What bottlenecks need to be broken through as new energy vehicles speed up their entry into the rural market?

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 7: New energy vehicles are accelerating their entry into the rural market. What bottlenecks remain to be broken through?

(Data pictures are for reference only)

Huang Xing and Xiang Dingjie from Xinhua News Agency's "Xinhua Perspective"

"It's a good deal to buy a new energy car now, which is tens of thousands yuan cheaper after taking into account various preferential policies. The car is very environmentally friendly, has a good endurance performance, and is economical and affordable." Recently, Cao Fuping, a villager in Guangshun Town, Changshun County, Guizhou Province, bought a Geely Galaxy L7.

The reporter from "Xinhua Viewpoint" found that, with the help of policies, new energy vehicles are accelerating their entry into the rural market. However, there are still some problems in some regions, such as incomplete charging pile facilities and vehicle adaptation to be improved. It is still necessary to accelerate the construction of charging facilities, enrich rural models, improve support policies, and help new energy vehicles to go to the countryside.

New energy vehicles speed up to the rural market

Walking in many rural areas, we can see new energy vehicles with green signs passing by from time to time.

Entering the charging station in Fuhuan Town, Qijiang District, Chongqing, the owner Liu Gang is charging his Jihu car. Last year, Liu Gang spent more than 220000 yuan to buy this car. "It only takes more than one hour to charge 80% of the electricity, and it is convenient and affordable to charge less than 1 yuan per kilowatt hour. The driving experience of electric vehicles is also great," Liu Gang said.

The picture shows the owner charging the car at the charging station in Fuhuan Town, Qijiang District. (Photographed by Yan Jiangkui)

Ye Peng, deputy general manager of State Grid Chongqing Qijiang Power Supply Company, told reporters that in 2022, the company invested 300000 yuan to build a charging station in Fuhuan Town; After the charging station was put into operation, the number of new energy vehicles in the town has gradually increased to more than 40, and many villagers are still buying new energy vehicles.

In recent years, a series of policies have been issued to encourage new energy vehicles to go to the countryside. In July 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued a notice requiring the organization of new energy vehicles to go to the countryside. In June this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other ministries and commissions launched the 2023 new energy vehicle to the countryside activity, which will continue until December this year, with a total of 69 new energy vehicle models participating.

Xie Guang, senior director of Chang'an Automobile Strategic Planning Department, said that seven Chang'an vehicles were included in this year's new energy vehicle to the countryside directory. In order to improve sales, the company launched a number of preferential policies, such as the best-selling model Benz E-Star, which offered a discount of 12000 yuan, and the other model, which directly reduced 30000 yuan, sent the "three electricity" (motor, battery and electronic control) lifetime warranty.

Accelerating the improvement of charging infrastructure also helped pave the "road to the countryside" for new energy vehicles. The data shows that in 2020, the number of individual charging piles reported to be installed in Qijiang District of Chongqing was only 24, the new increase in 2022 was 515, and this year it has reached 586. In Guizhou, 86% of villages and towns have built charging facilities, and Chongqing is expected to achieve full coverage of charging facilities in all villages and towns by 2025.

According to the data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the sales of new energy vehicles to the countryside in 2020, 2021 and 2022 increased by 80%, 169% and 87% respectively year on year, driving the cumulative sales of more than 4.1 million new energy vehicles to the countryside. The industry expects that the sales volume of new energy vehicles to the countryside will continue to rise this year.

Popularization still needs to overcome three obstacles

Although the sales of new energy vehicles in rural areas continue to increase, the penetration rate in rural areas is still low. According to the data of the National Passenger Vehicle Market Information Joint Conference, in March this year, the penetration rate of pure electric passenger vehicles in county and township areas was 16%, and the penetration rate of plug-in passenger vehicles in county and township areas was 8%.

Industry insiders believe that multiple problems need to be solved before new energy vehicles can enter the "fast lane" in the countryside.

——Charging facilities need to be further improved. The reporter learned that the current rural new energy vehicle market is still in the initial stage of popularization, the construction of charging facilities in rural areas is still lagging behind, and the construction of charging piles has problems such as low social investment willingness, difficult profitability, and difficult equipment maintenance.

"There are too few charging posts, and they are often found everywhere." A new energy owner in Longshan Town, Longli County, Guizhou Province said that the local public charging posts are often unavailable, and it is common to run ten or twenty kilometers for charging. Zhang Le, a township resident in Chongqing, told reporters that he once wanted to buy a new energy vehicle, but he finally chose a fuel vehicle because he was worried about the inconvenience of charging.

——The models and prices should be more suitable for the needs of rural consumers. Rural residents are relatively sensitive to price. A considerable number of people tend to buy new energy vehicles of less than 70000 yuan. Every year, small cars and minivans are also the main types of vehicles going to the countryside.

Some rural residents prefer cheap old people's scooters. Wang Ping, the village branch of Haimakong Village, Xiuwen County, Guizhou Province, said that almost every household in the village has an elderly scooter. "Although the elderly scooter has potential safety hazards, it is really cheap and the threshold for use is low."

According to the car salesperson interviewed, some micro new energy vehicles are selling well, but there are few new energy vehicles that can take into account the use of rural goods, agricultural production and other scenarios.

——The sales service system needs to be further improved. The reporter learned that the traditional fuel car dealer system is deeply rooted, and generally there are 4S stores or dealer channels in the county. However, new energy vehicles often adopt online booking and new direct marketing mode, and the dealer system of automobile enterprises in the county town is not perfect, which leads to the underdevelopment of new energy automobile finance, insurance, second-hand cars, after-sales, maintenance and other businesses.

Take multiple measures to unblock "blocking points"

Industry experts believe that compared with cities, the rural new energy vehicle market will still be a blue ocean. According to the Research on Electric Vehicle Travel in Rural China released by the China Electric Vehicle 100 People Conference, it is estimated that by 2030, there will be nearly 160 vehicles per 1000 people in rural China, with a total of more than 70 million vehicles, and the market size may reach 500 billion yuan.

Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, suggested that we should continue to make efforts to improve public charging facilities, enrich models and support policies for going to the countryside, and speed up helping new energy vehicles go to the countryside.

First, focus on the construction of public charging facilities. The relevant person in charge of State Grid Chongqing Electric Power Company suggested that priority should be given to the allocation of public charging facilities in places such as county and township enterprises and institutions, commercial buildings, transportation hubs, etc., and at the same time, speed up the reform of charging facilities construction conditions in existing rural residential communities according to local conditions, and implement the requirements for charging infrastructure construction in new residential communities.

The first photovoltaic charging and power generation integrated charging station in Chongqing that has been completed and put into use was taken on June 16, 2022 (UAV photo). Photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Chan

"Most rural areas are in the form of 'one family, one hospital', so we can actively explore the integrated charging mode of 'photovoltaic+energy storage+vehicle charging'," Xie said. The reporter found that at present, this model has been implemented in the expressway service area and other scenes, but it is rarely used in rural residents' homes.

Secondly, we should speed up the supply of rural products. Xu Haidong suggested that new energy vehicle enterprises should be encouraged to develop more economical, practical and marketable models according to the characteristics of consumers in rural areas, especially products such as cargo micro facet, micro truck and light truck. In view of the low requirements of rural consumers on the range, the number of batteries can be reduced to reduce costs and prices.

In addition, new energy vehicle enterprises should be guided to sink into the sales and service network. Lin Yun, an associate professor of Chongqing University, and others suggested that car enterprises and third-party service enterprises should be guided to accelerate the construction of joint business outlets in rural areas, establish a supporting after-sales service system, regularly carry out maintenance and after-sales service activities in the countryside, and provide emergency rescue and other services.

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