Today's "Kicking Car Q&A" is here!
Question from netizen "Gu Weijun": Mr. Xia, seeing Mercedes-Benz electric G, I thought of a question, will the automobile industry be like the watch industry, the invention of electronic watches in the early stage is economical and practical, squeezing the market of traditional mechanical watches, but how to do electronic watches can not become luxury products, now electric vehicles are also from the perspective of energy saving, economy and practicality, the price of electrification of luxury models such as Mercedes-Benz G will definitely not be lower than the fuel version, will consumers buy it? In the future, will fuel vehicles become more and more niche and luxurious like mechanical watches?
A: First of all, electronic watches can be made into luxury products. While quartz movements can be ultra-light and ultra-thin, some jewelry-style luxury brand watches use quartz movements to allow room for gem-setting in the styling of the style, and also to allow more freedom in the design of the watch. Piaget, for example, has launched a number of jewel-type watches with quartz movements, especially women's watches. Secondly, the analogy between electric cars and watches as a consumer product is okay in some cases, but at the same time it is necessary to see their huge differences. It is the car that is a container for people, and the watch is an accessory.
This difference has led to a car more focused on performance and a watch more focused on decoration. When electrification technology is applied to both of these items, the electronic watch is accurate and has more digital information functions, which is not as powerful as the electric motor, and the actual value of more sophisticated control is high. People wear watches not to see the time, and the comparison is not because of the accuracy of the time and the fact that it can display a lot of calendar and other data, but because of its craftsmanship and decorative art sense. This makes mechanical movements, which are more difficult to do but have certain precision functions, be appreciated. And people are sitting in cars, so that the external show is only cars, and no people can be seen.
Then the comparison of performance between cars will show intuitive wins and losses and highs in real time. If a car with an internal combustion engine is always a loser, it is impossible to satisfy the psychological satisfaction of its owner, even if it is covered in jewels, because it will make its owner look like a rich fool. When the automobile was invented to replace the horse-drawn carriage, even if there was a product that could satisfy the common people like the Ford Model T, the wealthy still flocked to buy luxury cars and abandon the ornate horse-drawn carriages. Therefore, the phenomenon of fuel vehicles moving towards niche luxury will indeed appear, but it can only be because there is still a certain ability that cannot be replaced by electric vehicles and is valued by its users.
For example, if you go deep into an inaccessible place to explore, the electric G can't compete with the fuel G, because it's too heavy, the battery is afraid of bumping, and it can't find a place to charge. Fuel G only needs to carry a few barrels of spare fuel to achieve crossing. You can use G ostentatiously in the city, the electric G can turn around on the spot, can perform climbing a steep slope at a 45-degree angle, can cross 85 cm deep water, can start a fuel supercar, and is extremely easy, flexible, comfortable and ...... to drive, and the fuel G is dwarfed. The ability to join the fuel G electric G can be achieved through technological upgrades in the future, and the ability of the electric G fuel G is forced by physical limitations and cannot be reached, so even if consumers want to adhere to the tradition, I am afraid it will not last long.
The above is all the content of this issue of Kick Car Q&A, if you also have questions you want to ask, please actively leave a message in the comment area to ask questions. If you see the content of the Kicking Car Gang on other platforms, you are also welcome to leave a message at any time, we will collect questions and comments on all platforms, and Mr. Xia Dong will select 5 questions to answer every week.