Text | Qin Fanghui
Design | microcosm
Favorable policies continue, industry standards are gradually improving, since 2021, the tide of power replacement in the new energy automobile industry has surged forward, and major related enterprises have been rubbing their hands.
On February 10, Geely Automobile released its January 2022 sales volume, and unlike in the past, there was a new member in the sales data released this time - Ruilan Automobile.
From the announcement at the end of October last year that a new "power exchange travel brand" will be launched, to the announcement of the establishment of a joint venture with Lifan in mid-December, and then to the completion of industrial and commercial registration procedures on January 24, 2022, the construction process of the Ruilan Automobile brand is fast.
According to the current data, the new joint venture company Geely Holdings and Lifan Technology each invested 300 million yuan, with a shareholding ratio of 50%, and will launch a variety of power form products in the future.
Based on self-developed power exchange technology, Ruilan Automobile is committed to creating an intelligent power exchange ecology and providing competitive power exchange products and services for the market.
According to the prediction of industry professional institutions, there will be 10 million new energy vehicle owners in 2022, driving the contradiction of energy replenishment to become increasingly prominent.
At this stage, especially for users who do not have private piles and long-distance needs, power replacement is one of the best ways to alleviate the anxiety of electric vehicle owners.
As we all know, Vehicle companies such as Weilai and BAIC BJEV have carried out long-term exploration and layout of the power exchange model, but so far there are still many limitations such as profit difficulties, short supply, small coverage area, and inconsistent standards.
These problems will also be the challenges that Ruilan Automobile will have to face in the future.
In 2020, the power exchange mode was written into the "Government Work Report" of the two sessions for the first time, included in the scope of new infrastructure, and the policy began to encourage the application of the power exchange mode; in May 2021, the relevant policies emphasized the need to accelerate the promotion and application of the power exchange mode.
In recent years, GAC E-An, Aichi, Weima, SAIC, Dongfeng, Nezha and so on have entered the game.
On the eve of the Spring Festival, the overlord in the field of power batteries, CATL, officially released the power exchange brand EVOGO, proposing an overall solution composed of a combination of power exchange blocks, quick change stations and APP.
In addition, even Sinopec has actively laid out the construction of power station replacement, and the addition of many giants is bound to accelerate the popularization of the power exchange model.
In fact, Geely Automobile's layout of the power exchange business has long been planned.
In March 2019, maple leaf automobile, the predecessor of Ruilan Automobile, was established, and based on Geely's existing products, it launched two pure electric new cars, Maple Leaf 30X and Maple Leaf 80V.
Today, Ruilan Automobile is the name of the joint venture, and Maple Leaf Automobile, which was first released, is the brand name of the product.
At the beginning of 2022, Ruilan Automobile announced the pre-price of its first intelligent replacement car Maple Leaf 60S, the new car has the ability of "rechargeable and replaceable", users can choose 30min DC fast charging or 60s power exchange mode, which will become the first car product launched by Ruilan Automobile for the B-end market.
According to the "Nine Dragon Bay Action" plan released by Geely Automobile in October 2021, Geely Automobile has determined that it will achieve the group's total sales target of 3.65 million units by 2025.
In terms of new energy targets, among them, Extreme Kr needs to achieve sales of 650,000 vehicles, geometric cars need to complete sales of 300,000 vehicles, and the new power exchange travel brand also needs to achieve the target of 200,000 vehicles.
Previous market experience has proved that at the moment when the technical standards for power exchange have not been unified, battery factories, third-party power exchange enterprises and main engine factories are bound to fight for each other, which is not conducive to the popularization of power exchange mode.
OEMs with strength and determination will generally choose to independently build and operate the replacement power station, so as to achieve seamless technology and maximize product efficiency, while running a staking ground and seizing the most market discourse.
In the power exchange track, although Ruilan Automobile belongs to the latecomers, relying on the strong system and technical advantages of Geely Automobile, Ruilan Automobile has a complete research, production, supply and sales system, which has certain advantages compared with the Ningde era and Weilai Automobile.
It is reported that the two sides of the ruilan automobile joint venture already have a clear division of labor, Geely will lead the research and development of future power replacement models, while Lifan Technology is mainly responsible for the layout and production of charging and replacing facilities.
By 2025, Geely will successively launch five pure electric vehicle models with exchangeable electricity, and plans to build 5,000 substations covering 100 core cities in 2025.
As of December 10, 2021, the total number of Weilai replacement power stations has only reached 700, that is to say, if everything goes well, the number of Ruilan Automobile replacement power stations will catch up with and surpass Weilai Automobile in a short period of time, as a necessary premise for the popularization of the power exchange model, the strong Geely will naturally not be sloppy in this regard.
At the technical level, Geely adopts an exclusive GBRC power exchange platform, which can adapt to the 2700-3100mm wheelbase model for power exchange, and "net out" all the class models.
Secondly, the Geely substation can complete the power exchange process within 60 seconds, which is much faster than the 3 minutes required by the second generation of Weilai substation.
Not only is the hardware technology more advanced and efficient, Ruilan also has advantages that other companies cannot match in terms of market layout.
Previously, Geely laid out a series of travel businesses, including Cao Cao Travel, and with the formation of the power exchange mode of Ruilan Automobile, it can form a closed loop by relying on online ride-hailing and other businesses in the early stage, reducing car costs and improving operational efficiency.
It is worth noting that in the future, the service scope planned by Ruilan Automobile will cover cars, SUVs, MPVs, and even logistics vehicles and light trucks, fully meeting the needs of most markets, and the demand prospects are very broad.
On the other hand, compared with the high-end Weilai Automobile, Ruilan Automobile's rich and affordable product lineup will also be more conducive to its rapid popularization in the C-end market.
At present, it has collected more than 800 applications from interested franchisees, completed the on-site survey work of more than 70 cities, and identified Chongqing, Hefei, Jinan, Tianjin, Chengdu, Changsha, Haikou, Suzhou, Hefei, etc. as the first batch of pilot cities for power exchange, which is in stark contrast to the number of outlets of many unpopular "new forces".
Geely is the most adept at acquiring and integrating car giants in China, and its layout market has always been cautious and precise, and at this moment, a large-scale entry into the power exchange market must have made sufficient reserves at the technical and market levels.
The helmsman is not afraid of the waves, and the unknown deep sea can also sail alone.
The new energy market in 2022 will be extremely exciting, backed by Geely, another way of Ruilan Automobile to start to lead, we look forward to it to cut through the thorns and create a new pattern of the energy era.