Reported by our reporter Chen Maoli from Beijing
Xiaomi's car manufacturing has always been a hot topic in the market. Recently, a recruitment notice for a design and development engineer for the extended range system at Xiaomi Motors has sparked industry discussions: Xiaomi also wants to "get started" on the extended range.
It is not surprising that Xiaomi Motors has become a fan of the extended range technology route. Pioneer ideals and boundaries (Huawei, Celes) have already received a wave of dividends with their first mover advantage. Since the beginning of this year, new energy brands such as Lantu, Nezha, Zero Run, and Deep Blue have successively entered the expansion track.
In the eyes of industry insiders, although the extended-range technology route is considered "not advanced", consumers have voted with "real gold and silver", and the market response of extended-range products created by ideals, knowledge, and zero running is very good.
Extended range technology can solve users' current pain (choosing pure electric vehicles, worrying about battery life and charging, choosing gasoline powered vehicles, worrying about rising oil prices, choosing extended range vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles, at least with both fuel and electricity) In the transitional stage of the popularization of new energy vehicles, it is an optional solution for automobile manufacturers. In this regard, the sudden rise of the Ideal Car L series and the fierce pursuit of the Wenjie M series have provided strong endorsement for automobile manufacturers to layout extended range products Yang Jigang, an expert in enterprise transformation, a researcher on the "New Four Modernizations of Automobile" industry, and a partner of Zhixing Strategy, stated in an interview with a reporter from China Business Daily.
It is difficult to determine whether the incremental programming technology route has become the mainstream technology route due to being favored by more manufacturers. However, industry insiders generally believe that the growth potential in the next 5-10 years will depend on the progress of battery technology and the layout of high-voltage charging stations.
Xiaomi Motors Enters the Extended Range Track
Xiaomi Motors, which aims to enter the top five globally in the future, has recently received news of plans to expand its range.
The reporter saw from Xiaomi's recruitment website that Xiaomi has released a recruitment notice for an extended range system design and development engineer. From the job description, it can be seen that this position is mainly responsible for the design, development, and testing verification of the extended range system, responsible for promoting suppliers to complete the development, verification, and acceptance of the extended range system as required, and responsible for the development and delivery work throughout the entire lifecycle of the extended range system.
Based on this recruitment information and previous information released by Xiaomi, the first model of Xiaomi Motors is a pure electric model. There is much speculation in the industry that the second model of Xiaomi Motors may be an extended range product or an extended range version of the first model.
From the perspective of Xiaomi itself, the simultaneous layout of pure electricity and extended range may be based on the consideration of achieving sales targets. Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun has set a goal for Xiaomi Motors to release its first mass-produced model in 2024, with a cumulative sales volume of 900000 units over the next three years.
An average annual sales of 300000 vehicles is not easy for a new car brand, let alone a new brand that focuses on pure electricity. As a comparison, Tesla took 16 years since its establishment in 2003 and only achieved annual sales exceeding 300000 vehicles in 2019. At present, NIO (2014) and Xiaopeng (2014) have not yet achieved this sales performance.
While laying out pure electricity, driving with increased range and walking on two legs will help Xiaomi Automobile achieve its goals. In the market, the extended range technology route has proven its value through consumer voting. Although there has always been controversy over whether the extended range technology is "advanced" or not, it does not hinder the pioneer's ideal and the industry's advantage in taking a wave of dividends.
With the addition of programmable cars that are both fuel and electric, as well as precise user positioning, Ideal Automobile has set a record for the fastest delivery of 300000 luxury cars by a new domestic car making force in just 39 months. Sales have exceeded 30000 units in multiple months this year.
The Wenjie M7, which went public in July last year, has attracted much attention due to Huawei endorsement and its use as an extended range product. Recently, the new Wenjie M7 has become even more popular. According to data, since the release of the new M7 on September 12th (October 6th), the first sales have exceeded 50000 units.
Inflow into multiple 'supporters'
Who is more advanced in plug-in hybrid technology or incremental programming technology? Neither the mixed faction nor the extended range faction were convinced. But both plug-in hybrid products and extended range products are proving their value through sales.
At present, plug-in hybrid companies represented by BYD, Great Wall, Chang'an, and Geely have gained the majority of market share in the hybrid market. The market share of extended-range delivery, represented by ideals and boundaries, is constantly increasing.
In the first half of this year, the overall sales of China's new energy vehicle market were 2.9436 million units, a year-on-year increase of 40.4%. Among them, the sales of pure electric vehicles were 2.006 million units, a year-on-year increase of 22.25%; The sales of plug-in hybrid and extended range models reached 935000 units, a year-on-year increase of 105.73%, which is more than five times the growth rate of pure electric vehicles.
The considerable growth has attracted more manufacturers to bet. New energy brands such as Nezha, Zero Run, Deep Blue, and Lantu have successively entered the extended range track. In addition, there are rumors in the market that Xiaopeng is suspected to be developing an extended range model.
Why is the programming technology route favored by more and more manufacturers? Dong Mi Jinghua, Senior Vice President and Director of Zero Run Automobile, once publicly stated, "At the beginning of our establishment, we focused on pure electricity. However, with the increase in upstream material prices of batteries, including the increase in battery costs, and feedback from users that pure electricity still has mileage anxiety, we have established a project to develop an extended range based on pure electricity
Jinghua introduced that according to the plan, two new vehicle platforms, Zero Run, are already under development. By the end of 2025, all new models developed by Zero Run will have both pure electric and extended range versions.
The advantage of "fuel and electricity" in extendable electric vehicles has helped consumers remove the constraints of "range anxiety and charging anxiety", which is an important reason for consumers to pay.
For consumers, an extended range electric vehicle provides unparalleled advantages. Firstly, it provides an ultra long range, which means that in daily urban traffic, you can completely rely on pure electric driving. When users need to travel long distances, the advantages of an extended range electric vehicle are even more obvious. It does not rely on charging facilities and can achieve the same driving freedom as a fuel powered vehicle, which means that there is no need for holiday travel at all Anxiety, without any worries Fan Haoyu, Vice President of the Intelligent and Systems Department of Ideal Automobile, stated.
Extended range technology also has lower costs and technological barriers, making it easier for car companies to accept and promote compared to pure electric technology, "Yu Xi, co-founder of the Communication Planet APP, pointed out to reporters.
Yu Chengdong, Executive Director of Huawei, CEO of Terminal Business, and Chairman of Intelligent Vehicle Solutions, judged that the improvement and popularization of charging stations still require time, and the extended range model is currently the most suitable new energy vehicle model.
As for who is more advanced in plug-in hybrid technology or incremental programming technology, Yang Jigang believes that a group of car manufacturers who focus on the market and take the lead in bridging the gap will receive dividends. There is a huge gap between technology and the market, and at this end of the gap, there is a technical bias among some car manufacturers: technology leads, products are competitive. At that end of the gap, there is a buying reason from the user's perspective: not choosing expensive (expensive/good technology/cool appearance, etc.) Select only the right ones. Which car manufacturers will bridge the gap? Obviously, without sales, there is no need to talk about anything, and the core of sales is that users pay the bill. From this perspective, it is a pseudo proposition that the so-called incremental technology route is' outdated technology ', and this is essentially from the perspective of the manufacturer or technology
There is considerable growth potential in the extended range market
Since the beginning of this year, multiple car companies have announced their entry into the extended range race track. How much growth space does the extended range market have in the future? Can it become one of the mainstream technology routes?
Yang Jigang believes that in terms of the passenger car market, the incremental space of extended range technology products depends on two key factors: first, the range of pure electric vehicles, and second, the market layout of charging stations and high-voltage charging piles.
In the near future, with the innovation of battery technology and the decrease in battery costs, if the 600 km/h range becomes the industry standard, a portion of the growth space for extended range cars will be diluted. Compared to range, charging is the deeper pain for new energy car owners. Think about it, if you can charge 500 km/h in 5 minutes and charging stations are as popular and convenient as current gas stations, the anxiety of range will be eliminated. At that time, choose The likelihood of choosing a pure electric vehicle is higher Yang Jigang said.
From a policy perspective, Youxi believes that the extended range market has significant growth potential in the future. "With the improvement of environmental protection awareness and government policy support for environmentally friendly vehicles, the electric vehicle market is rapidly growing. Extended range technology can balance the environmental characteristics of electric vehicles and the convenience of traditional fuel vehicles, so it has great potential in the market
"In the near future, the cost of electric vehicles is on the high side, the cost of batteries is also on the high side, and subsidies are falling, so the proportion of plug-in hybrid and extended range electric vehicles will gradually increase to 30% -40%, or even close to 50% in the next 5 to 10 years, which is possible," said Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the CAS Member and a professor of Tsinghua University, However, in the medium to long term, there is still a lot of room for innovation in battery business models and technologies, and the comprehensive cost of purchasing and using batteries will continue to decline. The advantages of pure electric vehicles will become increasingly apparent. My personal judgment is that the proportion of these two types will gradually decrease after 2030
The future market is full of variables, but at present, the ideal car with the best selling extended range products is the Flag, aiming to challenge the sales of all models of BBA (Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi) in the product line of next year's four extended range SUVs (ideal L6-L9)