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NIO Announces Free Lifetime Battery Swaps for ES8/ES6
On August 24th, NIO announced that all current and new first-time owners of NIO ES8 and ES6 vehicles can enjoy free lifetime battery swap services on top of the lifetime free warranty.
So far, NIO’s battery swap stations have been deployed in 20 cities and 6 intercity expressways, and the company plans to continue expanding across the country. According to NIO’s official plan, more than 1,100 battery swap stations will be built nationwide by 2020.
Commentary: Improving the range of NIO ES6 did not immediately bring about a significant increase in sales. For this Chinese new car company, a symbol of innovation with an American IPO, maintaining “sustainable sales” has become a pressing task.
The launch of free lifetime battery swaps has greatly solved the charging problem for users without a home charger. It is believed to be very attractive to potential car owners.
In addition, from the layoff plan to the free lifetime battery swaps, it is clear that NIO is really working hard to enhance its own ability to generate profits!
Porsche Taycan Interior Design Officially Revealed
On August 23rd, Porsche revealed the interior design of its Taycan model, featuring a four-screen design that includes a 16.8-inch instrument panel, a 10.9-inch central display, a 10.9-inch passenger display, and an 8.4-inch screen beneath the central display.
The traditional physical buttons on the central console, a signature feature of Porsche cars, have been replaced by screens.### Quick Review:
As a traditional luxury car brand giant, Porsche’s first electric car Taycan’s interior design also moved towards no physical buttons and instead has four screens. Excluding the design factor, it seems very similar to the Idean ONE. We are really looking forward to the actual performance of Taycan’s car-human interaction system. In addition, a small detail was revealed in this interior layout picture that Taycan can travel 286 km with 75% battery capacity, meaning full battery can last 381 km. However, we do not know the standards of this endurance, so let’s wait together until Taycan’s launch conference on September 4th!
MIIT: Support Conditional Regions to Set Up Fuel Vehicle Restricted Areas
Recently, MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) issued a reply on the “Suggestions on researching and formulating a timetable to ban the sale of fuel cars and accelerate the construction of an automobile power”. MIIT stated that it was working with relevant departments such as the Development and Reform Commission to study and analyze questions related to banning the sale of traditional fuel vehicles, taking into account the technology development process, the development of the industry, and the local conditions. They will support the conditional regions and areas to carry out pilot projects for city public transportation and taxi replacement and establish fuel vehicle restricted areas. On the basis of successful achievement, they will coordinate to research and formulate a timetable to ban fuel vehicles.
Quick comment: Although I personally believe that pure electric vehicles will definitely be recognized by many consumers in the future automobile market, due to the limited range of electric vehicles and incomplete charging facilities currently available, if we start to formulate policies to ban the sale of fuel cars too early, it will not be friendly to many consumers.
Ford’s Territory EV Announces the Selling Price
On the evening of August 25th, Jiangling Ford announced the selling price of Territory EV, with a total of two models, priced between 182,800 / 206,800 yuan after subsidies and with a NEDC comprehensive range of 360km. Ford also launched a service package of 5,200 to 19,800 yuan, covering service content such as free pick-up and delivery service, free maintenance, roadside assistance, public charging, free data package, and charged recharging. See the figure below for details:
Quick Review: I don’t want to say too much about the official price of the Leading Ideal EV, but it’s definitely not cheap. However, the price of this service pack is even more confusing.
Let’s take a look at the Joy Package first. It includes a public charging limit of 500 kWh, which, if calculated at 2 yuan/kWh, is around 1,000 yuan. This means the remaining service is worth 4,200 yuan. However, the critical problem is that the rest of the services are all low-frequency. So, it doesn’t seem to be a good deal.
Now, let’s take a look at the most luxurious Zhenxiang package. If purchased at a 50% discount this year, the 9,900 yuan price tag is acceptable to users who don’t have home charging equipment. But how about the second year?
Rolls-Royce will launch an EV when the time is right
The CEO of Rolls-Royce recently revealed in an interview with the media at Pebble Beach, California that the company will launch a pure electric vehicle when the timing is right, and will not introduce any new cars based on plug-in hybrid technology.
He also mentioned that regulations in cities will become more favorable to the development of electric vehicles, and young customers of Rolls-Royce want a pure electric experience. Although the platforms for the new Cullinan and Phantom have already been prepared for pure electric powertrains, it seems unlikely that the first electric vehicle launched by Rolls-Royce will be based on any of the existing models.
Quick Review: As more and more traditional car companies announce their transformation to electric vehicles, the leading traditional luxury car manufacturer cannot hold back. Moreover, pure electric drive has inherent advantages over traditional fuel-powered cars in terms of NVH and smoothness, which is very much in line with Rolls-Royce’s style. However, I’m not sure whether Rolls-Royce will also make some changes in the car infotainment and interior designs. Let’s wait and see.
Pure electric versions of Golf and Bora announce pre-sale prices
On August 20th, the pure electric versions of Golf and Bora announced their pre-sale prices of 163,700 yuan and 156,800 yuan, respectively.
Both models use batteries from CATL, with a battery capacity of 37.2 kWh and NEDC range of 270 km.>Quick Comment: As the best-selling joint venture brand in the Chinese automotive market, the pure electric versions of the Bora and Golf may not be much more expensive than their gasoline counterparts in terms of official guidance prices, but the 270 km NEDC range is really a bit hard to accept. It seems that it’s time to test emotions.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.