On March 25, the 8th China Electric Vehicle 100 Forum (2022) was held in Beijing. With the theme of "Greeting the New Stage of Market-oriented Development of New Energy Vehicles", representatives of relevant government departments, authoritative scholars in the industry, and industry leaders gathered together, and Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD, spoke in the form of video at the meeting.
BYD's new energy vehicle sales are gratifying
First of all, Wang Chuanfu showed a beautiful report card of BYD. A total of 740,000 vehicles were sold in 2021, of which new energy vehicles exceeded 600,000 units, an increase of 220% year-on-year, ranking first in China for 9 consecutive years; from January to February 2022, the sales of new energy vehicles exceeded 180,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 5 times; in January, BYD won the first monthly sales of new energy vehicles in the world; in February, in the monthly list of domestic passenger cars, BYD ranked among the top two in the country for the first time, and the single-month sales in March also broke through 100,000 units...
Behind the gratifying sales is the vote of confidence cast by Chinese and even global users with real money and silver. As BYD, which has been deeply involved in the field of new energy vehicles for many years, with market-leading technologies such as blade batteries, DM-i super hybrid, and e-platform 3.0, adheres to the "two legs" of pure electric and plug-in hybrids, and launches hot models such as Song Plus DM-i, Qin Plus DM-i, and Tang DM-i in 2021, and in 2022, there will be a dynasty system and an ocean system to provide consumers with more high-quality model choices.
At present, BYD's passenger car business has 150,000 to 160,000 new orders per month, and 300,000 undelivered orders, and will remain in short supply for most of 2022. In order to solve the problem of insufficient production capacity, BYD has built 9 factories in the past six months, and 8 major factories have completed production and put into operation in 2022, of which the Changsha Xingsha plant rolled off the production line on March 20, with a planned production capacity of 20,000 units/month; on March 30, the Second Factory in Xi'an completed production, with a planned production capacity of 60,000 units/month; on April 15, the first car of the Fuzhou plant rolled off the production line, with a planned production capacity of 18,000 units/month; and on April 30, the daily state plant completed production, from 16,000 units per month to 32,000 units...
On April 3, BYD officially announced that it would become the world's first car company to stop production of fuel vehicles. The determination and confidence to adhere to the pure electric and plug-in hybrid "two legs" walking can be seen.
The penetration rate of new energy vehicles in mainland China can reach 35%
Due to the deep cultivation of the new energy vehicle market for many years, Wang Chuanfu also analyzed the development trend of new energy vehicles in the mainland and the world for the audience. The penetration rate of new energy vehicles in mainland China increased by an average of 1.3 percentage points per month from 6% in January 2021 to 22% in December. The penetration rate in the first half of March 2022 has exceeded 28%, and it is estimated that the full monthly penetration rate will also exceed 28%.
What is more noteworthy is that the main buying population of this wave of growth has changed from online car-hailing and taxi to private car, with a proportion of up to 88%. BYD did a test, observed the local auto show for 5 days, and found that 60% to 70% of consumers were looking at new energy vehicles, while only 30% to 40% of consumers looking at fuel vehicles, which is a shocking proportion. Wang Chuanfu expects that the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the mainland will reach 35% by the end of this year.
If ten years ago, the development of new energy vehicles was mainly driven by policies; 3 or 5 years ago, the development of the industry was a two-wheel drive of "policy + market", then today, the market drive accounts for up to 70%, and the policy drive is 30%. With the rapid iterative progress of technology and products, new energy vehicles have comprehensively surpassed traditional fuel vehicles in terms of performance, shape, noise, acceleration, smoothness, intelligence, and cost of use, and the price has begun to have a certain competitiveness, and consumers have paid more attention to new energy vehicles.
At present, electrification in Europe is developing very fast. In December 2021, Iceland has achieved full electrification of new cars, Norway has reached a penetration rate of 90%, the Netherlands and Sweden have a penetration rate of more than 60%, and even the most developed traditional car power- Germany has a penetration rate of more than 35%, which is the general trend of electrification accelerating change. From a global perspective, it is a global consensus to deal with climate change and achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. In the current international environment, oil prices have risen sharply, and the reform of new energy vehicles will continue to accelerate.
Four suggestions for the development of new energy vehicles
Although the mainland new energy automobile industry seems to be full of vitality, it should also consider various issues, and Wang Chuanfu also keenly put forward four suggestions and ideas.
First, we hope to clarify the preferential policies for new energy vehicles in the post-subsidy era. Mainland new energy vehicle purchase subsidies, purchase tax reduction and other policies will be withdrawn by the end of this year, but European and American countries are increasing their financial and tax support for new energy vehicles. Considering that automobile development takes 3 to 5 years, Wang Chuanfu suggested that the purchase tax reduction policy for new energy vehicles can continue to be extended, stabilize industry expectations, and ensure the rapid development of the new energy industry; at the same time, it is recommended to optimize the double credit policy for new energy vehicles to continue to operate effectively.
The second is to adhere to the pure electric and plug-in hybrid "two legs" to walk. In 2021, plug-in hybrids will have a market share of up to 50% in Europe, but only 18% in China. More than 60% of China's families are still car-free families, for them, if pure electric vehicles focus on solving the need for additional purchases, then plug-in hybrid effectively solves the needs of more families to buy and exchange, plug-in hybrid can provide more flexible usage, compared to pure electricity can better meet the needs of first-time buyers, to achieve a smooth transition from fuel vehicles to pure electric vehicles.
The third is to adhere to lithium iron phosphate as the correct development path. BYD launched a blade battery to solve safety pain points, realize that the energy density of the package is comparable to that of the ternary battery, and the cycle life and safety factor are stronger. Lithium iron phosphate does not contain rare metals, is not afraid of being stuck in the neck, and better matches the needs of the mainland. This is very important for the current unpredictable international situation.
The fourth is to consider how to deal with the soaring prices of raw materials. Wang Chuanfu suggested comprehensively sorting out the layout and production capacity of lithium carbonate resources, increasing domestic mining and foreign imports, maintaining market supply and demand, stabilizing price expectations, and promoting the healthy and safe development of the industry.
Overall, BYD's development can be described as a leap forward, after years of deep ploughing of new energy vehicles, it has now become a globally influential new energy vehicle company, and has been selected as the "100 most influential companies in 2022" by Time Magazine, and is the only Chinese car company on the list. Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD, also made a thought-provoking speech, the penetration rate of new energy is accelerating, and the four suggestions are also worthy of attention. It is hoped that excellent new energy vehicle companies like BYD in the mainland can continue to deepen research and development and market, so that new energy vehicles in the mainland and even the world can develop faster and better.