Shiyan, China News Network, April 4 Topic: The new energy transformation road of Shiyan in "Checheng": a "vigorous upward spirit"

Written by Zhang Qianlong

Shiyan City, Hubei Province, known as the "car city", has been in the spring and autumn of the new energy automobile industry since the beginning of the new energy automobile industry in 2013. As an important production town of new energy vehicles, local residents have a strong sense of green and low-carbon, and as a result, the new energy transformation has also been smoothly promoted.

Tian Ye is driving a new energy vehicle Photo by Zhang Qianlong

In the past ten years, what impact has the new energy transformation of "Car City" brought to the lives of ordinary individuals? In the future, where should the local new energy vehicle industry go?

Field charging new energy vehicles Photo by Zhang Qianlong

"Understanding" of the tide of the times

In the Wudang Mountains at the end of March, the spring snow melts and the golden dome towers into the sea of clouds. "It's rare to have such a good season, climbing mountains, and exercising." During the cherry blossom season, the field often drives out with his family and travels. But 3 years ago, it was unimaginable to him.

Tian Ye, 40 years old this year, lives in Zhangwan District, Shiyan City, and he likes to take his family on road trips in his spare time. However, this is not easy to achieve when he drives a conventional oil car. Tian Ye works at a local depot that is about 25 kilometers away, and fuel money has become an important expense for the family.

With the popularity of changing oil trucks for trams, in 2021, the field, which has been driving oil trucks for 6 years, began to have plans to change cars.

There are many new energy vehicle brands, and Tian Ye has seen it on the Internet, so he simply set his sights on local enterprises. Counting the subsidies of more than 1,5 yuan and the exemption of purchase tax at that time, Tian Ye only used more than <>,<> yuan to bring the car home.

After switching to new energy vehicles, the monthly commuting cost of the Tian Ye family has been greatly reduced. Today, he has also installed charging piles in his home, and the unit also has charging piles, and the monthly electricity bill is only about 200 yuan. Tian Ye revealed that in addition to explicit fuel money, it also reduces a lot of hidden expenses, such as maintenance fees, and new energy vehicles have much less pressure than traditional oil vehicles in this regard. The car model is small and parking is much easier. After using new energy vehicles in the field, relatives and friends who had been watching before also chose to buy them.

Tian Ye has been engaged in automobile production for more than 20 years and has a deep understanding of the tide of the times. For him, new energy vehicles are an industry "full of vigorous vitality", and the car companies he chooses often hold activities such as self-driving tours and self-service barbecues, and the cultural heritage of new energy vehicle companies will tend to be more young and free than traditional car companies.

After speaking, Tian Ye drove the car to the charging pile, removed the charging gun, plugged it into the charging port, and it was charged in more than half an hour. "It's pretty fast!" Tian Ye said that now a scientific research team said that a 10-minute full charge can be achieved in the future, and if it can be realized, it will undoubtedly accelerate the promotion of new energy vehicles.

Production screen of Shiyan new energy vehicle enterprises (data map) Photo courtesy of Shiyan Economic Development District Rong Media Center

A kind of "upward vitality"

In a new energy vehicle enterprise in the Economic Development Zone of Shiyan City, every 2 minutes, a pure electric passenger car rolls off the production line, and after the vehicle passes the quality inspection, it will be sent to the logistics transfer center warehouse to queue up for loading, sent to Shanghai for loading, and finally exported to Europe.

Walking into the production workshop, several employees in the quality experience hall, through skill training, feel the common faults of automobiles, and think about ways to avoid them. Turning the corner, you will be greeted by the staff lounge, the Wall of Honor, the Dragon and Snake List, the Star of the Month... Various cultural activities are posted on the walls, and employees sit around and talk to each other after work.

"The current lounge is only the first phase, and we are planning the second phase." Wang Lasong, the head of the company's final assembly workshop, used to produce traditional oil trucks before switching to the new energy automobile industry.

Talking about the two different experiences, he said frankly that new energy vehicle companies show an "upward vitality", which can be clearly felt in cultural construction. "It can let people see a relatively clear future, and the development trend of the industry determines the mental outlook of employees." Wang Lasong said with a smile.

Wang Lasong's enterprise is a microcosm of the development of local new energy vehicles. In order to enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises, the local government actively cultivates innovative, composite and high-level technical skills talents, while making efforts to "how to retain talents", and the construction of corporate culture is an important part of it, which also injects a steady stream of vitality into local new energy vehicle enterprises.

Aerial photo of Shiyan new energy vehicle enterprises (data map) Photo courtesy of Shiyan Economic Development District Rong Media Center

What the future holds

On March 3, the 16 Sino-foreign Entrepreneurs Chegu Forum was held in Wuhan. The "2023 Automotive Brand Communication Influence Index Report" released during the forum pointed out that new energy vehicles have become the main driving force for the growth of China's automobile market.

At present, the development of new energy vehicles in China still has problems such as insufficient innovation support and imperfect infrastructure construction, and the charging time and cruising range problems that users are most worried about also need to be solved.

Speaking of the construction of charging infrastructure, Jin Qiang, secretary of the party group and director of the Shiyan Economic and Information Bureau, said that the city will accelerate the construction of charging infrastructure in accordance with the principle of "scientific layout, moderate advance, suitable station, suitable pile, and vehicle pile". Build a batch of DC fast charging piles in existing parking lots with conditions. New residential parking spaces, renovation of old residential areas, large public buildings with parking lots, social public parking lots, etc., should 100% build charging infrastructure or reserve construction and installation conditions.

In order to seize a new highland in the development of the new energy vehicle industry, Shiyan City has established a joint conference system for new energy vehicles and intelligent networked vehicles, formulated and issued plans such as the Notice on Printing and Distributing the Action Plan for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles in Shiyan City (2022-2024), and issued several policies such as "Several Policies for Shiyan City to Support a New Round of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Transformation" to support the transformation of new energy from various aspects such as finance, taxation, technological transformation, environmental protection, and plant relocation.

Jin Qiang said that in addition to retaining part of the emergency protection of traditional fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles that cannot meet the demand for use, all new and updated buses will use new energy vehicles, basically realizing the new energy of public transport. At the same time, the city encourages the taxi industry to use new energy vehicles, and if the city's cruise taxis reach the renewal period, in principle, new energy vehicles will be used instead, and urban cruise taxis will continue to promote the use of new energy vehicles integrating charging and battery replacement.

Nowadays, the pattern of "both business and ride, and equal emphasis on oil and electricity" in the automobile industry in Shiyan City has basically taken shape. In 2022, Shiyan City will produce a total of 10,6 new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 79.7%, accounting for 36.18% of Hubei Province's new energy vehicle production. At present, the number of new energy vehicles in the city has exceeded 1,6, which can reduce carbon emissions by more than 1,<> tons per year.

"In the future, the development of Shiyan's new energy vehicle service industry will also enter a new track." Talking about the prospect of Shiyan's new energy vehicle transformation, Xiao Juntao, a professor at Hubei Institute of Automotive Technology, said that Shiyan will use the vehicle monitoring platform of vehicle enterprises to fully tap automotive data and applications, drive the precision and efficiency of automotive aftermarket services, promote the extension of the value chain into a new track, and the aftermarket such as automobile display, logistics, finance, insurance, second-hand cars, and maintenance will also be rapidly developed.

Aerial photograph of Shiyan (data map) Photo courtesy of Shiyan City Economic Development District Rong Media Center

Xiao Juntao said that with the increase of national support for new energy vehicles, the green and low-carbon development of Shiyan automobile industry will also reach a new level, green manufacturing will be vigorously promoted, and a number of national and provincial automobile manufacturing green factories, green parks, green supply chain management demonstration enterprises will be created. The high-end, intelligent, connected, green and low-carbon development of the automotive industry will reach a new level.

It is reported that in the next step, Shiyan City will fully promote the transformation and upgrading of leading industries to new energy and intelligent networked vehicles, promote the promotion and application of new energy vehicles in the public sector and the construction of supporting infrastructure, promote the high-quality development of the city's new energy vehicle industry, and help the construction of the "green and low-carbon development demonstration zone". (End)