Shanghai (ZXZC)- Hozon Auto, a Chinese EV marque owned by Zhejiang Hozon New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., announced that its first mass-produced body–in-white of the Hozon U, rolled off the production line on October, 21 at its smart plant in Tongxiang, a county-level city, part of Jiaxing, in northern Zhejiang.

BIW (body–in-white) refers the vehicle body whose components have been welded together, being termed before painting and before the motor, chassis sub-assemblies, or trim have been assembled in the frame structure. It is partially outfitted to highlight the safety systems fitted to the vehicle.

The Hozon U is developed and designed in accordance with C-NCPA (China-New Car Assessment Program) five-star safety standards. Its lightweight coefficient is less than 3.0. Lightweight aluminum alloy and high-strength steel (HSS) are applied to achieve the balance between lightweight car body and strong structure. Of that, HHS accounts for over 70% with more than 30% advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) and 20%-plus ultra-high-strength steel (UHHS).

Moreover, the vulnerable parts, such as A and B-pillar, the rocker panel and seats, adopt rolling forming and thermoforming parts. In addition, the interior door panels are shaped by integral laser tailor-welded blank (TWB) stamping.   

(Photo source: Hozon)

The emotional-tech all-electric SUV, with NEDC-rated range of between 550km and 660km, is developed based on fire-new all-electric HPC (high performance computing) platform. It can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 6.6s and boasts Level 2+ driver-assistance system.

The plant of Tongxiang, covering a total area of more than 266,667 square meters, has a designed annual capacity of 50,000 units for phase one stage. It features five manufacturing processes of EVs—stamping, welding, painting, assembly and packaging line. Hozon Auto’s second vehicle plant is located in Yichun, a prefecture-level city of China's Jiangxi Province, and will be completed and start production next year.

Dali Dai, the company’s senior vice president (SVP), said the facility is built on the concept of intelligence, flexibility, modularity, customization and informatization. For instance, at the welding workshop, 147 robots and 8 positioning fixtures are equipped in the main area to realize automatic production, ensuring more precise and stronger welding.