China-Singapore Finance, January 27 (Ge Cheng) Recently, Chongqing Ruilan Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., a joint venture company under Geely's power exchange and travel, officially settled in Liangjiang New District, Chongqing. The new company was jointly invested by Geely Automobile and Lifan for 300 million yuan, marking that Geely will accelerate the entry into the new energy vehicle replacement track.
It is reported that Ruilan Automobile is an automobile company with independent production qualifications jointly established by Geely Automobile and Lifan Technology, positioned in a new generation of power replacement travel potential energy. In the future, Ruilan Automobile will develop new products based on the self-developed power exchange platform, and work together at the B and C ends to lay out the power exchange market.
In addition to car companies, power battery-related enterprises are also actively deploying in the field of new energy vehicle power exchange. On January 18, the industry leader Ningde Times released the power exchange brand "EVOGO" (Lexing Power Exchange), providing users with a "combined power exchange overall solution" composed of three major products: power exchange block, quick change station and APP.
Power swap mode is a hit
In addition to the new Ruilan Automobile and Ningde Era, Weilai, BAIC, Geely, Changan and other enterprises have successively laid out the new track of power exchange.
In 2020, NIO was named one of the 100 companies that changed the world by Fortune magazine for launching a battery rental service based on vehicle-to-electricity separation. Its CEO Li Bin said: "The battery of the substation itself is an energy storage device, and in the process of operation, the use of technological innovation can effectively reduce the carbon emissions per unit of electricity and the whole facility. ”
WEILAI SUB STATION (Source: WEILAI Auto official website)
Charging and replacing facilities are the bottleneck in the promotion and application of new energy vehicles, and whether electric energy is "clean" is also the key to whether it can save energy and reduce emissions. Chen Quanshi, a professor at Tsinghua University's School of Vehicles and Transportation, said that the centralized power exchange method can make full use of the low-valley power at night to further reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The power battery of new energy vehicles can form a huge "power sponge", and through centralized charging and replacing, it can realize the reverse transmission of electricity to the power grid, which has the potential of dispatchable energy storage. Xin Baoan, chairman of the State Grid Co., Ltd., said that new energy vehicles using power batteries can effectively participate in peak shaving and valley filling, ensure the balance of power and electricity, and improve the overall operation efficiency of the power system.
On the other hand, the use of power exchange mode can also allow new energy vehicles to not have to wait for charging, to achieve replacement and go. Charging a new energy vehicle to 80% takes 30 minutes at the earliest, while the power change can be completed in less than 5 minutes. The emergence of the power exchange mode will effectively improve the problem that the waiting time for new energy vehicles to replenish energy is too long. Once popularized, the long-term "queuing" of charging stations will no longer exist.
In addition, the power exchange mode is also conducive to improving safety and prolonging the service life of the power battery, which can effectively reduce the battery cost of new energy vehicles. The operating company conducts centralized monitoring, management and maintenance of the battery, which is more professional than the user, which is conducive to prolonging the life of the power battery and improving the safety of the battery.
Although the advantages are obvious, the development speed of the new energy vehicle power exchange mode is far less than that of charging. Industry experts generally believe that the current stage of power exchange standards are not uniform, is a major obstacle to the development of power exchange mode. Liu Yongdong, director of the Standardization Center of the China Electricity Council, once admitted that the power exchange standard is not completely missing, including connectors, batteries and communication protocols, etc. In fact, there are relevant standards, but they are subject to the constraints and operability of the standards, and they have not reached a consensus in the industry.
Policies have boosted the development of power exchange
New energy vehicles are an important cornerstone of the development of the mainland's automobile industry, and have played an indispensable and important role in the process of the mainland's transformation from an automobile power to an automobile power.
Official data show that in 2021, the sales of new energy vehicles in the mainland reached 3.521 million units, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year, ranking first in the world for seven consecutive years. Relevant policies have played a very important role in the development of the new energy automobile industry.
In 2020, the "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" issued by the General Office of the State Council put forward an outline for the development of the new energy vehicle power exchange mode: it is necessary to vigorously promote the construction of charging and replacing networks, encourage the application of power exchange mode, strengthen the research and development of new charging technologies such as intelligent and orderly charging, high-power charging, and wireless charging, and improve charging convenience and product reliability.
In view of the development of the power exchange model of new energy vehicles, the competent authorities have also proposed corresponding policy standards to promote the innovative development of business models.
On November 1, 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology promulgated the "Safety Requirements for Electric Vehicle Power Exchange", which officially began to be implemented, stipulating the safety requirements, experimental methods and inspection rules for electric vehicles, and solving the urgent problem that there is no standard for power exchange mode to rely on. In the future, the power battery standard of new energy vehicles is expected to be unified.
In addition, increasing the research and development of new technologies will also play a positive role in promoting the rapid development of the power exchange mode of new energy vehicles. On January 10, 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission and various departments jointly issued the Implementation Opinions of the National Development and Reform Commission and Other Departments on Further Improving the Service Guarantee Capability of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure, proposing to continue to increase the research and development of new technologies and continuously improve the standard system. Give full play to the energy storage characteristics of power batteries, explore and promote orderly charging, V2G and other forms, and realize the collaborative interaction between electric vehicles and the power grid. Promote the power exchange mode in scenarios such as mines, ports, and urban transfer according to local conditions.
At present, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has launched a pilot work on the application of new energy vehicle power exchange mode. There are 11 cities included in the scope of this pilot, and Beijing, Nanjing, Wuhan and other cities have been shortlisted for the pilot city of the power exchange model, and will accelerate development in strengthening technology research and development, carrying out demonstration applications, and improving infrastructure.
The business model still needs to be broken
As a new thing, the development of new energy vehicles is not smooth.
In 2019, NIO's Nio Power battery swap technology for private car owners was launched. After a period of operation, some users complained: "Change the power for three minutes, wait for one hour." On the one hand, it reflects the hot power exchange service, which is warmly welcomed by car owners, and once in short supply; on the other hand, there are shortcomings in the operation of the new business model and poor user experience.
As of 2021, NIO has built more than 700 substations nationwide, and according to the plan, NIO will exceed 1,300 in 2022.
Infographic: A taxi waiting to be replaced can complete a power exchange within 3 minutes.
With the advancement of time, the power exchange model has gradually matured in the pilot cities and has been accepted by car owners.
Beijing taxi driver Master Wang told the Zhongxin financial reporter that the power exchange mode has brought convenience to the new energy taxi he drives, which used to take an hour to charge, and now it only takes three or four minutes to get it done, and the price is also more affordable than fuel vehicles, and sixty or seventy yuan can run more than two hundred kilometers. More and more taxi drivers have taken new energy taxis as the first choice for car replacement.
At present, many car companies such as Weilai and BAIC have launched power exchange models and power stations, but the power exchange business is mostly based on their own brands, the market level is not penetrated, the corresponding business model has not been completely opened, and the development of the power exchange model is still hindered by many obstacles. Li Songzhe, a researcher at the Research and Consulting Department of the China Electric Vehicle Hundred Association, mentioned that even if a car company achieves the unification of battery specifications and standards internally, it is still difficult to achieve profitability on a small scale.
Although there are many difficulties at present, in the context of car companies and power battery manufacturers competing to enter the new energy vehicle power exchange track, the power exchange mode will still usher in a wave of rapid development. The unification of power battery related standards will accelerate the popularization of power exchange mode, and then form a business model with wider coverage and more mature operating mode. At that time, the last obstacle to the development of new energy vehicles will be removed, the use of physical examinations will be "higher", and the problem of "mileage anxiety" will no longer exist. (End)