BMW recently announced the recall of 26,700 PHEV vehicles worldwide, covering X 1, X2, X3, X5 and Active 2 series? Toure, Series 3, Series 5, Series 7, i8? The PHEV version of Coupé and Roadster, as well as Mini? Country people. In fact, as early as August 19, BMW announced that it would stop delivering 4,460 plug-in hybrid cars, because impurities may be mixed in the battery production process, resulting in short circuit of battery cells.
On October 8th, local time 10/kloc-0, Hyundai Motor announced that it had recalled 25,564 Kona electric vehicles in the domestic market due to battery manufacturing defects, and then announced that the scope of the recall was further expanded to markets such as North America, Europe and China, and 5 1000 vehicles were recalled in overseas markets. Among them, Europe recalled 37,366 vehicles and North America recalled 1 1 137 vehicles. Including China and India, recalled 3,000 cars.
Furthermore, after seven maverick fires in Europe, Ford announced the recall of 20,500 maverick vehicles on August 1 1 because of the fire risk of vehicles. PHEV .
In the face of the fire accident of new energy vehicles, foreign car companies can't help but doubt the battery recall after judging that there is a fire safety hazard in the battery. In China, spontaneous combustion accidents of electric vehicles have occurred frequently before. Why have car companies not recalled so far? Is it really just because overseas tolerance for vehicle safety is low?
Cost is the key.
The Korea Times pointed out that Hyundai Motor has spread to Kona all over the world. The recall cost of EV6 will be as high as 600 billion won (about 527 million US dollars, 3,525,438 million RMB). In this regard, Korean KB Securities analyst Kang? Seong-jin thinks: "Suppose the battery cost is per kWh120,000 won, and Hyundai is a Kona? The battery replacement cost of EV is 7.68 million won. If Hyundai Motor replaces all batteries for more than 77,000 vehicles, the cost will be as high as 5910.40 billion won ... Therefore, it is more realistic to expect that Hyundai Motor will only replace batteries for 65,438+00% vehicles, thus reducing the cost to 60 billion won. "
At present, modern officials have not made Kona public on a global scale. How much is the recall fee for electric vehicles? However, a statement issued by Hyundai-Kia in June 65438+1October 65438+September local time can provide a glimpse of the impact of this recall on Hyundai's business performance. Hyundai-Kia said that due to quality-related costs, the total profit in the third quarter of this year will be reduced by 3.36 trillion won (2.94 billion US dollars). Among them, Hyundai Motor was recalled mainly with Theta? Due to the automobile accident, the replacement rate of the II engine was higher than expected, resulting in an increase in cost. Analysts believe that affected by this, Hyundai may suffer losses in the third quarter.
Domestically, as a pioneer in the recall of new forces in car making, Wei came from June 27th, 1965, and recalled 4,803 ES8s due to improper wiring of power battery packs. To this end, Weilai paid a recall fee of 3,396,543.8+0 million yuan, including a recovery fee of 283.3 million yuan and a sales fee of 55.8 million yuan. The gross profit margin of Weilai 20 19 in the second quarter also decreased by 32.4% compared with the previous quarter. Wang Dongning, vice president of Weilai Auto Finance, bluntly said: "The recall has a great impact on Weilai's losses. The comprehensive gross profit margin in the second quarter was -33.4%, and in the first quarter it was-13.4%. If the recall cost is deducted, the gross profit margin in the second quarter is-10.9%. "
Affected by the epidemic situation and the overall environment of the automobile market, the operation of automobile enterprises is not smooth, with at least three consecutive spontaneous combustion accidents this year? In the first half of the year, the operating income of Guangzhou Automobile Group where S is located decreased by 9.56% year-on-year, and its net profit decreased by 52.87% year-on-year. BAIC New Energy, which has also experienced many spontaneous combustion accidents, lost 654.38+863 million yuan in the first half of the year ... If it voluntarily recalls, a large number of recall costs will add insult to injury to businesses.
However, affected by the epidemic, it is not difficult for foreign car companies?
This may only be interpreted as BMW, Hyundai and Ford, as international car companies, on the one hand, have deep pockets and solid foundations, on the other hand, their every move attracts the attention of consumers all over the world, and their driving safety can not be neglected. Sam, director of Kane Energy Consulting, USA? Jaffe said in Ford's fire accident: "For automobile manufacturers, safety comes first and performance comes second. Therefore, be cautious about every fire incident. " ? Then, when will many China car companies with frequent spontaneous combustion incidents really have the awareness and responsibility that international car companies should have?
It's not the critical moment yet?
Previously, spontaneous combustion incidents of electric vehicles were frequent, and cattle carts. Com has consulted people in the industry about the standards and procedures of automobile recall in China. The person said: "Whether the automobile product is recalled depends on its safety risk assessment. Only when the comprehensive risk rating is 5 or 4, automobile product producers need to implement recall activities according to corresponding laws and regulations to eliminate vehicle safety hazards. "
(Basic process of risk assessment and risk control? Image from "Guide to Safety Risk Assessment and Risk Control of Automobile Products")
(risk assessment matrix? Image from "Guide to Safety Risk Assessment and Risk Control of Automobile Products")
As far as new energy vehicles are concerned, the Supplementary Notice of the Quality Development Bureau of the General Administration of Market Supervision on Further Standardizing the Accident Report of New Energy Vehicles shows that if a producer learns that a new energy vehicle produced, sold or imported by him has a smoke or fire accident in the China market, he should report the basic information of the accident, including basic information and vehicle information, and go to the Quality Development Bureau of the General Administration of Market Supervision within 12 hours after the accident (if it causes casualties or major social impact, it should be within 6 hours after the accident).
After the fire accident of new energy vehicles, producers should also take the initiative to investigate whether there are fire safety hazards in vehicles of the same model, batch and parts. After investigation, it is found that there are fire safety hazards and it is necessary to implement the recall as soon as possible.
That is to say, from the procedural point of view, many fire incidents that have exploded are completely under the control of the market supervision department, and there is no recall at present, which only shows that the comprehensive risk level assessment has not yet reached the recall standard.
There is neither capital nor "qualified" comprehensive risk level. No wonder spontaneous combustion is frequent, but I still can't expect the recall of GAC New Energy and BAIC New Energy.
However, with the popularization of electrification and the soaring energy density, there is no myth about the safety level of power batteries for a short time.
Electrification is the general trend of the automobile industry at present, and in order to solve the pain point of electric vehicle endurance, the pursuit and superstition of high energy density power battery by automobile enterprises will not slow down in the short term. However, the higher the energy density, the more uncontrollable the security risks. Many spontaneous combustion incidents of electric vehicles make people point the finger at NCM8 1 1 battery. High nickel content increases the probability of thermal runaway, but it is still the established future route of power battery industry. Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. stated that it would not give up NCM? 8 1 1 technical route; Professionals in the battery industry also pointed out that in the medium and long term, the development trend of high nickel batteries is still clear.
Indeed, as Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. said, 8 1 1 is the only way for battery manufacturers. However, it is still difficult to completely solve the safety problem of 8 1 1 battery and reduce the risk of high nickel battery in a short time. 8 1 1 batteries need to pass trial and error, and the forging technology is more mature in all aspects from materials to manufacturing, "Song Jing, an analyst of positive electrode materials at Longzhong Information, pointed out.
Then, whether from the perspective of being responsible for the personal safety of consumers, or from the perspective of timely publishing the technical causes of accidents to promote the progress of the whole industry, or from the perspective of maintaining the brand reputation and image of car companies, it is the most sensible choice for car companies to prevent hidden dangers from turning into accidents through human intervention-recall.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.