“Look, is it a Tesla or a pink one!” Li Sumei, who returned to Anping Town, Anren County, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province for the new year, was surprised to find that Tesla, which he had never seen in Anren County, appeared in the town. Her sister who went out with her said, “in the past, electric cars were rare in our village. Now someone has driven Tesla.”
The owner Zhang Liangliang told the China Securities Journal that the Tesla was bought by him last April and has become a scenic spot in the town. “At that time, I said I wanted to buy an electric car, but my father disagreed. He said that the horsepower of an electric car was not as good as that of a fuel car. He didn’t talk to me about this for several days. As a result, after he bought the car and drove it, he now says that an electric car is good.”
During the Spring Festival, the reporter of China Securities Journal found that from Wuling Hongguang Mini eV of more than 30000 yuan to Byd Company Limited(002594) e2 of about 100000 yuan, new energy vehicles are accelerating the popularization in the rural market, and even Tesla and other medium and high-end models are gradually “driving into the homes of ordinary villagers”.
Insiders pointed out that after the explosive growth in 2021, the rural market with great potential is expected to become a new growth pole of the Shanxi Guoxin Energy Corporation Limited(600617) automobile market in the future.
Not to mention the replacement of fuel vehicles, only considering that there are about 7.6 million tricycles and low-speed electric vehicles in rural areas, the rural market potential of new energy vehicles is very huge. Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of China Automobile Association, believes that electric vehicles will be popularized quickly in township and rural markets, because urban and rural markets in Shandong, Henan and other places have the habit of using low-speed electric vehicles before, and their adaptability to electric vehicles will be stronger.
Moreover, new energy vehicles are very suitable for rural use scenarios: first, the living environment of rural households is convenient for the installation of charging piles; Second, most rural trips are short trips, avoiding the biggest difficulty of “mileage anxiety” of new energy vehicles. Most importantly, for rural consumers who are very price sensitive, new energy vehicles really save money compared with fuel vehicles.
Hu bin of Zhushan Township in Anren County changed the fuel car into an electric car in 2020. He calculated an account for the reporter of China Securities Journal, “I usually charge at home. The electricity charge is 58 cents and 8 cents at one time. It only takes about 30 yuan to fill it. I can run about 400 kilometers at a time, which is equivalent to less than 1 yuan per kilometer. I have driven 13000 kilometers, which saves 5000 yuan compared with the fuel car.”
“My father’s attitude towards electric vehicles also began with saving money.” Zhang Liangliang told the China Securities Journal, “now there are more and more people buying cars in rural areas, and rural roads are generally very narrow. When they go to the market, they often get stuck in traffic jams. It costs a lot of money for fuel vehicles to get stuck on the road. As long as electric vehicles don’t step on the accelerator, they basically don’t consume electricity. In this way, they can save a lot of money in a year.”
In particular, A00 new energy vehicles, which mainly focus on the rural market, have been highlighted to the greatest extent because of their low cost, and are rapidly becoming the “new favorite” of rural automobile consumption.
Li Jinyong, President of the new energy vehicles branch of the automobile chamber of Commerce of the all China Federation of industry and commerce, said at the 2022 electricity outlook conference that non restricted cities contributed 70% of the sales of new energy vehicles in 2021, of which 58% of users purchased A00 electric vehicles. A00 electric vehicles will take the lead in replacing fuel vehicles of the same level by relying on the advantages of reducing the travel cost by more than half compared with fuel vehicles.
The broad rural market is becoming the focus of policies to promote the development of new energy vehicle industry, and it is also a “new battlefield” opened up by major vehicle enterprises.
The two “automobile to the countryside” activities in 2009 and 2019 have played an important role in boosting China’s auto market. In the past two years, the protagonist of “automobile going to the countryside” has been replaced by new energy vehicles. In 2020 and 2021, the Ministry of industry and information technology and other departments issued two notices to promote new energy vehicles to the countryside. On January 21 this year, seven departments including the national development and Reform Commission issued the implementation plan for promoting green consumption, proposing to “carry out in-depth activities of new energy vehicles to the countryside”.
With a price of 50000 yuan and a range of 100-300 kilometers, new energy vehicles suitable for the rural market have become “a battleground for strategists”. Take Chongqing Changan Automobile Company Limited(000625) as an example, the company’s Chang’an new energy has launched a number of e-star models in recent two years. In 2021, the sales volume of Benben e-star reached 76400, with a year-on-year growth rate of more than 3 times, of which 60% – 70% of the sales volume came from the third and fourth tier markets and rural markets.
However, there is still a long way to go to truly activate the rural new energy vehicle market.
Liu Yu, from Gaopo village, yonglejiang Town, Anren County, is entangled in whether to buy new energy vehicles. He told the reporter of China Securities News about his difficulties: “my work needs to go to the countryside every day. Now there is basically no public charging pile in the countryside. With the portable charging line I carry with me, the charging speed is very slow, so the new energy vehicle is not suitable for people like me who run outside every day.”
In this regard, industry insiders pointed out that supplementing the shortcomings of new energy vehicles and expanding more use scenarios will become the key to releasing the market potential of rural new energy vehicles in the future.
It is worth noting that compared with the notice on carrying out rural activities of new energy vehicles issued in July 2020 and the notice on carrying out rural activities of new energy vehicles in 2021 issued in March 2021, the co sponsors have added the comprehensive Department of the National Energy Administration in addition to the Ministry of industry and information technology, the Ministry of agriculture and rural areas and the Ministry of Commerce, The intention to further supplement the short board of charging infrastructure is very obvious.
In addition, models for the rural market need to be further enriched. The survey of China electric vehicle hundred people’s Association found that farmers do not exclude pure electric vehicles, but the price of low-speed electric vehicles is generally about 30000 yuan, which plays an important reference role for price sensitive farmers. At present, there are not many products in line with farmers’ mainstream price expectations (40000-70000 yuan).
