Whether to change the power or charge, the industry will start a heated discussion again.
Author | Home scale from the planet Magnesia
Just now, the Ningde era officially announced the new power exchange brand "EVOGO" (Lexing power exchange), officially entering the "vehicle and electricity separation" power exchange market.
According to relevant sources of the Ningde era, the brand covers almost all car companies.
It should be known that in the past, although there were many companies entering the power exchange model, they basically maintained a separate state and only supplied to specific customers. The addition of the Ningde era will undoubtedly bring a new layout to the entire track.
Interestingly, in the official power exchange service promotional video released by the Ningde era, there was a Weilai electric vehicle, to know that "power exchange" is one of the current characteristic services of Weilai, which is "blatantly smashing the field"?
The replacement of electricity in the Ningde era
The composition of the power exchange system in the Ningde era is actually very simple, consisting of three major parts: the power exchange block, the APP and the quick change station.
At the beginning of the press conference, CATL introduced the "chocolate power exchange block" developed and mass-produced in order to achieve "shared power exchange".
According to the host, the battery is based on CTP technology (battery pack) in the Ningde era, with a weight energy density of more than 160Wh/kg, a volume energy density of more than 325Wh/L, and a single battery can support an endurance of more than 200 kilometers, adapting to most pure electric platform models.
From the PPT point of view, this battery is very small, and the volume of the fast change station only occupies the area of 3 parking spaces, and can accommodate 48 power exchange blocks.
CATL claims that the entire set of power exchange solutions has three main characteristics: one electricity and multiple vehicles, on-demand rental electricity, and rechargeable and replaceable.
Judging from the subsequent display video, EVOGO not only supports small private cars, but also supports various types of commercial vehicles such as logistics vehicles and trucks; car owners can choose the number of "power exchange" batteries according to the needs of the car; in terms of power exchange speed, the replacement speed of a single block is about 1 minute.
In terms of adapted models, the Ningde Times Replacement Power Station first supported FAW Besturn ANT, and more models will be announced in the future. At the same time, CATL will choose ten cities to take the lead in providing power exchange services.
Looking at the whole conference, the entire set of EVOGO power exchange system has been very perfect, but it is still a little regrettable that only one model was released on the adapted model that users are most concerned about.
A new outlet has arrived?
According to the Ningde times, the entire power exchange system is mainly to solve three major pain points: mileage, convenience of power replenishment and battery cost problems.
However, if only from the biggest difference between the charging mode and the power exchange mode, the convenience of power replenishment may be the most important topic to be discussed.
Every winter, or major holidays, news about "electric vehicles lining up for charging" is not uncommon. This alone has been scorned by many fuel vehicle owners, while dissuading some consumers who want to start new energy vehicles.
For this problem, Li Bin, CEO of Weilai Automobile, has a deep understanding from the time of thinking about building cars.
In 2012, Li Bin did a survey on "why don't you buy an electric car" on the "Easy Car Network" founded by himself, when more than 60,000 people participated, and the first answer was that charging was not guaranteed. Specifically, on the one hand, the charging speed is difficult to meet the requirements, and on the other hand, there are also problems in the construction layout of charging piles. At this time, the advantages of the substation are highlighted.
The data shows that it takes more than 1 hour for an electric vehicle to be full of 400 kilometers of battery, but it only takes a few minutes to replace the power, if the coverage can be completed, then the electric vehicle will be as convenient as the fuel vehicle refueling.
In addition to fast charging, Shen Fei, senior vice president of WEILAI, also mentioned the other value of the "power exchange mode": do not worry about battery attenuation, you can enjoy the iteration of new battery technology; while ensuring the safety of the battery.
According to them, in the power exchange system, Weilai can find the tiny defects of the battery at the first time and notify the owner to replace the replacement station. It is difficult for ordinary electric vehicles to do this, after all, the cost of replacing the battery is tantamount to a recall.
Therefore, WEILAI gradually regards power exchange as one of the core competitiveness of its peers.
Changing power stations, still a pit?
If you look forward carefully, the power exchange model is actually the first to be paid attention to by the market.
In 2007, the power exchange mode debuted on the historical stage. Xia Jiaxi founded Better Place with the intention of building a huge system of electric vehicle charging stations. Such a new model quickly attracted the attention of capital, and capital giants such as General Electric and UBS invested $850 million in Better Place, which can be described as the peak of its debut.
But to the car companies, most of the car companies are difficult to accept the requirements of standardized batteries, in addition to the profit attribution problem is also difficult to impress the car companies, in the end Better Place only found a Renault Nissan willing and able to cooperate with it, but from the requirements of its business model is still far from the requirements, and finally the single-handed Better Place was forced to stop operating in May of the following year.
Also in 2007, the State Grid took the lead in carrying out the commercial exploration of "power exchange as the mainstay, plug-in as a supplement, centralized charging, and unified distribution", and explored the power exchange mode.
However, only a few years later, in the "Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2012-2020)" deliberated and adopted by the State Council in June 2012, the power exchange mode was not mentioned, and it was interpreted by the industry as the "power exchange-oriented" model implemented by the State Grid was not recognized.
The following year, the charging station was opened to car companies, and the power exchange mode once withdrew from the public's vision. After this, only a few companies (new energy vehicle companies, power replacement operation companies, etc.) are still groping forward on the road of power exchange.
In simple terms, the advantages of power exchange are obvious, but the disadvantages are equally fatal: the investment is too large, and the business model is not sustainable.
First of all, compared with a few thousand dollars of public charging piles, the investment and construction cost of a substation is as high as 3-6 million yuan. And that doesn't take into account the cost of operating labor and the cost of maintenance in the later stage.
In addition, it is also necessary to consider the utilization efficiency of a single station. The utilization rate of the replacement power station is improved, relying on the overall penetration rate of the replacement model, and more critically, the key location layout of the province where the charging station is located.
From the official website of Weilai, it can be seen that there are currently 784 Weilai replacement power stations, and the density is far from meeting the requirements of timely power replacement.
And the reason why it will succeed is mainly because it chooses the route of coexistence of power exchange and charging: the power exchange is only a supplement to home charging, and it does not bet too much.
epilogue
As far as the Ningde era is concerned, the entry and replacement track is a new attempt in business.
It can be seen from last year's stock price that although you are a brother in the shenzhen stock market, there are actually many risks behind it: the supply of foreign lithium mines is tight, domestic OEMs have begun to build their own battery factories, and the gross profit margin of their own power battery systems has declined...
If it is not the same, the market share may be won by BYD and a number of second-tier battery factories.
Therefore, since last year, CATL has made frequent moves in new business, first leveraging the concept of "carbon neutrality" to power the energy storage and battery business, then launching a sodium-ion battery in July, and reaching a "power exchange project" with the People's Government of Guizhou Province in December.
Reflected in the capital market, the CATL era once again reached the peak of the stock price in December.
Compared with other manufacturers, the advantage of the Ningde era is to solve the problem of battery standardization. Judging from the press conference, the new brand will cover all car companies, but it still needs the cooperation of car companies, if it goes well, this may promote the popularity of the power exchange model.