Tesla Tao Lin: New energy vehicles will enter the stage of real competition by product strength

From December 8 to 10, the Central Economic Work Conference was held, which summarized the economic work in 2021, analyzed the current economic situation, and anchored the direction for the next step of China's economy.

Where are the opportunities and variables for the future of China's economy? How to "stabilize" and "advance", how to "break" and "stand"? Regarding 2022, many answers are waiting to be revealed.

At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, the Beijing News Shell Finance launched "Look 2022", we talked to 16 experts in various fields, around the keywords of the Central Economic Work Conference, talk about their views and judgments on china's economy.

With the conclusion of the Central Economic Work Conference, many car companies are also looking forward to the coming year around this important meeting of "carrying forward the upper and lower levels". In this context, Tesla's global vice president Tao Lin was interviewed by the Beijing News Shell financial reporter, focusing on the content of the meeting, talking about Tesla's investment in China, how Tesla can help reduce carbon emissions, the development of the automotive industry is facing supply chain pressure, and traditional car companies are increasing electrification.

Referring to carbon neutrality, Tao Lin said that in the production process, Tesla will further reduce carbon emissions through supply chain localization, material cleaning and other means. In addition, Chinese consumers have become the key driving force for the vigorous development of China's new energy vehicle market, and consumers' acceptance of pure electric vehicles is getting higher and higher, and the market potential is huge. In the new year, Tesla will continue to increase its investment in the Chinese market.

Tao Lin also said that with the strong support of the state, China's new energy automobile industry has developed rapidly. The decline of subsidies does not mark the decline in the competitiveness of new energy vehicles, but will promote the development of the industry to be more mature, faster and more stable. New energy vehicles will enter the stage of real competition by product strength. This is good for the industry as a whole, for consumers.

Tesla is inseparable from a good business environment and opening up policy

Beijing News: What feelings does the document of the Central Economic Work Conference bring to you?

Tao Lin: While I am impressed by the strong economic resilience shown by China under the century-old changes and the epidemic of the century, I have also strengthened my determination to continue to work in China's increasingly perfect business environment.

Beijing News: After studying the documents of the Central Economic Work Conference, what are Tesla's next practices and plans?

Tao Lin: I am particularly impressed by the content of expanding the high-level opening up. In the past two years, Tesla has formed an increasingly complete new energy vehicle industry chain in China, more than 90% of the parts are from China, and more than 99.9% of Tesla's employees in China are Chinese.

Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory can achieve good results, which is inseparable from China's good business environment and opening up policy, as well as excellent local employees.

In the future, Tesla will continue to increase investment in localization in China, promote more technological innovation and production process optimization, further promote the transformation of energy cleanliness, and help China achieve the "double carbon" goal as soon as possible.

Beijing News: When deploying next year's economic work, the Central Economic Work Conference proposed that "science and technology policies should be implemented in a down-to-earth manner" and a three-year action plan for the reform of the scientific and technological system should be implemented. At present, the application of technology in the automotive field is increasing, how do you see this trend? Where is Tesla's next tech battle?

Tao Lin: The automotive industry has developed for more than a hundred years, and now it has entered a new field, and the core driving force of new energy vehicles is technology. And these technological innovations are just beginning, and will bring profound changes to human life.

Automobile intelligence is an inevitable trend. In the process of car intelligence, whether it is the realization of fully autonomous driving or more complete human-vehicle interaction, or even more applications that have not been imagined today, many new underlying technologies will be used. For example, AI technology. Tesla is driving the development of smart cars through a series of underlying core technology developments, such as its own development of supercomputers and algorithms.

Tesla is not just a car manufacturing company, but also a technology company. We will continue to carry out a lot of research and development of low-level technology and technology in a down-to-earth manner.

Continue to increase investment in the Chinese market

Beijing News: How do you evaluate Tesla's development this year?

Tao Lin: Thanks to the support of all parties, Tesla has achieved good results in 2021. In terms of production capacity, Tesla has increased rapidly this year, with the highest delivery volume in previous years.

Beijing News: Can you talk in detail about Tesla's expectations and goals for the development of China in 2022?

Tao Lin: I hope that pure electric vehicles can become the choice of more consumers to buy cars. It is hoped that the new energy automobile industry can achieve more rapid and vigorous development.

Beijing News: Will Tesla continue to increase its investment in the Chinese market in 2022? Will the importance of the Chinese market be further enhanced in the future?

Tao Lin: The Shanghai Gigafactory has become Tesla's global export center and an important member of China's manufacturing "going to sea". This land of China has unlimited vitality and creativity, and we are full of confidence in China's development. In the new year, Tesla will continue to increase its investment in the Chinese market, especially in the construction of charging networks, technology research and development, etc., to help China's new energy automobile industry develop more rapidly and contribute to the early realization of the "double carbon" goal.

Supply chain pressure will continue to be faced in 2022

Beijing News: The Central Economic Work Conference also mentioned "enhancing the independent and controllable ability of the industrial chain supply chain", how do you think the current progress of the automotive industry is "strong chain replenishment"? What are the areas that need to be improved?

Tao Lin: The Supply Chain of the Chinese automotive industry in the "three electricities" of the core of electric vehicles is relatively perfect and at the forefront of the world, in addition, there are vacancies in the Chinese automotive industry in chips and semiconductors, and it is necessary to "supplement the chain" in a targeted manner.

Beijing News: So how do we achieve "chain replenishment"?

Tao Lin: "Supplementary chain" can not be achieved overnight, to achieve localization and independent substitution in stages, it can be achieved by establishing industrial alliances, encouraging foreign chip companies to put into production in China, and increasing their own research and development investment, and car companies and chip manufacturers to carry out joint research and development.

Beijing News: Will Tesla still encounter some challenges in the process of increasing production? For example, since the end of last year, the automotive industry chain is facing problems such as soaring raw material prices and chip shortages, how did Tesla cope, and how will it overcome in the future?

Tao Lin: At present, the global automotive industry has suffered from the impact of "lack of core". Tesla has also been greatly challenged. Starting from multiple dimensions such as efficient production, safe driving, and excellent experience, we strive to break through the supply dilemma by improving the vertical integration capabilities of the global supply chain and the technical reserves, including the capabilities of self-developed chips.

Beijing News: Will Tesla's models increase in price? How long do you expect the lack of cores and the soaring prices of raw materials to continue?

Tao Lin: Tesla adopts a direct operation model around the world, which avoids the channel premium to the greatest extent and gives consumers a fair price. Vehicle prices are adjusted according to raw materials and production costs.

In the context of globalization, unexpected situations such as the epidemic have led to manpower shortages, which have had a relatively large impact on the prices of chips and raw materials. In this case, enterprises at any link in the supply chain cannot be left alone, and controlling the epidemic can help chip and raw material production get back on track. Of course, supply chain problems are superimposed on many factors, and all parties need to work together to solve them.

Beijing News: At present, the position of battery factories, autonomous driving companies, and technology companies in the automotive field is becoming more and more important, and the status of OEMs and suppliers is gradually changing, how do you view the relationship between enterprises in the automotive industry in the future? What are the "lifeblood" and "soul" that OEMs must master?

Tao Lin: Under the prospect of large-scale development of electric vehicles, there is a coordinated development between OEMs and suppliers, and the increase in output will drive the maturity and improvement of the industrial chain.

Under the trend of automotive intelligence, the independent research and development of core technologies is the soul of automotive products, and only continuous innovation and iteration is fundamental. There is no shortcut to science and technology, and it requires a long process of research and development accumulation. But once the technical bottleneck is broken, it will bring every user a new experience, and even a lifestyle innovation.

Beijing News: In 2021, how is Tesla's layout in these aspects progressing?

Tao Lin: Taking Tesla as an example, Tesla has achieved more than 90% localization of the supply chain, which has also played a positive role in promoting the growth of local parts companies. Tesla's global layout can also drive these supply chain companies to enhance their international competitiveness to a certain extent.

Beijing News: The industry believes that next year (2022) will be a watershed in the new energy automobile industry. Do you agree? Why?

Tao Lin: With the strong support of the state, China's new energy automobile industry has developed rapidly. The decline of subsidies does not mark the decline in the competitiveness of new energy vehicles, but will promote the development of the industry to be more mature, faster and more stable. New energy vehicles will enter the stage of real competition by product strength. This is good for the industry as a whole, for consumers.

Car companies generally develop intelligence to form a healthy competition

Beijing News: Since the beginning of this year, international auto giants, including BBA, have increased their investment in new energy vehicles and strategic layout, how does Tesla see the challenges brought about by the electrification transformation of international auto giants such as BBA?

Tao Lin: More and more traditional car companies are moving towards electrification and intelligence, which will promote the formation of a hundred flowers and a hundred schools of thought in the automobile market, form a healthy competition, and promote the improvement of the global supply chain.

Tesla is happy to see traditional car manufacturers participate together to promote the acceleration of electrification and intelligence in the automotive industry, and jointly accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.

Beijing News: In recent years, China's independent brands have set off another round of rushing waves, especially in the field of new energy vehicles. As an industry leader, Tesla is also the benchmark and leader of domestic independent brands. In your opinion, compared with the previous high-end of independent brands, what is the difference between this rush? In your opinion, what are the opportunities and challenges facing independent brands?

Tao Lin: Independent brands need to soar with products and technologies in the new situation, and at the same time have advantages in vehicle manufacturing, supply chain, capital chain, etc., which is conducive to competition in the supply chain pressure under the influence of the epidemic.

In the context of automotive intelligence, chips, artificial intelligence, software, etc. have become the new "card neck" field. How to strengthen the original advantages and consolidate the existing market, form their own intelligent technology competitiveness, and open up new market segments is the part that needs more efforts.

Continuous carbon reduction through supply chain localization and other means

Beijing News: Regarding the carbon reduction in the Central Economic Work Conference, how does Tesla view it?

Tao Lin: The recognized path to accelerate carbon emissions in the automotive sector is to vigorously promote the transition to non-fossil energy, which is a technical challenge and the mission of the industry. We hope to resonate with the national strategy at the same frequency, continue to contribute professional strength in the field of clean energy, and make greater contributions to the early realization of China's "double carbon" goal.

Beijing News: Under the tone of "double carbon", how will Tesla exert its strength in the Chinese auto market? China's proposal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, in this regard, what is Tesla prepared to do?

Tao Lin: Tesla has brought a new pure electric travel lifestyle to Chinese consumers through pure electric vehicle products and efficient charging networks, and conveyed the green environmental protection concept of "energy saving and carbon reduction" to all parts of the country.

Tesla has always focused on reducing its carbon footprint in upstream links such as manufacturing, transportation, and supply, and further reducing carbon emissions through supply chain localization and material cleaning.

Tesla will also continue to increase its scientific and technological research and development efforts to promote the electrification and intelligence of China's automotive industry through higher quality and more cost-effective new energy vehicle products, and help China achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Strict quality control with global standards

Beijing News: Whether Tesla has a power replacement plan in the future has been very concerned, can you explain why you are not ready to implement the power exchange model?

Tao Lin: Tesla actually did the power exchange technology as early as 2013, and the power can be completed in about 90 seconds, but after experiments and comprehensive consideration, we believe that the charging mode has more advantages and is more conducive to accelerating the popularity of electric travel, which is the choice we made under the guidance of the first principle.

In addition, improving charging efficiency and expanding charging piles are also very critical. Soon, we will further accelerate the construction of charging lines covering more cities.

Beijing News: Can you talk about the interesting things that Musk experienced before coming to China, and how did you feel when you came to China? Does Musk have any plans to visit China in 2022?

Tao Lin: Musk highly recognizes the Shanghai Gigafactory, and has repeatedly praised the efficiency of the Shanghai Gigafactory in various public occasions.

Musk is also very concerned about and recognized China's economic development, and has publicly stated that "the economic prosperity that China has achieved is really amazing, especially in terms of infrastructure." I encourage everyone to see for themselves. ”

Beijing News: There are voices in the industry that Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory has expanded rapidly and its production capacity has increased rapidly, so quality control cannot be as stable as before. Is the Shanghai Gigafactory currently operating at full capacity?

Tao Lin: Product quality is the foundation of the survival of enterprises, and Shanghai Gigafactory has a very strict quality control process. The Shanghai Gigafactory has been operating for less than two years, and the output has surpassed the Fremont Gigafactory in the United States in the third quarter of this year, all of which are achieved under the premise of ensuring product quality. The product quality of Shanghai Gigafactory has also been unanimously recognized and affirmed by overseas users. Quality improvement is endless, we will continue to use scientific and technological innovation and excellence attitude to enhance products and services. The operation of the Shanghai Gigafactory is also very efficient, and we will strive to ensure that the Shanghai Gigafactory continues to operate efficiently.

Beijing News shell financial reporter Lin Zi Editor Chen Li proofread liu jun