Sales rank first in the world for 7 consecutive years -
new energy vehicles are expected to accelerate growth.
Our reporter Liu Jin
In 2021, my country's new energy vehicle industry will develop rapidly, with sales of 3.521 million vehicles, ranking first in the world for seven consecutive years, with a market share of 13.4%.
Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, described the development trend of new energy vehicles in 2021 as "like winter wheat encountering spring rain".
Entering 2022, more expectations are placed on new energy vehicles, and 5 million vehicles have become a new target.
In the new year, the new energy vehicle industry must maintain resilience, strive to make breakthroughs, and strive to turn this expectation into reality.
Strive to break through the mid-market
Starting from March 2021, the monthly sales of new energy vehicles in my country will exceed 200,000 units, 300,000 units in August, 400,000 units in November, and 530,000 units by December.
Fu Bingfeng believes that after more than ten years of cultivation, strong policies, corporate innovation, and deepening consumer awareness have formed a synergy to promote the development of new energy vehicles.
With more and more products, more mature core technologies and stronger consumer acceptance, coupled with the help of intelligent networking, the field of new energy vehicles has grown rapidly.
The continuous enrichment of products is an important reason for the new high sales of new energy vehicles.
"In the Chinese market, new energy models are extremely rich, covering all models of traditional fuel vehicles." Ouyang Minggao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that the most commendable and characteristic small electric vehicles are popular among the people and surpass fuel vehicles. The advantage is also the most obvious.
All aspects of the performance of small electric vehicles can fully meet the needs of consumers.
Models represented by Wuling Hongguang MINIEV have set off a consumption boom in the low-end market, and companies represented by Tesla and NIO have also driven consumers' enthusiasm for high-end new energy vehicles to continue to rise.
In both high-end and low-end markets, new energy vehicles have opened up and achieved good sales.
However, in the mid-end market, which should account for the highest proportion of sales, new energy vehicles have been slow to achieve a major breakthrough. This hourglass-type consumption structure is contrary to the spindle-type consumption structure of the traditional automobile market.
The reason is that the penetration of this market is the most difficult.
"The mid-end consumer market represented by A-class cars is the most difficult to do." As Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Automobile Association said, consumers of high-end new energy vehicles are not so price-sensitive; and related models in the low-end market are also Different driving ranges can be introduced for different needs to balance the vehicle price.
In the mid-end market, consumers pay high attention to the cost-effectiveness of vehicles, and the models cannot reduce the driving range too much, which makes it difficult for these vehicles to compete with traditional fuel vehicles in terms of cost-effectiveness.
However, the mid-end consumer market is the main consumer market for many products, especially automobiles, and it is also a key factor for whether new energy vehicles can continue to maintain rapid growth.
Entering the stage of rapid development of electrification, small and medium-sized cities and rural areas will become the flashpoint of my country's new energy vehicle market and an important part of the market increment.
In this context, the importance of the mid-end consumer market has become increasingly prominent.
In 2022, companies such as Xiaomi, Niu Chuang, Qingcheng Times, and Box Cars will also join the ranks of new car-making forces.
According to incomplete statistics, various car companies will launch a total of 90 electrified models in 2022, and new energy vehicles will usher in a new year of products.
While the competition in the new energy vehicle market is becoming more and more intense, the mid-end market is expected to achieve breakthroughs.
Efforts to relieve "energy supplement anxiety"
The rapid development of new energy vehicles requires both product support and continuous optimization of the use environment.
In particular, it should be noted that after the deep breakthrough in the technical field, the number of new energy vehicles has increased rapidly, and consumers' "range anxiety" about new energy vehicles in the past has turned to "replenishment anxiety".
"Charging difficulty" has become a bottleneck restricting the rapid development of new energy vehicles.
At present, the number of new energy vehicles in my country has increased to 7.84 million, accounting for 2.6% of the total number of vehicles in my country and about half of the total number of new energy vehicles in the world.
According to the latest data disclosed by the National Development and Reform Commission, at present, there are 810,000 public charging piles in the country, of which the scale of public charging piles in the top ten regions such as Guangdong and Shanghai accounts for more than 70%, while the construction of charging infrastructure in counties and towns is insufficient.
There are 13,800 expressway charging piles, mainly concentrated in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei-Shandong, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and other regions, and have not yet achieved full coverage.
Zhu Huarong, the rotating chairman of the China Automobile Association and chairman of Changan Automobile, said that the rapid growth of the new energy vehicle market has put forward new requirements for the optimization of the layout of charging and replacement facilities and the improvement of charging efficiency.
We need to re-optimize charging facilities and speed up the resolution of user convenience needs.
This is not only a problem of charging pile layout, but also a problem of charging efficiency.
The government, auto companies and charging companies need to work together to solve the problem.
The national level has taken the lead in introducing policies to support the construction of supporting infrastructure for new energy vehicles.
On January 21, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments issued two documents in succession, proposing to vigorously promote new energy vehicles, gradually cancel the purchase restrictions of new energy vehicles in various places; promote the standardized and orderly development of charging facilities, and accelerate the construction and installation of charging facilities in residential communities. .
Among them, the "Implementation Opinions on Further Improving the Service Support Capability of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure" proposes that by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan", my country's electric vehicle charging support capacity will be further improved, forming a moderately advanced, well-balanced, intelligent and efficient charging infrastructure. The system can meet the charging needs of more than 20 million electric vehicles.
"my country's new energy vehicles have entered a new stage of accelerated development, but they are also facing problems such as increasing international competition pressure and stabilizing the industrial chain and supply chain." Guo Shougang, deputy director of the first department of equipment industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that in 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will speed up charging and replacing batteries. Infrastructure construction, continue to carry out the pilot work of new energy vehicles to the countryside and battery swap mode.
"It is hoped that localities will introduce more preferential policies for parking, charging and other usage links, optimize vehicle purchase restrictions, and create a good environment for promoting new energy vehicle consumption."
Efforts to improve cost performance
In the context of clear end consumer demand, some factors that affect the sales of new energy vehicles are changing, such as the decline in subsidies for new energy vehicles, the continuous rise in raw material prices, insurance reform, and the tightening of preferential policies for after-sales service, which have affected The "variable" of the new energy vehicle market trend.
The increase in raw material prices and the subsidy decline have led to a significant increase in consumer purchase costs in the short term.
A few days ago, four national ministries and commissions issued the "Notice on Improving the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles".
According to the notice, in 2022, the subsidy standard for new energy vehicles will be reduced by 30% on the basis of 2021.
Many new energy vehicle brands immediately raised their prices, some only increased the subsidy and some took into account the increase in raw material costs, and the highest increase was as high as 20,000 yuan.
Are new energy vehicles with rising prices still competitive enough?
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Vehicle Market Information Association, believes that the scale of the new energy vehicle market is still rapidly expanding, and the expansion of the scale will inevitably bring about cost improvements, so this round of new energy vehicle price increases will not continue too much. Long.
Auto companies are also optimistic about the decline in subsidies.
Zhu Huarong said that only when a product is profitable can it be truly commercialized and sustainable.
2022 is the last year for the implementation of the new energy vehicle subsidy policy. As the subsidy policy is about to be fully withdrawn, the market competition will be more sufficient, and the pace of survival of the fittest will be accelerated.
Insurance reform and tightening of after-sales services may increase the cost of use for consumers.
On December 27, 2021, the first batch of new energy vehicle exclusive insurance was officially launched on the new energy vehicle insurance trading platform.
Some Tesla owners reported that the same Tesla Model Y, after adopting the exclusive insurance for new energy vehicles, the insurance cost increased by as much as 80%.
After hearing the news, many people shouted that "the oil money saved has paid for the insurance premium".
In fact, after the insurance adjustment, the premiums for high-end electric vehicles have risen significantly.
Some industry experts estimate that after nearly 80% of new energy vehicles are insured with car damage insurance and three-way insurance with exclusive terms, the premiums will remain the same or decrease under the same conditions.
At the same time, the price of cars below 250,000 yuan will not increase the insurance premium.
At present, car companies have begun to adapt to the new insurance system.
The relevant person in charge of WM Motor said that in the case of flat or declining insurance premiums, users have a service guarantee that is more suitable for new energy vehicles, which is good for users and promotes the development of the new energy vehicle industry.
After the introduction of relevant terms and rules, Weimar has begun to assist users to enjoy the policy protection as soon as possible.
Cui Dongshu said that the rise in new energy vehicle insurance premiums makes new energy vehicles seem uneconomical, resulting in the phenomenon of being affordable and unaffordable, which is not conducive to the promotion of new energy vehicles.
He suggested that car companies can establish their own types of insurance, the industry should have more accurate insurance calculations, and the state should support reasonable subsidies for insurance costs.
The new "variable" does not change the general trend.
China Automobile Association and other agencies predict that my country's new energy vehicle production and sales are expected to exceed 5 million in 2022, and the 2025 new energy vehicle sales target of 5 million will be completed ahead of schedule, which also shows that my country's new energy vehicle The rapid development will far exceed expectations. .
Our reporter Liu Jin