"ET5's intention is very clear, to enter the mainstream mid-level sedan market, to differentiate the existing mainstream high-end brands and leading smart electric vehicle brands in this market share." On December 19, Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of Weilai Automobile, said in an interview with Sohu Technology and other media.
The ET5 is a mid-size intelligent electric coupe released by NIO on NIO Day 2021, and is the fifth model released by NIO after EC6, ES6, ES8 and ET7. Qin Lihong revealed that the number of orders on the first day of ET5's release was relatively high, exceeding expectations.
Speaking of the market positioning of this new car, Qin Lihong said that ET5 is compared with bmw 3 series and Tesla Model 3, mainly to grab the fuel vehicle market. "The market share of electric vehicle brands is more than ten percent, while the fuel vehicle market is eighty or ninety percent." At the same price, the ET5 zero to 100 km/h acceleration of 4.3 seconds, 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos sound system, etc. are all suspension-level configurations, and the intention is very clear. ”
Qin Lihong believes that the current pattern of passenger cars in China is simple, and the total amount has not changed much. "Changing the BBA to the NBA is our goal, it's a short-term competition. The giants of traditional high-end brands such as BMW and Audi are also making efforts, but so far, I still feel that we have maintained a differentiated competitive path with them, and we have not yet put on the bayonet. ”
For the judgment of the overall market, he believes that smart electric vehicles are an important development direction in the next few decades, and the entire industry is transforming in the direction of smart electric vehicles. "The track is so big and the cycle is so long, so it must require long-term investment, and all short-term speculation may not be appropriate."
Qin Lihong also said that the automotive industry is not a winner-take-all industry, it is a multi-brand, long-term coexistence, a hundred flowers in the industry, there are new brands born, there are old brands declining, there are also acquisitions, but the total number of this brand will be dozens or more. "Some people predict that there will be only 5-10 car brands in 20 years, and I don't agree."
He further mentioned that in a non-winner-take-all market, it means that it is important to bring down others who are not doing a good job of themselves. In the winner-take-all market, it is important to bring down others, subsidize, burn tens of billions of dollars to burn others down, and then build themselves. However, in the non-winner-take-all market, the normal era share of the head enterprise is about 10%. In this case, it is not more important to compare yourself with others.
For this rapidly growing market, autonomous driving as an important direction of automobile intelligence has also attracted considerable attention. The ET5 released this time is equipped with NIO's latest autonomous driving technology NAD (NIO Autonomous Driving), based on NIO's supersensitive system Aquila and supercomputing platform ADAM with 19 auxiliary driving functions as standard. The full function of NAD adopts the "monthly activation, monthly payment" service subscription model, that is, ADaaS (AD as a Service), the service fee is 680 yuan per month, and the service will be gradually provided after the completion of development verification.
Qin Lihong told Sohu Technology that Weilai has gone through three stages from assisted driving to automatic driving. The first stage is the assisted driving function that should be available at present, and the 19 auxiliary driving functions of ET5 are available at the time of delivery, and can continue to be iterated in the future. The second stage is the NOP Plus, which is stronger than the existing generation of NOPs and is an enhanced pilot assist function, which is not yet standard. It is understood that NOP is Niolai's advanced assisted driving, which is a function that combines assisted driving and navigation maps for route planning. The third stage is called NAD in the NIO technology route, which is also known as NIO's automatic driving.
"The biggest difference between assisted driving and autonomous driving, I think, is not in the technology itself, but in the ownership relationship, who is responsible for the accident." Qin Lihong said that the main responsibility for the vast majority of problems in the assisted driving stage is in the driver himself, because the technology is assisting the driving. When the automatic driving is turned on, the responsibility for the incident lies with the car company.
At the safety level, Qin Lihong said that for Weilai, assisted driving and automatic driving are beyond the model. The ET5's acceleration and braking performance is particularly strong, meaning it may be relatively safer in the control phase after decision-making. "Regardless of the safety strategy, the car is driving on the road, the accident is a probability, no car platform dares to say that my accident rate is 0, we dare not say, no one dares to say."
Talking about why the monthly charging method is adopted, Qin Lihong said that the NAD from selling parts to selling services, users can choose to use or not use according to the maturity level and use scenarios, so that users can choose once a month. This is different from the one-time trading nature of assisted driving in the stage of assisted driving, which is sold as a configuration and parts.
According to Qin Lihong, THE PENETRATION RATE OF NIO's 39,000-priced assisted driving system exceeds 90%, which is very popular. "I believe that when autonomous driving is turned into a service, the penetration rate will be higher, but the full occupancy rate is not necessarily high, one user uses 6 months, 8 months a year, and we don't expect everyone to use it for 12 months."
In addition, the ET5 is also equipped with exclusive automotive VR glasses, which has become an important part of the digital cockpit. Qin Lihong said that Weilai mentioned the concept of the panoramic digital cockpit and the second living room in 2017, so this is a long-term thinking, not because the concept of the meta-universe burst out, and Weilai went to rub the heat.
According to reports, ET5 to create a surround theater effect, coupled with a comfortable sitting posture, excellent sound, suitable lighting, a steady stream of power, can support the holding of VR equipment computing power distribution, glasses themselves can provide a better panoramic experience, equivalent to 6 meters away to see the 201-inch large screen, in fact, the formation of a physical scene, local mobile cinema.
Qin Lihong also specially emphasized that the VR and AR launched this time are not automatic driving auxiliary equipment, but in-car entertainment equipment, which is used by other passengers when the car is stopped or driving. "In recent years, many smart electric vehicle experiences have stayed on the size and number of screens, and we feel that the best experience is to go with the shadow, and their screens do not take up space, and the ultimate solution is VR+AR."
In terms of user services, especially in terms of charging infrastructure, Qin Lihong bluntly said that with the expansion of the user base, there is congestion and queuing at individual points, especially when the failure rate encounters a peak time point, which brings a bad user experience, but the current pressure is not particularly large.
A set of data he gave shows that NIO currently has more than 20,000 power stations per day, 773 substations in the country, with an average of 30 times per substation, while the service capacity of NIO's second-generation stations is 312 times per day, and the service capacity of the first generation station is 170 times per day, which is due to the advanced deployment of basic service facilities.
This is also largely one of the important reasons why WEILAI's gross profit margin is constantly improving, but it is not yet profitable. Weilai's previously released third-quarter financial report of this year showed that the adjusted net loss during the period was 569 million yuan, narrowing by 42.9% year-on-year and expanding by 69.7% month-on-month.
It is understood that next year, Weilai will continue to lay out the charging and replacing service network, and plans to have more than 1,300 substations, 6,000 supercharge piles and 10,000 destination charging piles nationwide, and open up more than 30 destination charging routes such as the Silk Road and Xishuangbanna Tropical Rainforest.