Not long ago, Tesla officially released a video called "Tesla's "Excellent" Law of Cost Control", which triggered a hot discussion in the industry.
The video content revolves around Tesla's cost reduction and efficiency increase, but also reveals its innovation in the manufacturing process.
1
The core of cost reduction is innovation
What is generally known to automotive industry practitioners is that the sales price of a car can be divided into four parts - profit, taxes, technology transfer fees, and costs.
Among them, costs include marketing costs, research and development costs, and production costs that are critical to the manufacturing industry.
Tesla has long had a concept of "first principles", the so-called "Reasoning with First Principle", that is, to reduce the dimensionality of the problem, in layman's terms, it is "to see the essence through the phenomenon".
Tesla believes that the "essence" of car cost lies in the factory. One of Tesla's most important products is its gigafactory, and the production efficiency under the operation of the factory directly determines the manufacturing cost of the vehicle.
For example, Tesla's ingenious use of large die casting machines, although in the short term, will increase the cost of expenditure, but in the long run, more than 70 parts can be reduced to 1, and the innovative application of such technologies will continue to dilute manufacturing costs.
The same is true in the field of battery research and development. Overall, power batteries account for most of the production costs of electric vehicles. Wang Zidong, deputy secretary-general of the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance, once said that power batteries currently account for about 30% of the procurement cost of OEMs. Batteries have a higher proportion of the vehicle cost component -
Tesla also aims to further dilute the production cost of batteries. With the use of innovative technologies in the future, Tesla will attract more consumers through more advantageous product pricing.
For example, on Battery Day 2020, Tesla released 4680 battery technology. Compared with the past, the battery is expected to increase energy by 5 times, the range by 16%, and the output power by 6 times, but the cost has decreased by 14%.
At the same time, there is no need to install and weld the 4680 electrodeless ear battery core, and the manufacturing process will be more simplified, and the new production line built by Tesla for this purpose has 7 times the previous production capacity and the investment cost per gigawatt hour of production capacity has been reduced by 75%.
This point is regarded by the outside world as Tesla's killer, industry insiders pointed out that the reason why Tesla batteries maintain cost advantages, the core is through scientific and technological innovation, greatly reducing the content of precious metals.
At Tesla's shareholders' meeting in October 2021, Musk announced Tesla's "five-step plan" to reduce battery costs, covering battery design, battery factory construction, cathode materials, anode materials, and vehicle integration, which will reduce Tesla's bicycle production costs by 69%.
A securities platform once commented on the technical level of Tesla's power battery: Tesla's excellent battery system and perfect charging pile layout have solved the pain points of the use of electric vehicles.
In response to the mileage and high cost of the electric vehicle industry at that time, the securities platform measured the leadership of Tesla and other electric vehicle companies in two dimensions: the battery energy density increased to 300kW/kg, and the cost dropped to 100 US dollars /kWh.
What is this concept?
First, this is the energy density of the power battery cell in the "Medium and Long-term Development Plan for the Automobile Industry" of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the Mainland, that is, the energy density of the power battery cell reaches 300Wh/kg. There is no doubt that Tesla has achieved it.
Second, the cost of 100 US dollars / kWh power battery, which basically means that even in the absence of subsidies, the price of electric vehicles can reach the same level as fuel vehicles, that is, electric vehicle companies can create electric vehicles that ordinary consumers can afford.
In addition, according to patent search website Patent Cloud, Tesla currently has nearly 1,000 related patents, more than 900 are invention patents, most of which are battery thermal management, motors, charging these three parts.
2
The cost is stable at home
In fact, tesla's cost exploration is not limited to production, the local spread of the supply chain link, the excellent control of channel costs, all have a crucial impact on the price of bicycles.
Tesla's cost reduction and efficiency increase are also largely due to the depth of localization.
The completion and commissioning of the Shanghai Tesla Gigafactory has gradually led to the vigorous growth of the surrounding industrial chain, and the cost of parts has been further explored by reducing logistics and other links.
At present, the Shanghai Gigafactory mainly produces Model 3 and Model Y models, of which about 90% of the parts manufacturing has been localized, ensuring relatively stable manufacturing costs.
Thanks to the cost advantage of Chinese-made Tesla models, which are widely favored around the world, Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory has become an important "global export center" in the company's strategy, and the products are exported to more than 10 countries and regions such as Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia in addition to supplying the domestic market.
3
Nearly zero marketing costs
"Daily Car Watch" once pointed out that according to relevant survey data, in terms of advertising and marketing, the average bicycle expenditure of traditional automobile manufacturers is about 495 US dollars (about 3153 yuan).
But do you remember what Tesla advertised?
Many people's answers are no.
Yes, Tesla hardly has any big marketing campaigns. This also makes its marketing costs almost zero.
This point is really difficult to reproduce compared to other car companies. Tesla's popularity depends heavily on the "personal charm" of its founder Elon Musk and its operation of the media platform, whether it is from the "live-action version of Iron Man" to the popular "Dogecoin" in 2021.
In addition, Tesla's direct stores have further reduced costs from the consumer side. Under the traditional distribution model, automobile sales present a layered relationship similar to "car companies- dealers - retail stores".
Although this model can share the sales pressure of the main engine factory, it also means that there will be a high price difference in the process. Consumers buy not only cars, but also dealers.
Tesla has adopted a direct sales model, and the industry even calls Tesla a "direct gambler". In this mode, consumers directly connect with manufacturers and pick up cars at transparent and uniform prices.
Although this method superficially increases the sales cost of car companies, this is what consumers are more willing to see, and the sense of consumption, experience and use of the product will be higher, which will improve the brand image in disguise.
For domestic car companies, under the influence of the epidemic, the rise of new car-making forces, the high development of e-commerce platforms and other factors, in fact, we also have the opportunity to adopt this model, and even many manufacturers are already doing so.
4
A panorama of the Tesla industry
Today's Tesla has to admit that it has become an aircraft carrier in the automobile industry, and its industrial chain is even far larger than Apple. Below we have compiled a panoramic map of Tesla-related industries for reference -
Source: Tspace Special Space
2022 EV TECH EXPO Shanghai International New Energy Vehicle Technology Expo
01Introduction to the exhibition
EV TECH EXPO Shanghai International New Energy Vehicle Technology Expo is a global ecological exhibition that includes intelligent networked vehicles, intelligent driving technology, battery motor electronic control technology, charging and replacing technology, wiring harness connector technology, thermal management technology, fuel cell and hydrogen refueling station technology, testing technology, lightweight technology and equipment and materials. Founded in 2008 (EVTECHEXPO was formerly known as Shanghai International Energy Conservation and New Energy Automobile Industry Expo), it was upgraded in 2021. So far, 14 offline exhibitions have been successfully held, opening up the "domestic and international dual cycle" model of China's new energy vehicle market, and striving to build a global forward-looking business platform for new energy vehicle technology, EV TECH EXPO has become the leader brand of the global new energy vehicle technology exhibition.
02 Exhibition area planning
EV TECH EXPO is based on the global new energy vehicle industry chain, with the "shared new energy vehicle technology ecosystem" as its mission, is composed of "EV ELECTRON intelligent driving technology exhibition area", "BMC car battery motor electronic control technology exhibition area", "FCVE hydrogen fuel and hydrogen refueling station technology exhibition area", "EVCE charging and replacing technology exhibition area", "EVWIRE beam connector technology exhibition area", "EVTMS thermal management technology exhibition area", "EVAMTE manufacturing technology and equipment exhibition area", "EVAMTE manufacturing technology and equipment exhibition area". EV TESTING New Energy Vehicle Testing Technology Exhibition Area "Eight Giant Exhibition Group Composition, exhibits cover "main engine factory, Tier 1/2, manufacturing equipment, materials and automobile culture" and other 5 major formats, a total of 20 categories, is the only new energy vehicle comprehensive exhibition that has the whole industry chain of new energy vehicles "domestic and overseas, online and offline, trade and culture" at the same time.
Exhibition time
Exhibition time: May 31 to June 2, 2022
Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Center