Once activated, all the rear sunshades will automatically close, creating a completely dark environment for video playback, and the atmosphere is instantly set.

05

Luxury-level spatial experienceRegarding the space of the Xiangjie S9, many people must be curious about what the space would be like with such a low drag design and a vehicle height of less than 1.49 meters.

In terms of the front-row space, taking my 174cm height as a reference, after proper adjustment, there are two fist-sized gaps between the head and the glass skylight, and about one fist and three fingers from the ceiling, which means there is no feeling of being cramped. Moreover, the view is quite suitable; although the hood feels slightly high, there is no issue with the low upper edge of the windshield as seen in the ET5.

For the rear-row experience, the 3050mm wheelbase is also not a problem. According to Hongmeng's Smart Travel, the cabin space of 3460mm is comparable to the long-wheelbase versions of the 56E series. In actual experience, since the passenger seat can be adjusted from the rear, the rear knee space can vary from about three fists to two fists and three fingers, and the passenger seat space does not suffer too much. It's important to note that due to the presence of a small table and a footrest on the passenger side, the entire seat is quite thick, and the space arrangement is somewhat affected.

As for the rear seating position, the right rear main seat has a total of 12-way electric adjustments, including 2-way electric headrests and 4-way electric leg rests, ensuring that passengers can find the most comfortable seating position. Although there might be a slight lack of support for the thighs, it's not a significant issue. Additionally, the designers have made certain hollows at the bottom of the front seats, allowing for a more comfortable foot extension, enhancing the seating comfort.

In terms of rear headroom, due to the adjustable seat posture, there is still a distance of nearly two fists from the top of the head to the glass skylight, which is quite good, provided the seating is comfortable.At a vehicle height of 1.49 meters, the rear cabin space of the Xiangjie S9 can be said to be very competitive among pure electric luxury sedans, and it is on par with "oil-to-electric" products.

06

Jia Shi Summary

In fact, although this experience article on the Xiangjie S9 is already quite long, there are still many details that have not been mentioned. For example, Huawei has upgraded HUAWEI SOUND this time, bringing the HUAWEI SOUND SUPERIOR series audio system that not only has 25 speakers and a star ring diffuser but also a brand new turbo super bass unit. The volume of the bass unit has been reduced from 30L to 5L, providing more space for the rear cabin. Additionally, the newly upgraded automotive-grade projection system has been improved in terms of heat dissipation, stability, and wide color gamut, among other aspects, which will not be elaborated on one by one.

The Xiangjie S9 did not disclose the chassis configuration this time, only mentioning that it uses the Huawei Tuling chassis and will be the first to carry the Huawei ADS 3.0 smart driving system. In terms of powertrain, there will be a single-motor 227kW rear-wheel-drive version and a dual-motor 385kW all-wheel-drive version.According to Huawei, the Xiangjie S9 is positioned to compete with the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7 Series, and Audi A8L in terms of interior space, product power, and ride comfort, all of which are benchmarked against large flagship sedans. However, in terms of exterior dimensions, it adheres to the long-wheelbase 56E standard, which also takes into account the needs of the mainstream market. After all, the executive luxury sedan segment where 56E is located still has a monthly sales volume close to 40,000 units in the Chinese market. As long as the Xiangjie S9 can capture a quarter of that, it would be the best-selling pure electric sedan.

In reality, how many units the Xiangjie S9 can sell depends on how much faith you have in Huawei. For instance, when the Enovate M9 was launched, no one would have thought that this mid-to-large size SUV with an average price of over 500,000 yuan could become the top-selling product in its price range, nor would anyone believe that the order volume of this 500,000 yuan SUV could exceed 100,000 units, but in fact, Huawei achieved it.

Therefore, the Xiangjie S9 already has all the ingredients for success:

1. Size category; 2. Configuration experience; 3. Space is not inferior; 4. Huawei's brand appeal; 5. Huawei's distribution channels.Moreover, the social premium of purchasing Huawei is not weaker than that of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or Audi; it might even be stronger.

Now the only question is, how to persuade the middle class to buy an executive luxury sedan priced between 450,000 to 550,000 yuan without the need for a fuel tank?