Author/ Cheng Chen, weekly magazine "Finance and Economics"
Edited / Mao Shiyang
Buying a pure tram in Yingtan, my parents first did not agree
"I went to Disney, but I ended up looking at an electric car."
It was the summer of 2020, and Chen had planned to spend a weekend at Shanghai Disneyland. But when the trip was over, what impressed her the most was the green-branded electric vehicles driving on the Shanghai viaduct. These electric vehicles are avant-garde in shape, accelerate smoothly, almost no sound when driving, and the complex buttons and knobs are removed from the car, and replaced by one or more central control screens, which makes Chen Si very moved.
Driving from Hongqiao Railway Station to downtown Shanghai, along the way, Chen Si, who was sitting in the co-driver, was surprised. There are often more green cars than blue cards on Shanghai's main roads. It was an impossible sight to see in the city where she lived. Coincidentally, the driver happened to be a new energy car owner, he went all the way to Chen Si", "the cost of use, maintenance costs are low", and most importantly, "electric vehicles are the future trend, and there will definitely only be trams in the future".
This is the end of Chen Si's college graduation journey, and when the summer is over, she will enter a public institution in her hometown. Nearly 20 kilometers from the city where she lives, her parents decided to give her a commuter car as a graduation gift.
Chen Si also has his own small calculation, although his parents can support the car, but the daily car costs have to be borne by themselves. "According to the frequency of my travels, I get seven or eight hundred dollars a month for fuel." This is not a small amount for Chen Si, who has a monthly salary of more than 3,000 yuan. Economical and practical, is Chen Si's most important car selection appeal, the driver's mouth "save money" electric vehicle, let Chen Si moved his mind.
But in lower-tier cities, if you really want to get started with an electric car, the decision-making process is not easy. The first hurdle is to convince his parents that Chen Si's Yingtan City, located in the northeast of Jiangxi Province, is located. In this fourth-tier city with two districts and one county-level city, new energy vehicles are not popular. "Two years ago, it was hard to see an electric car on the street." Chen Si told Caijing Tianxia Weekly.
At the end of 2020, Chen Si finally won the first car in his life - Nezha V. She calculated that the comprehensive working condition of the vehicle has a cruising range of 400 kilometers, and it can basically meet the daily needs of the car on a monday. "The electricity bill is still out of the house, which is equivalent to me using a car and almost no money."
Chen Si is not the first person in the circle of friends to eat crabs. Her high school classmate Zhang Ke also bought an electric car after graduation , Jiangling New Energy Jiangling E200L.
This A0-class car, which resembles an upgraded version of the "old scooter", is the most prominent advantage in terms of cost performance. On the official website, labels such as "cost-effective national pure electric vehicles" and "cost only 6 yuan per 100 kilometers" are placed in the most conspicuous places. Combined with the preferential treatment given by the dealer, the middle version purchased by Zhang Ke is less than 50,000 yuan for the naked car.
Zhang Ke self-deprecating is a "door-cutting" consumer, although the Wuling MINI EV is more popular, but the endurance performance of up to 170 kilometers, compared with the NEDC endurance of Jiangling E200L 300 kilometers, the charging frequency needs to be increased from "two charges a week" to "two days a charge", and the cost performance is significantly reduced. In Mianyang, Sichuan, Zhao Yu also chose a micro-electric vehicle as the family's second car because of its cost performance. Commuting between home and work every day, "the cruising range of more than 200 kilometers is enough."
The sinking market represented by third- and fourth-tier cities and township areas is considered to be the next incremental market for new energy vehicle tracks, and is an area that "Wei Xiaoli" needs to develop urgently. But here, consumers' perception of electric vehicle products seems to be different from that of first-tier cities.
In the "2021 New Energy Vehicle Rural Activity" jointly initiated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other four ministries and commissions, the promotion models are mainly micro-electric vehicles with a price of less than 100,000 yuan and a cruising range of less than 300 kilometers. Hongguang MINI EV, SAIC Roewe Kellywei, Euler White Cat, Chery Little Ant EQ1, BAIC New Energy EC3, Zero Run T03, Jiangling New Energy EV3, Nezha N01 and other competitive products have entered the list.
Just as the consumption of new energy vehicles in first-tier cities has undergone an evolution from entry-level models to mid-to-high-end models, in small and medium-sized cities, many consumers are cultivating the habit of using new energy vehicles through micro-electric models of local brands.
"At this stage, the people around us who buy electric vehicles are definitely still a minority. But most of these minorities are owners of Jiangling (new energy). Zhang Ke observed that Jiangling Motors is a representative of the manufacturing industry in Jiangxi Province, and in the provincial capital Nanchang, the figure of Jiangling can be seen everywhere. A series of micro-electric vehicles launched by local enterprise Jiangling New Energy are the first models of new energy that most local consumers "electrocute".
The Nezha V is the second electric car of the Nezha V. The reason for the exchange is very simple, he previously purchased the Jiangling E100 model dealership, in 2021 to undertake the sales agency rights of Nezha Automobile, Zhou Quan is the first batch of replacement customers for development. "The sales said that there is a 10,000 yuan discount for the exchange." Thoughtful introduction.
Interestingly, even though it has been used for half a year, Zhou Quan still has not remembered the name of the model he bought. "Anyway, it's the 400-kilometer model." Sales told Zhou Quan that this is the most cost-effective one in the store and does not have to wait for a car.
Charging relies on "flying wire", and the only selling point is to save money
The weekly magazine "Finance and Economics" found that in the third- and fourth-tier cities and township areas, the mainstream new energy vehicle consumption pain points, usage habits, and even the cognition of product positioning are different from first-tier cities.
Zhou Quan told the "Finance and Economics World" weekly that in his community, almost all trams use the "flying wire" method to charge, that is, to move the extension line from the home power supply, pull from the window to the ground, and plug it into the electric car to charge.
Of course, this is out of economic considerations, "the flying line is to take the household electricity, one degree of electricity less than 6 cents, the installation of household charging piles belongs to industrial electricity, once the electricity is about five." "Thoughtful.
Chen Si, another user of electric vehicles, although she has installed charging piles at home, she is still accustomed to charging from flying lines. "On weekdays, the line is charged in the unit, and the private pile is actually not used at all."
This kind of use has become the most important competitiveness of electric vehicles in lower-tier cities.
"Electric vehicles do not have to spend money on maintenance, charging is charged in units, basically there is no cost of use." Wang Peng, the owner of the BYD Tang EV in Shiyan, Hubei Province, told the "Finance and Economics World" weekly that in the hospital where he works, there is a parking space next to the office window, "The connection line comes out and is charged, if the parking space is occupied by colleagues, find a car to move, everyone knows, the parking space is not nervous, just say hello." ”
Wang Peng has to drive to and from work, and electric vehicles save a lot of fuel costs, "Many colleagues around have bought electric vehicles, and some even buy additional ones, all because they can be charged in the unit." ”
But at the same time, not every company has the conditions for "flying line". Because there is no property parking space, Mao Min cannot apply for a household charging pile. But for high-level users like her, the "flying line" is obviously unrealistic, "other people are cheap and do not install, I want to install but can not install."
She believes that new energy vehicles are more suitable for users living in township areas. "Building your own house in the town, whether it is installing a household charging pile or pulling a flying line, is more convenient and does not have to be limited by parking spaces." This also confirms the common view of most industry analysts that there are generally conditions for installing household charging piles in township areas, and the use of vehicles in township areas is mainly for daily use, even if the layout of public charging piles is limited, it will not affect the consumer experience too much.
On the other hand, in first- and second-tier cities, services such as supercharge, fast charging, and power exchange that have long become the main selling points of new energy vehicles require additional fees, but they are relatively blank in the sinking market.
Cheng Yi, who bought a Tesla Model 3 at the beginning of last year, often ridiculed himself for using Tesla as "old man music". "The travel radius of small cities is limited, to be honest, the household charging pile is completely enough", the relatively simple travel scene, so that Cheng Yi is not familiar with the distribution of public charging piles in the city. Although Tesla has already laid out a supercharging station in the Yingtan area, Cheng Yi has not yet experienced it.
Zhao Hao works at a new car-making force experience store, and in his opinion, in the past year, the charging facilities in Jiangxi Province have made significant progress. "Everyone's consumption habits for charging piles are still being established, but the layout of public charging piles is small and the rate of bad piles is high, which does affect the overall use experience."
Sinking the market, intelligence is a chicken rib
Wu Jun found that in the past year, there have been significantly more new energy vehicles on the streets of Yingtan, and "green cars lined up in the basement of shopping malls can often be seen." After test driving her friend's Euler cat, she immediately decided to order the same model.
But in lower-tier cities, buying an electric car is not easy.
"We all have the money ready, but I didn't expect that the trouble was the car buying link." Wu Jun told the "Finance and Economics" weekly that when he went to the Great Wall sales store to see the car, there was no Euler brand publicity material in the store, and the physical exhibition car could not be talked about, "If you want to see the physical car, you can only go to Nanchang." ”
Chen Si's Nezha V was also purchased at a sales store in Nanchang. "When I bought a car in 2020, there were no dealerships in the city, and most of the models I could buy were those micro-electric vehicles." Chen Si observed that with the opening of Nezha sales stores into Yingtan in 2021, there are more Nezha cars running on the street.
"Many oil truck brands are only in Nanchang to have dealerships, not to mention electric vehicles, everyone can buy too few cars nearby", Chen Si believes that if Yingtan can open more new energy experience stores, I believe that more people will become new energy car owners.
The industry generally believes that the lack of outlet layout is a common consumption pain point faced by consumers in third- and fourth-tier cities and township areas. Due to the limited models and insufficient inventory, in small and medium-sized cities, especially in rural areas, there is even a situation where new energy vehicles are difficult to find.
"Finance and Economics" Weekly visited the largest automobile city in Yingtan area and found that there are only two dealerships specializing in selling new energy models, one is BAIC New Energy, and the entire color placed in the hall is BAIC EC220 and other micro-electric vehicles, which have long disappeared in first-tier cities. The other is the integrated store of Nezha Automobile and Jiangling New Energy.
More brands have chosen to sell fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles in the same store, and new energy models are relatively limited, most of which are A0-class and A00-level products specially launched by automobile companies for the sinking market.
In the sales store of SAIC Roewe, the SAIC Roewe Klevi EV is placed in a central position, which is also the only Klevel in the store. This micro-electric vehicle is about 50,000 yuan after subsidies, and only supports AC charging, which is the common configuration of many low-endurance micro-electric vehicles.
"It is absolutely enough to buy this car, 300 kilometers of endurance a price, next door Euler will have to increase the price this year", the sales staff to the consumer support, buy electric vehicles do not pay attention to fast charging, slow charging, configuration, look at the endurance and price is enough.
A similar scene occurred in the Nezha car dealership. A sales representative of Nezha Automobile introduced that the most popular model in the store is Nezha V, and the newly launched Nezha V PRO has added some intelligent configuration functions on this basis. "High-end models only have L2 driver assistance, which is actually useless." In fact, in this store, what exactly is the "L2 level driver assistance", the salesperson himself can not say.
The development of new energy vehicles is often accompanied by the process of intelligence, and some products can even rely on stacking intelligent configurations to enhance product strength and increase the price of vehicles to more than 300,000 yuan. But in the sinking market, intelligent configuration seems to have become the most chicken selling point.
Wei Xiaoli is unwilling to give up, but it is difficult to get the market
At present, the domestic new energy vehicle market presents a pattern of rapid development at both ends of the high and low ends, one is a high-end model, and the other is a micro-electric vehicle represented by A0-class and A00-level. The main consumer group of the latter points to the user groups in third- and fourth-tier cities and township areas.
In the past year, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, a traffic player in the micro-electric vehicle, has quickly become the top seller in the electric vehicle market, ranking first in the sales volume of the new energy passenger car segment for a long time. According to the data of the Association, the cumulative sales of Hongguang MINI EV in 2021 reached 395,000 units, which is more than twice that of the second-ranked Tesla Model Y (170,000 units).
Hongguang's sales volume confirms the potential of the electric vehicle market in lower-tier cities to a certain extent.
In the "New Energy and China Sinking Market Report" released by the E-Car Research Institute, the proportion of users in the new energy vehicle market in third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities has increased significantly in recent years, accounting for nearly 30% in the first half of 2021, which has become a new driving force for the market.
In fact, the vast consumer market in small and medium-sized cities is something that any new energy vehicle company is unwilling to give up. From 2020 onwards, the new car-making forces that mainly promote high-end models have begun to compete in third- and fourth-tier cities.
At the beginning of 2020, Wei Jian, vice president of user operations of WEIO, publicly stated that it is expected that by the end of the same year, WEIO will build about 200 stores composed of NIO House and NIO Space in China, doubling the number of original 77 offline stores. Among them, NIO Space, which has a relatively lower investment cost and a more flexible layout, has become the main form of NIO's entry into third- and fourth-tier cities.
By the end of 2021, that target has become 366. Li Bin, the founder of Weilai Automobile, emphasized, "This year (2021), we will realize that in cities with BBA (Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi), there must be Offline stores of Weilai." ”
Li Xiang, founder and CEO of Ideal Auto, believes that one of the reasons for channel expansion is that Ideal Auto finds whether a city has laid out stores, and the market share will be 8 times different. In the past year, Xiaopeng Automobile has cooperated with large dealer groups to expand its channel layout nationwide. In Jiangxi, Xiaopeng has opened experience centers in Ganzhou, Yichun and other places.
Compared with the above-mentioned competitors, Nezha Automobile relies on the sinking market to achieve counterattack, with a total of 69,700 new cars delivered in 2021, an increase of 362% year-on-year, and the monthly delivery volume once squeezed into the top three of the new car-making forces. Daniel Zhang, founder and CEO of Nezha Automobile, once said in an interview, "The market below 100,000 yuan is the focus market of Nezha Automobile at this stage. The other is zero-run, with the help of micro-electric vehicle zero-run T03, to achieve sales growth.
Cheng Yi also felt the proximity of new energy vehicle brands, and she teased to the "Finance and Economics" weekly, "As said on the Internet, the experience store of the new force of car manufacturing is now the same as Starbucks ten years ago, whether it is stationed or not has become a yardstick to measure the development of a city." Ganzhou City, where Cheng Yi's friend is located, already has a number of new energy vehicle experience spaces and stores such as Weilai, Tesla, Xiaopeng, and Weima, which attract users from surrounding cities to experience.
Third- and fourth-tier cities and rural areas are a huge cake, but compared with the first- and second-tier markets, the sinking market has another set of survival rules. In the view of industry analysts, the biggest problem is that the main product positioning of mainstream car companies deviates from the consumer demand of small and medium-sized cities.
Li Jinyong, president of the New Energy Vehicle Branch of the Automobile Chamber of Commerce of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, said in an interview that in 2021, non-restricted cities contributed about 70% of the share of new energy vehicle sales, while 58% of users in non-restricted cities purchased A00-class cars.
According to the "Research on the Development of Electric Vehicles in Small and Medium-sized Cities and Rural Areas" released by the Electric Vehicle Hundred People's Association, in the actual purchase of residents in small and medium-sized cities, the price is still the decisive factor, and the car purchase budget is generally about 80,000 yuan, which has a positive correlation with family income.
At present, the electrification process of small and medium-sized cities is still at the beginning, and the market development is full of many possibilities.
After becoming an electric vehicle owner for a year, Chen Si regretted that he was too cautious at the beginning, "should be in place in one step, buy better performance, higher configuration model."
(At the request of the interviewees, Chen Si, Zhang Ke, Zhou Quan, Wang Peng, Mao Min, Wu Jun, and Cheng Yi are pseudonyms)
This article is originally produced by AI Finance and Economics, an account of Caijing Tianxia Weekly, without permission, please do not reprint it on any channel or platform. Violators will be prosecuted.