A sudden heavy snowfall exposed various uncomfortable symptoms of pure electric vehicles; A shallow Qiongzhou Strait blocks the way home for new energy vehicle owners - this Spring Festival holiday makes many new energy users feel inconvenient to use the car, and the "culprit" of all this is brought by new energy vehicles that have high hopes.
Usually in the city, new energy vehicles, which are known for their convenience and money-saving, will encounter various inconveniences once they travel by car, making the original comfortable trip so unbearable? Looking at the pure electric vehicles that lie on their stomachs because of the exhaustion of power, will the unhappiness of car owners affect the energy vehicle market this year?
Pure electric vehicles in snow days at high speed
Recently, affected by the low temperature climate, there have been extreme bad weather such as blizzard and freezing rain in many places in Hubei, resulting in many self-driving car owners being trapped on the local highway for more than ten hours, especially the users who drive pure electric vehicles. After the road was unblocked, the few service areas that could be charged were full of long queues, and it took hours to wait for charging, and all kinds of inconveniences were miserable for car owners who traveled by car.
In this regard, some netizens posted jokingly that "Hubei came out to charge under the blizzard, and it was almost frozen to death, can you invent a liquid that can be filled in only 5 minutes, and the battery life can reach 500 kilometers." It can be seen that in bad weather, the convenience and practicality of fuel vehicles have been verified again. Compared with electric car owners, driving a fuel car at least will not be frozen in the car, as long as the engine is running, there is endless warm air; At the same time, a well-established gas station will not make car owners wait in long lines to refuel.
And on the same highway, the life of the user who drives an electric car is difficult. In a low-temperature environment, not to mention the mileage, I don't dare to turn on the air conditioner in order to save electricity. If you're lucky enough to get to a charging station, you'll have to wait a few hours for your turn, and you'll spend the whole day on the road, which is really not a good experience.
It is difficult for new energy vehicles to get out of the island due to ferry restrictions
Compared with Hubei electric vehicle owners, new energy vehicle owners in the south also experienced travel confusion at the end of the Spring Festival holiday. However, this time it was not because of the cruising range, but because it took dozens of hours longer to get out of the island by ferry than by fuel car.
According to the requirements of the Hainan Provincial Department of Transportation and the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration issued the "Qiongzhou Strait New Energy Vehicle Ro-Ro Transportation Operation Guide": after boarding, the new energy vehicles should be parked in the loading area of the new energy vehicles demarcated on the ship. According to the actual situation of the ship, the number of new energy vehicles carried by the shipping company per voyage shall not exceed 10% of the ship's vehicle quota (calculated as trolleys), and the total number shall not exceed 18.
Of course, the relevant local regulations do not discriminate against new energy vehicles, but for safety considerations. Since new energy electric vehicles mainly rely on electric energy to provide kinetic energy, in the case of high temperature exposure or improper charging of the vehicle, it may cause spontaneous combustion and cause fire, so the number of new energy vehicles on cross-sea ferries is strictly limited. During this year's Spring Festival holiday, there are more passengers traveling in Hainan by new energy vehicles, and they are piling up to return at the end of the holiday, resulting in insufficient ferry capacity, which has caused new energy vehicles to leave the island.
In order to help car owners leave the island smoothly, many car manufacturers began to help. Among them, Deep Blue Automobile, AVATR Technology, and Changan Qiyuan provide free vehicle delivery services for foreign car owners in Hainan to avoid car owners delaying their trips. However, no matter how good the manufacturer's service is, it can't save the owner's good mood when he goes home. For them, driving happily to Hainan for the Spring Festival is not going back in a blink of an eye. In the end, I have to spend money to fly back, and this sense of loss is inevitable.
Upgrade the technology to solve the fundamental problem
In fact, all kinds of worries encountered by new energy vehicle owners this year have always existed, but this year it happened to be the Spring Festival, and the gathered traffic has magnified the problem. For example, low-temperature cruising range is a common phenomenon in the northern winter. Previously, "Car One Circle" also paid attention to some drivers who drove pure electric online car-hailing in the north, in order to avoid low temperature weather affecting the mileage without turning on the air conditioner, and driving with a quilt wrapped around their knees. In cold weather, the battery mileage is accelerated, which is also the occurrence of some pure electric vehicles lying in the snow in Hubei.
In addition, as China's new energy penetration rate continues to rise (reaching 30% in 2023), more and more new energy vehicles are emerging, exposing more of the previously isolated car use problems. However, the problems of these new energy sources will not adversely affect the development of the entire new energy vehicle, but will put forward higher requirements for the improvement of product technology and new energy vehicle supporting system.
Taking the battery life and charging of pure electric vehicles as an example, on the one hand, it is necessary to increase the number of charging piles, and on the other hand, it also provides a place for battery replacement new energy vehicles. Looking at domestic new energy vehicle companies, NIO, which has been relatively successful in the field of battery swapping, has built more than 2,300 battery swap stations across the country, and there are nearly 800 battery swap stations on highways across the country, and even some very remote areas can easily replenish energy. At the same time, a number of car companies also reached a battery swap project cooperation with NIO last year. In the future, with the unification of battery swap standards, range anxiety will be alleviated, and charging will be as simple and fast as refueling.
In addition, the restriction of new energy vehicles on Hainan ferries reflects the lack of effective management of new energy vehicles in the city. With the popularization of new energy vehicles, it is also bound to push back the improvement of new energy vehicle scenarios and supporting facilities. As a tourist city, how to advocate energy conservation and environmental protection under the premise of allowing new energy users to enjoy a better car experience is the primary issue for the sustainable development of tourism cities.
Overall, the rapid development of China's new energy vehicle industry will inevitably encounter some new problems, but it will not affect the overall development of the industry, but through the improvement and promotion of vehicle technology, car use scenarios and supporting facilities, it will play an effective role in promoting the healthy development of the new energy vehicle industry. For example, in the past two years, with the 800V high-voltage platform and more high-tech travel, the range anxiety will be greatly solved.
It can be seen that with the implementation and improvement of relevant supporting facilities, driving new energy vehicles in the future is bound to be as convenient and practical as fuel vehicles.