Power exchange is not a new term, as an electric vehicle energy supplementation program, the power exchange mode can solve the two core pain points of electric vehicle endurance and charging time. In recent years, there have also been a number of companies involved in it, such as BAIC BJEV and Aodong to fully serve the new energy vehicle power exchange operation, and Weilai Automobile provides power exchange services for its own car owners. However, the limitation of the relatively single service object seems to trap the hands and feet of the power exchange.
On January 18, CATL announced that it had entered the power exchange market and officially released the power exchange brand EVOGO. Different from the past, as the first power battery company in the global market shipments, the power exchange brand released by CATL is for all car companies, which means that the power exchange model is expected to move from niche to popular.
Flexible and simple power exchange solution
The long charging time of electric vehicles has always been a major pain point that plagues users. If the battery is charged in advance, the owner comes to change it and leaves, which is almost the same as the refueling time. It is based on this concept that the power exchange mode came into being.
The power exchange mode of the Ningde era can be summarized into three sentences: chocolate power exchange block, rapid power station change, and mobile PHONE APP. Chen Weifeng, general manager of Times Electric Service Technology Co., Ltd., said: "For users, the power exchange mode of ningde era is simple and convenient. "In fact, there is a lot of rich content behind this simplicity.
According to reports, the weight energy density of the "chocolate exchange block" exceeds 160Wh/kg, the volume energy density exceeds 325Wh/L, and a single battery can provide an endurance of about 200 kilometers, and can adapt to the pure electric platform developed by 80% of the world's 80% that have been listed and will be listed in the next 3 years. Consumers can choose one or more batteries at will when changing the power, flexibly matching the needs of different mileages.
In addition, the "chocolate changer block" adopts wireless BMS technology, and only has a high-voltage positive and negative interface on the outside, which greatly improves the reliability of the plugged and unplugged components.
The express change station has four characteristics: small area, fast circulation, large capacity and full climate. Each standard station only needs three parking spaces, a single block to change power for about 1 minute, the station can store 48 power exchange blocks, to ensure that users always have a full power block can be replaced, no need to wait for a long time.
The Times Service APP provides interconnection and services for people, vehicles, stations, and blocks.
Chen Weifeng said: "The power exchange model of the Ningde era has a great feature, very flexible, users can rent electricity on demand, consumers commute in the daily city, only need to rent an electric block. If you want to travel long distances, you can choose two or three electric blocks, which can really increase or decrease, and realize the freedom of electricity. "The replacement of electricity in the Ningde era is very different from the replacement of the whole battery in the past, which is a major highlight in its business model."
A business model that breaks the monolithicity
The name of the power exchange is simple, but its business model is not simple.
As early as 10 years ago, Better Place established a corresponding power exchange business company, the business model is to replace the battery pack that is now familiar. Although Better Place has gone bankrupt, the corresponding concept has been practically applied and grown, and Renault is one of the car companies that are optimistic about the power exchange model.
As we all know, a few years ago, without subsidy funding, the price of electric vehicles would be significantly higher than that of fuel vehicles of the same level, which made some consumers retreat.
Nowadays, Renault electric vehicles occupy the top spot in Sales in Europe, which has a certain relationship with the power exchange model. Renault launched the new Zoe car, supporting the battery rental + power exchange model, which separates the battery ownership and bare car ownership, directly reducing the car purchase threshold.
Renault's business model solves two difficulties of electric vehicles, spreading the high price to several years of payment, so that consumers have the ability to buy; the power exchange model also solves the pain point of users waiting for too long to charge. Renault's brilliant achievements in Europe have strengthened the determination of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen to fully turn to electrification.
At present, there are several power replacement operation enterprises in the domestic electric vehicle market, the larger three are Weilai, Aodong New Energy, and Botan Technology, and the three substations occupy most of the market share.
The Ningde era enters the field of power exchange, which will bring about different changes. CATL has been for the world's hundreds of enterprises to support the supply of batteries, has formed a huge user network, compared to the previous power exchange model, Ningde era of power exchange model in the implementation and widely implemented, will be expected to break the brand boundaries between users, enhance the convenience of users to supplement energy.
The pattern of the power exchange market is expected to change
Chen Weifeng said that the EVOGO power exchange service will be launched in the first batch of 10 cities, and FAW Besturn will become the first automobile brand to be included in the power exchange system.
Previously, CATL and the People's Government of Guizhou Province signed an agreement on cooperation in the construction of a power exchange network in Guiyang City on December 24, 2021. According to the agreement, the two sides will cooperate in depth in the construction of new energy vehicle power exchange network facilities, promote the improvement of new energy vehicle power exchange capacity, and promote the high-quality development of the new energy industry, and jointly build a double highland of Guizhou's new energy market and industry.
True Lithium Research CEO Mo Ke told reporters that the current electric vehicle users, the mileage anxiety is not as strong as before, and the problem of charging convenience is becoming more and more prominent. The 4-hour queuing of highways and 1 hour of charging on National Day in 2021 fully reflects the user's consumption demand for supplementary energy convenience.
As a means of promoting sales, WEILAI's power exchange has been in a state of loss, and the catalpine era of power exchange business as an independent subsidiary, the pursuit of profit is a must consider.
The reporter asked Chen Weifeng at the press conference: What is the per-cost of the power exchange business in the Ningde era? How to achieve profitability? In the face of this question, Chen Weifeng did not answer positively, but simply said that Times Electric Service will launch a competitive program.
If the users of Weilai and Aodong are attracted, the price is high, the price is low, and the profit of the times will become a problem.
An industry insider told reporters that the power exchange in the Ningde era will rely on the scale advantage to reduce costs, after all, the scale of power exchange launched by the Ningde era will be larger than that of Weilai and Aodong. In addition, the power exchange model of the Ningde era broke the brand boundary, and this convenience was incomparable in the past, and consumers may also pay a little more price for this convenience.
Dr. Tang, a friend of the reporter, focused on investing in the field of new energy, although he had a fuel car at home, he also became the owner of Weilai at the first time. Dr. Tang said to reporters about his electric power exchange body that with the increase in the number of Weilai car owners, it is now necessary to queue up for power exchange. "If it is convenient to change the electricity in the Ningde era, you can spend a little more money on it." Dr. Tang said.
However, Chen Weifeng also admitted that power exchange belongs to the heavy asset industry and has a long investment payback period. The reporter noted that the registered capital of Times Electric Service is 200 million yuan, which is not much for the field of power exchange. At the press conference, the reporter asked Chen Weifeng whether there was a financing plan for Times Electric Service in the face of future business expansion. Chen Weifeng said: "The times of electrical services is from 0 to 0.001, there are still many things to do, a long way to go, the times of electrical services uphold an open and inclusive attitude to face all difficulties, anything is possible." ”
In addition, the reporter noted that most of the substations in the Ningde era were built in parking lots, and they will also face the problem of how to coordinate local resources. In this regard, Chen Weifeng responded: "The characteristics of resources in various places are different, and they need to be treated separately on a case-by-case basis, on the basis of existing resources, the replacement business of the Ningde era will also increase investment and expand more substations." ”
At the end of the press conference, Chen Weifeng said: "The establishment of times electrical services marks the completion of the closed loop of the whole life cycle value chain of batteries from research and development, manufacturing, use and recycling of CATL, providing a more free use experience for new energy vehicle consumers, which will promote the intensive and efficient use of social resources and accelerate the popularization of electrification." ”
Text: Wan Renmei Editor: Qi Meng Layout: Wang Kun