Higher quality, faster delivery Small and micro new energy vehicles leverage the big market

China Consumer Daily reported (reporter Wu Bofeng) once upon a time, cheap, poor quality, market recognition is not high, is the label of small and micro car products. However, the latest data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that in the first two months of 2022, the cumulative sales of new energy vehicles were 765,000 units, an increase of 154.7% year-on-year. Among them, the small and micro new energy vehicle market is the most active, SAIC-GM-Wuling Hongguang MINIEV, BYD Yuanpro, Chery QQ Ice Cream and other models on the new energy vehicle sales list, its momentum even overshadowed the new car brands that have been in the limelight in recent years.

So, what kind of magic does the small and micro new energy vehicle rely on to capture the hearts of consumers?

Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with the China Consumer Daily reporter that the energy-saving characteristics of small electric vehicles mean that energy consumption has dropped significantly. Due to the limited space of the vehicle, equipped with a small volume power battery, the battery cost is less, and the price of the new car is low, which reduces the purchase cost.

Small and micro new energy vehicles are recognized by more and more consumers. Wu Bofeng/Photo

Although the car is small, the development experience is like a roller coaster

If new energy vehicles are the main driving force driving the new car market, then small and micro cars are the forerunners of independent brands in the new energy vehicle market.

As early as the early stage of the marketization of new energy vehicles, the small and micro models represented by Zhidou dropped from about 150,000 yuan before the subsidy to a minimum of less than 40,000 yuan after enjoying the car purchase subsidy policy, and the strong contrast between the suggested retail price of the new car and the actual purchase price, coupled with the limited awareness of consumers for new energy vehicles at that time, more people had insufficient confidence in new energy vehicles with higher prices, resulting in small and micro new energy models once being popular in the consumer market.

However, the good times are not long, as more and more car companies lay out the field of new energy vehicles, medium and large new energy vehicles gradually enter the automotive market, while small and micro new energy vehicles are gradually marginalized due to the lack of core technical competitiveness. BAIC BJEV EV150, Zhidou D2, BYD e1 and other models, which were once hot in the market, eventually withdrew from the consumer market due to insufficient competitiveness in the product market.

It is gratifying that under the background of the upgrading of the overall automobile consumption market, the comprehensive strength of small and micro new energy vehicles is being significantly improved. The quality of the car has improved, and the sales volume has begun to climb.

Endurance is a key element for consumers to choose a new energy vehicle. The reporter noted that the mileage of the market-hot Hongguang MINIEV has increased from less than 200 kilometers when it was just listed to 300 kilometers today. The Plienberg E-Star also has a range of 301 km, and the car supports fast charging, which is rare in the same level of market.

At the same time, auto companies have added personalized configurations to more small and micro models to meet different consumer needs. For example, Euler White Cat takes the urban female group as its target consumer group, its appearance is more recognizable, coupled with the dual-screen linkage configuration, which adds vitality to the vehicle; while the Baojun KiWi EV highlights the fashion tone through 6 body appearance colors, and also provides a variety of modification schemes; the zero-run T03 is equipped with reversing images, full-speed domain adaptive cruise, automatic parking and other configurations, and the scientific and technological attributes have increased greatly.

Personalized configuration makes small and micro new energy vehicles more powerful. Taking Wuling Hongguang MINIEV as an example, since 2021, it has won the sales champion of the new energy vehicle market for many consecutive months. Entering 2022, from January to February, Wuling Hongguang MINIEV sales have reached 59,100 vehicles.

Chen Shihua, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said in an interview with the "China Consumer Daily" reporter that many consumers define the quality of the vehicle with the body size and level as the standard, believing that the larger the body size, the stronger the comprehensive strength of the vehicle's products, and subconsciously exclude the small and micro cars from the door of quality, which is not a rational choice.

Chen Shihua said that at present, the domestic automobile market is in the process of transformation and upgrading. In the face of changes in the automotive market, some people simply think that transformation and upgrading is the improvement of the model level, such as the transition from small cars to medium-sized cars. But Chen Shihua said that "the real market upgrade is the improvement of the overall quality of new energy vehicles, not the pursuit of a single model level." For example, whether small and micro new energy vehicles can provide consumers with the same quality product functions is the key to market upgrading. He said.

Don't wait for the opportunity to come unexpectedly

At present, affected by the chip shortage in the global car market, the hot-selling models of mainstream car companies are still facing a "core" situation, and the delivery time of new cars is as little as one or two months, and more than half a year. The reporter of "China Consumer Daily" called the 4S store of Chery New Energy, BYD and Wuling Hongguang brand in Beijing, and got the reply of "if you do not choose private customized services, you can directly pick up the car" of the small and micro models.

According to Chen Shihua, the current supply of automotive chips still has a large gap, and there is still no significant improvement compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, and car companies still have to wait a long time to buy chips. "Compared with other models, small and micro new energy vehicles that mainly provide short-distance travel functions do not need to carry too many chips, so the output of new cars is guaranteed, and consumers can basically achieve normal pick-up when they buy such models."

Long lead times test consumer patience. In the case of the overall automobile market facing a long delivery cycle, small and micro new energy vehicles that do not need to wait are naturally more favored by consumers.

However, some consumers have asked: "Have small and micro new energy vehicles given up the intelligent networking function at the expense of car experience?" ”

In response to this problem, Zhou Heliang, chairman of the Electric Vehicle Professional Committee of the China Electrotechnical Society, said in an interview with the China Consumer Daily reporter that the industry usually divides the region of the car chip loading system into different levels. For example, vehicle entertainment systems and communication system chips are relatively low-grade, while chip-on-chips that affect vehicle power and safety systems are the highest, such as autonomous driving and body control systems. Because the shortage of chips is mainly concentrated in the field of automatic driving, high-grade chips with higher requirements, small and micro new energy vehicles have not been affected too much.

"Small and micro new energy vehicles are not not equipped with chips, but only carry relatively fewer specifications and quantities." Zhou Heliang said.

Taking the zero-run T03, which is priced at 90,000 yuan and market-oriented for small cars, as an example, it is equipped with functions such as face recognition start-up, intelligent voice system, and supports the OTA upgrade of the whole vehicle, and its quality is not inferior to that of medium and large models.

In Zhou Heliang's view, small and micro new energy vehicles are based on the insight into the demand of the consumer market and the characteristics of the product type itself, realizing the "small and complete" product characteristics, and these models can basically meet the needs of most consumers.

In recent years, the domestic new energy vehicle market has developed rapidly, and the current number of new energy vehicles has reached 8.6 million. According to the current development rate, by the second quarter of 2022, the number of new energy vehicles will exceed 10 million.

Ouyang Minggao believes that small and micro new energy vehicles themselves have good price advantages, and if they are further improved in terms of vehicle endurance, use safety, and car experience in the future, they will be recognized by more consumer markets in the future.