Per Editor: Pei Jianru
"Double carbon", "new energy", "intelligent network connection" and "chip", this is the key word in the proposal of Chen Hong, deputy to the National People's Congress, secretary of the party committee and chairman of SAIC Motor, in the proposal of the two sessions of the National People's Congress in 2022, and it is also his thinking on the future of the automobile.
"On the one hand, the construction of a new automobile track characterized by electric intelligent networking is accelerating; on the other hand, electric intelligent networked vehicles integrate many high-tech technologies, and the future development direction of the car will be a large terminal that integrates transportation, communication, entertainment, office, social and other functions." In an interview with the "Daily Economic News" reporter, Chen Hong said that the car occupies the two major labels of "new track" and "big terminal", and in the future, in the process of deepening the strategy of manufacturing power in the mainland, China's automobile industry will play a leading role.
As the "helmsman" of SAIC, Chen Hong also talked about her thoughts and experiences on how the automobile industry can achieve green, low-carbon and high-quality development, how to play a leading role in promoting the strategy of manufacturing power, and how SAIC Motor has transformed.
Image source: Courtesy of the enterprise
It is proposed to introduce a carbon accounting system for the automotive industry
Under the background of "double carbon", the automotive industry has become one of the key industries for carbon emission management in mainland China because of its long industrial chain, wide radiation coverage, fast growth in total carbon emissions and high carbon intensity of bicycles. However, in Chen Hong's view, if the automotive industry wants to unswervingly take the road of low carbon, it first needs to set up perfect standards and regulations throughout the life cycle. "Although the state has issued top-level design documents, the detailed rules for the automotive industry have not yet been introduced. At the national level, there is also a lack of special planning for the implementation of the 'double carbon' target in the automotive industry. Chen Hong said.
It is understood that the state has included power generation, petrochemical, steel, nonferrous metals and other industries into the key objects of carbon emission management, through the national carbon trading arrangements of market-oriented means. However, the automotive industry has not yet formed a sound carbon emission management policy for the life cycle of the automotive industry (including a low-carbon quantitative accounting system for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and major components), and the carbon trading system has not established an effective linkage relationship with the subsidy policy and credit policy for new energy vehicles.
"The carbon emission responsibilities and obligations of vehicle and parts companies are not particularly clear. On the issue of the boundary of automobile carbon emission accounting, all walks of life in China have not yet formed a unified understanding. In the low-carbon technology and product links, the technology research and development of automobiles and product planning cycle is long, and in the case that policies and regulations are not clear, and the statistical standards for 'carbon emissions' of automobile products have not yet been established, enterprises are not willing to invest in low-carbon technology research and development and related equipment. Chen Hong said frankly that there are many problems in the low-carbon transformation of the automotive industry.
To this end, Chen Hong suggested the introduction of a medium- and long-term plan for the low-carbon development of the automotive industry, clarify the boundaries of carbon emissions in the automotive industry in the national carbon reduction plan, clarify the positioning, responsibility and goals of carbon emission reduction in the automotive industry, so as to improve the policies conducive to the management and control of automotive carbon emissions, form a low-carbon policy toolbox for the automotive industry, and further promote the research and development and innovation of low-carbon technologies in the automotive industry, and accelerate the application of the landing.
It is worth noting that at the moment when the subsidy for new energy vehicles is declining, Chen Hong also proposed that to achieve the "double carbon" goal, we should also increase support for the use of new energy vehicles. For example, by providing electricity discounts for charging, subsidies for the installation of charging facilities, etc., to enhance consumers' willingness to buy and use cars; and gradually establish a low-carbon energy-saving environmental protection certification standard system (similar to home appliance energy-saving certification) throughout the life cycle of automobiles, etc., to further form an atmosphere that encourages the consumption of low-carbon products.
Ensuring the security of the upstream supply chain is an important foundation for the development of the new energy industry
"With the increase of new energy penetration, battery demand will grow exponentially, but the price of key raw materials for batteries is also rising, which further compresses the profits of all enterprises in the new energy vehicle industry chain and hinders the further development of the domestic new energy automobile industry." Chen Hong specifically mentioned in the "Suggestions on Strengthening the Layout of the Industrial Chain and Infrastructure Construction to Promote the Sustainable Development of New Energy Vehicles" that there is a hidden danger of insufficient supply guarantee in the upstream of the new energy industry chain.
In fact, since last year, the raw materials for power batteries have been rising. According to the latest data released by Shanghai Steel Federation on March 8, the quotation of lithium battery-related raw materials is still soaring, of which nickel beans rose by 141,100 yuan / ton; lithium cobalt oxide rose by 3,500 yuan / ton; battery-grade lithium carbonate rose by 1,000 yuan / ton.
The increase in the price of power battery raw materials has greatly increased the cost of new energy vehicles, and many OEMs have begun to raise the price of models. For example, on March 10, Tesla announced that the Model 3 performance version, model Y long-lasting version and model Y high performance version will increase the price by 10,000 yuan from today.
To this end, Chen Hong suggested that relevant departments should coordinate the sustainable exploitation and utilization of domestic strategic resources to ensure the safety of the energy storage and new energy vehicle industry chain. "The mainland contains rich salt lake lithium resources, and the state should comprehensively 'find out the bottom line' from a strategic height and do a good job in ensuring the resources of strategic emerging energy industries." At the same time, we will accelerate the research of lithium extraction technology in salt lakes, increase efforts to implement industrial applications, and create a dual-cycle lithium resource supply pattern. Chen Hong believes that ensuring the safety of the upstream supply chain is an important basis for ensuring the development of the new energy industry.
Image source: Visual China
It is worth mentioning that Chen Hong also mentioned in the proposal that charging facilities are also an important factor affecting the development of the new energy industry. According to the data, by the end of 2021, the scale of charging facilities nationwide is about 2.62 million, and the vehicle-to-pile ratio is 3:1 (including abandoned piles). At the same time, there are still problems in the field of charging piles, such as the difficulty of building piles in residential areas and the uneven utilization rate of existing charging facilities. Chen Hong suggested that we should continue to deepen the construction of supporting facilities at the user end, improve the allocation mechanism of charging facilities in residential areas, optimize the layout of public charging networks, and accelerate the implementation of the measures of the Implementation Opinions on Further Improving the Service Guarantee Capacity of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure and other ministries and commissions.
Call for improved laws and regulations on autonomous driving
Under the wave of "new four modernizations" of automobiles, automobile companies are accelerating change, and SAIC Motor is no exception. In Chen Hong's view, the automobile has gradually become a new mobile intelligent terminal that can learn, evolve and grow from a "hardware-based" industrialized product. "Whether or not such a terminal (technology) can be mastered is directly related to the future and fate of automobile companies." Chen Hong told reporters bluntly.
In order to seize the transformation opportunity of intelligent and connected vehicles, SAIC Motor recently announced that in response to the industry trend of "software-defined automobiles", SAIC Motor will gather all the superior resources of the group to build the "SAIC Group Innovation Research and Development Institute" and form a team of independent research and development talents with a scale of more than 10,000 people. It is understood that the Innovation Research and Development Institute is an important investment of 300 billion yuan invested by SAIC Motor in response to innovation and transformation. In the future, the General Institute of Innovation Research and Development will adopt a new mechanism and system, and will also accelerate the layout of a technical architecture platform with rapid iteration capabilities, increase investment in hardware research and development, and provide technical support for its own brands.
However, in order to commercialize the intelligent network connection products, Chen Hong specifically mentioned in the proposal of the two sessions of the National People's Congress in 2022 that the laws and regulations related to intelligent networked vehicles should be further improved.
In fact, in recent years, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Public Security and other ministries and commissions have issued a series of policy and regulatory documents such as the Road Traffic Safety Law (Revised Proposal) and the Management Specification for Road Testing and Demonstration Application of Intelligent Connected Vehicles (Trial) to promote the development of the intelligent automobile industry.
"However, we also see that at the level of laws and regulations and technical standards, the development of intelligent and connected vehicles is still restricted to varying degrees." Chen Hong believes that in the current Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, the legal status of automatic driving systems has not yet been clarified.
For example, the current Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China still has "people" as the core legislation, and Article 19 of it stipulates that "driving a motor vehicle shall obtain a motor vehicle driving license in accordance with the law." In the Regulations on the Implementation of the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, it is also stipulated that the applicant for a motor vehicle driver's license is "a person who meets the driving permit conditions stipulated by the Ministry of Public Security of the State Council."
"Limiting the person responsible for vehicle driving to a human being is actually prohibiting the vehicle from being driven by objects other than humans (such as systems), that is, prohibiting the automatic driving of vehicles." Chen Hong suggested that in the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, the legal status of the automatic driving system should be clarified, so as to help the longer-term development of intelligent networked vehicles and help the mainland become a real automobile power.
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