01

Exactly 30 years ago, someone suggested that China should skip gasoline and diesel vehicles and enter the new energy era directly!

This is the farsightedness and sagacity across the ages!

02

New energy vehicles were still in concept only a decade ago. People may see electric buses running on the street, but family cars still belong to the era of 100% fuel vehicles. Young people love to go hiking in the roar of the engine produced by one foot of the accelerator. Electric vehicles are more like children's toys parked in the backyard. They are not likely to become necessary tools for adults to travel.

However, people with a clear mind know that there will be a day when the non renewable energy will run out, such as coal, oil, and many minerals.

There are hundreds of millions of cars running on the earth, and they need to drink countless gasoline every day. Not to mention the profound impact of carbon emissions brought by fuel on the environment, we will use up the limited underground oil if we spend money like burning the land. People are worried that one day they will return to the era of cattle and horses pulling cars, and the voice of energy revolution will be heard all the time.

03

China is a rising industrial country. When the United States was called the country on the tires of cars, our country was also recognized as the country of bicycles. The dense bicycles parked outside the Forbidden City wall were a microcosm of an era. Although it is still in the backward stage, scientists with foresight and sagacity see something different from ordinary people.

In 1987, Qian Xuesen, as the chairman of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, visited the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany and witnessed the endless flow of cars on the streets. He predicted that tens of millions of cars would be needed every year in China decades later, and energy problems and environmental pollution would be inevitable at that time.

Qian Xuesen is worthy of being a great scientist with a broad view of the world. With a deep vision far beyond the era and public awareness, he wrote a letter to Zou Jiahua, Vice Premier of the State Council, in 1992 after years of thinking, drawing on the experience of other countries, and combining the actual situation of domestic science and technology and industrial manufacturing, It is suggested that "China's automobile industry should skip the stage of using gasoline and diesel and directly enter the stage of new energy to reduce environmental pollution", and said: "Under this situation, we should never wait any longer. We should immediately formulate a plan for battery powered vehicles, catch up and strive to come from behind! ... So the country should organize its forces, and China has the ability to jump a step and directly enter the new era of automobiles! "

Zou Jiahua, the then Vice Premier of the State Council, replied in a timely manner to discuss the development of new energy vehicles with Qian Xuesen.

04

Qian Xuesen is deeply concerned about how to implement this strategic idea after raising questions. However, it is not possible to start implementation at a time because of its great size.

On March 14, 1993, Qian Xuesen once again put forward: "Civil vehicles must be electrified and use batteries. In the '863', we have broken through hydride and nickel electrode batteries, which are under development. Then why not immediately resolve to engage in electric vehicles and skip the stage of gasoline vehicles?"

When Qian Xuesen studied rockets in the United States, he had a forward-looking scientific vision and broad vision. His work in rocket propulsion and his contribution to the U.S. missile program during World War II were widely recognized. He laid a theoretical foundation for the space shuttle with winged rockets, which is the predecessor of the space shuttle. His research not only deeply affected the space industry of the United States, but also opened China's space dream.

When he returned to New China in the 1950s, he faced a country with few telephones, and people knew little about rocket science. But 15 years later, he supervised the launch of the first Chinese satellite into space. For decades, he has trained a new generation of scientists, and his work has laid the foundation for China to send its own people to the moon.

As time goes by, we can't help thinking that if China had implemented Qian Xuesen's proposal as a national strategy in those years, in the field of new energy, perhaps today's China would have ridden on the back of new energy vehicles.

05

In fact, the history of electric vehicles is very long, but it has gone through years of ups and downs to enter ordinary families.

As early as 1834, Thomas Davenport of the United States built the world's first electric vehicle driven by a DC motor.

In 1839, Robert Anderson of Scotland installed batteries and motors on the four-wheel carriage, and successfully transformed it into the world's first vehicle driven by electricity.

In 1881, French engineer G Trouve has assembled an electric vehicle powered by lead-acid batteries, becoming the first electric vehicle powered by rechargeable batteries in the world.

In 1886, French M A. Darracq proposed the regenerative braking technology, which was the most important invention of electric vehicles at that time. This technology greatly improved the energy efficiency of electric vehicles.

In May 1899, Belgian C The bullet head battery electric racing car "Jamais" driven by Jenatzy Contente set a record of 110km/h, becoming the first car in history with a speed of more than 100km/h.

All along, the development of electric vehicles has not stopped. In the early 1970s, the oil crisis in the Middle East quickly spread to the world, and an energy revolution followed. This oil crisis makes ordinary cars that rely on fuel for survival face new challenges for the first time.

Countries began to invest in scientific research on new energy as a national strategy. Japan's leading edge in hybrid power and the rapid rise of new energy vehicles in the United States show the consensus and active investment of people in the face of the energy crisis.

Rome was not built in a day, and the achievements of the energy revolution also went through a tortuous and turbulent process. The earliest energy sources in human history are nothing but the sun, wind and flowing water. With the development of industry and the abuse of underground resources, history seems to have played a joke on mankind. The sun, wind and flowing water will replace the achievements of the industrial revolution and become the main energy sources in the future.

Over the past century, coal, oil and natural gas still supply most of the energy in most countries of the world. However, the balance in the energy field is increasingly inclined to the position of new energy.

06

Qian Xuesen has a wide range of interests, paying close attention to social and national dynamics and technological development, and looking for possible breakthroughs. The historical perspective of new energy vehicles undoubtedly proves the intuition and judgment of a great scientist again.

However, in the historical period at that time, there were many difficulties to go beyond gasoline diesel vehicles to enter a new era. Although China's automobile development has not "skipped the gasoline vehicle" stage for various objective reasons since then, it is gratifying to note that the overall strength of China's new energy vehicle field is not lagging behind. The attention of the state and the investment of the whole society have led to the prosperity of new energy development.

It is believed that in the future, as Qian Xuesen said, China will "strive to come from behind" in the field of new energy vehicles and "directly enter the new era of automobiles".