On August 20th, Weilai, a new force in China, announced the official launch of the BaaS car battery leasing program. This is another new attempt of Weilai in the transformation of smart electric vehicle business model.
In the new scheme, the vehicle price will be reduced by 70,000 yuan, and users only need to pay 980 yuan's battery rental fee every month.
Different from the battery staging scheme introduced by Weilai before, in the new BaaS scheme, the ownership of the battery will no longer be owned by the user, but by the battery asset management company jointly established by Weilai, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. and State Grid.
Really realized: car and electricity separation, battery rental, rechargeable, replaceable and upgradeable.
From 20 15, Weilai began to conceive this plan, but due to the lack of national policy support for the separation of vehicle and electricity property rights, the real separation of vehicle and electricity property rights has not been implemented.
Li Bin told Che Yun that BaaS has four prerequisites: 1, vehicle design that can replace electricity; 2. Power transaction operation service system; 3. Policy supports the separation of vehicle and electricity property rights; 4. Independent battery asset company.
With Weilai, Contemporary Anpu Technology Co., Ltd., Hubei Ketou and Guotai Junan jointly investing in the establishment of Wuhan Weineng Battery Assets Co., Ltd. on August 18, 2008, the four preconditions are basically mature.
On July 3rd1day, a Weilai ES6 sold in Shanghai in the form of separation of vehicle and electricity was officially licensed, which meant that the final policy threshold was also broken.
Problems of electric vehicles
Since the new energy subsidy dropped sharply in July last year, the sales of new energy vehicles in China have been declining year-on-year, especially pure electric vehicles.
In most people's cognition, electric vehicles at this stage are still unreliable.
Inconvenient charging, high battery price, battery spontaneous combustion, battery energy attenuation and low residual value of used cars have all become the main factors that hinder private users from trying and buying electric vehicles. Almost all the problems point to the battery.
A reader in Che Yun told us that a pure electric vehicle with a cruising range of150km bought with a subsidy of more than 60,000 yuan three years ago can only fetch more than 3,000 yuan in the used car market.
Many enterprises have tried various methods to make up for the shortcomings of electric vehicles at present, for example, adopting safer battery technology, building self-built overcharge stations, launching long-life products, and even launching value-added repurchase programs.
But none of this seems to really impress consumers. The monthly sales of most pure electric vehicles are hovering between several hundred and 3,000.
Cut off the power?
Since all the problems point to the battery, why not kill it?
Li Bin, founder, chairman and CEO of Weilai, told Che Yun that he began to think and conceive the scheme of battery as a service from 20 15.
Almost every week, Li Bin will convene senior executives to discuss the implementation plan.
Especially in the era of rapid development of battery technology, this year's battery can reach 400 kilometers, and tomorrow, through technological upgrading, there may be 600 kilometers or even 700 kilometers of batteries. Batteries account for almost 40% of the total cost of automobiles.
For most electric vehicle users, they bear the risk of asset depreciation caused by too many batteries in electric vehicles. The depreciation risk caused by battery attenuation leads to the extremely low residual value of the whole electric vehicle. This has also become one of the important reasons why many consumers are discouraged from electric vehicles.
This is also the reason why the early state finance subsidized the consumption of electric vehicles.
Now that subsidies are declining, many enterprises choose to pay for themselves or reduce prices to continue subsidizing users.
Weilai gave an innovative solution, holding the property right of the battery by setting up a battery asset management company, and taking the risk of battery asset depreciation for consumers.
Consumers only need to bear the cost of using batteries.
On the one hand, this reduces the purchase cost of electric vehicles, on the other hand, it also solves the problem of depreciation of battery assets. At the same time, it also solves the problem of battery property ownership in the process of battery recycling.
When the battery property right belongs to the battery asset management company, these problems will be solved. In addition to charging rental fees, battery asset management companies can also formulate many schemes for ladder utilization of batteries.
In particular, the entry of battery giants such as Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. will also help battery asset management companies to explore more new battery use models.
Is the free power exchange for new users over?
The vehicle-electricity separation scheme combined with Weilai's power exchange system can provide users with a flexible "replaceable, rechargeable and upgradeable" battery service scheme.
Last year, Weilai launched the first free power exchange service for car owners, which was welcomed by many car owners. Since it was put into operation one year ago, Weilai Power Station has reached 143, and the cumulative number of power exchanges has exceeded 800,000 times. Moreover, this has also driven the continuous growth of sales of Weilai products.
But even if the electricity exchange is free, there are still many car owners who will have some psychological obstacles before the first electricity exchange. "Can you change an old battery?"
Weilai's latest BaaS solution also solves the anxiety of these users.
According to the latest policy of Weilai, after 10 and 12, the newly confirmed users will cancel the benefit of the first car owner's lifetime free power exchange.
For new users, although they can't continue to enjoy the benefits of free power exchange, the cost of power exchange is similar to that of fast charging, and the cost of car purchase is greatly reduced.
This will be an attempt by Weilai to continue to expand sales. Of course, the effect has to be tested by the market.
Che Yun abstract
For innovators in the industry, there are always some boundaries to be broken.
Wei Lai chose to be a friend of time, first exchanged power, and the standard came naturally.
In Weilai's previous attempts, 40% of users would choose the battery rental scheme. This also brings opportunities for policy breakthroughs.
In the era of change, someone is always needed as the first adventurer to eat crabs. Do the right thing and be a friend of time, and the future will come.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.