Can Ningde "chocolate" pry the power exchange market?

"Come on a piece?" Zeng Yuqun, founder and chairman of CATL, drove a new energy vehicle, held up a piece of "chocolate" in his hand, and said to all the audiences watching the conference online through the car window.

This is a shot in the product display video of the NINGDE era power exchange service brand EVOGO. This piece of "chocolate" in Zeng Yuqun's hand is actually the latest power exchange product released by the Ningde era - chocolate power exchange block. The power battery king known as "Ning Wang" has entered the game, bringing new imagination space to the power exchange market.

A piece of "chocolate" can be flexibly changed

Nowadays, more and more new energy vehicles are galloping in the streets and alleys across the country, and the automobile market is accelerating its transformation to new energy. According to the latest statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles reached 19.1% in December 2021, of which the market penetration rate of new energy passenger cars reached 20.6%.

On the one hand, the number of new energy passenger cars is increasing, on the other hand, the number of public charging piles is small, the charging time is long, and the price is high. For car owners, private charging columns are currently a relatively convenient charging method, but the common problem of "more cars and fewer parking spaces" limits the possibility of private charging pile installation. In view of the various charging problems reflected by the owners of new energy vehicles, enterprises have begun to further explore the possibility of power exchange mode.

The overall solution of combined power exchange released by CATL includes three major products: "power exchange block, quick change station and APP". The single battery of the "chocolate power exchange block" can achieve 200km endurance, and consumers can rent one to three batteries on demand; a standard station of the "quick change station" only needs three parking spaces, and each point block exchange time is 1 minute, without waiting for a long time to change the power; the supporting service "App" can provide people, cars, stations, and power blocks of connections and services.

Wang Xianbin, director of the Gaz Automobile Research Institute, pointed out to the "China Electronics News" reporter that compared with car companies, the Ningde era has more advantages in the development of power battery size and standards. Standardized and flexible products can be made based on the needs of manufacturers, just like the chocolate exchange block released this time.

New energy vehicles stimulate the vitality of the power exchange market

The automobile market has accelerated its transformation to new energy, which has stimulated the vitality of the power exchange equipment market.

At present, WEILAI Automobile's power exchange service has spread throughout the country's cities, and has recently opened up the European market and opened the power station to Norway. Xiaopeng, Geely and other car companies have begun to lay out the power exchange mode.

According to the data disclosed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in recent days, the mainland has built 936,000 charging piles, 14,000 charging stations, and 725 replacement power stations. CICC's forecast data shows that it is expected that in 2022, there will be a "big outbreak of power replacement, car companies accelerating the self-construction of ultra/fast charging stations, and slow charging accelerating into the community" and other phenomena. By 2025, the number of replacement power stations will be between 12,500 and 51,900. In the long run, the country needs 550,000 passenger car replacement power stations and 60,000 heavy truck replacement power stations, corresponding to a total of 1.8 trillion yuan of substation equipment and grid-side equipment.

Under the background of the continuous rise of the market, the release of policy dividends has also accelerated. On January 18, the State Council issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of a Modern Comprehensive Transportation System", proposing to promote low-carbon facilities and equipment, and plan to build a convenient, efficient, and moderately advanced charging and replacing network.

The power exchange mode station is on the wind outlet, and there are also pain points in the car company's vigorous development of the power exchange mode. At present, car companies only do power exchange for their own models, due to the non-uniform standards, it is impossible to provide power exchange services for other brands of cars, making it difficult to balance the scale of use and input costs.

Wang Xianbin pointed out that unlike the traditional power exchange model, the Ningde era provides a rechargeable and replaceable, more flexible solution, and can be charged on demand, which can force the industry to go further in the selection and standardization of battery packs and battery cells.

The Ningde era has entered the power exchange, which has boosted the confidence of the industry in the power exchange mode. Weilai said that Weilai and NINGDE Times are shareholders of the battery asset company Wuhan Weineng, and the two sides have been cooperating in this regard. Investing resources in the construction of electric vehicle energy supplementary infrastructure is necessary and beneficial to promote the popularization of intelligent electric vehicles and promote the development of the transportation field in the direction of low-carbon environmental protection.

Although car companies and power battery companies are scrambling to invest in power exchange services, whether they can solve the problem of high cost and difficult profitability still needs to be tested by time.