According to the information released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers in early August, 13 parts of the group standard of "Technical Specifications for the Construction and Replacement vehicle of electric medium and heavy-duty truck sharing and replacement vehicles" have been completed, and it is now widely solicited for comments from the public.
As of the first half of this year, the number of new energy vehicles in the mainland has exceeded 10 million. Power exchange has become a new track for the new energy automobile industry to replenish energy. The "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" pointed out that it is necessary to accelerate the construction of charging and replacing infrastructure and encourage the application of power exchange mode. After several years of development, how is the implementation of the power exchange mode? The "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporter launched an investigation into this.
GCL Electric Port is the first self-developed dual-channel heavy-duty truck replacement port in Chengdu. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
Multiple Choice: B or C?
The reporter found that the current layout of the power exchange model of the enterprise is mainly divided into three categories, the first type is BAIC, Weilai, Geely, GAC and other vehicle companies, the second type is Ningde times and other power battery manufacturers, the third type is Sinopec, GCL Energy, Aodong New Energy and other third-party power exchange operators.
For new players in the incoming battery swap mode, the first question to be answered is: for commercial users (to B) or for individual users (to C)? From the perspective of the frequency of use and application scenarios of power exchange, different enterprises have given different choices.
For consumers, the most obvious advantage of power exchange is that it can save time for energy replenishment. If the charging mode is adopted, even if it is fast charging, it generally takes about half an hour, and the power exchange often takes only a few minutes.
At the power exchange station of Weilai Automobile Shanghai Daning Small Town, the reporter saw that at more than 3 p.m., the users who came to change the power were endless, and each car only needed less than 5 minutes to change the power. Mr. Mei, the owner of the car, said: "Now the power change is automatically operated by no one, I mainly drive in the city, and it feels more convenient to use it for more than a year." ”
In late July, the vehicle was replaced at the power exchange station of Weilai Automobile In Shanghai Daning Town. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Moling
In addition, the use of vehicle and electricity separation sales model, but also for individual users to save a certain cost of car purchase. Taking Weilai as an example, if the user chooses the battery rental service and does not buy a standard battery pack, he can pay 70,000 yuan less for the car purchase fee, while the battery rental service fee is 980 yuan per month.
Some people in the industry believe that the power exchange mode is more suitable for commercial scenarios, including taxis, logistics heavy trucks, etc. Deng Zhongyuan, director of the marketing center of Blue Valley Wisdom (Beijing) Energy Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of BAIC, said: "BAIC has launched nearly 40,000 electric vehicles nationwide, mainly for the taxi market, with more than 20,000 in Beijing. Taxis need to replenish energy more frequently than private cars, and if they are charged twice a day, they need to sacrifice two or three hours of operating time. At the same time, the cost of replacing the energy of the electric vehicle is only about half of that of the fuel vehicle, and generally only needs about 3 cents per kilometer. The high-frequency use demand of commercial users is also more conducive to the recovery of investment costs and even profitability of the replacement power station. ”
Ruilan Automobile, a power exchange travel brand jointly funded by Geely Automobile and Lifan Technology, takes into account both commercial users and individual users. Cai Jianjun, vice president of Ruilan Automobile, said that Ruilan Automobile chose to walk on "two legs" because there are also transformations in the two scenarios, such as individual users participating in online car operations, and the vehicle has commercial attributes.
"I expect that by 2025, six of the newly sold electric vehicles will be charged, and 40% will be rechargeable and replaceable. From 2022 to 2024, we will introduce at least two rechargeable and interchangeable models every year to form a diversified product matrix to meet the different needs of users. Cai Jianjun said.
Discussion Topic: Is the power exchange mode good?
According to the data of Tianyancha, as of the middle of July this year, the mainland has more than 1780 related enterprises in the upstream and downstream of the replacement power station, and more than 60% of the related enterprises have been established within 5 years.
Shen Fei, senior vice president of WEILAI Energy, said: "Power replacement is the closest to the rapid refueling experience of fuel vehicles, and we have provided users with more than 10 million power replacement services. ”
On Zhongshan North Road in Shanghai's Jing'an District, Sinopec and NIO cooperate to build a substation. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
The technical routes of new energy vehicles are rich and diverse, and whether technical routes such as extended-range vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells are worth promoting has triggered discussions inside and outside the industry, and the power exchange model is no exception.
At present, many new energy vehicle companies are aiming at high-voltage fast charging technology. The relevant report of China Merchants Securities pointed out that the charging and refueling experience is infinitely close to the refueling of fuel vehicles. Some people believe that with the improvement of battery life, the breakthrough of fast charging technology and the popularization of charging facilities, the application scenarios of power exchange will face limitations, and the biggest advantage of the power exchange mode, "fast", will become less obvious.
Gong Min, head of research at UBS China's automotive industry, said that power exchange requires enterprises to invest high in the construction, personnel duty and maintenance of power stations, and as a technical route for new energy vehicles, it needs further verification by the market. Globally, as early as around 2010, a company in Israel tried to promote the power exchange model, but failed.
However, some people in the industry believe that in addition to the advantages of power replacement efficiency, power exchange can also regulate the power grid, and the power station has become a distributed energy storage unit in the city, which is conducive to the realization of the "double carbon" goal.
Traditional energy supply enterprises are also seeking transformation and upgrading under the "double carbon" goal. In April 2021, Sinopec signed strategic cooperation agreements with Aodong New Energy and NIO to promote resource sharing and promote mutual benefit and win-win results. Sinopec announced that it will plan to lay out 5,000 charging and replacing power stations during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. On July 20 this year, Sinopec's first heavy-duty truck replacement power station, Baijiawang Comprehensive Energy Station, was completed and put into use in Yibin, Sichuan.
Li Yujun, chief technology officer of GCL Energy, said that at present, whether it is charging or changing power, or hydrogen energy vehicles, "it is difficult to say who is the only ultimate form in the field of future driving, I think several models can complement each other and play their own strengths in different application scenarios."
Answer question: What problems should be solved to promote power exchange?
Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology show that by the end of 2021, the mainland has built a total of 1298 substations, forming the world's largest charging and replacing network.
The reporter learned that the mainland's policy support for the power exchange industry has been increasing, and in recent years, led by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments, national standards for power exchange safety and local subsidy policies have been introduced.
The reporter found in the interview that whether it is a vehicle enterprise focusing on the construction of a power exchange station, or an energy supply enterprise that tries to lay out the power exchange, it is mentioned that the problem that needs to be solved urgently to promote the power exchange is mentioned.
——Battery standards and substation standards of different enterprises are not uniform, which can easily lead to repeated construction and inefficient use. Many respondents believe that this problem is a greater obstacle to the development of the industry, and it is suggested that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other competent departments or industry associations take the lead in formulating unified standards, which can retain two or three standards and refer to electronic product interfaces. Chen Weifeng, general manager of Times Electric Service under CATL, said that as a battery supplier, we have launched modular batteries suitable for various models, trying to achieve universal standardization of power exchange blocks in terms of battery size and interface.
NINGDE era EVOGO "chocolate exchange block". (Courtesy of the interviewee)
-- Land resources for substation replacement stations are scarce, and it is difficult to lay out widely. Deng Zhongyuan said that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has identified Beijing, Nanjing, Wuhan, Sanya, Hefei and other pilot cities for the application of power exchange mode in October 2021. However, from a nationwide perspective, on the one hand, the land resources that can be used in cities to build replacement power stations are scarce, and the cost of land lease remains high, and the cost of core business districts is particularly high; On the other hand, people's understanding of the attributes of the substation is not uniform, and some places still have various concerns about the approval of the construction of the substation.
——The replacement of electric vehicles requires the reengineering of corresponding insurance and financial products. Li Yujun said: "Under the power exchange model, vehicle and electricity are separated, auto financial products need to redefine their value, and car insurance and battery insurance should also be designed separately. These products need to keep up with industry changes to reassure consumers. (Reporters Wang Chenyang and Wang Moling)