The general secretary pointed out that 'developing new energy vehicles is the only way for China to move from a big automobile country to a powerful automobile country'. 'Chengdu-Chongqing Shuangcheng Economic Circle Construction Plan Outline' also puts forward that 'taking intelligent network connection and new energy as the main direction, we will build a high-level automobile industry R&D, production and manufacturing base'.

Recently, a set of sales data released by Chongqing car companies can be described as inspiring.

Changan Automobile, in June this year, the number of independent new energy vehicles sold in batches reached 18,268, a year-on-year increase of 33.12%; From January to June this year, the sales volume reached 84,958 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 127.26%, far exceeding the national average growth level.

In June, the sales volume of new energy vehicles of Xiaokang Cyrus Automobile Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Xiaokang Automobile Co., Ltd., 'leaped' again on the basis of 5,651 vehicles in May, reaching 7,658 vehicles, with a year-on-year increase of 524.12%.

Lifan Technology, the sales volume of new energy vehicles reached 3,126 in June. From January to June this year, the cumulative sales volume of new energy vehicles was 12,547, 116 times that of the same period last year.

'It's amazing! No, it should be described as a surprise! ' An industry insider said in an interview with Chongqing Daily that in the past few years, the development of Chongqing's new energy automobile industry has been tepid. In 2020, the city's new energy automobile production accounted for only 3.2% of the country's total, far lower than that of Chongqing's overall automobile sector in the whole country. He once expressed 'anxiety' about the future of Chongqing's new energy automobile industry.

However, since the beginning of this year, the performance of Chongqing car companies has made him shout with great excitement: 'Chongqing's new energy vehicles are working hard!'

Relevant persons of the Municipal Economic and Information Committee also said that nowadays, Chongqing's major passenger car companies are significantly better than the big market in the new energy market. Relying on key products with advanced technology, each company has achieved accelerated overtaking in the new energy sector.

Get up early and catch a late episode?

Chongqing occupies a pivotal position in the territory of China's automobile industry.

The data shows that Chongqing's automobile production and sales account for about 8% of the national total. In 2015, it also became the largest automobile production base in China with an annual output of 3 million vehicles.

However, in recent years, when the domestic automobile industry began to switch to the new energy track, Chongqing's reaction made people feel a little 'slow'.

According to the data from the Municipal Economic and Information Committee and the Municipal Bureau of Statistics, from 2017 to 2020, the annual output of new energy vehicles in the city increased from 40,400 to 51,100, while the total output of new energy vehicles in the country increased from 794,000 to 1.366 million. The proportion of new energy vehicles in Chongqing declined instead of increasing.

'In those years, a new model of new energy vehicle appeared almost every month or two on the road, but there were few Chongqing brands among them.' Qu Yunchao, a market observer, said.

Is Chongqing automobile industry a hindsight?

The answer is no. In fact, as early as the beginning of the 21st century, Chongqing's automobile industry sounded the clarion call for the transformation to new energy vehicles. In 2014, Chongqing Municipal Government introduced the related programs for the promotion and application of new energy vehicles, and in recent years, it has successively introduced a series of industrial development policies. At that time, Chongqing already had more than 10 new energy vehicle enterprises such as Changan Automobile, Xiaokang, Lifan, SAIC Hongyan, Qingling and Hengtong, which could not only produce new energy passenger cars, but also produce all kinds of large, medium and small vans.

Despite this, the performance of car companies makes people feel that 'thunder and heavy rain are small'. Until 2020, only a dozen new energy vehicles were launched before and after Changan Automobile, and most of them were 'oil-to-electricity' vehicles on the original fuel vehicle platform.

In 2020, the sales volume of Changan New Energy Vehicles will be about 30,000, accounting for only 1.5% of the annual sales volume of Changan Automobile. In the same period, the sales volume of Weilai, Ideality and Tucki reached 43,000, 32,000 and 27,000 respectively.

Just when many people in the industry were worried about Chongqing's new energy automobile industry, the painting style suddenly changed. In 2021, the sales volume of new energy vehicles in Chang 'an suddenly exceeded 100,000, and the production and sales of new energy vehicles in Chongqing also surged by 252% year-on-year. Since the beginning of this year, this growth trend has been further extended.

What is the mystery of Chongqing's new energy automobile industry at this juncture?

Don't scatter an eagle until you see a rabbit.

On May 16th, the reporter saw Changan's new generation super collector drive system at Changan Automobile Global R&D Center.

This electric drive system is similar to a general fuel engine, but it deeply integrates the functions of motor, reducer, motor controller, AC charging, etc., and has the world's exclusive high-frequency pulse heating technology, which can raise the temperature of the battery pack by 4℃ in an extremely cold environment in just one minute. This system overcomes the world-class problem of battery pack heating from inside, and can be described as the real 'black technology' of new energy batteries.

'In fact, Chang 'an has been researching and developing new energy vehicles since 2001, investing a lot of money and manpower, and accumulating many core technologies.' Yang Dayong, Vice President of Changan Automobile and Party Secretary of Chongqing Changan New Energy Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., told reporters that nowadays, Changan has firmly grasped the key technologies in the field of 'big, small and three electricity' except batteries.

In this case, why did Chang 'an put in only a few 'oil-to-electricity' models in the early stage?

'It can be said that, in the past, we were' no rabbit, no eagle'.' Yang Dayong said that most traditional vehicle manufacturers, including Chang 'an, had two basic judgments on the new energy vehicle industry in the past-first, the technology was not yet mature; Second, the market is still immature.

Technically, in the past, the energy density of automotive power batteries was insufficient, the price was expensive, and the safety cost was high. On the market, if it is a domestic fuel car with a transmission engine, it costs only 15,000 yuan, but it costs 70,000 yuan to replace it with a battery pack with a life span of 500 kilometers. That is to say, if the same car is changed from a fuel car to an electric car, the cost will increase by about 55,000 yuan. 'Most consumers don't pay.'

Therefore, the market structure of new energy vehicles in previous years was 'big at two ends and small in the middle'. One is a low-end electric car represented by Wuling Hongguang MINIEV, and the price is only 40,000-50,000 yuan/set; At the other end, it is a high-end electric vehicle represented by Tesla, with a price of over 300,000 yuan. They are aiming at the second car of the family-the reason is simple: based on mileage anxiety and safety anxiety, most families who buy the first car will still choose the fuel car.

'A mature market should be' small at two ends and big in the middle' with a spindle-shaped structure.' Yang Dayong believes that the mid-market is the real market force.

Xiaokang, another main force of Chongqing's new energy vehicles, has similar feelings with Chang 'an.

In 2016, Cyrus Automobile Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Xiaokang, set up an R&D center and began to develop high-end new energy vehicles. In 2019, the company's first new energy vehicle rolled off the assembly line in Liangjiang New District. 'A few years ago, because the market was not cultivated, we did very hard.' Xu Lin, the rotating president of Lisi Automobile Co., Ltd. said frankly.

When it's time to shoot, shoot

In recent years, with the gradual maturity of technology, the acceptance of consumers is getting higher and higher, and the sales of new energy vehicles are gradually rising. In 2017, the sales volume of new energy vehicles in China was only 777,000; In 2020, it will increase to 1.367 million; In 2021, it soared to 3.521 million.

In 2020, car companies represented by BYD began to enter the mid-end market. 'This marks the real arrival of the window period of China's new energy vehicles.' Yang Dayong said.

When it's time, do it when it's time!

That is, from this year, Chang 'an began to launch a large number of new energy vehicles. 'It usually takes two years for a new model to go off the assembly line from research and development.' Yang Dayong told reporters that, therefore, starting this year, Chang 'an will enter the intensive listing period of new energy vehicles. This year alone, Changan plans to launch eight new cars, with product lines covering the low, medium and high end. Among them, 'waxy corn' is positioned as a 'national boutique scooter' of less than 100,000 yuan; C385 is positioned as a 200,000-250,000 yuan class car facing the mainstream market; Aouita E11 is positioned as a 300,000-yuan medium-sized SUV for the high-end market.

Selis cars also have big moves. This year, after its high-end smart electric vehicle, 'Wenjie M5', jointly launched with Huawei, went on the market, its sales volume climbed steadily, and it quickly became one of the top three high-end new energy SUVs with a sales volume of more than 200,000 yuan.

Xu Lin revealed that Cyrus will also list 'M7' with a price of more than 300,000 yuan/set this year. At present, they and Huawei are working together to develop 'Q-Jie M9', and the price of each unit is expected to be 400,000-500,000 yuan.

Relevant persons of the Municipal Economic and Information Committee said that through the attempts and explorations in previous years, the production and sales of Chongqing automobile enterprises began to increase, and the competitiveness of products was further improved, indicating that everyone has found the development rhythm and path of new energy vehicles suitable for themselves. Nowadays, everyone is seizing the window period, taking advantage of the situation and seizing the market.

'Internal support and external guidance' to open a new bureau

Aiming at new energy opportunities, there is no small movement at the government level.

According to the news from the Municipal Economic and Information Committee, Chongqing plans to produce 1 million intelligent new energy vehicles by 2025, accounting for 30% of the total vehicle output. To achieve this goal, Chongqing has stepped up the pace of 'internal assistance and external guidance'.

Internally, at present, there are 16 new energy vehicle enterprises in our city, and the annual production capacity of new energy vehicles has reached one million, accounting for 25.8% of the city's total automobile production capacity. However, due to various reasons, a large part of the production capacity has not been fully utilized. To this end, Chongqing will speed up the cultivation of the original local leading enterprises, such as supporting Changan Automobile to concentrate resources to promote the brand development of Changan Aouita, and speeding up the production of Cyrus AITO and Ford Mustang.

Externally, our city has successively introduced high-end vehicle projects such as Geely Polar Star and LI. Among them, Geely Polar Star Project is expected to be completed and put into operation in the first quarter of 2023, with an annual output of 50,000 high-end new energy vehicles; LI's annual output of 30,000 new energy vehicles is also planned to start construction recently.

It is predicted that as the strategy of 'internal support and external guidance' continues to achieve new results, the goal of the city's intelligent new energy vehicle output reaching 1 million in 2025 is expected to be achieved.

In addition, the grade of 'Chongqing-made' new energy automobile products is constantly improving. Changan Aouita, Celes M7, the joint venture brand Ford Mustang, which are planned to be listed this year, are all high-end models of 300,000 yuan.

It is foreseeable that a spring of Chongqing's new energy vehicles is coming.