When it comes to new energy vehicles, many people's first reaction is Tesla, Weilai, these "upstarts", it seems that traditional car companies have fallen behind in this change.
But in fact, German luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen are also stepping up their deployment of electrification.
It's just that these traditional giants have also encountered a lot of "hurdles" on the road to transformation.
According to the latest sales data, the German new energy vehicle market suffered a "Waterloo" in March this year.
According to the data, sales of pure electric vehicles (BEVs) in Germany fell by 28.9% year-on-year in March, and sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) also fell by 4.5%, and overall new energy vehicle sales fell by 6.2%.
Germany is the largest car market in Europe, and the decline in new energy vehicles will have an impact on the entire European market.
In fact, not only Germany, but also the overall sales of new energy vehicles in the EU in March were not optimistic.
The number of BEV registrations fell by 11.3% year-on-year, and the market share fell to 13% from 13.9% in the same period last year.
On the other hand, hybrid vehicles performed well, with registrations in March increasing by 12.6% year-on-year.
According to the analysis, the Easter holiday affected car sales in most markets in Europe.
But it doesn't seem to make sense to just attribute it to holidays, which happen every year.
Industry insiders pointed out that the biggest constraint facing the development of new energy vehicles in Europe is the serious lag of charging infrastructure.
Data shows that from 2017 to 2023, the sales of electric vehicles in Europe increased by 18 times, but public charging facilities only increased by 6 times.
By the end of last year, there were 630,000 public charging stations in Europe, but the number of electric vehicles had reached 3 million.
It can be said that "more cars and fewer piles" has become the number one problem that plagues European car owners.
The European Association of Automobile Manufacturers predicts that Europe will need 8.8 million charging stations by 2030 to match the growth of electric vehicles.
However, at the current pace of construction, there will be a shortage of 7.5 million charging piles in 2030.
Industry insiders admit that European countries urgently need to "make up lessons" on charging infrastructure.
In addition to the lack of quantity, the "quality" of charging piles is also worrying.
At present, most of the piles in Europe are slow charging piles, and fast charging accounts for less than 14%.
As you can imagine, the charging time of several hours at every turn discourages many car owners.
Moreover, due to the lack of uniform standards, many charging apps are "independent", and the rates and payment methods are also varied, and the user experience is poor.
This is in stark contrast to China.
China is not only the world's largest electric vehicle market, but also has already built a complete ecosystem of "vehicle pile networking".
According to the data, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China will reach 30% in 2022, and the number of public charging piles will reach 5.2 million, showing a benign situation of "more cars and more piles".
Moreover, the mainstream App basically realizes "one-code charging", which greatly facilitates the use of users.
A German car owner sighed: "When driving an electric car in China, you never have to worry about charging.
There are charging piles everywhere, plug them in and go.
"In Europe, on the other hand, despite the maturity of electric vehicle technology and the popularity of the brand, the user experience has been greatly reduced.
The embarrassment of "being able to afford and not being able to open" may continue for a while.
For European car companies, this is undoubtedly a wake-up call.
Over-reliance on policy dividends and ignoring user needs can easily lose the first-mover advantage.
If Europe wants to seize the commanding heights in the transformation of electric vehicles, it is imperative for governments and enterprises to work together to solve the "pain points" of charging.
The decline in NEV sales in Germany in March may be just an isolated case.
But it does reflect the shortcomings and concerns of Europe in the development of new energy vehicles.
We often say that "new energy vehicles are just a new energy, but also a car".
Blindly pursuing technological innovation and sales growth, while ignoring the actual needs of consumers, will eventually be punished by the market.
This is also a warning for Chinese car companies - no matter how bright the performance is, they must do a good job in products and services in a down-to-earth manner to support users' sense of gain and happiness.
Only in this way can we be invincible in the competition.
This time, Germany's new energy vehicles encountered a "Waterloo", which once again sounded the alarm to the industry: in order for electric vehicles to be sustainable, they must make up for the "short board" of charging infrastructure.
China has taken solid steps in this regard, and traditional car companies in Europe and the United States also need to act as soon as possible, increase investment, improve the layout of the charging network, and improve charging efficiency and convenience.
Only by opening up the "electric highway" can electric vehicles run more steadily and farther.
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