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The 10000th Ideal ONE is Offline
On May 27th, the 10000th Ideal ONE was offline in the Changzhou factory. As of the end of April, its delivery volume exceeded 6500 units. Among the delivered models, the 6-seater model accounted for 96%, and more than 1000 users chose the Baby Blue car paint. The highest optional rate of interior and wheels were brown and two-tone wheels, respectively.
Quick Comment
Li Xiang mentioned in the live broadcast that Ideal managed to achieve a production volume of 10,000 units in 5 months, and the test drive conversion rate could reach 50%. This is very interesting, and big names like Luo Yonghao and Flypig also ordered Ideal ONE after test driving for a few days. They are still eagerly anticipating Ideal’s sales in June.
Regarding the range extender technology used in Ideal ONE, it has also received attention from Li Shufu, the chairman of Geely Group. During the two sessions, Li Shufu proposed two suggestions on behalf of the group, hoping that the country could give strong support to the application of this new energy technology as soon as possible:
1) Require local governments to strictly develop local regulations in accordance with relevant central government documents, so that range extender electric vehicles can enjoy the same local regulations and policy support as pure electric and fuel cell vehicles, such as new energy road rights and operation subsidies policies launched in various regions.
2) Clearly define that vehicles using range extender technology and those using pure electric and fuel cell technology should enjoy the same new energy vehicle license policies.
It is not difficult to see that Geely is also very interested in range extender technology. If it can obtain policy support, the development of range extender electric vehicles is still worth looking forward to.
Tesla Lowers Prices on Some ProductsOn May 27, Tesla announced that it will lower the prices of all its models on sale in the North American market. Subsequently, Tesla China also announced that “as an imported vehicle, the Model S and Model X will also lower their base prices in the mainland Chinese market simultaneously. The adjusted amount will be reduced by 29,000 yuan, and the supercharging will be charged based on usage.
Currently, all Model 3 models on sale are manufactured in China. In order to adapt to the country’s new energy subsidy policy, the base price of the standard range Model 3 made in China was adjusted in early May, and the current base price is 271,550 yuan after the subsidy. The long-range and high-performance versions of Model 3 have also confirmed their corresponding prices. Therefore, all models of the Model 3 manufactured in China are not within the scope of this price adjustment.
Brief Comment
This price reduction by Tesla in China and North America is almost synchronous. For popular Model 3, the price has not changed, while Model S and Model X seem to have reduced 29,000 yuan, but the previously free lifetime supercharging benefit has been removed, which is good news for potential buyers with a home charging station.
In addition, on May 28th, according to Tencent News, Tesla will deploy more supercharging stations in China in 2020 to meet the charging needs of car owners. It is expected that the total number of supercharging stations to be deployed in China by the end of this year will reach 4,000. According to official data released by Tesla, the company currently has more than 2,500 supercharging stations and 357 supercharging stations in China.
In the supercharging stations that Tesla will build in China in the second half of this year will have Tesla’s third-generation supercharging stations (V3), which can support a peak charging power of up to 250 kW, more than twice the power of the second-generation (V2) supercharging stations.
NIO’s Q1 2020 Financial Report Released
On May 28th, NIO released its Q1 2020 financial report. In terms of sales, NIO delivered 3,838 new cars in Q1 2020, including 3,643 ES6 and 195 ES8, which decreased slightly on a month-to-month basis and showed little change on a year-on-year basis.# Revenue
In terms of revenue, the sales revenue of automobiles in Q1 2020 was RMB 1.256 billion, a decrease of 53.2% QoQ and 18.2% YoY. The total revenue of Q1 2020 was RMB 1.37 billion, a decrease of 51.8% QoQ and 15.9% YoY.
The vehicle gross profit rate in Q1 was negative 12.2%, a decrease compared to negative 8.9% in Q4 2019. The same period last year was negative 13.4%. However, Li Bin stated in the previous conference call that gross profit is expected to turn positive in Q2 2020.
The total loss was RMB 1.69 billion, a decrease of 40.9% QoQ and 35.5% YoY in Q1. The sales and management expenses were RMB 0.848 billion, a decrease of 45.1% QoQ.
Brief comment
The Q1 data is not good due to the impact of COVID-19, which was expected by the public. Wei Feng, the CFO of NIO, expects the delivery volume to be 9,500-10,000 vehicles with a monthly average of more than 3,300 vehicles. If this delivery volume can be maintained, the total delivery volume in 2020 will exceed 30,000 vehicles.
Actually, after the financing in Hefei is received, NIO’s survival is no longer a problem. The problem now is how to thrive. The gross profit situation became worse in Q1, but the cost cannot be shared due to the decrease in sales. However, the good news is that sales and management expenses decreased significantly.
Volkswagen takes a large stake in JAC
On May 29th, Volkswagen announced that “Volkswagen will invest 1 billion euros to acquire a 50% stake in Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Holding Ltd., the parent company of Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co., Ltd., and increase its stake in JAC Volkswagen to 75%, in order to support the future development of the Group’s electrification and help Anhui Province become one of China’s industrial bases for electric mobility.”
Brief comment
Volkswagen has shown great determination in promoting the electrification of the Group. In addition to investing heavily in JAC Motors, Volkswagen also invested approximately 1.1 billion euros in battery manufacturer Guoxuan High-tech last week. After the strategic investment is completed, Volkswagen China will hold 26.47% of Guoxuan High-tech shares, making it the largest shareholder.
It is important for traditional car companies to transform into electrification, otherwise, they will have no significant advantage when facing Tesla. Volkswagen is one of the traditional car companies that has shown the most determined transformation, and Volkswagen CEO Diess has expressed Tesla’s excellence and Volkswagen’s transformation determination several times in public.
BMW will launch a pure electric version of the M5
On May 30th, according to foreign media reports, BMW will launch a pure electric version of the M5, an electric sedan with 1006 horsepower. According to the internal documents of CAR, the pure electric version of the M5 will use a layout of three motors. The front axle is equipped with a 250 kW electric motor, and the rear is equipped with two. The three motors can erupt a total of 1006 horsepower.
The pure electric M5 will be equipped with a 135 kWh battery pack and 400 volts. It will also be upgraded to a peak charging power of 350 kW and a version with an 800-volt system. The expected WLTP range is 435 miles.
Quick Review
According to previous reports, BMW plans to launch 25 new energy vehicles by 2023. There will be more and more pure electric models launched in the future. Just last week, the spy photos of the BMW iX3, which will be released within the year, were also exposed. This will be BMW’s first pure electric SUV model. According to previous news, the iX3 will be equipped with a 74 kWh battery pack, a maximum motor output power of 210 kW, and a WLTP range of 440 km. It will be manufactured in the Shenyang factory in China and exported worldwide.
In addition, BMW’s driver assistance system is also worth noting. After being upgraded, it finally has a visual interface. Previously, in the video on the 42 Garage driver assistance evaluation, BMW performed excellently. The future development of BMW’s intelligence is still very promising.
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.