Global electric vehicle sales growth, strong European manufacturers, why can't electric vehicles?

According to a research report, the number of new registrations of pure electric vehicles worldwide doubled last year to 4.5 million. However, Manufacturers in Europe have not kept pace. Only a third of electric vehicles sold in China, Europe or the United States are European brands. Europe wants to say that the traditional automobile manufacturing industry is very strong, leading the world, but in electric vehicles, what is the problem? Why can't it develop?

First, there is a special case in 2021, that is, there is an energy supply crisis. Oil prices, coal, natural gas prices are taking off, electricity as a secondary energy, naturally not much better. This directly leads to the slow sale of electric vehicles in Europe, because the price of electricity is too expensive, and everyone looks at it, buying electric vehicles is not as cheap as fuel vehicles. That's not a good deal. Yes, environmental protection we all pay attention to, but the people still pay attention to cost performance. Just for a concept of environmental protection, pay more money to buy new energy vehicles, everyone may not do it, everyone still pays more attention to their wallets.

Electricity prices not only affect consumer enthusiasm, but also raise the cost of enterprises. Originally, Europe had an energy crisis, and new energy vehicles did not dominate, so these European car manufacturers did not have so much energy to develop new energy vehicles. Originally, Europe also wanted to break the wrist with China, and in 2022, it wanted to continue to compete with China for the largest new energy vehicle market. But now, Europe is losing the new energy vehicle market. Not to mention surpassing China, that is, being able to catch up with China, now it seems difficult.

After talking about Europe, let's talk about our own new energy vehicle market. After all, we still have to pay more attention to ourselves. Let's start with the group data. Last year, 2021, the development of China's new energy automobile industry can be summarized as "three rapids". First of all, in 2021, the cumulative sales volume was 3.521 million units, and the market penetration rate reached 13.4%. In terms of sales of new energy vehicles, China has ranked first in the world for seven consecutive years, creating the fastest growth rate since 2016. Sales have increased, and so has quality. The average driving range of pure electric passenger cars has increased from 253 kilometers in 2016 to more than 400 kilometers in 2021, and consumer satisfaction is getting better and better. Our export performance is also growing rapidly. Last year, we achieved an annual export of 310,000 new energy vehicles, exceeding the total historical cumulative exports. In addition, the supporting industries of new energy vehicles are also developing rapidly. By the end of 2021, a total of 75,000 charging stations, 2.617 million charging piles, 1,298 replacement power stations, and more than 10,000 power battery recycling service outlets have been set up in 31 provinces and municipalities across the country.

In the next step, China will accelerate the promotion and application of new energy vehicles. For example, urban buses, taxis, logistics vehicles, etc., these application-oriented vehicles, the proportion of new energy vehicles should gradually increase. Launched a city pilot for the full electrification of public domain vehicles. In the future, there may be cities where all the public transportation facilities you can see will be electric vehicles.

Our country really cares about the development of new energy vehicles. New energy vehicles are an opportunity for us to become an automobile power. The beginning of the 21st century is an important period of transformation of the mainland automobile industry. China's new energy vehicles have been developing for more than ten years. We are not slower than Europe. Moreover, the results are remarkable. Now, China has become the world's largest electric vehicle market, and electric buses and electric truck sales account for more than 90% of the world. We have more public charging stations than the United States, Europe and Japan combined. We've had a first-mover effect and we've stayed ahead of the curve, which gives us more and more confidence. Moreover, everyone thinks, if the electric car thing really becomes, it is not a matter of just selling a few cars. New products will lead to new business models. At that time, what kind of sparks will be encountered by the business, what new growth points and new explosive points will be formed, it is not easy to predict. New energy vehicles can be expected in the future, which has greatly enhanced the confidence of enterprises and the public.

Automotive electrification combines advanced materials R&D applications and high-end parts manufacturing, and promotes the upgrading of batteries, motors, and electronic control technologies. This is not a matter of cars, including a new generation of information technology, artificial intelligence, 5G, Internet of Things, etc., will also develop with the development of new energy vehicles. Automobiles have become an important force driving other industries to accelerate innovation. Global investment in the new energy vehicle industry is expected to be about $300 billion by 2025, of which 45% will flow to China. This market is likely to make China round, and China will become the main venue for the next dividend. To put it bluntly, as long as we work hard to develop now, the opportunity to make big money in the future is there. It depends on whether we can compete or not.

In the future, industrial competition will be "electrification + intelligence", which is like two engines, lighting up the development engine of innovation. Now we have many soft underbelly of new energy vehicles. For example, some core materials, chips, equipment, etc. are still subject to people. For example, the import of cobalt and nickel resources has reached 97% and 92%, and the autonomy rate of automotive chips is less than 10%, so it is necessary to accelerate the establishment of a strong intelligent supply chain for automobile electrification in order to truly realize an automobile power. China will become the world's most competitive new energy vehicle market. In the next 5-10 years, China's new energy vehicle market will usher in an industry reshuffle. Moreover, China's intelligent industry and the Internet of Things will also get great opportunities for development. In October last year, we released a data that by the end of 2020, the scale of China's Internet of Things industry has exceeded 2.4 trillion yuan, and the cumulative number of related patent applications has exceeded 10,000. For example, Jiangsu Province is now a major province for the development of the Internet of Things. At present, the Internet of Things industrial layout with Wuxi as the core, Suzhou and Nanjing as the support, one body, two wings and multiple wings, radiating the whole province has been basically built.

This year, 2022, is a very critical year for the development of new energy vehicles. Why? In 2022, the industry predicts that the sales of new energy vehicles are expected to exceed 5 million. This year, the place we want to break through is to break through the core technologies such as autonomous chips, operating systems, and batteries, and try to avoid being stuck in the neck. This year, the government will definitely consciously increase the vitality of the market. Because last year our GDP gradually decreased from the first quarter to the fourth quarter. What is presented is the lack of public confidence in consumption. Therefore, whether it is the investment end or the consumption end this year, the government will definitely consciously guide and activate the market. With the activation of the consumer side, the sales of new energy vehicles will undoubtedly rise this year, and they also show a state of common development of quality and quantity. Europe wants to break the wrist with China on new energy vehicles, and can only say that it is weak. The development of new energy vehicles in Europe last year was sluggish, and there is really a clear contrast between the fiery cooking oil of our new energy vehicles in the past two years. We are very confident, it seems, that the future is really on our side.

After talking about Europe and China, let's finally talk about the situation of new energy vehicles in the United States. After all, it is the three camps of China, the United States and Europe that are engaged in new energy vehicles. In 2021, the sales of electric vehicles in the United States are really good. However, vehicle prices and mileage are still dragging down the electric vehicle market. The data shows that the sales market for electric vehicles in the United States is expected to grow to 400,000 units last year. However, the new energy automobile industry in the United States has some obstacles that have not yet been broken. For example, they lack charging facilities. This became the biggest obstacle. We can't run halfway, there is no power and no place to charge it. It's troublesome to think about, so many consumers don't buy it. In addition, the price problem is also one of the obstacles to the development of new energy vehicles in the United States. Now, new energy vehicles have no advantage over traditional fuel vehicles in terms of price. Studies show that if the price of electric cars were $5,000 lower than that of gasoline cars, the purchase index would grow to 71%. To put it bluntly, people buy cars, not some environmental concept or a scientific project. First of all, as a car, its cost performance needs to be considered first.

In our horizontal comparison, the advantages of China, Europe and the United States, China are still very obvious. We have a bigger market than Europe; we have lower costs than the United States. In short, we now grasp the opportunity of this new energy vehicle, drive other innovative industries to work together, our future, really will be like living in the current science fiction movies, think about it is very dazzling and wonderful.