The new energy vehicles that clamored for actually occupied so many markets far from what we imagined. They are facing embarrassing and embarrassing situations. The underlying reason lies in the fact that the high prices caused before industrialization were not formed. So, how are these high prices actually formed?
Compared with this year's Shanghai International Auto Show, there are no more new energy vehicles displayed at the 2008 Beijing International Auto Show. Thus, as the giant of China’s commercial vehicle companies, the low-floor city buses exhibited by Foton exhibiting the third-generation fuel cell technology of Europe V became the star of the opening ceremony of the commercial vehicle exhibition. Although this symbolic passenger bus has zero emissions and some of its technical indicators are also at the leading level in China, the cost of bicycles for this bus has reached a record 5 million yuan.
In fact, this embarrassingly high price is not a unique phenomenon in the domestic new energy vehicle sector. Coincidentally, before the development of the third-generation fuel cell bus in Futian, Suzhou Golden Dragon also showed a Hager new energy bus to the public. Although the price is not as high as that of Futian, its single-vehicle cost is also more than 3.5 million yuan.
The high cost of production mainly involves two reasons. According to the relevant person in charge of the Zhongtong Bus Market Department, due to the new energy bus has just started, manufacturers have given special attention to new energy buses to build their own brands, configure luxury, which is a major cause of high prices. "More importantly, pure electric buses are national 863 scientific research projects. At present, most of these projects are still under research and development. There is no real industrial chain yet. High prices are inevitable."
Professionals in Zhongtong Bus Marketing Department said it is true. In fact, there are many factors that lead to high bus costs before industrialization is formed. For example, the high price of batteries and electronic control systems for pure electric buses directly leads to the increase in the prices of new energy buses. It is precisely these parts and systems that are still in the state of R&D. It is difficult to reduce costs during the process of advancing small batches. For example, the price of fuel cells for pure electric buses is currently still more than 1 million yuan.
“Reduction can reduce part of the cost, but there is still a distance from the price that the average buyer can accept. Among these, the battery is the biggest cost,†said the industry insider.
In January 2009, Ankai Bus delivered 10 pure electric buses to Shanghai Ruihua Group. It is worth mentioning that the unit price of 10 pure electric buses sold by Ankai Bus is only over one million yuan. Although the price is still high, compared with the prices of other electric buses that cost between RMB 35 million and RMB 5, the price is basically acceptable to customers.
“The reasons for the price drop are mainly in two aspects: First, we have achieved small-scale mass production. Second, as a buyer, Shanghai Ruihua Group is a company that has jointly tackled the technical problems of the powertrain assembly with us. They will use 8 in buses. After the year, the batteries of these pure electric buses will be recovered,†said Xu Yingchun, head of the Ankai Bus Marketing Department, and An Kai and Rui Hua’s approach will undoubtedly provide some references for reducing the cost of new energy buses in China.
The similarities with pure electric buses also include relatively mature hybrid cars.
“Even if you look at the world, hybrid power is considered to be a relatively mature technology in the field of new energy vehicles, and it has basically achieved commercial operation. However, due to its need to provide two sets of internal combustion engine power and electric power systems, there is bound to be a price. The phenomenon is high.†Sun Zechang, a new energy vehicle expert and deputy director of the New Energy Automotive Engineering Center of Tongji University, told reporters that nickel hydrogen batteries need to provide a peak power of 12 kilowatts in electric systems. To a 20 kW motor, the voltage must be in the range of 144 volts to 300 volts, so that the cost of the battery will undoubtedly increase a lot. "In addition to these core technologies, automobiles also need drive control, instrumentation systems, etc. As an added bonus, if hybrids are better than prototypes, the price of hybrids will naturally be much higher than that of prototypes. â€
"Although new energy vehicles have the advantages of energy conservation and environmental protection, they may not be welcomed by consumers in the market." Prof. Chen Quanshi, director of the Institute of Automotive Research at Tsinghua University, believes that although the country has repeatedly advocated energy-saving and environmentally friendly new energy vehicles, it is truly flawless. Users of money to buy a car do not pay for it. “They may be more concerned about their own car costs and actual benefits. The social benefits of energy conservation and environmental protection are not important to them. At present, the prices of domestic hybrid buses are generally in the hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars, and are equivalent to The number of ordinary passenger cars is much more expensive than that of the model, and it seems that it is difficult to offset the higher cost of car use.
“The National 863 Plan has proposed that the price of hybrid buses cannot be higher than 30% of ordinary diesel passenger cars, and the fuel saving rate is 30% higher than that of ordinary diesel buses. In fact, the opposite is true. Hybrid buses not only save fuel. Below this goal, its price is also much higher than that of ordinary diesel passenger cars by 30%. Although some passenger car products can reach the above-mentioned fuel-saving goal on the experimental field, they are difficult to achieve under actual conditions,†said Chen Quanshi.
The reporter’s interview with the Beijing Public Transport Corporation indicated that Prof. Chen Quanshi’s words were true.
“High prices and low fuel-saving rates are just typical problems. More realistically, the hybrid buses we purchase can only be operated during off-peak hours. The main reason is that the electronic systems of these domestic buses are frequently malfunctioning. , seriously affected the use of bus operations.†The relevant person in charge of Beijing Public Transport told reporters that the energy-saving consumption reduction intention of hybrid buses currently seems to have only the significance of demonstration, and in the future, in order to truly stabilize the market There is still a long way to go to land.
It is reported that the electronic systems used by several hybrid buses that have "demonstration" significance for Beijing public transport operations are precisely those produced by domestic enterprises. Even so, the prices of these new energy buses are far from the price range and standards required by the state. "That is precisely because of this, at present, China's hybrid passenger car control system still uses more expensive imported products. This has also caused the high price of domestic hybrid buses." Beijing public transport said the person in charge.
Obviously, the high cost of new energy buses is the main reason why it is difficult to obtain large-scale promotion in the market. On the other hand, if the sales scope is small, it will be difficult for the company to truly realize industrialization, thus creating a vicious circle for new energy vehicles and directly impeding the healthy development of new energy vehicles. "If you want to get out of the vicious circle, only the government can solve it now," Professor Chen Quanshi told reporters.
It can thus be seen that the development of new technologies in China's new energy vehicles is a matter of urgency if they want to move from research institutes to “marketplace lifeâ€. The research and development of new materials, new devices, and parts and components, and continuous efforts to reduce manufacturing costs are also hurdles for new energy vehicles to go to the market. Otherwise, new energy vehicles will certainly suffer from high prices.
“From the current point of view, the speed of development of new energy vehicles in our country will be faster after 2010 and the degree of marketization will be even higher.†Prof. Sun Zechang told reporters.
In addition to its own high cost, there is a phenomenon worth noting.
Compared with overseas markets, the price of new energy vehicles in the domestic market is much higher than that in the passenger vehicle market. For example, the Honda Civic hybrid car that was listed in 2009 was priced at 269,800 yuan, while in the US market, the redesigned 2006 Civic hybrid was priced at only 179,200 yuan. The price gap between domestic and foreign markets is evident.
In this regard, industry experts analyzed that on the surface, China and foreign countries are on the same starting line in the field of new energy vehicles, but this is not the case. Compared with the relatively mature new energy automobile market in foreign countries, China is still at the initial stage. “From the current point of view, the world’s major automotive companies basically focus their sales on European and American markets, and they value the share of European and American markets and sales profits. In the Chinese market, Japanese auto companies like Honda are even more They tend to play 'concept cards' in order to take the lead in forming a brand effect in the Chinese consumer market. Because sales performance and market share are relatively secondary, high prices are inevitable."
"The same drop in the price of hybrid cars at home and abroad appears to be largely related to the global strategy and market planning of automotive companies," said Prof. Sun Zechang.
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