A few days ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other five departments issued a notice on launching the 2024 new energy vehicles to the countryside.

This time, there are 99 models "adapted to the rural market, with good reputation and reliable quality", which will be intensively displayed in May and December for consumers to test drive, and the real gold and silver concessions will be directly delivered to the countryside.

Our country's policy of car going to the countryside can be traced back to 2009, from fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles, from subsidies to light goods and small bread, to the price of 269000 yuan Polar krypton (Configuration |Inquiry) 001 All went to the countryside.

With the continuous promotion of new energy vehicles to the countryside, does this policy bring consumers, car companies, the industry and even the whole country a new drive for market strength and capacity digestion, or a new bubble and false temporary prosperity of the industry?

　　 In the past: from fuel vehicles to new energy, sales increased by 169%

It is no longer a new thing for cars to go to the countryside. From 2009 to 2010, China has carried out the activity of going to the countryside for fuel vehicles.

At that time, the state specially arranged a subsidy fund of 5 billion yuan to give a one-time financial subsidy to rural scrapped tricycles and low-speed trucks to purchase light trucks and to purchase minibuses with a displacement of less than 1.3 liters.

For a while, vans suitable for rural use, such as Wuling Zhiguang, drove into the vast countryside of China, and also injected a shot in the arm into the car market at that time.

It is easy to understand that as a large amount of durable consumer goods, cars can bring great convenience to our people's lives, and driving and getting on the bus can greatly improve people's happiness. With the acceleration of urbanization and the improvement of environmental awareness, the popularity of new energy vehicles in cities is increasing year by year.

Source/shot on the viewing platform

According to the statistics in April this year, the domestic retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles has reached 43.7%, while that in rural areas is only 17%. It can be said that the rural market is still a vast "blue ocean" in the ascendant.

In this context, new energy vehicles going to the countryside has become a new hot topic.

In fact, since July 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Energy Administration and other departments have carried out new energy vehicles to the countryside activities for four consecutive years, guiding the new energy vehicle consumption market to sink.

This policy has also yielded immediate results. The data shows that in the second half of 2020, 2021 and 2022, the sales of new energy vehicles to the countryside will increase by 80%, 169% and 87% year on year respectively.

Such data is gratifying, but in the past few years, the activity of going to the countryside has not only brought new growth points to the sales of new energy vehicle enterprises, but also is crucial:

With more and more relatives, friends and neighbors in rural areas driving new energy vehicles, the perception of rural automobile consumption is quietly changing - from the original suspicion of new energy vehicles, gradually changing attitudes, to now the misunderstanding is basically eliminated, and there is a tendency to prefer new energy vehicles.

　　 Change in ratio: Polar krypton has gone to the countryside, which is no longer a low-end synonym

In this year's list of new energy vehicles going to the countryside, 99 models are listed. This figure is significantly higher than 69 models in 2023.

The list includes Hongqi E-QM5, Volkswagen ID. 7, Toyota bZ3, BYD Song L, Zero Run C01, Baojun Yueya, Wuling Binguo, Haval Xiaolong MAX, Geely Galaxy L7, Wuling Xingguang, Nezha S, etc.

The production enterprises involved include independent car enterprises such as BYD and Geely, new car manufacturing forces such as Xiaopeng and Celis, and FAW - Volkswagen, Dongfeng Honda and other joint venture brands. It also covers cars, SUVs, MPVs and pickups.

Source/shot on the viewing platform

Source/shot on the viewing platform

A particularly obvious trend is that high-value vehicles are moving from cities to rural areas. For example, in this year's list, Xiaopeng G6 replaced G3i, while Polar Krypton 001 (Configuration |Inquiry) and Polar Krypton X (Configuration |Inquiry) It was also selected for the first time. It can be seen that with the increasing attention and acceptance of new energy models in rural areas, the relatively high-end models under the new force brand are also landing in rural areas.

The first selection of polar krypton must be the starting point. In the follow-up activities of new energy vehicles going to the countryside, it is not impossible for domestic Tesla Model 3, Model Y, even Weilai, Ideals and Xiaomi SU7 to be included in the list of new energy vehicles going to the countryside.

At the same time, with the dual policy impact of new energy going to the countryside and the lifting of the ban on pickup trucks, the Great Wall Fengjun EV, commercial gun EV and other new energy pickup trucks began to appear on the list in 2024. With the introduction of more new energy pickups, there may be more new energy pickups on the list in 2025.

From the perspective of family population structure in rural areas, MPV is obviously more suitable for rural areas with more "big families". In the future, MPV may also be included in the list of new energy vehicles going to the countryside.

In fact, compared with cities, rural areas have unique advantages in the development of new energy vehicles.

For example, in urban areas where land is scarce and money is scarce, private piles cannot be popularized on a large scale due to restrictions on parking spaces and power supply facilities. New energy owners have to rely on public charging piles. The opposite is true in rural areas.

Most of the rural areas have the conditions of an exclusive courtyard with its own parking space. If the 220V socket can be used for charging, consumers will not have to worry about charging anxiety.

The reality is that most of the new energy vehicles in the current market can be charged with 220V civil electricity through simple conversion, which makes rural areas have better adaptability to new energy vehicles.

It is easy to find that most of the selected models have large space and relatively affordable prices, which are in line with the characteristics of rural market purchasing power. In combination with the use scenarios of rural consumers, rural vehicles usually carry more passengers, and occasionally need to install some production tools, so the requirements for space are naturally higher. In contrast, the requirements for car interior and intelligence will be slightly lower.

　　 On Meaning: Pragmatism but also Pragmatism; Both Reality and Symbolism

Starting from the national macro policy, the implementation of the policy of new energy vehicles going to the countryside attaches equal importance to both practical and symbolic meanings, and both complement each other.

In practical terms, in the face of the rapid growth of the new energy vehicle industry and the potential overcapacity problem, the policy of going to the countryside can effectively expand market demand, especially for the vast rural market, to digest the overcapacity and maintain the healthy development of the industry.

In order to cooperate with new energy vehicles to go to the countryside, accelerating the construction of rural charging infrastructure becomes the key, which not only solves the worries about the use of new energy vehicles, but also promotes the upgrading of rural power grids and optimization of energy structure.

Industry insiders generally believe that with the continuous expansion of the influence of the activity of going to the countryside and the further sinking of the new energy vehicle market, it will effectively drive the construction of charging infrastructure and maintenance service network.

In addition, new energy vehicles with their low operating costs have improved the travel efficiency and quality of life of rural residents, as well as the modernization level of rural areas. The policy of going to the countryside has driven the development of new energy vehicles and related industrial chains, such as the installation and maintenance of charging piles, battery recycling, etc., creating new employment opportunities for rural areas and promoting the diversified development of local economy.

From a symbolic point of view, the arrival of new energy vehicles in the countryside symbolizes that scientific and technological progress is benefiting a wider group. It is also part of the construction of modern agriculture and smart villages. It is also an important measure for the Chinese government to promote green development strategies and achieve the goal of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality", and represents the country's firm commitment to the path of sustainable development.

Encouraging rural consumers to accept new energy vehicles is the popularization of the concept of green consumption and the modern transformation of rural residents' lifestyle, as well as the embodiment of rural consumption upgrading and social progress. The introduction of new energy vehicles into the countryside has narrowed the gap between urban and rural transportation modes, promoted the process of urban-rural integration, and helped promote social equity and regional balanced development.

Source/shot on the viewing platform

Of course, new energy vehicles also face many challenges in the process of going to the countryside, such as consumer awareness still needs iteration, rural charging facilities are not perfect, and the cost performance of the selected models is controversial, but these problems do not mean that new energy vehicles going to the countryside will become a bubble of false prosperity in the market.

On the contrary, these shortcomings point out the specific obstacles that need to be overcome in policy implementation, which is the direction of improvement in follow-up work. Through continuous policy optimization, market education and infrastructure construction, the introduction of new energy vehicles into the countryside is expected to become an important driving force for the sustainable development of China's new energy vehicle industry and rural economy and society.

*The title comes from Visual China.

*Disclaimer: In any case, the information or opinions expressed in this article do not constitute investment advice to anyone.