"Don't ignore NIO's technical strength just because we have good service. "Just because we do a good job of battery swapping, we can't forget that we are the car brand with the most charging piles in China. ”
NIO's undertone is technology. ”
On the morning of December 24, the day after the end of NIO Day, Li Bin and Qin Lihong appeared in front of **. When many people still have the inherent impression that service and battery swapping are the biggest moat of NIO, Li Bin and Qin Lihong did not hesitate to show the background color of technology.
What Li Bin wants to do is to let more people know a real NIO, and let more people know that in addition to services and battery swaps, NIO has many technologically advanced moats.
"Technical man" Li BinMany people know that Li Bin is the founder and CEO of NIO, a master of financing, and an investment angel. But in fact, Li Bin has always been the "CTO" of NIO.
Li Bin seems to be more and more willing to label himself as a "technical man". At the scene of the interview, when I heard that He Xiaopeng was born because of writing, many people would think that he could do intelligent driving, but more people would think that the founder of Weilai was not from a technical background, Li Bin immediately retorted, "I also wrote from a **background." ”
Later, Li Bin also added, "I started a business by writing **, and later I saved Yiche by writing**." In order to increase his persuasiveness, Li Bin also talked about how he had taken the computer systems analyst certificate when he was in college, and became the first liberal arts student in the history of Peking University to take this certificate. At that time, there were only 200 certificates in the country, which shows the high gold content. At the same time, Li Bin is also the first certified system engineer of Microsoft in China.
Of course, unlike ordinary technicians, Li Bin now does not do the details of the technology, and he does not write ** in person. I look at the technical architecture at a higher level, the cross-domain technical architecture, the full-stack technical architecture, which I am relatively good at. ”
In fact, Li Bin's first topic for system analyst is rapid prototyping method, how to quickly build a prototype of software to speed up iteration. Therefore, Li Bin cares more about the architectural logic of the technology and how it should be related behind it. For example, he will see the value of mobile phones in panoramic interconnection, so he resolutely makes mobile phones.
In addition to the technology itself, Li Bin also made changes to NIO's organizational structure to make it more suitable for the development and application of technology. At the earliest time, NIO was divided into three major sectors: intelligence, electric and automobile, and the person in charge of the three blocks reported directly to Li Bin, which sounded perfect, but Li Bin realized that something was wrong while doing it. Because there are so many places to connect under the "three mountains", and any communication needs to cross one mountain to another, from below to above and then below.
Li Bin felt that this was too inefficient. So a few years ago, all the three major plates were flattened, and each plate was subdivided, such as intelligence, which was divided into 6 parts. Turning a vertical organizational structure into a horizontal organizational structure. In this way, cross-departmental communication does not need to climb over mountains, only need to climb small hills, and the whole management is more flat and efficient. After the reform, the company's capabilities will not be the same. Li Bin called this ability atomic ability. "The chip is a typical atomic ability, the battery cell is also a typical atomic ability, and even the seat is also an atomic ability. "Li Bin will build in terms of atomic capabilities, and then decouple them in layers to build the entire company's R&D system.
The change in Li Bin's personality seems to be glimpsed from his attitude of answering ** questions. At the scene, when a reporter asked about gossip or emotional questions, such as whether he is an I person or an E person, personal idealism, and Li wanted to say that there are 4 car companies that can stay at the table in the future but did not mention Weilai, Li Bin answered briefly, and even answered in dozens of seconds. And when asked about technical issues such as chassis, battery replacement, and intelligent driving, Li Bin gushed endlessly, a question can be answered for more than 10 minutes, and Qin Lihong on the side has to remind him from time to time that he can't say too much, after all, the ET9 that NIO Day debuted only has 30% of the information.
Compared with the idealistic Li Bin in the past, Li Bin now seems to be more willing and necessary to immerse himself in the role of "technical man".
NIO's "undertone".Some people used to say that NIO is the Haidilao of car companies. It's a little expensive, but the service is really good.
The current "technical man" Li Bin does not fully agree with this statement. Whether it was at the scene of NIO Day or in a later interview, he declared more than once that NIO's background color is technology.
The ET9 is obviously the culmination of NIO's latest technology.
The 900V high-voltage platform on the ET9, the Tianxing intelligent chassis, the self-developed 5nm intelligent driving chip, and the Tianshu operating system released 3 months ago are all the most advanced technologies at present. In fact, there are 17 first-to-date features, 52 class-leading features, and more than 500 patents on the ET9. This is why Li Bin dared to say on NIO Day, "The administrative flagship has always been the technical flagship." ”
Take the 900V high-voltage platform of ET9 as an example, when many competing products are still 400V, and many friends are still using 800V as a selling point, ET9 is equipped with the first "global 900V high-voltage architecture" in China, including batteries, motors, wiring harnesses, air conditioners, DC-DC, on-board chargers and other core electronic and electrical components, with the highest voltage of 925V, charging peak power of 600kW, and charging peak current of 765A. Of course, the most eye-catching thing on the ET9 is the Skyride intelligent chassis system. On the night of NIO Day, ET9 placed 4-story champagne towers on speed bumps, and even attracted imitation from friends. Li Bin said that "Tianxing" for the first time integrates the three core hardware systems of steer-by-wire, rear-wheel steering and full active suspension, and is currently the world's only fully drive-by-wire intelligent chassis. Compared with the eye-catching Tianxing intelligent chassis, many people may ignore Wei's self-developed 5nm intelligent driving chip, but this is not a trivial matter in the eyes of peers. After the interview, there were peers who immediately asked ** about the details of this chip. But in fact, Li Bin did not disclose more information in the interview than on NIO Day. Li Bin mysteriously said that he had said everything that could be said on NIO Day. It is worth mentioning that Weilai's ambitions in the chip field are not only that, just 3 months ago on the Weilai Technology Day, Weilai also released the "Weilai Technology Full Stack" including the LiDAR main control chip "Yang Jian".
For a long time, the outside world simply thought that NIO's moat was battery swapping in addition to service, and with the development of supercharging technology, Huawei and Li have launched a supercharging system that charges to 80% in 10 minutes, and the gap with battery swapping is constantly narrowing. Some netizens are even worried that if solid-state battery technology matures and mass-produced in the future, coupled with ultra-fast charging technology, the advantage of battery swapping will inevitably be greatly weakened.
But it needs to be reminded that battery swapping and service are NIO's moat, but this does not mean that NIO's moat only has battery swapping and service.
Even though the battery swap is far ahead, Li Bin is still increasing the moat of the battery swap. At this NIO Day, Li Bin released the first battery swap station. According to the official statement, ** battery swap station supports multi-brand shared battery swap, and the battery swap time is shortened by 22%;Equipped with a rooftop photovoltaic system, each station saves nearly 180,000 kWh. Reminiscent of the battery swap cooperation agreement signed by Weilai with Changan and Geely not long ago, the conceivable space is undoubtedly even greater. Although technology and product iteration are good, how to ensure continuity and not backstab old car owners?In the interview, Li Bin and Qin Lihong both said that the compatibility of NIO's charging station and car is something that NIO always has to think about. At present, NIO's new battery swap stations are mainly third-generation stations, and after the third-generation stations, they can be compatible with multiple models and brands. **Compatible before and after the battery swap station. The first generation station has entered the retirement period, and only about 150 are still in service. In 2024, NIO will build 1,000 new battery swap stations, bringing the total number of battery swap stations to 3,310.
In addition to consolidating the moat of battery swapping, Li Bin has also reached a higher level in charging.
Along with the *** battery swap station, there is also a NIO 640kW fully liquid-cooled ultra-fast charging pile. The pile has a maximum current of 765A, a maximum voltage of 1000V, and a peak charging power of 640kW, which can intelligently distribute the charging power in the station in real time. Li Bin said that at present, NIO has 20,955 charging piles, which is the brand with the largest number of charging piles in China. What's even more terrifying is that in 2024, NIO will add 20,000 charging columns, with a total of more than 40,000, continuing to rank first in the total number of charging piles.
We can't ignore our efforts in products and technologies, especially technological innovation, just because we are doing a good job. Just like we can't forget that our charging is also the hardest working car brand in the country because we have done a good job of battery replacement, and it is also the car brand with the most resolute layout, the most installed charging piles, and the widest range of installed charging piles. In the interview, Li Bin repeatedly emphasized that technology is the background color of NIO.
Obviously, in this round of electric intelligent transformation, only technology is the leading existence. And Li Bin is showing more people the background and quality of NIO's technology.
Upward ambitionCounting from 2017 in Beijing, NIO Day has been held for the seventh time this year. The venue of each NIO Day is voted for by car owners, and this year's Xi'an won with more than 80 million votes over Guangzhou, which shows the fierceness of the competition. However, the theme of this year's session is the one with the smallest "competition". Li Bin said that when colleagues raised the theme of "upward" this year, neither the company nor users had any objections, showing a rare consistency.
In Li Bin's words, "upward" is in line with NIO's current demands.
"Upward" is not only NIO's own mentality, but also the current needs of NIO users for the future, as well as the expectations of the current society for the future.
In the past period of time, the world has entered into uncertainty, and everyone has encountered their own pressure to solve, whether it is me or NIO. In the face of pressure, everyone has different choices, and perhaps most people do not want to give up, but to face it head-on. ”
Li Bin admitted that there is a gap between NIO's current performance and expectations. Due to changes in the overall environment, NIO's losses have further expanded, and the sales of some models have not reached the expected target. There are external environmental influences, as well as internal problems within the company.
Despite the difficulties, Li Bin still did not change his determination to "move up". The ET9 carries Li Bin's upward ambition - the ET9 is the first car that a Chinese car company has entered the BBA spiritual fortress.
So far, NIO has only two models named after the 9. In November 2016, NIO, which has only been established for two years, debuted the EP9 electric supercar in London, and in the six months since its launch, the NIO EP9 has set new records on multiple tracks. The owners of the first batch of 6 cars are 6 founding investors, including Ma Huateng, Liu Qiangdong and Lei Jun. Another model named after 9 is ET9, an executive flagship with a pre-sale of up to 800,000 yuan, and a technical flagship. He did not continue the "old money style" of traditional luxury brands such as BBA, but made innovations in technology and products.
However, there will still be some people who feel that the breakthrough of ET9 in design is not subversive enough, and it is not as unimaginable as ES8 and ET7 at the beginning. In this regard, Li Bin domineering "replied", this is a car that has been completely reshaped from the soul, brain, and body, but the design gene has not been subverted. "Has Porsche subverted its design DNA?No. Has Mercedes-Benz subverted its own design genes?No. What kind of person will subvert their design genes?Kia, Hyundai, old subverted, generation after generation is different. Li Bin believes that Kia and Hyundai have also been very successful, but each company has its own trade-offs. Especially high-end brands. It can't be that people haven't remembered what you look like, and as a result, you changed your face the next day. Li Bin bluntly said that the biggest challenge for Chinese auto brands, including NIO, is "patience". In his view, brand improvement is a long process, not simply a car can be done, and entering the global market is also a long-term thing.
We have only 5 stores in Germany, and Porsche Benz has hundreds of stores, so of course we can't win the competition directly, it takes time and patience. Li Bin also cited BYD and Chery as examples, saying that the auto industry has never been a winner-takes-all, a long-term competition, and a marathon on a muddy road. Both BYD and Chery have performed well this year, which is a long-term result. BYD sold 400,000 units in 2008, and then sold four or five hundred thousand units for the next 12 years, and a few years ago everyone would not have thought that BYD could reach 3 million units this year. Chery has accumulated a lot of globalization in the past two years, but it has been engaged in globalization for nearly 20 years. As a fellow in Anhui Province, the head of these two car companies, Li Bin naturally does not lack "patience", and even he has been known for his idealism and long-termism. It is worth mentioning that Yu Chengdong is also a native of Anhui. Perhaps, Anhui people are indeed talented in making cars.
With technology and patience, a Li Bin who can put down his idealism and squat down is destined to make NIO jump higher.
4 Postscript: The Width of the City Wall Li Bin is a very efficient person who will squeeze almost every drop of his time.
Qin Lihong revealed that Li Bin drove the ET7 equipped with a 150-degree battery to measure the range of 1,000 kilometers. Just the night before departure, Li Bin was busy until late at night and only slept for two hours.
And at two or three o'clock in the evening when the NIO Day ended, Li Bin was still working in a group chat, criticizing and reflecting on the NIO Day** not doing well enough. Even the ** interview, because there are too many reporters, Li Bin also arranged two sessions in the morning and afternoon, and there will be talks at noon.
I don't know if Li Bin, who is busy with a lot of work, will find time to go to the city wall of Xi'an. Built during the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty, the wall is 12 meters high but more than 15 meters wide. Emperor Yongle knew that only when the thickness was greater than the height could it be as stable as a mountain. If the outside world mistakenly thought that service and battery swapping were NIO's moats before, this time, Li Bin let everyone know that a series of industry-leading technology products such as 640kW liquid-cooled ultra-fast charging, Tianxing intelligent chassis, 900V high-voltage platform, and 5nm intelligent driving chips are also NIO's moat. Together, they form the broad bottom of NIO's moat and are the cornerstone of NIO's ability to stand tall among high-end brands.
In the blink of an eye, Li Bin has been founded NIO for nearly ten years. In the past ten years, China's electric intelligence has undergone great changes, and he himself has gone from the year of confusion to the year of knowing his fate.
Perhaps, "upward" is Li Bin's life and Weilai's life.