Look at the other side of the "king of electric vehicles", how to lead the future of travel?

Text | hickory

In 1989, when the news of "the first electric bicycle prototype was successfully developed" came from the laboratory of Tsinghua University, most people did not expect that electric bicycles would become a 100 billion market. A few years later, Tsinghua University professor Ma Guilong and others developed an electric bicycle using a hub motor, which is not only China's original, but also promotes the process of industrialization of electric bicycles.

Now, in the wave of industrial iteration of two-wheeled electric vehicles for more than three decades, this track, which is regarded as a sunrise industry, is undergoing a new round of market reshuffle - from scale wars, price wars to the current technology wars.

There is no doubt that this is an uphill battle. Improving the "self-sufficiency rate" of the underlying technology is not achieved overnight, but requires long-term research and development investment, product application and the determination of the enterprise itself.

But it's not impossible to rely on technology to stay ahead. As Ma Guilong shouted out the confidence that "the wheel hub motor is China's original", between the policy and the market game, the technology evolution of the two-wheeled electric vehicle company itself has become the biggest point of view, as Dong Jinggui, founder of Yadi Holding Group, said: "Technology and innovation are still the constant source of power for enterprises." ”

From a bicycle country to a two-wheeled electric vehicle country, under the soaring ownership figures, in addition to the scale advantage, technological innovation is the other side of China's two-wheeled electric vehicle enterprises.

Two-wheeled electric vehicle standing at an intersection

In fact, compared with today's vigorous wave of vehicle electrification, the electrification of two-wheeled vehicles entered the marketization stage as early as the end of the 1990s, and in the acceleration of China's urbanization process, the two-wheeled electric vehicles everywhere not only play the role of travel tools, but also witness the transformation and upgrading of China's two-wheeled electric vehicle enterprises.

Most of the researchers of securities companies divide the development of China's two-wheeled electric vehicles into three major stages, namely, the low-speed growth period of the market cultivation stage from 1995 to 2004; the grassy growth period under the guidance of the "ban on motorcycles" from 2004 to 2013; and the stock replacement and incremental expansion period under the landing of the "new national standard" since 2013.

In the market cultivation stage, because the two-wheeled electric vehicle is "China's first", there is no mature reference program, under the premise that the upstream and downstream industrial chains have not formed a cluster, resulting in high research and development and manufacturing costs, further increasing the unit price. For users who were quite price sensitive at the time, the acceptance of two-wheeled electric vehicles was not high, so their sales were always hovering at a low level.

Low-speed growth soon became history. With the formation of the three major industrial clusters in Wuxi, Zhejiang and Tianjin, and the replacement wave of "ban on motorcycles", two-wheeled electric vehicles soon entered a period of grassy growth. By 2014, the number of electric bicycles exceeded 193 million, which means that two-wheeled electric vehicles have basically completed the scale growth.

But unfortunately, in the rapid growth, the two-wheeled electric vehicle on the outlet has been criticized. The core reason is that in the frequent price wars, the products are seriously homogenized, the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain are caught in the consumption of resources, and the brand power of two-wheeled electric vehicles has dropped greatly.

But the rising penetration rate and ownership confirm the broad prospects of two-wheeled electric vehicles. Under the trend of consumption upgrading, the bicycle ASP of electric two-wheelers continues to rise, and users are eager for more high-end products to meet diversified travel needs. It is precisely because of this trend that the two-wheeled electric vehicle companies represented by Yadi have begun to transform to high-end.

Judging from the later results, it is this step that lays the foundation for the status of "king of electric vehicles" Yadi.

Nowadays, after the landing of the "new national standard", the industry's low-end production capacity will accelerate the clearance, the market share will gradually concentrate on the leading enterprises, and under the trend of "strong Hengqiang", the leading enterprises will further grasp the pricing power of the products, and the new market order emphasizing "scientific and technological strength" will also be gradually established.

From reckless rapid growth to the transformation from quantity to quality, to some extent, this means that the two-wheeled electric vehicle is once again standing at the crossroads of transformation.

How can leading enterprises use technology to establish a "new order" for two-wheeled electric vehicles?

The old order of "scale first" is being broken, and a new order emphasizing "scientific and technological strength" is being established. Judging from the recent actions of the two-wheeler head enterprises, the strategic position of "science and technology" is gradually becoming prominent.

Take Yadi, for example. Since the establishment of the "higher end" strategy in 2015, in addition to ranking "the first in sales" for many years, Yadi has continued to seize the incremental market of two-wheeled electric vehicles with scientific and technological strength through series of products such as "Guanneng" and "VFLY" and high-end sub-brands.

The time is dialed back to the end of 2020. Dong Jinggui made a "three-year transition period" prediction for the future of the industry: "Next year (2021) competition will be very fierce, there will be many brands dying and struggling, there will also be head enterprises to achieve high growth, to the next year (2022), the industry will gradually enter a mature period, when the entire electric vehicle industry chain will achieve high quality, high added value." ”

Reality confirmed his judgment. According to founder securities, for the two-wheeled electric vehicle market that has long lacked high-quality supply, with the continuous development of intelligent technology, under the big logic of two-wheeler stock substitution and the implementation of the "new national standard", the electric two-wheeler industry will usher in new opportunities.

This means that with the innovation and layout of Yadi around the upstream and downstream of the electric two-wheeler industry chain, under the "spillover effect" of science and technology, it will also drive the entire industry to enter high-quality development.

This can be seen from the product recently launched by Yadi - "Guanneng Series Double Warranty Model". The "double warranty" is not only a literal extension of the warranty period, but also redefines and raises the quality standards of the entire electric vehicle industry.

The strength of Yadi to raise industry standards comes from the key breakthroughs in core hardware and product quality.

The first is the innovation of the core hardware layer. From the perspective of the development of the two-wheeled electric vehicle industry, the key technology that really drives the development of the industry is the improvement of battery quality, which restricts the endurance of two-wheeled vehicles.

Due to cost advantages, mainland electric two-wheelers have long been dominated by ordinary lead-acid batteries, and their disadvantages are large size, weak environmental performance and relatively low cycle life, so "short life, poor endurance and slow charging" have also been restricting the overall development of the industry.

After years of research and development, Yadi has created a new era of graphene lead-acid batteries since the release of the first generation of graphene batteries in 2014, and yadi graphene batteries have been iterated to the third generation. Compared with ordinary lead-acid batteries, graphene batteries have greatly improved their capacity under the same volume. At the same time, due to the low temperature performance, even in the winter low temperature environment, the long endurance of electric vehicles has been guaranteed.

Take the Yadi Guanneng II E8 model equipped with TTFAR graphene 3-generation battery as an example, which has crossed extremely cold places such as Mohe river and achieved a milestone breakthrough in the industry. In addition, with the blessing of The two-wheeler system (TTFAR 2.0 range extended range system) independently developed by Yadi, Yadi Guanneng II E8 handed over a "one-time charge of more than 200 kilometers" endurance performance, opening a new revolution in electric vehicle endurance. The Guanneng series is upgraded to double the warranty of the Guanneng second-generation E8S, which is the original Guanneng second-generation E8 electric vehicle upgrade, and the quality strength has broken through. Technological breakthroughs in core hardware not only enrich and innovate the current two-wheeled electric vehicle product matrix, but also benefit the entire industry.

The second is the innovation of product quality layer. In addition to the quality improvement brought about by the above core technology breakthroughs, through the industry-leading Yada Link-QC quality control platform, Yadi has realized the closed-loop control of the whole process of the whole vehicle with its digital integration capabilities. In addition to the extension of nearly 40 parts of the motor, battery and other vehicles, the online platform can link Yadi terminal stores, which greatly enhances user satisfaction and reputation.

In other words, the underlying support of double warranty is scientific and technological innovation. With scientific and technological innovation, Yadi was recently awarded the "CCTV. Leading Brand of Science and Technology Life", and its brand power has once again been highly recognized by the national authoritative media CCTV. At the beginning of 2021, Yadi was selected by CCTV as "CCTV National Ingenuity Brand - Electric Vehicle Industry Leader", which is also the only brand selected in the electric vehicle industry.

It is not difficult to see that out of the "old order" that emphasizes scale, the head enterprises represented by Yadi are setting off a new round of change with science and technology. From technology research and development, product application to terminal services, under the operation of the full link, Yadi is leading the two-wheeled electric vehicle industry towards high-quality development.

From Yadi to see the long-term value of China's intelligent manufacturing

From a more macroscopic perspective, Yadi's "technology practice" answers a question that has long plagued people:

"Where should Chinese manufacturing go?"

Looking back at the development of China's manufacturing industry for decades, it is actually a process of continuous innovation and "squeezing" into the upper reaches of the "smile curve" value chain.

The same is true of the two-wheeled electric vehicle industry. From the cost advantage of "Made in China" to the technical advantage of "Made in China", the entity-based enterprises represented by Yadi rely on scientific and technological investment and product innovation to gradually flatten the "smile curve".

In addition to the development of the domestic market, two-wheeled electric vehicles have also been recognized worldwide. In 2020, the New York Times published an article saying: "Two-wheeled electric vehicles have finally ushered in their own highlight moments, and they are worth it." A year later, the New York Times published again that two-wheeled electric vehicles were "faster, farther away, and without sweating."

Zhai Guanglong, vice president of the Shared Travel Branch of the China Transport Association, also pointed out that electric bicycles have become the first choice for many people to travel with their non-contact, open space and other characteristics, and in the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States and other countries, the sales of electric bicycles in the past two years have shown explosive growth.

In addition to these "highlight moments", Chinese enterprises have changed from "manufacturing confidence" to "scientific and technological self-confidence".

Take Yadi, for example. In 2020, Yadi's R&D investment increased by 56.7% year-on-year to 600 million yuan, and the revenue of R&D investment accounted for 3.1%. In the first half of 2021, Yadi's R&D expenses reached 339 million yuan, an increase of 63.2% year-on-year, ranking leading the industry.

Source: Yadi 2021 Interim Report

In addition to the R&D investment, Yadi is the only enterprise in the industry with two national enterprise laboratories (CNAS laboratories) and six major technology research and development centers, and its research and development results are not limited to the field of complete vehicles, but also realize the comprehensive layout of the upstream and downstream of the two-wheeled electric vehicle industry chain such as power supply, power and big data.

Under the breakthrough of science and technology, for China's two-wheeled electric vehicle companies, "Yadi" has also ushered in a new historical mission. According to overseas research agency Navigant, the global electricity-based transportation scale will reach $66.2 billion in 2025. Among them, small electric mobility tools and accessories will account for nearly half of the market size.

Another research report "The Development and Prospect of China's Electric Bicycles" also pointed out that China has the largest number of electric bicycle users in the world, which makes China have an absolute advantage in the construction standards of electric bicycles, the formulation of laws and regulations on management systems, and the formulation of standards for urban planning and construction, so China will also lead the wave of electric bicycle development in the world in the future.

"Going overseas" will be Yadi's new historical mission. But in fact, as early as 2007, Yadi planned to lay out overseas markets, and opened a journey of globalization through the establishment of import and export companies and overseas factories.

In the past 15 years of overseas development, as a representative of "Made in China", Yadi's products have been sold to 88 countries around the world from "0". At the end of 2020, Yadi announced that its global sales volume exceeded 10 million units, becoming the first company in the electric two-wheeler industry to sell more than 10 million units per year, breaking the industry's highest sales record.

Behind the "global sales first" is the improvement of Yadi brand product strength, channel power and brand power, and it is also the embodiment of the long-term value of "China's intelligent manufacturing".

Back to the story in the laboratory of Tsinghua University at the beginning, the "spark of stars" at that time has blossomed in many places around the world, showing a trend of fire. For Yadi and China's two-wheeled electric vehicle industry, this is a more open market and a new era. As Dong Jinggui has emphasized on many different occasions:

"Yadi's new mission is to create a new generation of green technology travel lifestyle and lead the industry to upgrade."