Tech Giants: Starting from Bankrupt Companies

236: Chapter 236 H7’s ”Ultimate Form”The demonstration continued.

Zhou Qingyu opened the rear car door and invited an audience member on stage to experience the ”aviation seats.”

It was a European media reporter, and his eyes widened when he sat in the back row.

The seats were not simply wrapped in leather, but were an entire system: 16-way electric adjustment, massage functions with eight modes (kneading, tapping, wave, stretching...), three-level adjustable ventilation and heating, and a leg rest that could extend to fully support the thighs.

Even more exaggerated was that after the center armrest was lowered, it integrated:

An 8-inch touchscreen to control the seats, air conditioning, and entertainment system

A wireless charging pad

A pop-up small table

A 5-liter capacity car refrigerator (they actually took out chilled champagne during the demonstration)

”This is a business class experience,” the reporter said to the camera. ”No, first class.”

Zhou Qingyu smiled. ”We internally call it a ’mobile office.’ Because true luxury isn’t about stacking configurations, but about allowing users to work and rest efficiently and comfortably in the car.”

The price appeared on the big screen again: 550,000 yuan.

This price sat right below the Mercedes-Benz E-Class hybrid (680,000 yuan) and the BMW 5 Series plug-in hybrid (650,000 yuan), yet the configuration and performance were at least one level higher.

The person in charge of the Mercedes-Benz booth—Global Sales Director Hans Müller—stood up immediately upon seeing this price and left the Red Flag press conference venue.

He needed to report to headquarters immediately: the Chinese competitor was no longer catching up, but redefining the pricing system for luxury hybrid sedans.

The third H7 drove slowly onto the stage.

The car body had a special ”Star Flame Silver” coating that shimmered with a blue-purple luster as the angle changed under the lights.

The wheels featured a brand-new low-drag design, almost completely enclosed, with the Red Flag emblem in the center rotating slowly—that was the exposed part of the in-wheel motor.

”Red Flag H7 pure electric version, priced at 650,000 yuan,” Zhou Qingyu said, then paused. ”But before announcing the parameters, I would like to invite a special guest on stage.”

From the side of the stage, Gu Yanting walked up.

This CEO of Spark Battery Company was wearing a black suit today and holding a transparent display box in his hand.

Inside the box was the semi-solid state battery that had been subjected to the gunshot test yesterday.

The bullet hole was clearly visible.

”Many people asked, is that battery real?” Gu Yanting opened the box and took out the battery. ”Now I can tell everyone—not only is it real, but it is currently installed in this H7 pure electric version off-stage.”

He held the battery up high to let the camera get a close-up.

The battery material around the bullet hole had burn marks, but the structure was intact, with no leakage and no smoke.

”Everyone can touch it with your hands,” Gu Yanting actually walked to the front row of the audience while holding the battery. ”Feel it; this is something that can change the world.”

A few bold audience members actually reached out to touch the edge of the bullet hole, then showed expressions of disbelief.

”It’s hard... but the temperature is normal.”

”No leakage, really none.”

”How is this possible...”

Gu Yanting returned to the stage and put the battery back into the display box: ”This battery has gone through four tests: gunshot, puncture, compression, and high temperature, and passed them all. And now, its mass-produced version has an energy density reaching 380 Wh/kg, which is 1.8 times that of current mainstream ternary lithium batteries.”

The big screen displayed the parameters of the H7 pure electric version:

Dual permanent magnet synchronous motors, total power 380 horsepower, peak torque 720 N·m

Zero to 100 km/h acceleration: 4.3 seconds

Top speed: 230 km/h

Battery capacity: 110 kWh

CLTC combined range: 1200 km

Charging speed: 80% charge in 15 minutes (range increased by 600 km), full charge in 30 minutes

But the most shocking part was not these numbers.

Zhou Qingyu pulled up the live broadcast feed—while the press conference was ongoing, at 7:00 AM, an H7 pure electric version was driving from Shenzhen to Guangzhou, with a live-streamed range test throughout the entire journey.

The screen was divided into three parts:

The left side was the in-car view, with the driver (a professional racer) driving normally

The middle was a follow-shot of the vehicle’s exterior

The right side was a close-up of the dashboard, showing the real-time range

At departure, the indicated range was 1200 km.

After driving 100 km, the indicated remaining range was 1098 km (actual consumption 102 km).

After driving 200 km, the indicated remaining range was 998 km

By the time the press conference reached the end of the H7 segment, the car had already traveled 300 km, and the indicated remaining range was still 908 km.

The actual range achievement rate exceeded 100%.

”Our range rating is conservative,” Zhou Qingyu laughed. ”In actual use, many users can achieve over 1300 km.”

Then he dropped the final bombshell: ”All H7 pure electric versions come standard with an L3 autonomous driving system. However, the hardware reserves space for an L4 upgrade—after an OTA update next year, you can pay to unlock higher-level autonomous driving features.”

650,000 yuan, L3 autonomous driving, 1200 km range, semi-solid state battery.

This combination made the Tesla Model S Plaid (priced at 1.05 million yuan, range 637 km) look like a product from a previous era.

The live stream chat was no longer discussing, but celebrating:

”Tesla can withdraw from China.”

”BBA’s electrification is a joke.”

”I announce that from today, Red Flag is the new benchmark for luxury electric vehicles.”

”Let’s crowdfund an award for Mr. Zhou; he deserves it.”

In the front VIP area, the expressions of the three German automotive leaders were increasingly grave.

They knew Red Flag would have heavy-hitting products before they came, but they didn’t expect it to be this heavy—this wasn’t product iteration, this was category slaughter.

Audi CEO Duesmann whispered to his assistant: ”Contact headquarters immediately; we need to re-evaluate the pricing strategy for the A. If we still set it at 750,000 yuan as originally planned, we will die a very ugly death.”

BMW Chairman Zipse was more direct: ”Notify the Chinese joint venture; increase the terminal discount for the 5 Series hybrid from 80,000 to 120,000 yuan. Clear the inventory, immediately, right now.”

And Mercedes-Benz President Källenius had already taken out an encrypted satellite phone and called the Stuttgart headquarters directly: ”We need to convene an emergency board meeting. The progress speed of the Chinese competitor is three years faster than our most pessimistic prediction.”

On stage, Zhou Qingyu looked at the audience’s reaction, complex emotions welling up in his heart.

Three years ago, he was still at Volkswagen Group, participating in formulating the market strategy for China. Back then, when German automotive executives discussed Chinese brands, the words they used were ”low-cost imitation,” ”low-to-mid-end market,” and ”limited threat.”

But today, he stood here, using his products to make those former teachers feel a real threat.

”The H7 is just the beginning,” Zhou Qingyu said into the microphone, with a hint of imperceptible excitement in his voice. ”Next, we are going to redefine another category—the SUV.”