On April 3, BYD announced that it will stop production of fuel vehicles from March 2022 in accordance with the company's strategic development needs. In the future, in the automotive sector, BYD Automobile will focus on pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. With such a declaration that there is no way back, what road does BYD choose?
Discontinued fuel vehicles do not leave a way back for themselves
The news wasn't just an announcement by the auto industry, it became the biggest news of the holidays. If combined with the background of the current continuous rise in oil prices and the sharp increase in the cost of fuel vehicles, the public has deeply felt the vision and determination of this company. This decision is a complete farewell to traditional vehicle manufacturing. No matter how much temptation there are in traditional fuel vehicles, in short, since March, BYD is really a complete new energy vehicle company, and it is no longer vaguely called a traditional car company that produces new energy vehicles.
BYD sold 740,000 vehicles last year, including new energy vehicles exceeded 600,000 units, an increase of 220% year-on-year, ranking first in China for nine consecutive years. In March, BYD's passenger car sales reached 104338 units, once again setting a new record for monthly sales of new energy vehicles in China. Among them, 53,664 ev pure electric vehicles were sold, and 50,674 DM plug-in hybrids were sold. Trace the reason for the suspension of production, of course, not because of the two months of oil price fluctuations in front of you, nor because the new energy is selling well, so it is directly abandoned to gasoline vehicles. It should be known that BYD gasoline vehicles also sold more than 100,000 units last year, even more than some joint venture car companies.
In fact, the exit has long been foreshadowed. As early as november 14, 2021, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, BYD, as the only Chinese car company, signed a commitment letter with Five car companies, Named Volvo, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar Land Rover, confirming that it would stop selling fuel vehicles by 2040. What the outside world did not expect is that the distant 2040 is in the hands of BYD, and it can press the fast-forward button to this year to achieve it ahead of schedule. The suspension of fuel vehicles is obviously the result of its long-term thinking, layout and trade-offs.
Full electrification should be more in line with national conditions
Environmental protection, carbon peaking, carbon neutrality is the national intention and global consensus. If BYD wants to really practice it, it cannot continue to fight left and right in both gasoline vehicles and new energy vehicles. After all, this is the product of two eras, and if you want to go parallel, there must be concern and balance, and you can't concentrate on one belief and one direction to move forward. For example, some companies verbally say that they want to electrify, but when they see that the profit of fuel vehicles is high, they will increase production capacity; when they see that new energy vehicles are not profitable, they slow down. However, BYD's trade-off is obviously to establish the direction of its own runway, because going back is going in the opposite direction with the corporate philosophy.
At present, the shortage of fossil fuels and the continuous rise in oil prices are a stimulus for new energy vehicle companies. However, BYD is different from others and has long realized that the development of new energy vehicles cannot rely on nickel and cobalt to solve energy security problems. Therefore, BYD insists on lithium iron phosphate as the right development path, which is very difficult. Safety is the cornerstone, cost is life, after years of tempering, BYD was able to launch a blade battery, solve the safety pain points, the energy density of the package is also equivalent to the ternary battery, which is equivalent to pulling lithium iron phosphate back to the right path. Wang Chuanfu, chairman of BYD, described this as saying that China cannot change from the era of fuel vehicles being necked by oil cards to being necked by metal cobalt and metal nickel cards in the era of electric vehicles. Lithium iron phosphate does not contain rare metals and is more suitable for the tolerance of social resources.
It is worth noting that abandoning the production of fuel vehicles is not equivalent to giving up the needs of the majority of Chinese people. After all, China is a vast country, and to make every household use pure electric vehicles, it needs huge infrastructure support. Therefore, as an excellent alternative to fuel vehicles, plug-in hybrid models have been given a very high mission by BYD, and its status is the same as that of pure trams, known as "walking on two legs".
The same is true from a worldwide perspective. Last year, plug-in hybrids had a 50 percent share of the European market, but only 18 percent in China. More than 60% of China's families are still car-free households, plug-in hybrid to achieve short-distance electricity, long-distance oil, so that the first family car can be oilable and electric. Therefore, plug-in hybrid energy does not distinguish between cities and regions to solve the first purchase and exchange needs of more families.
In particular, the DM-i super hybrid technology developed by BYD subverts the oil-based design architecture of traditional hybrid technology and satisfies the user's pursuit of extreme driving energy consumption. For example, the Flagship SUV's Tang DM-i is equipped with core components such as the Snap Cloud-Plug-In Hybrid Turbocharged 1.5Ti High Efficiency Engine, the EHS Electric Hybrid System, and the high-capacity DM-i Super Hybrid Special Power Blade Battery with high capacity and power. Because the core components can be operated efficiently for a long time, the Tang DM-i has greatly reduced the energy consumption of the car. This has also become a sign that BYD plug-in hybrids are revolutionary in the industry.
It can be seen that compared with the new forces who completely focus on pure electrification, BYD soberly realizes that plug-in hybrid is an important path to achieve the goal of double carbon, and it is also a very long-term and long-term path. It not only reduces energy consumption, but also allows thousands of households to use without worry. The innovation of DM-i plug and mix has promoted the smooth change of the industry, and the industry has not been able to fault it.
Sustainable innovation builds strong vitality
Focusing on the needs of the new era, the development of science and technology is dizzying, and the era needs more new energy vehicles to replace. Therefore, BYD, which completely bid farewell to fuel vehicles, is not just lying on the three electrics to win. As an automobile company with distinct innovation genes and scientific and technological blood, its research, innovation and development of new energy and intelligence have been laid out as early as the beginning of the establishment of the enterprise. In recent years, BYD has independently developed core technologies in the whole industry chain, mastered core technologies such as DM-i super hybrid, blade battery, and e-platform 3.0, strongly empowered products, and formed a rich matrix of new energy models. This matrix is still future-oriented, has infinite possibilities for extension, and will evolve from generation to generation.
Of course, BYD Automobile will continue to produce and supply fuel vehicle parts, and will continue to provide perfect service and after-sales support for existing fuel vehicle customers. However, everyone knows that the future BYD will no longer hesitate and look forward to it. Just as Ford would not have built a carriage because it was noble. BYD, which is already a "brother" in the domestic new energy automobile industry, has no retreat options this time, and has chosen the right one.
BYD will only focus on the national "double carbon" strategic goal, adhere to the new development concept of "innovation" and "green", and lead the transformation of the automotive industry and promote the sustainable development of society with the driving force of scientific and technological innovation, as it declares.
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Text | Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Qi Yaoqi
Edit | Wooden words
Proofreading | Peng Jiye
Audit | Shum Jay Chang
Issue | Au Kin Yeon