The next stop of charging | operations to crack anxiety

During this year's National Day holiday, some electric vehicle owners "charged for one hour, queued for four hours" encountered, so that many people began to be daunted about buying electric vehicles.

The anxiety of mileage and the poor experience in actual use have made the reputation of "electric daddy" sound again. Social media has created an almost one-sided negative evaluation of long-distance electric vehicle travel.

However, in reality, is the experience of using new energy vehicles really so unbearable? How can this anxiety be cracked?

The three main curses of charging piles

When it comes to the anxiety of the use of new energy vehicles, we must start from the earliest batch of pure electric vehicles.

At that time, battery technology was not yet mature, and the mileage of ordinary models was only about 150 kilometers. In the winter, it is even more bleak, and it is difficult to last more than 100 years.

However, stimulated by a car subsidy of more than 100,000 yuan, models with low battery capacity density and short mileage can also be sold. But the result is that the more you sell, the worse the reputation.

At the same time, the construction of infrastructure such as charging piles is also extremely imperfect. Not only is it difficult to install piles at home, but public charging piles are almost invisible, and it is difficult to use them when they find them.

An executive of BAIC BJEV once complained to the author: "Don't talk about ordinary consumers, I want to install charging piles at home, and I have been grinding with the property for more than a year, and I have not installed them." ”

At that time, many public charging piles were regarded as performance projects and were installed under the task of being assigned. Only pursue quantitative growth, regardless of whether it is convenient for actual use or not. Many charging piles are installed under overpasses or in places where it is inconvenient to park. Many parking lots with charging piles installed, in order to reduce the maintenance pressure of charging piles, simply lock the parking lot.

"Can't see, can't find, can't use", has become the three major spells of the charging pile. The imperfection of charging facilities has made the use experience of early new energy vehicles even worse, and has also created a bad reputation as "electric daddy".

However, from the perspective of the ten-year history of the development of new energy vehicles, today's new energy vehicles have basically bid farewell to anxiety.

At present, the more mainstream pure electric vehicles on the market have a cruising range of 450 to 600 kilometers, and some long-lasting products can reach an endurance of 600 to 800 kilometers. This is basically the same as the cruising range achieved by ordinary fuel vehicles with a tank of fuel.

In 2022, CAR companies such as GAC E-An and NIO will also launch models with a cruising range of more than 1,000 kilometers. In addition, the plug-in hybrid models vigorously promoted by various domestic independent brands this year have a cruising range of more than 1,000 kilometers.

The increase in mileage has made consumers less and less anxious about range, and there are now basically no more anxious EV owners. Most of the anxious are onlookers who haven't yet bought an electric car.

What can support the confidence of electric vehicle owners is not only the development of battery technology and the improvement of the quality of electric vehicles, but more importantly, the improvement of energy supplementary infrastructure.

After all, no matter how long the mileage is, there will always be a time when it will be exhausted, and the replenishment facilities and solutions will become extremely important.

With the expansion of the electric vehicle market, the construction and operation of charging piles have also begun to advance in the direction of marketization. Charging pile companies such as special call, star charging, and small orange charging came into being.

The advantages of market-oriented operation, so that the construction of charging piles around the layout of users, coupled with the interconnection and other information technology means, charging piles have completely got rid of the dilemma of "invisible, can not be found, can not be used".

According to the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, as of the first half of this year, the total number of charging facilities in the country has exceeded 2 million, of which the public charging piles that provide services for social vehicles are also close to 1 million.

The state has also issued a number of policies requiring property companies to cooperate with car owners in installing private charging piles. At present, at least in the north, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other mega-cities, charging is no longer anxious.

Major car companies have also successively introduced 800-volt high-voltage overcharge technology, which can greatly improve the charging speed and shorten the charging time. Charging for 5 minutes and adding 200 km of battery life will not be difficult.

However, since the infrastructure has become so common and the battery and vehicle technology are becoming more and more perfect, in 2021, why is there still the embarrassing encounter of "charging for one hour and queuing for four hours" in the "eleven" long-distance travel?

First of all, this embarrassment is bound to happen, and the most important reason is the explosive growth of "eleven" long holiday outings. Just like during the "Eleventh" period, the queues in popular scenic spots and toilets in the service area are queued, and gasoline vehicles have to queue up in the service area to refuel during the "Eleventh" holiday. There are also frequent cases of refueling for 5 minutes and queuing for 1 hour. The electric car charging queue is certainly no exception.

Of course, this is also related to the route time of travel, there are more popular routes and fewer cars on unpopular routes. For example, the author drove an electric car from Beijing to Dalian during the "Eleventh" period, only in the section from Beijing to Qinhuangdao there was congestion and queues in the service area, and after passing through Shanhaiguan and then going to Liaoning, there were not so many cars.

So, this is not a universal phenomenon. As a service area and charging pile enterprise, it is impossible to install more charging piles according to the peak demand during the "Eleventh" period. Because most of the time, the charging demand in the service area is not so large, and more installation will cause waste and loss of resources of enterprises.

However, putting aside this tidal individual phenomenon, the current charging experience is not good enough, and it is indeed a very common situation.

Relieve the anxiety of car owners by optimizing operations

With the increasing number of private new energy vehicles, the demand contradiction between charging piles and vehicles is becoming more and more obvious.

Although there is already a complete set of procedures for private installation of charging piles, for the community, the capacitance and parking spaces that can be provided are limited. Like the Beijing area, many old residential areas have difficulty installing private charging piles for owners.

And the public charging pile, although the voltage is getting higher and higher, the charging speed is getting faster and faster, but the cable of the charging gun is getting thicker and heavier, which makes many female car owners cry bitterly. Laborious can not move is secondary, because the cable is dragged on the ground for a long time, it is easy to stain clothes and pants, which is not a small trouble for female car owners.

Last year, the state also began to study and encourage another route besides charging - power exchange.

The national subsidy rules for new energy vehicles clearly state that new energy vehicles of more than 300,000 yuan will no longer enjoy subsidies, except for models with power exchange mode. This is equivalent to clarifying the state's encouragement and support for new energy vehicles in the power exchange mode.

At present, among the new energy vehicle brands that are sold privately, only Weilai adopts the power exchange model. Most of the new energy vehicles in the power exchange mode of most automobile companies are mainly invested in taxis, online car-hailing and other operational fields.

The benefits of power exchange are obvious, when the super fast charge can not really land, the power exchange can achieve rapid energy replenishment. In a few minutes, you can replace a fully charged battery, which basically equals the power-up speed of trams and gasoline cars.

Especially in the second generation of the replacement power station that Weilai has vigorously built this year, the number of battery reserves per station has increased from 5 to 13 in the first generation of replacement power stations, and the mix-and-match mode (5 100 kWh battery packs and 8 70/75 kWh battery packs) is adopted to meet the power exchange needs of different models. Up to 312 battery swaps are available in a single day.

Nio's first-generation replacement power station can only store 5 batteries, and there are often cases where vehicles need to queue up, and because of the need to lift vehicles, users must get out of the car and wait. In the winter in the north, the experience is not very good. The second-generation station optimizes the power exchange experience very well.

Of course, some people in the industry question the cost and profitability of Weilai's construction of replacement power stations. This is a "chicken and egg or egg or egg chicken" question. When the power exchange infrastructure is built well enough, and differentiation and high barriers are formed, there will naturally be more cars sold. When enough cars are sold, the profit problem of changing power stations is naturally solved.

At present, WEILAI has built more than 600 substations nationwide.

Companies that are optimistic about this business model are not only Weilai.

In April this year, oil giant Sinopec announced that it would build 5,000 intelligent charging and replacement power station integrated stations by 2025. Among them, a number of substations cooperating with NIO have been built, and another power exchange operator, Aodong New Energy, has also signed a contract with Sinopec.

Charging and swapping are not a pair of contradictions. Charging is currently mostly self-service, and power exchange is still mostly manned, not only fast, but also better experience.

So, how to solve this tidal demand similar to the "eleventh" long holiday travel mentioned above? At present, the better answer is: rely on operation, connect energy into a network.

Charging pile enterprises emphasize construction and light operation, which is the root cause of poor charging experience. To strengthen operations, we need to explore from the following aspects.

On the one hand, whether it is possible to predict the travel of electric vehicles during the peak period of the "Eleventh" through advance research and big data in previous years, and according to the forecast situation, reasonable dispatch of mobile plus trams to serve in the service area that is easy to queue. This is equivalent to temporarily adding a few more charging piles.

On the other hand, whether there is someone to maintain order, while the waiting car owner is triaged to inform the next service area charging station or the charging pile adjacent to the high-speed port, how far away and how powerful.

The last trick can be adjusted using price leverage. During the "Eleventh" period, the instant noodles in the service area can be 10 yuan a bag, and the oil price can also be accompanied by the market, why can't the charging price float?

Energy integrated service station to create a "charging scene"

The construction of infrastructure has been very strong, and the problem of how to sink and utilize is behind it.

Many people are talking about who is the mainstream at the end of charging and replacing. I think that charging is still the mainstream model for two reasons: First, the construction is simple. If conditions permit, everyone can install charging piles; the second is standard passage, resource sharing, interconnection.

Therefore, charging piles are the best way to decentralize energy supply.

Although the current experience of the replacement power station is better than charging, after all, it is still the model of the previous gas station, and there is a certain construction threshold, which requires the owner to drive to a certain station for refueling.

Mobile charging vehicles are also a flexible way of energy supply, which is feasible as an emergency method, but the cost is relatively high.

Therefore, the author judges that the decentralized energy replenishment method must be the mainstream model in the future.

Last year, the "New Energy Automobile Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" issued by the General Office of the State Council pointed out that the construction of "light storage, charging and discharging" multi-functional integrated stations was encouraged. Since the beginning of this year, integrated energy service stations that integrate functions such as slow charging, fast charging, and power exchange, and increase retail and service business are also landing.

Why is the model of integrated service plus power station so much needed?

First of all, at present, in the minds of consumers, the charging experience is not good, and this impression needs to be reversed. This requires the construction of some medium-sized, strongly operated, manned and even comprehensive service stations that can be powered on behalf of customers. The owner of the car drives here, someone helps you recharge, upstairs is a convenience store, a café, can provide leisure services. Even if the charging time is longer, it makes people have something to do. Like everyone says haidilao service is good, but it also needs to queue, sometimes waiting for an hour or two. But it can provide snacks, board games, nail art and shoe shine services while queuing up, which enhances the service experience.

Secondly, the charging scene is more suitable for diversification than refueling. Refueling takes only five minutes, while charging takes at least half an hour, and the owner has enough time for leisure activities and other consumption.

This kind of energy integrated service station mainly plays a demonstration effect, so that ordinary consumers feel that charging can be a beautiful thing. The more popular facilities must be distributed unattended charging piles. However, the charging pile should have the technology of interconnection, the convenience of remote operation through the App, and the professional and effective operation and maintenance.