** China Visit Network
Author Yihang Studio
When I returned to my hometown for the Chinese New Year this year, I found that the number of green cars on the road has increased significantly. From the brand point of view, Tesla and BYD are the majority, but most of them are foreign license plates. Visited the counties, cities and towns near my hometown and found that the attitude of county consumers towards new energy vehicles has changed greatly, and the county and township markets are no longer the world of oil vehicles, and some new phenomena are occurring.
New energy vehicles, into the county and township market?
BYD has entered the 70,000 yuan ** area! At the beginning of 2024, BYD started the first battle of new energy vehicle involution, announcing the launch of its two plug-in hybrid models, Qin Plus Glory Edition and Destroyer 05 Glory Edition, with a starting price of 7980,000 yuan. On the same day, Wuling, Changan, Beijing Hyundai, and SAIC-GM Buick joined the first battle.
Electricity is lower than oil! "Subverting the market pattern of fuel has been accelerated by BYD again. In fact, the important reason why new energy vehicles can enter the county and township markets is inseparable from the first. According to the "2023 Automotive Industry In-Depth Insight Report" released by Huatai** in May 2023, when users in lower-tier cities buy a car, cost-effectiveness is the core factor.
Mr. Zhao, a car owner from a county in southwest China, said that he also bought the tram last year, and there is no 4S store in the county, so he went to the city to pick up the car. There is no other reason to buy an electric car, the budget is only 10W, and BYD's discount is very large, and the BYD Qin Plus DMI Champion Edition, which was the lowest equipped with 55 pure electric mileage, has fallen to 8990,000 yuan, plus there is no purchase tax for new energy vehicles, and the landing price is within 10w, so I placed an order as soon as I was excited.
The visit found that consumers in the county have changed their views on new energy vehicles and are more willing to buy electric vehicles. First of all, the problem of distance, the average consumer in the county and township area to use new energy vehicles, the travel radius does not exceed 5-10 kilometers, the cost of tram commuting is lower, the range is completely sufficient. In the past one or two years, the first place has carried out new energy vehicles to the countryside, improved infrastructure, and guaranteed the logistics of consumers.
According to Huaan** statistics, from 2020 to 2023, in the range of less than 100,000 yuan**, the sales scale of fuel vehicles will increase from 352 in 202050,000 units fell to 142 in 202370,000 units, with a market share of 55% from 92%. The sales scale of new energy vehicles will increase from 30 in 202090,000 units, up from 117 in 202340,000 units, increasing market share from 8% to 45%.
The market share has increased by 37% in three years, but the competition between major car companies is also very fierce, and the new energy vehicle market in first- and second-tier cities is full of masters, and major car companies are looking for new sales growth space. Therefore, compared with large cities, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in counties and townships is low, and there is great potential for development, and many new energy vehicle companies have shifted their strategic goals to the county and township markets, which has further promoted the improvement of the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in counties.
"The closer you are to your hometown, the harder it is to find a charging pile."
A number of new energy vehicle companies have cut prices, some are happy and some are worried. After all, under the price reduction, the public charging facilities in some areas (counties and townships) are not perfect, which makes it difficult for some potential users who want to start but are worried about the infrastructure.
For a long time, the lack of infrastructure such as charging piles has been the main factor restricting new energy vehicles from going to the countryside. Mr. Zhao, the owner of the car interviewed above, said that although new energy vehicles are cheap, they are still opposed by their families when they buy a car, because it is inconvenient to charge and repair the car. Many new energy vehicle owners have the same feeling, charging piles in the city, battery swap station facilities are relatively perfect, but in the county, the countryside, new energy vehicle charging is still a big problem, especially public charging piles often in the center of the county can be found.
Moreover, the factors restricting the construction of charging piles in rural areas still exist. First of all, the current ownership and penetration rate of new energy vehicles in counties and townships are lower than those in cities, the utilization rate of charging piles is lower, and it is difficult to guarantee the income of investment entities. Secondly, the distribution of charging piles in counties and rural areas is scattered, the scale of a single station is small, and the operation and maintenance cost is high, making it difficult to form large-scale operation, which leads to a relatively high rate of bad charging piles in rural areas, and the number of "zombie piles" is much more than that in urban areas.
In order to fully open up the county and township new energy vehicle market, more perfect policies are needed. Take Sichuan as an example, in November 2023, Sichuan Province and Sichuan Provincial Energy Bureau jointly formulated the "Sichuan Province to Accelerate the Construction of Charging Infrastructure to Support New Energy Vehicles to the Countryside and Rural Revitalization Work Plan", the "Plan" pointed out that in the future, the construction of charging infrastructure in rural areas will be accelerated, the operation and service capacity of new energy vehicles will be improved, the consumption potential of new energy vehicles in rural areas will be fully released, and new energy vehicles will be promoted to the countryside.
On the whole, there is still a long way to go for new energy vehicles to go to the countryside.