Suggestions | Orderly promotion of new energy vehicles "vehicle-electricity" separation policy recommendations dilemma and breaking the situation: "vehicle-electricity" separation is a useful supplement to the charging strategy to save money and worry: cost and safety are the core obstacles to "car-electricity" separation Urgent or progressive: Hierarchical promotion is the landing principle of "vehicle-electricity" separation About the introduction of our Global Network Energy Channel

Zhang Huiming Zhu Kexin Wu Kai

The development of new energy vehicles is based on the separation of cars and batteries ("car-electricity" separation) or charging mode, and there has always been a big disagreement. Compared with the latter, the "car-electricity" separation mode can overcome many defects such as long battery charging time, high initial investment cost of purchasing batteries, spatio-temporal randomness of electric vehicle charging load in plug-in mode, and low battery recovery rate, which is a useful supplement to the charging mode. From the perspective of cost and safety, the manuscript summarizes the five major bottlenecks such as the high investment cost of power exchange in the "vehicle-electricity" separation mode, the imbalance in the number of charging and replacing power stations, and the unclear definition of safety accident responsibility, and proposes that the policy support for the "vehicle-electricity" separation mode of new energy vehicles needs to be cautious and orderly: gather innovative elements, increase the research and development of power exchange models and batteries; focus on special scenarios, moderately increase the number of power exchange stations; clarify the power exchange stakeholders, and promote the definition of responsibility in layers; and give priority to the formulation of power exchange team standards by leveraging industry associations Pay attention to the downstream of the industrial chain and distribute subsidies in an orderly manner.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" > dilemma and breaker: "car-electricity" separation is a useful addition to charging strategies</h1>

For a long time, there has been controversy over whether the new energy automobile industry should develop "vehicle-electricity" separation or charging mode. "Car-electricity" separation refers to the separation of bare car and battery ownership, sold separately, the owner can go to the substation to rent a battery to run the vehicle; while the naked car and the battery in the charging mode are sold to the same owner as a whole. At the policy level, in 2011, the State Grid proposed a business model of "mainly replacing electricity, supplementing plug-in and charging, centralized charging, and unified distribution". Subsequently, based on the adjustment of the electric power reform policy, it shifted to the development of charging mode, and planned the top-level planning and roadmap in the field of new energy charging infrastructure in the policy documents of the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure and the Guidelines for the Development of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (2015-2020). After 2018, we re-explored the "vehicle-electricity" separation model, promulgated the Action Plan for Improving the Charging Guarantee Capacity of New Energy Vehicles (2018), clearly proposed to "continue to explore the application of electric vehicle replacement mode in specific fields such as taxis and rental cars"; issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the Upgrading and Smooth Resource Recycling of Key Consumer Goods (2019-2020)" (2019), emphasizing that "it is necessary to significantly reduce the cost of new energy vehicles and guide enterprises to innovate business models." Promote the separation of vehicle and electricity consumption methods such as new energy vehicle battery leasing to reduce the cost of car purchase." The "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" and the "Notice on Improving the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles" issued in 2020 respectively put forward planning ideas for the infrastructure and business model of "vehicle-electricity" separation. At the practical level, Aodong New Energy, Weilai Automobile, Hangzhou Botan, etc. actively participate in the operation mode of "vehicle-electricity" separation, of which Aodong New Energy Replacement Power Station has 278 seats, the total number of Weilai Automobile Replacement Power Stations is 154, and Hangzhou Botan is 94. Geely Technology Group plans to complete 100 substations in Chongqing in 2021 and more than 200 substations in 2023.

Compared with the charging mode, the "car-electricity" separation can overcome the long charging time of the former, the high initial investment cost of purchasing the battery, the spatio-temporal randomness of the charging load of the electric vehicle in the plug-in mode, the low battery recovery rate and many other defects, but the following five bottlenecks make at least at this stage, the "car-electricity" separation is a useful supplement to the charging strategy, rather than a complete replacement.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="40" > save money and worry: cost and safety are the core obstacles to "vehicle-to-electricity" separation</h1>

At this stage, the factors restricting the development of the "vehicle-electricity" separation model include the investment cost of charging stations, the number of charging and replacing power stations, and the construction of standard systems, but the core obstacles are cost and safety. Formulating policies to clarify the responsibilities of all parties and increase research and development, although not "saving money", may reduce security risks and "worry".

The investment cost of the replacement power station needs to be reduced

The high investment and operation and maintenance costs of the substation are a major problem of the "vehicle-electricity" separation. The basic operating cost of a substation is about 7 million, and the related costs mainly include: first, the construction of the early power exchange network, which requires ultra-large-scale investment; second, the investment cost of the power battery. At this stage, the technical development level of the battery needs to be improved, the battery energy density is low, the driving range and life cycle are short, and it is urgent to invest in research and development. In addition, in addition to the power exchange business, the substation also needs to charge, test and maintain the battery, and the investment cost is higher; the third is the input of the power exchange robot. The price of the power exchange robot varies according to the model, and the average price of a set of power exchange robots is about 200,000-600,000. The high cost of construction, operation and maintenance of substations has brought greater economic pressure to energy supply enterprises. The number of charging and replacing power stations is unbalanced

As of November 2020, the number of charging stations in China is close to 40,000, the cumulative number of charging infrastructure is 1.539 million units, and the charging power mainly flows to buses, passenger cars, sanitation logistics vehicles, taxis and other types of vehicles account for a relatively small proportion. The total number of substations is 535, relatively speaking, mainly concentrated in a few provinces such as Beijing, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Shanghai, Hunan, Sichuan, Hainan and Hebei. Compared with the sales growth rate of new energy vehicles and the number of charging stations, the number of substations is significantly smaller, and is mainly distributed in the eastern region; moreover, the operators of power exchange are also limited to a very small number of operators such as Aodong New Energy, Weilai Automobile, and BAIC. Overall, the number of charging and replacing power stations varies significantly, and the layout of the substations needs to be further planned, and the number needs to be expanded.

Liability for safety incidents needs to be defined

There is a hidden danger of safety accident liability traceability in the power exchange mode: First, there is no policy to define the responsibility for battery safety accidents. Due to the differences in buses, private cars and other models, the battery pack standards are inconsistent, in the absence of a clear definition of the responsibility for battery safety accidents in the country, if a natural battery accident occurs, it is extremely impossible to determine the main party of safety accident responsibility among stakeholders such as battery companies, automobile manufacturers, and vehicle operators. Secondly, there is a risk in the rental of the charging station battery and the repeated disassembly and installation of the car chassis battery. On the one hand, the substation gathers a large number of batteries, some of which are used repeatedly, and if these batteries are used to lease a vehicle for power exchange, there is a certain safety hazard; on the other hand, due to the repeated installation and disassembly of the vehicle's chassis, the durability and durability of the chassis have decreased to a certain extent, which may lead to safety risks. In the above two cases, if the safety responsibility is not clearly defined, there are great difficulties in the traceability of accident liability.

The power exchange standard system has yet to be formulated

There are three "standardizations" in the power exchange mode: one is the standardization of the replacement power station, the second is the standardization of the battery pack, and the third is the standardization of the battery management system (BMS). The substation will be more efficient to operate under the standard system. The standard of the substation involves the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and it is necessary to formulate relevant standards and specifications, and the operation of the standard system; the batteries and electric vehicles produced by different manufacturers of new energy automobile enterprises are different, and the size, material, energy density, interface and layout mode have not formed a unified standard, which has brought great difficulties to the unification of the battery box body of the power exchange mode, restricting the formation of a scale effect of the power exchange mode, resulting in barriers to the promotion of the power exchange mode technology. The battery management system (BMS) represents the core technology of each car company, and the homogenization and standardization of battery technology and software and hardware are also difficult. Therefore, car companies and battery companies need to strengthen cooperation, and it is urgent to formulate a standard system that matches the power exchange mode.

The subsidy distribution scheme of car companies needs to be innovated

Subsidies are an important policy tool to promote the development of new energy vehicles. After experiencing the strong support of the subsidy policy, in April 2020, the four ministries and commissions issued the "Notice on Improving the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles", proposing that the subsidy standard for energy vehicles in 2021 will be reduced by 20% on the basis of 2020, the subsidy in the non-public sector will be reduced by 20%, and the public sector will be reduced by 10%. In order to encourage the development of a new business model of "power exchange" and accelerate the promotion of new energy vehicles, "vehicle-electricity" separation vehicles are not subject to this regulation. The adjustment of the subsidy policy has won a buffer period for the development of "vehicle-electricity" separation. However, the "vehicle-electricity" separation model involves multiple stakeholders, and if the subsidy is only limited to the "vehicle-electricity" separation of automobile manufacturers, it may affect the enthusiasm of energy supply enterprises and battery production enterprises to participate in the operation of the "vehicle-electricity" separation model, so in the above three, the subsidy distribution scheme should be clarified.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="41" > rapid or gradual: hierarchical propulsion is the landing principle of "vehicle-electricity" separation</h1>

Comprehensively considering the improvement of safety responsibility policies, the maturity of charging and replacing technology, the research and development and innovation ability of the battery industry and other factors, it is suggested that the development of the "vehicle-electricity" separation model should adopt a "gradual" rather than "urgent" strategy, cautious and hierarchical advancement. Gather innovative elements, increase the focus of the research and development of power-swapping models and batteries around the "vehicle-electricity" separation technology research and development, we can focus on increasing the research and development of power-swapping models, batteries, and power-swapping robots, optimize the design of the chassis and body structure of the vehicle, improve the energy density of the battery, extend the life cycle and mileage; around the agglomeration of innovative elements, establish engineering technology research centers and enterprise technology centers in qualified scientific research institutes and advantageous enterprises, and integrate cross-departmental, cross-industry and other advantageous forces for joint research and development. In view of the basic, high R&D investment, long cycle of common technology, in order to effectively reduce R & D costs, you can take the benefits and intellectual property sharing mechanism as a link, take a variety of ways to organize enterprises, scientific research institutions to jointly research and develop common technologies; form an industry-university-research alliance, the government plays a role in all aspects of the research and development, demonstration and promotion of technology research and development technologies, effectively connect the joints of industry, education and research; around the choice of policy tools to stimulate research and development, strengthen subsidies, incentives, preferential credit for technological innovation, Highlight the incentive function of technology supply policy. For scientific research units or enterprises with new technological achievements and income from product transfer and sales, measures such as business tax reduction and income tax reduction may be given for a certain period of time.

Focus on dedicated scenarios and moderately increase the number of substations

In the planning process of the substation, if the relative maturity of the "vehicle-electricity" separation and the development of charging technology is not considered, the disorderly expansion and establishment of charging stations is likely to cause waste of resources. Therefore, the increase in the number of substations should comprehensively consider factors such as economy, safety, relative maturity of charging and replacing technology, progress in research and development level of the battery industry, and focus on special scenarios such as urban buses, road passenger transport, taxi (including online car), sanitation, urban logistics and distribution, postal express, civil aviation airports, and official affairs of party and government organs on the basis of planning such as the scale and site selection of power stations, battery logistics allocation, and the proportion of battery demand. Because the models and batteries in the above scenarios are easier to standardize, the market demand is relatively stable, and the number of charging stations is less risky in the market.

Clarify the stakeholders of the power exchange, and promote the definition of responsibilities at different levels

In order to strengthen safety supervision, the government issued the "Electric Vehicle Safety Requirements", "Electric Vehicle Safety Requirements" and "Electric Vehicle Power Battery Safety Requirements" in 2020, which strengthened the technical safety requirements for battery system thermal safety, electrical safety, functional safety, battery compartment collision, charging system, and flame retardant of high-voltage components. Nevertheless, the relevant policy documents do not clearly define the responsibility for safety accidents of the "vehicle-electricity" separation, and the policy fails to involve stakeholders such as energy supply companies and automobile service operators. In view of this, on the basis of clarifying the stakeholders of power exchange, it is necessary to first introduce relevant policies for special scenarios such as leasing (including online car-hailing), terminal logistics, sanitation, etc., because in the special scenario, it is easier to integrate stakeholders such as automobile companies and batteries, and it is difficult to define the responsibility for safety accidents; then formulate a policy for the definition of responsibility for safety accidents in the non-public sector such as private cars.

With the help of industry associations, priority will be given to the formulation of standards for power exchange teams

Although the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is formulating national standards for the "Safety Requirements for Electric Vehicle Replacement" to support the formulation of group standards such as the integrated rapid replacement battery compartment of electric passenger cars, in general, the formulation of power exchange standards is lagging behind. In the promotion of several types of standards such as national standards, local standards, team standards, and enterprise standards, the role of industry associations is particularly important. In view of the fact that local standards and enterprise standards may have technical exclusivity, it is recommended to leverage industry associations to take team standards as the priority object, formulate or improve technical standards in terms of substations, battery packs, battery management systems, vehicles, etc., and strive to solve standardization problems such as single cells and battery docking devices. At the same time, in terms of standardization construction, we strive to achieve the compatibility and sharing of energy storage batteries and power batteries.

Pay attention to the downstream of the industrial chain and distribute subsidies in an orderly manner

The subsidy distribution of the "vehicle-electricity" separation model stimulated the enthusiasm of the participants. In the process of promoting the "vehicle-electricity" separation model, energy supply enterprises, automobile production enterprises, and battery manufacturers are particularly critical, among which the replacement power station investment amount of energy supply enterprises is relatively large, which belongs to the downstream of the industrial chain; automobile production enterprises and battery manufacturers belong to the upstream, battery enterprises belonging to high-tech industries may have enjoyed certain government preferential policies, so they should take the downstream of the incentive industrial chain as the entry point, further revise the subsidy policy, and originally give to automobile manufacturers, The subsidies of battery manufacturers are distributed in an orderly manner according to energy supply enterprises, automobile manufacturers, and battery manufacturers, and the upstream is driven by the downstream reverse, and then the development of the "vehicle-electricity" model is promoted. In addition, government departments should take into account that subsidies increase the financial burden, making the policy tool unsustainable in the future, and should formulate diversified preferential policies such as taxation and land fee reductions as soon as possible to replace subsidies.

[Fund Project]:

National Social Science Foundation of China General Project "Research on the Path and Mechanism Design of Subsidy for Accurate Poverty Alleviation in New Energy in China" (Approval No. 19BGL185)

[About the Author]:

1. Huiming Zhang, Professor, Jiangsu Research Base of Socialist Theoretical System with Chinese Characteristics, Institute of Climate and Environmental Governance, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Doctoral Supervisor, Vice Dean, Visiting Scholar of Cornell University in the United States and Reading University in the United Kingdom.

2. Kexin Zhu, Master of School of Management Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology.

3. Kai Wu, Assistant Professor, Lecturer, Central University of Finance and Economics, Ph.D. of Cornell University.

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