Although the new energy vehicle market is still "hot", around the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon, a bunch of "unfriendly" remarks around new energy vehicles have emerged one after another.
First of all, the extremely low temperature weather in Hubei, Anhui and other places on the eve of the Spring Festival once again triggered the public's "range anxiety" about new energy vehicles;
and then to the peak of self-driving travel during the Spring Festival, new energy vehicles are still queuing up for charging;
Immediately afterwards, the suffering of a large number of new energy vehicle owners who were "trapped" on Hainan Island continued to ferment ...... this negative sentiment
In 2023, the number of new energy vehicles in China will officially exceed 20 million. As China's new energy vehicle market is about to enter an era of micro-growth, consumers' mentality is also quietly changing.
At the end of last year, the release of Shanghai's "green card" new policy is generally seen by the industry as a signal that the preferential policies for new energy vehicles will be gradually tightened.
As Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the passenger association, also said before, the passenger association has put forward a proposal to the relevant state departments to merge the blue and green cards, and it is expected to become a reality in the next two years.
In addition, he also pointed out that when the sales of new energy vehicles have reached 35%, the same rights of the same vehicle should be considered, stabilize the normal consumption of fuel vehicle users, and achieve comprehensive and sustainable growth of automobile consumption.
There is no doubt that in order to achieve the high-quality development of the new energy vehicle industry, it is necessary to further promote the market from policy-driven to market-driven. After the "hustle and bustle", it is inevitable that the market will return to rationality, and it is also the ultimate direction of the development of the industry.
In fact, in addition to the Chinese market, other major markets in the world seem to be permeated with a "deheating" trend for new energy vehicles.
For example, the production of new energy vehicles in the United States has been reduced, and the sales of new energy vehicles in Europe and South Korea have been blocked; Toyota Motor Chairman Akio Toyoda's pessimistic judgment on electric vehicles has further expanded the market's concerns about the development prospects of new energy vehicles.
So, will the new energy vehicle market really heat up in 2024? Can the market achieve a rational return?
(1) New energy vehicles are selling well, but they are not friendly to use?
Although most car companies are promoting their new energy vehicles, "all-scene" car convenience and safety are a major core product point, but compared with the actual fuel vehicles, there are still many gaps.
Especially around the Spring Festival in 2024, the bad weather in some areas and the Spring Festival travel have superimposed the original "shortcomings" of new energy vehicles, which have once again been questioned by consumers.
Before the Spring Festival in 2024, it happened to encounter snowfall and rain across the country that had not been encountered for many years. Such bad weather and traffic congestion on the return trip from the Spring Festival have made most electric vehicle owners miserable on the road.
Don't dare to turn on the air conditioner, worried that the power will be exhausted; Even if you don't turn on the air conditioner, under the "devastation" of low temperature, the electricity will still fall down the ...... when you are stuck in placeAt this moment, the advantages of electric vehicles such as fuel efficiency, fast acceleration and smarter are completely eclipsed.
The new energy vehicle owners who chose to spend the New Year on Hainan Island encountered an even more embarrassing situation - that is, "I was good when I came, but I couldn't go back". Because of many cross-sea ferries, the number of new energy vehicles loaded is limited.
According to the introduction of Hainan Strait Shipping Co., Ltd., new energy electric vehicles are prone to spontaneous combustion under conditions such as high temperature exposure or improper charging, which may lead to fire. This type of fire spreads rapidly, releases a large amount of toxic gas, is difficult to extinguish, and once out of control, can seriously damage the ship and threaten the lives of the people on board.
In response to this problem, the Hainan Provincial Department of Transportation and the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration issued the "Operation Guidelines for Ro-Ro Transportation of New Energy Vehicles in the Qiongzhou Strait" on December 6, 2023. According to the guidelines, new energy vehicles should be parked in the designated area after boarding. The number of new energy vehicles transported by the steamship company per voyage shall not exceed 10% of the ship's vehicle quota, and the total number shall not exceed 18.
For safety reasons, this measure is actually understandable, but with the rapid increase in the number of new energy vehicles, superimposed on the effect of long holidays such as the Spring Festival, some of the so-called "unfriendly" in the actual use of new energy vehicles have been further amplified.
In the view of Kung Fu Motors, we cannot deny the advantages of new energy vehicles just because of a relatively special situation, especially the low cost, high performance and intelligence reflected in daily driving.
On the other hand, for the owners of fuel vehicles, every time they see the price of oil, don't they also envy those electric car owners who only spend one or two cents per kilometer?
In the final analysis, we still have to rationally look at the various problems encountered in the rapid development of the new energy vehicle market, after all, in order to completely solve the anxiety of consumers about the actual use of new energy vehicles, both the country and car companies are trying their best to come up with various solutions.
In order to improve the charging experience of new energy vehicle users, more and more car companies have begun to accelerate the layout in the field of charging and battery swapping.
For example, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have cooperated to set up a supercharging company in China, SAIC-GM has cooperated with Tesla China in the interconnection of charging networks, and NIO has also reached battery swap cooperation with Changan, Chery, JAC, Geely and other car companies.
Recently, at the 2023 World New Energy Vehicle Conference, Huawei also said that it will deploy 100,000 fully liquid-cooled supercharging equipment and 700,000 public charging guns by the end of 2024, covering 340 cities across the country, and building more than 4,500 high-speed supercharging stations.
With the rapid development of charging and swapping technology and networks, some analysts pointed out that by 2024, the range anxiety of new energy vehicles can be completely alleviated;
At the same time, in response to the "old difficulty" of the sharp decline in the winter range of electric vehicles, major car companies are also taking action.
For example, Xiaomi, which is about to join the battle this year, has set the flag of being the "king of winter range of electric vehicles"; And leading car companies such as BYD and Geely have come up with various "unique skills" for the extremely cold winter in the north and the slow charging efficiency.
(2) New energy vehicles "deheated"? no！It is still the trend of the times
Since 2024, in addition to the above-mentioned "unfriendly" remarks about new energy vehicles, countries such as the United States and Europe have also changed their attitudes towards new energy vehicles, and a "retreat" seems to be spreading.
For example, data recently released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association shows that new car sales in Europe fell in December 2023 for the first time in 17 months, of which the slowdown in demand for electric vehicles is an important factor;
And in the U.S. market, not only are more than 3,000 auto dealers across the country calling for a brake on the electric vehicle promotion policy, but General Motors has postponed its $4 billion investment in the transformation of electric pickup truck production plants by a year. Behind all this is that they are full of doubts about the future of electric vehicles.
In Cui Dongshu's view, it is understandable that these countries are hesitant to promote the development of new energy vehicles, especially after the decline of subsidies in the European market, the market downturn is only a temporary pain, which is a necessary stage for the development of new things.
In fact, in the Chinese market, the world's largest new energy vehicle market, with the increase in the penetration rate of new energy, the competitive situation has also entered the knockout stage.
In particular, the recent collapse of Weimar to Gaohe will further lead consumers to be more cautious when choosing cars, and will consider more mainstream car companies with large volume and higher reputation and reliability. Because if you pursue individuality and niche one-sidedly, it is very likely that there will be an embarrassment of "after buying a car, the car company will go bankrupt and you can't find after-sales".
While consumers will become more rational, it will further promote the industry to return to rationality.
In today's more and more new energy vehicle design, we can already see some clues. For example, more and more new car designs are returning to physical buttons; Concealed door handles have also been optimised in design; The panoramic canopy, which has weak thermal insulation, has also been given the ...... of sunshades
There is no doubt that at the beginning of 2024, the new energy vehicle market will only fade away from the hustle and bustle, and the return of rationality will be the new "hot word" of the new energy vehicle industry this year.
(3) Kung Fu shooting
Nowadays, the frenzy and excessive pursuit in the new energy vehicle market are gradually fading away and being replaced by rationality and practicality.
Under the new trend, the market and consumers are more rational in the face of new energy vehicles, which will help the market move towards a healthier and more sustainable track.
At the same time, only car companies that achieve a balance between quality and innovation are expected to gain more favor and opportunities to stay at the table.