Exploring the application of the "car-electric separation" mode, whether BAIC and Weilai can become the biggest winners

At present, the "separation of vehicle and electricity" for new energy vehicles has become one of the encouraging directions of the policy. From August 12th to 13th, the Electric Vehicle Sub-Bidder Committee of the Automobile Standards Committee organized the 2020 standards review meeting in Shenzhen. Among them, the GB/T "Electric Vehicle Replacement" was drafted by BAIC New Energy, Weilai, and China Automotive Center. The "Safety Requirements" recommended national standards have passed the review. The formulation of the standards will provide guidance for the healthy and safe development of the battery-swap electric vehicle industry.

This means that the state encourages companies to develop new charging and swapping technologies for new energy vehicles, and explore the application of the “separation of vehicle and electricity” model. Among these, the first to enjoy the policy benefits is undoubtedly the new car-building forces NIO, and BAIC New Energy.

In the second quarter financial report of Weilai, it is shown that Weilai has already begun to make profits by relying on car manufacturing, so how to rely on selling cars to achieve real blood production, Weilai is still exploring a differentiated service model. Since the new service "Battery as a Service" (BaaS, battery on-demand upgrade service) launched on NIO Day last year, it will be implemented this year.

According to Weilai’s vision, battery rental and on-demand upgrades will be a breakthrough in the development of the electric vehicle industry. Therefore, the BAAS model is introduced, that is, the car and the battery are sold separately, and the battery is rechargeable, replaceable, and upgradeable.

The switchable design of the NIO model makes the body and battery essentially separable. When we buy a traditional tram, the price includes the price of the battery pack, and the biggest change after the separation of the car is that you can only buy the car battery, which is equivalent to a service that can be rented forever. For the car, it is similar to the concept of renting a shared power bank that can be seen everywhere.

"This is a major breakthrough in the innovation of NIO's technology and business model. At present, we are still making the final preparations for the official provision of BaaS model services. The implementation plan will be officially released in the next three quarters." Li Bin said on the earnings call.

And after BaaS, taking a battery with 100 kWh as an example, the price is about 120,000. This cost can be deducted when consumers buy a car, that is, a car with more than 300,000 may be reduced to the 200,000 range. , Even lower. The rental cost of the battery is equivalent to the monthly gas fee, and it can be dynamically configured and upgraded in the future. As long as this cost can be lower than the battery installment cost, it will have greater appeal and will bring a huge market.

At the same time, the emergence of BaaS also makes the battery have financial attributes. The battery pack can become a financial asset. The right to use and the ownership are separated. The ownership of the battery can attract investors to buy and rent, and the battery owner can get every The monthly fixed rent and NIO can also reduce the pressure on battery funds, and the threshold for consumers when buying a car is also significantly lower, and all three parties can benefit.

NIO is one of the earliest domestic auto companies to deploy power station swaps. At the same time, the current auto companies that have done the best in power swap models will also receive dividends in the first batch after the policy.

New players follow up

Except for NIO, only BAIC New Energy is the only domestic auto company that applies the battery swap mode on a large scale. Previously, BAIC New Energy targeted operating vehicles such as taxis, while Weilai targeted private users. However, BAIC New Energy has also begun to introduce a power exchange model for the private market. BAIC New Energy believes that the long-term profit model for power exchange is certain.

It is understood that BAIC New Energy has successively launched EV160/EU220/EU260/EU300/EU5 quick-change versions and other battery swap models, while the next generation of products will adopt a new platform for positive development, including the ARCFOX brand, and will also consider charging and swapping simultaneously. Electric models, with a driving range of 400-700 kilometers, fully enter the to B and to C markets.

In May of this year, BAIC Blue Valley Smart Energy signed contracts with France Power Changfeng and Beijing Qingxiang for the first batch of power swap projects. They will work together to complete no less than 2,000 Taipei Automobile New Energy swap taxis and online car-hailing in Sanya, Haikou and other places. Marketing. At the same time, it plans to put in 82 self-operated swap stations in Shandong, Hebei, Hainan and other provinces to serve customers together with the swap stations invested and constructed by partners.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Passenger Association, also said that in the future, the charging mode and the battery exchange mode will develop in parallel, and the charging speed will become faster and faster, but the impact on the power grid will be greater; and in some environments and scenarios, such as taxis and online appointments. In a car or a specific environment, the battery swap mode has huge advantages.

With the favorable policy, Changan, Dongfeng Lantu, Geely, etc. all have the intention to develop power exchange models. As the business model becomes clearer, more and more players will enter the game.

From an industry-wide perspective, to fully implement the battery swap mode, the first step is to standardize the battery and even the industrial design of electric vehicles. The new rules introduced this time are the first step. Separation of vehicle and electricity is an effective way to promote new energy vehicles, and the true separation of vehicle and electricity must be replaced by electricity, and the replacement mode has been generally recognized by the industry. From the perspective of technology, the ultimate goal of the battery swap model in the future is for private vehicles. The market is large and there are many demands. If the industry can integrate specifications and unify battery standards and sockets, the battery swap model will be promising.