After the wind blows through the new energy vehicles, the two-wheeler industry is considered to be the next new outlet for electrification and intelligence.
On the one hand, with the mandatory national standard (GB 17761-2018) of the "Electric Bicycle Safety Technical Specification" landing in various cities, the domestic two-wheeled electric vehicle market is expected to have about 100 million over-standard vehicles in the replacement demand, the stock replacement of fuel motorcycles and the domestic upgrading of high-end motorcycle products. According to the forecast of Tianfeng Securities, the year-on-year growth rate of two-wheeled electric vehicles in the five years from 2020 to 2024 is 19%, 22%, 15%, 10% and -7%, respectively, and the overall industry scale will reach a peak in 2023.
On the other hand, before the implementation of the new national standard, the entire two-wheeled electric vehicle industry is more to reduce costs and fight price wars to ensure sales growth. In the new market environment, the mainstream direction of the entire two-wheeler industry is moving towards the direction of intelligence and high-end, and traditional manufacturers and new forces such as Hello, No. 9, and Mavericks have launched new competitions at the functional level of intelligent navigation, on-board central control screen, high-energy density battery, flash charge or wireless charging.
At present, among the many new forces in the domestic two-wheeler industry, there will be another "new player" - Horwin (outside) (the company name is "Haowan New Energy").
Compared with other industry players, Horwin, a domestic two-wheeled electric brand that started in Europe, chose to avoid the "competition red sea" electric bicycle category and focused more on electric motorcycles. At present, the cumulative sales of Horwin's electric motorcycles exceed 30,000 units, ranking among the top three in the European market. In the second half of 2022, Horwin will officially enter the domestic electric motorcycle market and launch new products.
Misplaced competition, space for time
"Founded in 2016, after three years of pre-development, Horwin's first speed-shifting electric motorcycle CR6 was unveiled at an industry show in Milan, Italy, in November 2019."
Liu Ping, COO of Horwin, told Titanium Media App that after the release, the company received a prepayment for the product and cash flowed in. According to reports, the total order amount of CR6 at that time exceeded 70 million yuan.
In the following two years, Horwin successively released two products, the EK series and the SK series. In two years, the cumulative overseas sales of Horwin's two-wheeled electric vehicle products exceeded 30,000 units, with annual revenue exceeding 100 million yuan, and entered the top three in the Sales Ranking in the European market. Up to now, Horwin's products have been exported to more than 56 countries and regions, and more than 1,000 global distribution outlets.
In terms of specific business models, Horwin's main sales channels are divided into 2C retail channels and 2B supplier channels. Among them, in the 2B channel, Horwin mainly provides two-wheeled electric vehicles and IOT and SAAS software services for some overseas express delivery companies and takeaway companies. In the proportion of overall revenue, the revenue proportion of the 2C and 2B businesses is 70% and 30% respectively.
Talking about why the overseas market was chosen instead of the domestic market at the beginning of its establishment, Liu Ping said that the traditional two-wheeled electric vehicle manufacturers in China had previously been in the fierce competition of homogenization, and the unit price of customers was relatively low. In such a market, it is difficult for Horwin to achieve a breakthrough.
In overseas markets, due to the small impact of policy factors and the transformation of the global energy structure, the user's acceptance of the transformation from fuel motorcycles to electric motorcycles is also very high. As a result, compared with China, mid-to-high-end electric motorcycles are more favored by consumers overseas.
Haowan has launched a total of three series of EK, SK, and CR, and the terminal price is between about 3,000 euros and 7,000 euros, which is a high-end two-wheeled electric vehicle product in the European market. According to Liu Ping, the gross profit margin of the above products is 15-20% higher than that of domestic two-wheeled electric vehicles.
Entered the domestic market and developed a new material for "niobium lithium batteries"
"In fact, two years in the European market is a market validation period for Horwin." Liu Ping said that after two years of exploration, the commerciality of Horwin products and the certainty of business model have been basically verified. As a result, Horwin decided to officially enter the domestic market in the second half of this year.
In the face of the fierce competition of the two-wheeled electric bicycle track, Horwin still chose to misplace the competition and continued to focus on the vertical category of electric motorcycles. "As far as the domestic market is concerned, we are from 0 to 1, we have no brand influence, and it makes no sense to directly fight with our peer players in this stock market." Liu Ping said.
According to Liu Ping's forecast, the annual sales of motorcycles in the world are about 55 million. China's current electrification penetration rate of motorcycles is 20%, which will grow to 50% in 2027. In overseas markets, the electrification rate of motorcycles is 5%-8%, and it will increase to 20%-30% in the next few years. Such a market increment is Horwin's opportunity.
In the second half of 2022, Horwin will release new products based on short- and medium-distance cycling scenarios and a technology platform for intelligent driving vehicles. And in the mass production process, Horwin will change the previous foundry model, in addition to research and development, design, organization of supply chain and quality control, will carry out independent production.
Horwin's intelligent building block factory in Changzhou is expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter, responsible for the manufacture of core key components, the second phase of vehicle assembly of 60 acres is expected to be delivered at the end of next year, is expected to achieve a production capacity of 500,000 units / set, the third phase of 90 acres is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2025, after completion will provide an annual output of core components and vehicles 1.5 million units / set of production capacity.
In addition to the new layout of the market, Horwin is also developing a new supplementary material for two-wheeled electric vehicles at the same time - niobium lithium battery.
In January 2022, a partnership was established with the Brazilian company CBMM, the world's largest niobium technology specialist, with the goal of applying niobium-containing lithium-ion batteries to electric two-wheelers.
According to reports, the use in the anode of lithium-ion batteries provides special characteristics for this component. Since niobium oxide is a very stable component, safer and more efficient operation can be achieved. In addition, due to its more open crystal structure, it facilitates the embedding of lithium, allowing lithium niobium batteries to be fully charged in less than 10 minutes without causing damage to the battery.
According to the plan, the first model equipped with niobium lithium battery is Horwin's CR6 electric motorcycle, which has an engine power of 6,200W and an autonomous driving range of up to 150 kilometers. The motorcycle, equipped with lithium niobium batteries, is expected to be available in Brazil as early as 2024. (This article was first published on the Titanium Media App, and the author |.) Rao Xiangyu)