Entering the harsh winter, "the car is not frost-resistant" has become the "heart knot" of some new energy taxi drivers in Hohhot.
In winter, the cruising range is greatly reduced, which makes people anxious. The driver, Master Ma, said that his new energy taxi has a rated mileage of 430 kilometers, but recently he often runs for more than an hour, and the power is more than 200 kilometers left, so he has to hurry to the battery swap station. "After replacing the battery, the new battery is not fully charged, only 320 kilometers of power. At the end of the day, I went back and forth to the battery swap station 4 times, and each time I replaced it with a full battery. The colder days are still to come, how can this be done?”
From December 15 to February 25 of the following year, the temperature in Hohhot continues to be cold, with the lowest temperature around minus 30 degrees Celsius and the average daily minimum temperature below minus 15 degrees Celsius. Outdoors, not only are people unbearably frozen, but new energy taxis are also constantly frozen. These problems of new energy taxis also appear from time to time in other cold areas in the north.
According to the local plan, by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan", all 2,601 public cruise taxis in Hohhot will be replaced with new energy models. The reporter learned that in 2023 alone, Hohhot will replace 1,069 new energy vehicles at one time, completing 40% of the "14th Five-Year Plan" target.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, it was the peak period for taxi drivers to pay **, and more than 30 taxis who came to replace the battery had lined up at a new energy vehicle swap station in the South Second Ring Road of Hohhot. At the entrance of the battery swap station, a line of slogans is particularly eye-catching: "Changing batteries is as convenient as refueling!."However, the driver, Master Jia, told reporters that he had been queuing for 30 minutes, but he had not yet reached half of the queue, and it was estimated that he would have to wait at least half an hour.
When the weather is warm, the traffic here is not large, but in winter, the frequency of vehicle battery swaps increases, and the battery swap station begins to queue up. The driver, Master Jia, said.
In order to reduce the number of battery changes, many drivers do not dare to turn on the heater in severe cold weather. In the past few days, sitting in the cab of the new energy taxi, the driver, Master Li, was so cold that he kept rubbing his hands. He reluctantly said that the heating of new energy vehicles in winter depends on electricity, and as soon as the warm air is turned on, the power loss speed is faster, and he does not dare to take long-distance orders. "It's minus 20 (Celsius) degrees these days, and cars and people can't stand it anymore, and when it comes to minus 30 (C), the situation will be even worse. ”
In fact, new energy vehicles have many advantages, such as basically no maintenance, cheap electricity, and more comfortable to drive than manual fuel taxis. Master Li, the interviewed taxi driver, and his colleagues generally said that from the perspective of environmental protection and use cost, new energy taxis have incomparable advantages over traditional fuel vehicles. However, in severe cold weather, there are still some problems with new energy vehicles.
The first is that the number of battery reserves in the battery swap station is insufficient. Hu Zhiqiang, general manager of Inner Mongolia Aodong Hengshi Technology, a battery swap station operating company, told reporters that the new energy taxis in Hohhot are mainly Dongfeng Venucia models, and each car only needs to be replaced twice a day in summer, while the number of battery changes in winter is about 35 times. "At present, 758 Venucia taxis in the city share 199 battery-swapping batteries, due to the doubling of the number of battery swaps, the battery simply can't be turned, and it has to be replaced quickly if it is not fully charged. Hu Zhiqiang later estimated that at least 300 batteries would need to be replaced to ensure that local drivers can replace them with fully charged batteries.
Secondly, the location of the battery swap station is remote and the number is small. It is understood that there are only 4 battery swap stations corresponding to Venucia taxis in the city, which are located in the periphery of Hohhot, and there is no battery swap station in the urban area. "It is very inconvenient to change the battery, and when we have more than 100 kilometers of electricity left, we have to go all the way to change the battery, worrying that the power will fall out halfway. Master Jia said that frequent battery swaps, coupled with long queuing times for battery swaps, have reduced his income by one-third after entering the winter. In early November 2023, the reporter observed 4 battery swap stations in Hohhot, and more than 30 vehicles queued up for battery swapping, and some drivers even queued for nearly 2 hours. But the reporter learned that if the battery and battery swap station are sufficient, the normal battery swap speed is 2 minutes per car.
Industry insiders suggest that the promotion of new energy taxis should be gradual, and the improvement of supporting facilities should be ahead of the increase in the number of vehicles. "The number of battery swap stations should be appropriately increased, the scientific layout of battery swap station points, the convenience of battery swapping should be improved, and the relationship between the number of batteries and battery swap stations should be handled to prevent congestion. At the same time, it is recommended that taxi drivers carry out off-peak battery swaps to reduce centralized battery swaps during the delivery period. Hu Zhiqiang said.
A number of business representatives also believe that compared with the south, the new energy taxi operators in the north need to invest in greater "overconstruction" costs. Hu Zhiqiang believes that due to the serious power loss of new energy taxis in winter and the inconvenience of battery replacement, it is imperative to increase the number of battery swap stations and batteries.
Wang Zhenxian, chairman of the Hohhot Passenger Taxi Industry Association, suggested that the first department and taxi operators should further improve the response ability of drivers and related personnel and improve the efficiency of battery swapping through centralized knowledge training and skill training. "With the arrival of cold wave and snowfall, the battery of the new energy taxi will be frozen and difficult to remove, and it is recommended that the 4S shop improve the one-stop after-sales service for emergency disposal. Wang Zhen said busily.
At present, the temperature in many places in the north continues to drop, and a large number of new energy taxis and battery swapping and charging stations will usher in challenges and tests again. Many parties have called for the construction of battery swap stations and battery replenishment as soon as possible, and at the same time take a long-term view of the layout of the new energy taxi business, accelerate the shortcomings, and effectively promote the transformation of green travel modes.
*:Economy**.