"Spontaneous combustion" storm, BAIC new energy vehicles are deeply involved in it| tram observation

"If you are a God and you want to create a whole world, and you just expand it without paying attention to its problems, then when the world goes wrong, it may collapse." 」

- Tram Observation

Text | Tram Observation Net Snow

Since entering the market, the spontaneous combustion of BAIC new energy vehicles has always been the target of public criticism.

On the evening of April 19, 2022, a fire broke out at a power station in Beijing's Shijingshan District, with smoke billowing at the scene, the air was full of pungent smells, and residents around heard the explosion, and more than ten fire trucks came to the scene to extinguish the fire. According to nearby residents, the substation is basically a BAIC new energy vehicle to change the power.

Less than a week later, BAIC spontaneously combusted again on the hot search. On April 25, a BAIC BJEV EU400 electric vehicle spontaneously combusted while charging at a charging station in Beijing's Chaoyang District. According to the driver, the car was licensed in 2018, with a total mileage of 60,000 kilometers, and spontaneous combustion occurred after only ten days of car rental, and there was no sign before spontaneous combustion. In just a few days, there have been many spontaneous combustion accidents, and BAIC new energy vehicles have once again been pushed to the cusp of the storm.

Although the cumulative sales of BAIC BJEV reached 158012 in 2018, becoming the sales champion in China's pure electric vehicle market, under the trend of explosive growth of new energy vehicle companies, BAIC BJEV vehicles have slipped from the peak to the trough. The market has been losing ground, spontaneous combustion problems have been frequently exposed, and last year alone, more than 30,000 problem vehicles of BAIC BJEV were recalled.

From the highlight moment of the dark horse in the past to today's highly questioned, what has BAIC BJEV experienced? Why do spontaneous combustion problems occur frequently? From the sales champion to the current "spontaneous combustion of large households", "fraudulent supplement projects", "speculation concept" and other negative public opinions are flying all over the sky, how should veteran car companies save themselves?

By dismantling BAIC New Energy Vehicles, Tram Observation interviewed a number of industry practitioners and investors to try to enter the fog of spontaneous combustion of BAIC New Energy Vehicles.

From the largest sellers to the largest spontaneous combustion households,

More than 30,000 vehicles at risk of spontaneous combustion of BAIC BJEV vehicles have been recalled

As early as March last year, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a recall notice recalling EX360 and EU400 pure electric vehicles. The reason for the recall is: "Due to the consistency difference of the power battery system of some vehicles, long-term continuous and frequent fast charging in a high temperature environment may lead to the deterioration of the performance of individual battery cells, and in extreme cases, occasional failures will be triggered, causing the risk of power battery fire, and there are potential safety hazards."

Unlike most of the company's problem outbreaks, public opinion is almost completely on the opposite side of BAIC BJEV: half a year before the recall directive was issued, Tencent Penguin's "Visiting Car" published an article pointing out that the spontaneous combustion problem of BAIC BJEV vehicles is equivalent to 6 spontaneous combustion per million vehicles per week, which is 6 times the industry average; The Phoenix Auto Channel analyzed the frequent spontaneous combustion of BAIC new energy vehicles and how veteran car companies can save themselves, pointing out that BAIC's spontaneous combustion performance is too "extreme", in order to obtain government subsidies to directly change the existing fuel hull "oil to electricity", and the hidden danger of spontaneous combustion has become the spearhead.

The official number of Sina Weibo's "Spicy Car Review" even denounced it as the "King of Spontaneous Combustion", and released a special video of the "King of Spontaneous Combustion" BAIC BJEV finally recalled. Labels such as "King of Spontaneous Combustion", "Fraudulent Supplement Project", and "Speculation Concept" have become high-frequency words in public opinion.

In accordance with the requirements of the Regulations on the Administration of the Recall of Defective Automobile Products and the Measures for the Implementation of the Regulations on the Administration of the Recall of Defective Automobile Products, BAIC motor filed a recall plan with the State Administration for Market Regulation and decided to recall 31,963 EX360 and EU400 pure electric vehicles produced from November 1, 2016 to December 21, 2018 from March 24, 2021.

Although BAIC "early" obtained a large number of subsidy dividends, it did not enter the hearts of consumers, but due to quality problems such as frequent spontaneous combustion, it became a stumbling block block on the road of cooperation with consumers. High-frequency spontaneous combustion but the delay in proposing solutions not only hurts the trust of users and their own brand reputation, but also brings huge risks to public safety.

Shadows in highlights,

Why does BAIC spontaneously combust like fireworks one after another?

In 2015, China's new energy vehicle market ushered in the first highlight moment.

With the "curve overtaking" of China's new energy vehicle market, the sales volume of BAIC new energy vehicles has increased from 20,000 in 2015 to 150,000 in 2018, becoming the first place in the domestic pure electric vehicle market for 6 consecutive years, winning the global championship.

In September 2018, wrapped in eye-catching performance, BAIC BJEV marched into the capital market and successfully listed on the backdoor Beiqi Blue Valley, becoming the "first stock of A-share new energy vehicles".

For the rapid rise of BAIC, the policy Dongfeng has contributed to it. Only in the regional policy of The new energy automobile industry in Beijing, the staggering number of subsidies made BAIC BJEV "lie and win", while at that time, many foreign car companies could not enter the subsidy list due to Beijing's regional policies.

Different from the hybrid first of similar car companies, BAIC has made a bold move to develop pure electric new energy vehicles in one step, and municipal orders and industrial subsidies have boosted the performance of BAIC New Energy and the production and financing of both.

Rushing to the first launch, rushing to enter the market, rushing to launch products, everywhere shows baiqi's anxiety - what is BAIC in a hurry? The only answer is that the technology is not good, but it is in a hurry to start mass production. Industry insiders told "Tram Observation" that in order to cater to the market and obtain subsidies, BAIC new energy vehicle products can only hastily transform the shell of traditional fuel vehicles into new energy vehicles and rush to launch.

In the research report, EVTank found through combing public information that the main reason for safety accidents in electric vehicles is related to power batteries, and most vehicles spontaneously combust during charging. EVTank pointed out that the main reason for the frequent occurrence of domestic electric vehicle safety accidents is due to the lack of sufficient verification of the safety of electric vehicles and power batteries in order to quickly increase the quantity under policy subsidies.

Looking back on the highlight moment, BAIC firmly determined the pure electric road, tested the water platform for the model of chemical car manufacturing, and used capital means to connect the production and financing double wheels. Baic Motor New Energy Vehicle, which seems to have done everything right, lacks the safety of electric vehicles and power batteries to fully verify, nor does it optimize the quality of its own products, which is also the main reason for the frequent occurrence of accidents later, and even forced recall.

Auto-ignition battery thermal runaway,

The spontaneous combustion rate was once 6 times the average of its peers

For more than four years, the spontaneous combustion phenomenon of BAIC new energy vehicles has been frequent.

NetEase Auto reported that the frequent spontaneous combustion incidents of BAIC new energy vehicles are 6 times the industry average. From May to December 2019, there were 113 reported spontaneous combustion cases of new energy vehicles, which is equivalent to spontaneous combustion of one in every million electric vehicles per week; As of August 2020, the market share of BAIC BJEV vehicles is about 500,000 units, which is equivalent to three spontaneous combustions per week.

For the frequent spontaneous combustion accidents of new energy vehicles, Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said at the China Electric Vehicle 100 People's Meeting: "In order to pursue high energy density and high endurance, the thickness of the separator in the battery is reduced, which causes certain safety hazards to battery safety and can easily cause thermal runaway." In addition, the rapid adjustment of the national subsidy policy is not coordinated with the development cycle of the power battery system, resulting in the product cannot be fully verified, which in turn creates a safety hazard. ”

Only from the perspective of entry time, BAIC BJEV seems to have grasped the lifeblood of the times earlier, and both the B-end and the C-end should take a "Grand Slam". However, from the trend point of view, BAIC's spontaneous combustion and loss amount are increasing year by year, and there is no improvement.

On January 28, 2022, BAIC New Energy Vehicle delivered a dismal answer sheet of huge losses in the performance forecast. According to the production and sales express report of Beiqi Blue Valley, the cumulative output of BAIC New Energy in 2021 was only 6369 vehicles, a sharp drop of 51.84% over the previous year. According to the announcement of beiqi Blue Valley's annual performance pre-loss, it is expected that the net profit in 2021 will be -4.8 billion yuan to -5.3 billion yuan, and the loss will remain the same.

BAIC BJEV got up early in the morning and rushed to a late set. Nowadays, BAIC BJEV has come to this step, in addition to betting on the B-end market, 70% of the sales volume comes from public operation, the C-end market is abandoned, the product strength is not strong and the safety of vehicle spontaneous combustion is also questioned by the outside world.

It was stopped by the Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission

BAIC electric truck folds Weiwang 407EV, 307EV

Just made efforts to lay out the B-end logistics vehicle market, BAIC New Energy electric trucks were publicly named by the National Development and Reform Commission, pointing out that the charging and spontaneous combustion of BAIC Weiwang 407EV electric trucks is a quality risk of power battery packs.

Earlier, local news has exposed that BAIC Weiwang 407EV has had a number of spontaneous combustion in less than 24 hours, and the reason is directly attributed to battery failure. BAIC BJEV's initial product E150EV is supplied to Ha Guangyu and Pride, and the Weiwang 307EV, which has withdrawn from the market, also uses the power battery provided by Ha Guangyu.

"Daily Economic News" has pointed out that Weiwang 407EV, Weiwang 307EV are the use of Ha Guangyu power batteries, after the Weiwang 307EV because of spontaneous combustion and other quality problems were delisted, BAIC did not learn the previous lessons, the continued launch of Weiwang 407EV also uses the power battery provided by Ha Guangyu.

On May 10, 2019, the Shenzhen Municipal Development and Reform Commission issued a notice clearly issuing a notice on the investigation and rectification of the baiqi Weiwang 407EV logistics vehicle charging spontaneous combustion safety accident, and announced the investigation and rectification results of the BAIC Weiwang 407EV fire incident.

BAIC Weiwang 407EV is a pure electric van, produced by BAIC BJEV Changzhou Company, listed at the end of 2018, which declares that "it can meet the logistics and transportation tasks of urban pavement, 220km of endurance is enough to meet the daily use needs of most cities in the country, and because of the use of pure electric drive, so the transportation cost can be saved." After BAIC integrated Changhe and Weiwang, the Weiwang brand belonged to BAIC Changhe as its new energy vehicle brand.

The NDRC document confirmed that the cause of multiple charging accidents in BAIC Weiwang 407EV was determined to have provided battery suppliers with quality problems. The notice pointed out that after the investigation and analysis and detailed report provided by BAIC BJEV manufacturers, baic motor Weiwang 407EV used a set of 43.5kWh ternary lithium battery packs with a cruising range of 220km. The supplier is Harbin Guangyu Power Co., Ltd., which was determined by accident to have quality defects in this battery pack, which eventually led to frequent thermal runaway incidents, which is also the culprit of many spontaneous combustion accidents in BAIC Weiwang 407EV.

Sales are declining,

The problem affected the owners of 1519 new energy trucks in Shenzhen

As a former champion of new energy electric vehicle sales, BAIC's new energy vehicle production has been sluggish, and the quality problems of the 407EV models that were previously stopped have also affected many truck drivers.

According to a survey by the Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission in 2019, the total number of BAIC Weiwang 407EV models registered in Shenzhen was 1519, of which 1417 were purchased by enterprises and 102 by individuals. The notice requires that "all charging facility operators should immediately stop providing charging services for BAIC Weiwang 407EV new energy pure electric trucks, such as spontaneous combustion of vehicles, drivers and other relevant personnel should stay away as soon as possible, and report the case to the fire department in time." ”

Electric King Fast Charging, Lala, Zhaowei New Energy and other enterprises have responded and issued notices to stop using the model. However, for this suspension, the outside world does not seem to be surprised. As early as Baidu's "Baiqi Bar", some netizens broke the news that in just one week, baiqi Weiwang 407EV had more than 3 charging spontaneous combustion incidents at charging stations in Shenzhen. Due to the spontaneous combustion of the BAIC Weiwang 407EV battery, many charging stations in Shenzhen do not allow it to be charged.

Subsequently, the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation published the Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Recalls of New Energy Vehicle Products. The notice pointed out that when the relevant producers learn that the new energy vehicles they produce, sell or import have traffic collisions, fires and other related accidents in the Chinese market, they should immediately organize investigation and analysis and report the results of the investigation and analysis to the State Administration for Market Regulation.

Wang Zidong, director of the former National 863 Electric Vehicle Major Special Power Battery Test Center, pointed out that the power battery pack is a very complex energy system, and the safety and cycle life of a battery, in addition to the quality of the battery itself, is more important is safety control.

The regulatory authorities have put forward special investigation and analysis requirements for new energy vehicles "fire and other accidents", indicating that the safety of new energy vehicles, especially the increasing problems of spontaneous combustion and fire of batteries, has attracted the attention of the regulatory authorities, and has tested people's confidence in new energy vehicles.

The power point of BAIC's new energy vehicle sales happens to be a good time for the industry to start the policy dividend, so even if it knows that there are safety hazards such as spontaneous combustion, BAIC is willing to gamble on it. But today, it seems that there are not many opportunities left for BAIC new energy vehicles in the second half.

In the short term, what BAIC lacks is a technical incision that can allow the tram battery to find a solution that can be used safely, in order to cross the threshold of spontaneous combustion; In the long run, what BAIC lacks is a stable technical solution and practical data optimization and polishing, especially a benign development model of excellence.

Without safety and reliability as the fundamental guarantee, we will only gradually lose the market. The pursuit of innovation and ensuring safety are not contradictory - whether it is subject to the demand pressure of low cost, high density, long endurance, fast charging, etc., or for the current high subsidies, if there is no safety and reliability as a fundamental guarantee, the loss of consumers will be inevitable.

The future must be the era of electric vehicles, but will there still be BAIC new energy vehicles in the future? Tram Watch will continue to pay attention. After all, everyone pays for a car that can travel safely, not a large-scale irregular fireworks show.

Author | Tram Observation Net Snow