Author | Zhang Cuicui
Edit | Autun
After a year of "absence", the government work report mentioned new energy vehicles again. On March 5, the Fifth Session of the 13th National People's Congress opened in Beijing, and the government work report of the Fifth Session of the 13th National People's Congress proposed to "continue to support the consumption of new energy vehicles, encourage localities to carry out green smart home appliances to the countryside and replace old with new".
Continuing the rapid development trend in 2021, this year's new energy vehicle market is still hot. According to the latest data, the retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles reached 347,000 units in January and February this year, respectively, an increase of 132% and 180.5% year-on-year, respectively.
However, with the rise in raw material prices, subsidies and chip shortages and other new problems, as well as battery safety, charging difficulties and other old problems highlighted, the new energy market is facing new challenges.
Based on the proposals and suggestions of this year's two sessions, the representatives and members of the automobile industry mainly focused on keywords such as new energy vehicle infrastructure, independent control of key technologies and policy support, and made suggestions and suggestions, and also further clarified the new direction and development path for the mainland automobile industry.
Promote consumption: extend subsidies + improve the construction of charging and replacing infrastructure
On December 31 last year, the Ministry of Finance and other four departments jointly issued the "Notice on the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles in 2022" and the subsidy plan. In 2022, the subsidy standard for new energy vehicles will be reduced by 30% on the basis of 2021, and new energy vehicles that are licensed after December 31, 2022 will no longer be subsidized by the state.
In the early stage of the promotion of new energy vehicles, the new energy subsidy policy has played a key role in promoting the growth of the market, and with the decline of subsidies and the rise in raw material prices, many new energy vehicle companies have to raise terminal prices to cope with challenges.
In this regard, Zeng Qinghong, deputy to the National People's Congress, secretary of the party committee and chairman of the board of directors of GUANGZHOU AUTOMOBILE Group, suggested that the subsidy policy for new energy vehicles can be improved. On the one hand, it is hoped that the national level will consider adjusting the strategic direction of the subsidy policy for the promotion and application of new energy vehicles in the new period to achieve the purpose of "boosting consumption and encouraging construction".
At the same time, he pointed out that other incentive policies should also be improved as soon as possible to ensure the effective and sustainable development of the market after the complete cessation of new energy vehicle subsidies, and to complete the goals of the 14th Five-Year Plan for the innovative development of new energy vehicles.
In addition to the impact of subsidies on prices, the factors restricting the consumption of new energy vehicles are the convenience of replenishment. By the end of 2021, the scale of charging facilities nationwide will reach 2.617 million units, with 1,298 substations, serving nearly 8 million new energy vehicles.
However, it is foreseeable that with the rapid growth of new energy vehicle sales, the demand for user energy replenishment will also grow rapidly. Chen Hong, deputy to the National People's Congress, secretary of the party committee and chairman of SAIC Motor, and Yin Tongyue, deputy to the National People's Congress and secretary of the party committee and chairman of Chery Holding Group, all put forward suggestions on improving the charging infrastructure. "It is recommended that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission and other ministries and commissions strengthen the top-level design, promote the solution of problems in the construction of charging infrastructure, operation and maintenance, and help the high-quality development of the electric vehicle industry." Yin Tongyue said.
In addition, Li Shufu, a deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of Geely Holding Group, also put forward suggestions for increasing the construction of electric vehicle replacement systems, hoping that the state will give support in policy support and standard construction. "The adaptation of the power exchange mode requires car companies and battery companies to jointly promote, if there is no standard promotion, the car company brands will still use different power exchange interfaces, can not complete the adaptation."
In addition to the representatives of automotive circle enterprises, Lei Jun, chairman of Xiaomi Group, who has just crossed over the car, also proposed that in accelerating the construction of high-power fast charging infrastructure for new energy vehicles, a national innovation cooperation platform should be formed to strengthen joint research on core technologies.
Stable price guarantee: The supply of raw materials such as power batteries and chips is controlled from the national level
Since the beginning of this year, the rise in raw material prices has become a major problem plaguing power battery companies, and the rapid growth trend of the market has made the shortage problem more serious.
According to South Korean research agency SNE Research, by 2023, the global demand for power batteries for electric vehicles will reach 477GWH, while the power battery supply gap is about 18%. Market demand will rise to 1400 GWh in 2025, and this gap will widen to about 40%. In addition, in terms of core materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium required for power battery manufacturing, the mainland still needs to rely on imports.
In the face of multiple challenges, since the beginning of this year, many new energy vehicle companies have begun to increase prices. On January 11, Xiaopeng Automobile announced a price increase for the entire series, ranging from 4300-5900 yuan for the P7 series and 4800-5400 yuan for the P5 series. On February 1, BYD adjusted the official guidance price of the models of the Dynasty series and the Ocean series, and the price increase reached 1,000-7,000 yuan. In addition, Tesla, Nezha, SAIC Roewe, Weilai, etc. also have different degrees of price adjustment.
In view of the above situation, Zeng Yuqun, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of Ningde Times New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., believes that the current supply and demand situation of lithium resources is grim, and the development of the industry is facing challenges, and the exploration and development of domestic lithium resources should be accelerated to ensure the safety of the supply chain, and at the same time, independent innovation and scientific and technological research should be strengthened to improve the level of efficient utilization of resource recycling.
Chery Yin Tongyue suggested that the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other ministries and commissions formulate policies to incorporate new energy power battery materials into the national strategic reserve resource management, set up special funds, and support and encourage domestic enterprises to acquire foreign battery material resources to ensure the safety of the new energy vehicle supply chain.
In addition, the "chip shortage" problem that began last year continues to affect the automotive industry. Wang Fengying, deputy to the National People's Congress and president of Great Wall Motors, believes that in the short term, priority should be given to solving the problem of "lack of core", and in the medium term, it is necessary to improve the industrial layout to achieve independent control, build a long-term mechanism for the introduction and training of industrial talents, and achieve long-term sustainable development.
"Sort out the supply and demand of chips in key areas, guide foreign automotive chip companies to invest in China, and establish an emergency reserve mechanism for chips and important raw materials." GAC Zeng Qinghong said.
CHEN HONG, SAIC Motor stressed that through policy guidance and multi-party coordination, it is necessary to establish unified technical specifications and standards for vehicle-grade chips, and set up a third-party testing and certification platform; at the same time, he suggested that the state take the lead in setting up special funds to encourage chip companies and automobile companies to participate together and accelerate the formation of research and development, manufacturing and application capabilities of domestic large-scale computing chips.
In addition, Zhang Xinghai, deputy to the National People's Congress and founder of Xiaokang Shares, and Zeng Qinghong both mentioned that it is necessary to actively introduce leading international automotive chip manufacturing enterprises to invest and build factories in China, promote the rapid landing of projects from policies, funds, supporting facilities and other aspects, and quickly form vehicle-grade chip production and supporting capabilities to alleviate the current shortage of domestic automotive chips.
Contribute to the "double carbon target": new energy vehicles are included in carbon trading management
"Carbon emissions" have been the focus of attention of the whole industry in recent years. In September 2020, the mainland proposed that carbon dioxide emissions should be peaked by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, while the current automotive industry is not included in key carbon emission management industries due to less carbon emissions in the manufacturing sector.
However, Chery Yin Tongyue believes that if the effectiveness of new energy vehicles in reducing carbon emissions during the use stage is considered, carbon trading should be used to actively encourage industry car manufacturers to transform the production of new energy vehicles.
"Compared with traditional fuel passenger cars, existing new energy passenger cars reduce carbon emissions by about 15 million tons per year during the use phase." Yin Tongyue suggested that the scope of the carbon trading industry should be expanded to include the automotive industry, so that auto companies can participate in CCER to enter the carbon market for trading.
Xiaomi Lei Jun also pointed out that under the global carbon peak, carbon neutrality target and EU carbon tariff and other trade systems, the low-carbon development of new energy vehicles has become the key winner and loser of global competition in the automobile industry, and a complete, clear and accurate carbon footprint accounting system is the premise and foundation for the low-carbon development of the new energy automobile industry.
"It is recommended to establish a systematic carbon footprint management system to guide the low-carbon development of the new energy automobile industry as a whole; formulate carbon footprint accounting standards and methods for the whole industry chain of new energy vehicles; establish a new energy vehicle carbon footprint industry data platform; and improve the carbon footprint certification, rating and incentive mechanism." He stressed.
Ningde Times Zeng Yuqun said that it is very important to start the research on China's battery carbon footprint standards and methodologies as soon as possible, establish a product carbon emission management system, participate in the formulation of global carbon neutrality rules, and promote the establishment of a mutual recognition mechanism for battery carbon footprint management with the European Union, which is very important to ensure the global competitiveness of the mainland battery field.
It is worth mentioning that batteries play a key role in the entire new energy industry chain, and European and American countries have incorporated batteries into strategic planning and formulated relevant supporting regulations.