Last week, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the 339th batch of new car catalogues. Geely’s Maple Leaf Motors’ first battery-swap model, Maple Leaf 80V, is on the list. This is a pure electric vehicle produced by Lifan's Chongqing factory after Geely and Lifan completed their shareholding reorganization. It is also the first product that Geely Technology has invested in the intelligent network-connected power swap business.
Just this year, the battery swapping model of new energy vehicles has received unprecedented attention. With the addition of new infrastructure and subsidy policies, many manufacturers have accelerated their investment in battery swapping technology and product development. In addition to BAIC and NIO, which developed earlier, Geely, GAC and even State Grid have quickly implemented products with battery swap models this year. Unlike NIO's "burning money for services" at the beginning, independent brands have joined the competition and will The power swap mode has opened up another track.
In September this year, the first smart power swap station of Geely Technology Group, a subsidiary of Geely Holding, was unveiled in Chongqing. As a result, Geely officially joined the new energy vehicle power swap model.
Subsequently, on October 18, Geely Technology launched a power swap demonstration station in Jinan, Shandong. After high-profile releases in two places in just one month, Geely Technology’s power swap technology has fully entered the public eye.
According to Geely Technology Group’s plan, the construction of 100 power swap stations will be completed in Chongqing in 2021, and more than 200 will be completed by 2023 - building Chongqing into a power swap demonstration city, and thereby expanding to East China. , North China, and even the whole country.
Geely’s rapid entry into the power swap mode is not simply a matter of stepping on the trend. A more accurate statement should be that it has been dormant for a long time and is waiting for opportunities to move. Industry insiders found that Geely Group had begun research and development of battery swap models and technologies as early as 2017. After the national level publicly supported the battery swap model again in 2019, many car companies, including Geely Automobile, finally received "affirmation from superiors" and accelerated the implementation of this technology.
Hangzhou Gechi New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. established by Geely Automobile in 2016, changed its name to Yiyi New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. in December 2019, and registered the brand trademark "Yiyihuan" for this purpose. electricity". Everything is in the right direction.
The key step is in Chongqing. Geely Technology chose to start exploring the battery swap model in Chongqing. In addition to developing the southwest market, what is more important is the connection between the two - Lifan Motors. On December 2 this year, Lifan Co., Ltd. issued an announcement stating that its bankruptcy and reorganization plan had been approved by the court. After the reorganization is completed, Geely Technology and Chongqing Liangjiang New Area *** will jointly hold shares. Among them, Geely Technology holds shares as an industrial investor, and its main role is to provide industrial resources to Lifan and build it into a listing platform for intelligent network-connected power swap technology.
In fact, Lifan, which Geely chose to take over, already has a semi-finished product in the battery swap mode. In May 2019, Lifan, which was on the verge of collapse, announced an open recruitment plan to spend 5.2 billion yuan to develop new energy vehicle battery swap models and leasing businesses. Subsequently, Lifan and the Chongqing Liangjiang New Area Management Committee established a new company. energy companies.
Geely quickly took over, just to restart the already planned power swap business in a faster and more convenient way. According to the announcement, once the restructuring work is completed, Lifan Motors will be responsible for the production of Maple Leaf 80V, Geely Technology’s first battery-swapping pure electric vehicle.
Maple Leaf 80V is not a mainstream new energy product in the conventional sense. It has an MPV shape, a ternary lithium battery, and a motor power of 40kW. Judging from Geely Technology’s positioning of the Maple Leaf brand and the product performance of Maple Leaf 80V , the main task of this car is to enter the operating vehicle market as a battery swap, to test the waters and make mistakes for Geely.
Starting with 80V, Maple Leaf Motors will launch battery-swapping models on the market in the next few years involving multiple categories, with sales reaching 200,000 units in five years.
In April this year, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the "Notice on Improving Fiscal Subsidy Policies for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles", formally expressing Encourage the battery swap mode of new energy vehicles.
When battery replacement is included in the government work report, its role is no longer a "gimmick" for new brands to enter the market.
Including Geely Automobile, domestic independent brands GAC, Dongfeng, Changan, etc. have also joined the development of the battery swap model. As once recognized as the most appropriate way to solve the anxiety of replenishing energy for pure electric vehicles, issues such as battery replacement technology, standards, and scale have now been discussed at an unprecedented level.
Geely uses Lifan and Chongqing to promote Maple Leaf 80V battery-swapping electric vehicles, but the focus is not on the product itself.
With Lifan’s early R&D investment in power swapping, Geely Technology’s exploration of the intelligent network-connected power swapping model lies in the intelligence and standardization that battery swapping stations can achieve. As early as this year's China International Intelligent Industry Expo, Geely exhibited a dual-warehouse smart power swap station with an area of ??126 square meters, including 39 power swap positions. Each power swap takes 90 seconds. A single power swap station can complete the replacement of 1,000 electric vehicles every day. Battery replacement service.
The basis of the 90-second fast power swap is modularity and intelligence. From the beginning of the research and development of the power swap platform, issues such as compatibility and safety need to be considered. The purpose is to swap, charge, monitor and control power within the station. Maintenance and other aspects can be carried out in a more efficient and collaborative manner. According to Geely's introduction, the research and development goal of such a dual-warehouse smart power swap station is to adapt to a variety of models and eventually be popularized in the market.
However, judging from the product characteristics of the first battery-swap model Maple Leaf 80V, Geely still has a long way to go in exploring the compatibility of battery-swap technology.
The Maple Leaf 80V is an MPV model with a length of 4.7 meters and a wheelbase of 2.8 meters. Its shape and size are extremely close to the Geely Jiaji, a traditional fuel vehicle. This makes it easy to think of the Maple Leaf 80V. Oil-to-electricity identity. It is equipped with a ternary lithium battery produced by Guoxuan Hi-Tech. There are two versions of comprehensive range: 410km and 500km. Based on the power replacement needs, this battery should be independently developed. If the power replacement compatibility of subsequent products is to be considered, the battery Size, performance and layout all need to be designed from scratch.
According to what Geely Technology said when it took over the deal, it will build Lifan into a leading company in the field of intelligent network-connected power swapping. Judging from the two warehouses of smart power swapping stations currently on display, the technology and application have greater potential. There is room for imagination, but the product ceiling of Maple Leaf 80V, the first battery replacement product, is obvious.
When Geely Technology launched Maple Leaf Motors, it clearly defined the positioning of vehicles operating in the mid- to low-end market. The first product, Maple Leaf 30X, was also very low-key after its launch. In addition, Geely initially hinted at Maple Leaf’s attempts to adopt battery swapping technology. Now with the help of Lifan's early investment in the Chongqing operating vehicle market, Maple Leaf Motors can save a lot of effort.
This is obviously a clever idea for Geely Automobile to enter the southwest market. As for Cao Cao, who has already fully used Emgrand EV and Geometry A for travel, it will be a few years before he switches to battery swapping mode.
From the battery swapping model to the new infrastructure planning, and then to the preference of national subsidies for battery swapping models, new energy vehicles use battery swapping to replenish energy, which is considered the most ideal direction-to shorten the energy replenishment time. Within a few minutes, the usage habits of pure electric vehicles will be completely the same as those of traditional fuel vehicles.
However, whether it is BAIC or NIO, the controversy over the battery swap model is that it is "too expensive". Even NIO, which most needs to use "power swap" in exchange for user favorites, is gradually canceling this year. Free battery replacement policy. For mainstream brands with lower profit margins, the high cost of spending millions to build a battery swap station is enough to deter them.
More importantly, the battery swap stations of BAIC and NIO were previously built by the brands themselves and were used to replenish energy for the brand's models, forming a closed loop that could not achieve compatibility between brand models and the frequency of use. and revenue volume is limited. Building battery swap stations based on brands may ultimately lead to a waste of public resources. Therefore, starting from 2019, the standardization of battery swap models led by the state and participated by many car companies has accelerated. Geely is also a member.
Judging from the speed with which Geely has invested in the construction of battery swap stations this year, it hopes to become the fastest representative in the industry to achieve popularization of battery swaps.
If Weilai's battery swapping and BaaS are to serve users with high-end technology in the high-end market and achieve unlimited iterations, then Geely's model is more like expanding the scale in the mid- to low-end market and putting the battery swapping model on the road to sustainable development.
In order to achieve a certain scale of battery swapping, in addition to product compatibility, efficiency is also an important judgment - faster energy replenishment at the same cost will help more users choose this method of battery swapping, especially It is a vehicle for social operation and can have more sufficient operating time. Moreover, models that adopt the battery swap mode do not need to purchase their own power batteries. The leasing method lowers the threshold for car purchase and allows unified battery management, ensuring lifespan and safety.
These are the most important "cost issues" for operating vehicles. Geely is not the first to join in. This year, GAC Aion?S also launched a battery-swapping version, but their ideas have already bypassed the detours taken by BAIC New Energy. As for BAIC’s accumulated experience in the field of battery swapping, it has also been planned to be used in the high-end brand Arcfox.
The joining of leading independent brand companies in battery swapping is not just about chasing trends. When the development of new energy vehicles changes from policy-oriented to market-oriented, any way that can help users solve their anxiety is worthy of being adopted. Attention and promotion. As for the scale and cost of battery swapping, it needs to be left to the car companies to jointly explore.
Picture?|?From the Internet
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.