Foreword
In recent years, a series of policy measures have been intensively launched at the national level, which not only provides strong support for the rapid development of car companies in the field of new energy, but also creates unprecedented development opportunities for them. At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce actively promoted the "100 Cities Linkage" Automobile Festival and the "Thousands of Counties and Towns" new energy vehicle consumption season activities have also achieved remarkable results. These measures have undoubtedly promoted the explosive growth of China's new energy vehicle market from the two dimensions of production and consumption. Up to now, the number of new energy vehicles in China has exceeded 20 million, and the sales of new energy passenger vehicles in 2023 will exceed 7 million, a year-on-year increase of more than 30%. The market penetration rate has also remained at a high level of more than 30%, demonstrating the strong momentum and great potential of China's new energy vehicle industry.
As new energy vehicles enter the fast lane of development, the scale of ownership continues to expand, which provides a data basis for us to study the intensity of vehicle use and the driving habits of consumers. Autohome Research Institute and the National Big Data Alliance for New Energy Vehicles jointly launched a series of reports on "China, Pure Electric, New Energy Vehicles". Based on the full data of pure electric new energy passenger vehicles, the report provides comprehensive insight into the driving and charging behavior characteristics of real car owners, helps car companies grasp the operation of new energy vehicles, understand user behavior and user needs, so as to improve industrial planning and product planning, improve product performance, and promote the healthy development of the new energy vehicle industry.
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The development of the new energy pure electric market
The new energy market continues to rise, with pure electric vehicles accounting for 70% of the new energy market share, market competition intensifying, and the market dominance of Chinese automakers is stable
In 2023, driven by multiple factors such as "price wars" and stimulating consumption, the market vitality will be stimulated again, creating a peak sales volume in the past five years.
The boom in China's auto market in 2023 is inseparable from the rise of new energy vehicles. In the process of developing new quality productivity and realizing industrial transformation and upgrading, new energy vehicles assume the role of market leader, and the market penetration rate continues to rise. With the continuous advancement of technology and the increasing recognition of consumers, it is expected that by 2025, the penetration rate of new energy is expected to exceed 50%.
From different price ranges, the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles below 50,000 yuan has declined slightly, but the overall penetration rate exceeds 90%, and its market has long been monopolized by new energy models, and the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the rest of the price ranges has continued to increase steadily.
The new energy vehicle market in the range of 10-500,000 yuan is showing a rapid development trend, and the penetration rate will increase by more than 10 percentage points in 2023, showing that new energy vehicles are being fully recognized by consumers. Among them, 20-300,000 yuan and 40-500,000 yuan have taken the lead in breaking through the 40% mark, and the development momentum of the mid-to-high-end new energy vehicle market is strong.
From the perspective of the development trend of the new energy market, with the continuous technological breakthroughs of plug-in hybrid and extended range models, providing longer cruising range and more flexible driving experience, plug-in hybrid and extended range models have become the first choice for consumers to "enter" the new energy market, and their sales growth rate has long led the growth rate of the pure electric vehicle market.
The majority of the new energy market is still occupied by pure electric models, but plug-in hybrid and range extension continue to increase, and the proportion is expected to increase to 1/3 in 24 years.
At present, the market share of sedans has shown a continuous downward trend in the past three years. The market share of SUV models continues to rise, and now occupies 38% of the market space, showing a strong growth momentum. MPV EV models failed to achieve a market share breakthrough.
From the perspective of specific market segments, the trend of consumption upgrading is obvious, and the low-end model market of sedans and SUVs is shrinking. In addition, in the SUV market, compact and above models are in the stage of rapid development of the market.
As major car companies compete to launch new pure electric models, the market competition is becoming more and more intense. In this context, although the share of Chinese car companies in the pure electric new energy passenger vehicle market will decline slightly in 2023, they will still firmly occupy 77.9% of the market share by virtue of their early market layout and deep industrial chain advantages, and their dominant position is obvious.
At the same time, the performance of luxury car companies in the market is becoming more and more eye-catching. Under the leadership of Tesla, BMW and other brands, the sales of luxury brands continued to grow, and the market share increased significantly. In the future, the competition between car companies in the pure electric new energy passenger car market will become more intense.
From the perspective of user attention, the products of Chinese car companies are also favored by more consumers, accounting for 58.3% of the total attention of pure electric new energy, an increase of nearly 4 percentage points over 22 years, and a year-on-year growth rate of more than 20%, which means that the pure electric market share of Chinese brands is expected to further grow in 24 years.
Trends in the use of pure electric new energy vehicles
Portrait characteristics: the proportion of new cars and quasi-new cars is high, long battery life has become the new favorite of the market, and the demand for operating vehicles in terms of battery life and battery capacity is more concentrated
As of December 2023, the number of new energy vehicles in the country has exceeded 20 million, of which pure electric vehicles have exceeded 15 million, fully demonstrating the sustained and steady growth momentum of the new energy vehicle market.
With the rapid development of the pure electric new energy market, the number of new cars and quasi-new cars (less than 1 year old and 1-2 years old) accounts for more than two-thirds, and the market is still showing a rapid development trend.
From the perspective of vehicle mileage distribution, due to the greater number of new cars and quasi-new cars (less than 1 year old and 1-2 years old), some of them have a short driving time, and nearly half of the pure electric new energy vehicles have a mileage of less than 30,000 kilometers, and the overall use intensity is not high.
From the perspective of vehicle use, more than half of the commercial vehicles (taxis, ride-hailing, etc.) have a mileage of more than 100,000 kilometers.
From the perspective of the distribution of the nominal mileage of vehicles, due to the weakening of the low-end market demand represented by Wuling, the proportion of pure electric new energy vehicles with a range of less than 400 kilometers has declined rapidly. At the same time, with the continuous breakthrough of battery technology and the increase in consumer demand for cruising range, the proportion of vehicles with a range of more than 500 kilometers has increased significantly, becoming a new favorite in the market.
In particular, it is worth mentioning that pure electric new energy vehicles with a range of 400-500 kilometers account for the largest proportion, maintaining a level of more than 30%. This range can not only meet the needs of consumers for daily travel, but also balance cost and price, so it is widely favored by the market.
From the perspective of vehicle battery capacity distribution, the product structure of pure electric new energy vehicles is relatively stable, and models with battery capacity below 80kWh occupy the main force of market consumption.
With the rapid increase in consumer demand for pure electric new energy vehicles with long cruising range, the proportion of models with large battery capacity is also increasing year by year. In particular, the proportion of models with battery capacity in the 80-100 kWh range increased by more than 5%, indicating the strong demand for higher energy density batteries.
From the perspective of vehicle use, commercial vehicles (such as taxis, online car-hailing, etc.) account for about 8.0% of all pure electric new energy vehicles, a slight increase compared with previous years, and the popularity of pure electric new energy vehicles in the operating field is increasing.
Affected by the policy guidance, development planning, vehicle base and economic level of the urban management department, there are significant differences in the proportion of pure electric operating vehicles.
Taking Nanjing as an example, as early as 2020, it actively promoted traditional taxi companies to give priority to new energy vehicles when updating vehicles, and set a goal of completing full replacement in the next two to three years. In 23 years, Nanjing's pure electric operating vehicles accounted for 25.6%, becoming the city with the highest proportion of pure electric operating vehicles in the country. In addition, cities such as Chongqing, Guangzhou and Wuhan have also made significant progress in the promotion of pure electric vehicles, accounting for more than 15% of the total.
Based on the different uses, frequency of use, and scenarios, there are obvious differences between domestic vehicles and commercial vehicles in terms of cruising range and battery capacity. In terms of range, the range of family vehicles is widely distributed, while the range of commercial vehicles is significantly more concentrated, with more than 70% of vehicles concentrated at the range of 400 to 500 km.
In terms of battery capacity, the situation is similar, with more than 80% of the battery capacity of commercial vehicles in the range of 30 to 60 kWh.
Vehicle use: Pure electric new energy vehicles are deeply integrated into users' lives and car use scenarios, and have become the main force for consumers to travel
With the popularization of pure electric vehicles, they have shown a continuous and substantial growth trend in terms of total mileage, total charging power and total number of trips.
In 2023, the total mileage of pure electric new energy vehicles will exceed 160 billion kilometers, marking that pure electric vehicles have been deeply integrated into consumers' daily lives. At the same time, the charging capacity has also exceeded the 20 billion kWh mark, and its electricity demand is also growing rapidly. In addition, the total number of trips exceeded 6.4 billion.
In 2023, with the end of the epidemic, the gradual recovery of the economy and the increase in demand for tourism, the average monthly mileage of both operating and household vehicles will show a certain growth trend. Commercial vehicles are used four times more intensively than domestic vehicles.
More than 60% of the vehicles have a daily mileage of more than 200 kilometers, of which more than 40% of the vehicles have a mileage of 200-300 kilometers. The average daily mileage of household vehicles in daily use is relatively low, and half of the household vehicles have an average daily mileage of less than 50 kilometers.
Similar to the mileage traveled, the number of days traveled per month in 2023 increased significantly compared to 2022, with the number of vehicles with an average monthly attendance of more than 25 days increased by 25.1 percentage points.
The number of household vehicles with more than 25 days per month increased by 20.1 percentage points compared to the same period in 2022. Pure electric vehicles have become a daily travel tool for more and more consumers.
In terms of average daily driving time, the average daily driving time of commercial vehicles in 2023 will be as high as 9.3 hours, an increase of 11% compared to 22 years and 4.2 times that of household vehicles. Among them, 50.7% of the daily driving time is more than 8 hours, and the intensity of commercial vehicles is high.
The average daily driving time of household vehicles is 2.2 hours, and 60% of vehicles travel for 1-4 hours. Compared with 2022, the proportion of more than 2 hours per day has increased, and the overall time spent by car owners has increased.
Pure electric vehicles are charged more than 9 times a week on average, and the weekly charging capacity exceeds 200 kWh. In terms of energy replenishment options, the use of fast charging mode accounts for more than 80%, reflecting the urgent demand for charging efficiency and time of operating vehicles.
Household vehicles are charged less frequently, with an average of less than 2 times per week. At the same time, the proportion of household vehicles choosing fast charging is also showing an increasing trend. This is not only due to the continuous improvement of public charging infrastructure, but also reflects the increasing dependence of consumers on fast charging, an efficient way to replenish energy.
From the perspective of different cruising ranges, the main cruising range of commercial vehicles is concentrated in 400-500 kilometers, and its charging times are the highest, reaching 9.3 times per week, and the average charging capacity accounts for about half of its battery capacity. The charging time is usually between 30 minutes and 1 hour on fast charging.
In terms of average charging capacity, in order to balance the charging time and driving range of commercial vehicles, the single charging capacity of vehicles with a range of less than 400 km is higher than that of household vehicles, while the single charging capacity of vehicles with a range of more than 400 kilometers is generally less than that of household vehicles.
Long-distance cross-city trips showed a significant growth trend in 2023, with a total of 240 million long-distance trips throughout the year, accounting for about 3.8% of the total number of trips, an increase of 51.8% compared to 2022.
In terms of regional distribution, East China, which has better infrastructure and dense cities, accounts for the highest proportion, reaching 34.5%. South China and North China, which are also economically developed, followed closely behind.
In terms of vehicle mileage, vehicles in the 400-500 km range account for 41.1%, becoming the main model for long-distance cross-city driving. The increase in vehicles with a range of 500-600 kilometers has reached 7 percentage points, and long-range vehicles have shown greater advantages in cross-city driving.
On the whole, the driving distance of pure electric vehicles across the city is about 120 kilometers. Among them, the southwest region has the longest cross-city mileage of more than 160 kilometers. Relatively speaking, due to the close distance between cities in East China and Central China, the transportation network is more developed, and the cross-city driving distance is shorter, roughly about 100 kilometers.
Vehicles with a range of more than 600 kilometers have the ability to travel farther across cities, with an average single driving distance of more than 160 kilometers. Vehicles with a range of less than 100 kilometers have a significantly insufficient single mileage, often less than 50 kilometers, which limits their application in cross-city driving scenarios.
Car health: With the rapid growth of the market scale, car health issues should be more worthy of attention, and low-power driving accounts for more than eighty percent
With the growth of ownership, the number of unhealthy car use behaviors of consumers is also growing rapidly. In 2023, there will be 340 million unhealthy car use behaviors, an increase of 75% from the same period last year, accounting for about 5% of the total number of trips.
Among the unhealthy car use behaviors, the main manifestation is low battery driving, accounting for as much as 85%. It is important to note that this can damage battery performance, shorten battery life, and accelerate battery aging.
From the perspective of different uses, although the total number of low-power drives of commercial vehicles is significantly less, its growth rate is as high as 85%, showing a more rapid growth momentum. In order to meet the demand for operational efficiency, commercial vehicles often have to travel longer distances when the battery is low, averaging more than 20 kilometers.
In addition, during the charging process, nearly 17% of the operating vehicles have less than 20% of the remaining battery power, and nearly 5% of the vehicles are in a state of extreme power loss. The usage habits of commercial vehicles put forward higher requirements for battery capacity.
The total number of charging times for commercial vehicles at extremely high temperatures is only a quarter of that of household vehicles, and the year-on-year decline in 2023 is significant. On the contrary, the number of charging times of household vehicles at extremely high temperatures has increased by 60%, and the charging temperature of vehicles has not yet attracted the attention of some private car owners.
From the perspective of regional distribution, the hotter East China and South China regions are particularly prominent in the number of charging times at extremely high temperatures. East China accounted for 39% of the charging cycles, and South China accounted for 24%. In contrast, the Northeast region, which has a relatively cool climate, has the lowest number of charges at very high temperatures, accounting for only 1%.
In the charging behavior at very low temperatures, the total number of extremely low temperature charges of commercial vehicles is only one-tenth of that of household vehicles. At the same time, the number of charging times of commercial vehicles and household vehicles in low temperature environments has increased significantly year-on-year, of which the growth rate of commercial vehicles is as high as 170%, and the growth rate of household vehicles has also increased by 85%, and the phenomenon of charging in low temperature environments is becoming more and more common.
From the perspective of regional distribution, the number of charging times in extremely low temperatures in the cold North China is the most prominent, accounting for as much as 51%. In contrast, southwest and southern China, which have relatively warm and humid climates, have the lowest number of charges at very low temperatures, accounting for less than 1%.
The status quo of pure electric new energy charging facilities
The growth rate of charging infrastructure is faster than that of new energy vehicles, the coordinated development has been gradually strengthened, and the charging volume of public piles has continued to grow rapidly
As of 2023, the number of charging facilities in the country has reached 8.6 million units, a year-on-year increase of 65%, exceeding the growth rate of new energy vehicles.
Therefore, in the past three years, the ratio of new energy vehicles to piles has shown a downward trend. From 1:3 in 2021, that is, one charging pile for every three new energy vehicles, it has dropped to 1:2.37 in 2023.
From a structural point of view, private charging piles occupy a dominant position in the field of energy replenishment of new energy vehicles, and their ownership accounts for nearly seventy percent of the total number of charging piles. For a long time, private charging piles have been developing faster than public charging facilities.
In June 2023, the state continued to issue relevant policies such as the "Guiding Opinions on Further Building a High-quality Charging Infrastructure System", aiming to vigorously promote the construction and development of charging infrastructure in public areas. Driven by these policies, the new installation of public charging piles is close to 930,000 units, a year-on-year increase of more than 40%, and continues to maintain a good growth trend.
From the perspective of the regional distribution of public charging piles, Guangdong Province, as the province with the largest sales of new energy vehicles, has also achieved remarkable results in the construction of public charging piles and charging stations, ranking first in the country in terms of ownership and increment, showing an overwhelming advantage over other provinces.
Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, which have the same perfect layout in the upstream and downstream of the new energy vehicle industry chain, jointly form the second echelon. The number of public charging piles in both provinces exceeds 200,000, and the number of charging stations is around 15,000.
In 2023, the charging capacity of public charging piles has reached 36 billion kWh, a year-on-year increase of nearly 70%.
Especially in December 2023, the charging volume of public charging piles across the country exceeded 3.8 billion kWh, surpassing the overall charging volume in the first quarter of 2022.
From the perspective of the charging volume of each province, Guangdong Province, which accounts for the largest proportion of public piles, accounts for nearly one-fifth of the country's charging volume.
From the perspective of pile efficiency, among the top 10 provinces in terms of charging capacity, Hebei and Shandong have seen a particularly significant increase in charging volume. In particular, Hebei Province has a single pile charging capacity of more than 3,600 kWh of public charging piles, which also reflects the lack of infrastructure construction in the province. In addition, the average charging capacity of piles in Sichuan and Shaanxi also showed a high level.
epilogue
Under the continuous guidance of policies and profound changes in consumption patterns, the growth momentum of the domestic new energy consumption market and charging infrastructure construction is expected to continue to increase. With the high-profile Beijing Auto Show in April approaching, a series of blockbuster products are expected to be launched to the market, aiming to make greater breakthroughs in the high-end market and overseas markets, so as to achieve a significant increase in brand value and leapfrog development of competitiveness.
From the perspective of the use data of pure electric vehicles, they show a continuous and significant growth trend in terms of total mileage, total charging power and total number of trips. This growth trend fully proves that pure electric new energy vehicles have been deeply integrated into users' daily life and travel scenarios, and have become an indispensable and important part of modern life. However, with the rapid expansion of the market scale, the health problems of car use have gradually surfaced, which deserves our sufficient attention and attention.
In the future, as car companies continue to increase their investment in the new energy field, the new energy field is destined to become the main battlefield of China's auto market and the key to survival. Therefore, OEMs need to continue to innovate and improve product performance and competitiveness to meet market challenges and consumer needs. Next, Autohome Research will also track the performance of star models in the market in each quarter for a long time, and strive to create a quarterly "China Pure Electric New Energy Vehicle Series Research Report", systematically explain the current mainstream battery situation of pure electric new energy vehicles, and compare the mainstream product performance of domestic and foreign car companies, so as to help car companies more deeply analyze product competitive advantages, improve product performance, build product core competitiveness, and highlight product features and selling points.