Author: Tianhui
Price and range are two key factors that hinder consumers from buying electric cars.
In terms of range, car manufacturers often unilaterally promote laboratory-tested range, but actual range often fails to meet expectations. As for prices, subsidies are used as a gimmick to deceive consumers.
Today, the 1000 kilometer “futures” electric car is being hyped, but the electric cars that consumers can buy in the 100,000-150,000 yuan range are still mainly models with a range of 400 or 500 kilometers.
These 400-500 kilometer range models have a terrible depreciation rate, and there are plenty of electric cars with less than 50% residual value after two years. Models with longer ranges, such as the XPeng P7 and Tesla Model 3, have generally higher prices, sometimes exceeding 250,000 yuan.
It is difficult to balance range and price, which hinders electric cars from entering ordinary households.
If you want a car with a long range, it is available. If you want a car with high specifications, it is available. If you want a car with both long range and high specifications, the money is not enough. Cost performance is the biggest obstacle to electric cars entering households.
This situation may change: an electric car with a range of 600 kilometers and a price of 148,700 yuan has arrived.
At the Shanghai Auto Show, Geometry, the third car from Geometry Automobile, was launched at a low price, reducing the price of a 600-kilometer range electric car to less than 150,000 yuan.
You get what you pay for, and entering the market at a low price is inevitably suspect by consumers. Let’s take a look at whether Geometry A Pro is worth it.
70-degree electric super enjoyment
600 kilometers of range, 70-degree electric, no loss of range.
Geometry A Pro has a power battery pack capacity of 70 kWh, which is a leader among cars of the same level, and even among cars of higher levels.
Compared to Aion S, another A-level sedan, Geometry A Pro has 11.2 kWh more battery pack capacity. Compared to Qin Pro EV, Geometry A Pro has a similar battery capacity, but Geometry A Pro has a 1.166 kWh/100 kilometer energy consumption rate, resulting in an 80-kilometer longer range.
Compared to the B-level car XPeng P7, it is not difficult to see that Geometry A Pro’s battery pack capacity and range are actually at a higher level.
In terms of electrification technology, Geometry A Pro is more advanced than XPeng P7. Geometry A Pro’s power battery pack has a longer range with 0.8 kWh less battery capacity than XPeng P7.
The three-electric technology advantage of Geometry A Pro is its SEM intelligent energy management system.
The SEM energy management system replaces the previous situation where the three electric components in electric cars worked independently. Through the systematic design, it integrates the three electrical components, effectively improving the response speed and outstanding performance in reducing energy consumption.
Taking the Geometry A Pro 600km volume version as an example, the energy consumption per 100 kilometers is as low as 11.66 kWh/100km, while the XPeng P7 exceeds 12 kWh/100km.
There are five dimensions of energy management in SEM, which are energy storage, energy saving, energy recovery, energy control, and energy upgrade, each of which corresponds to different specific technologies.
Taking energy storage design as an example, the Geometry A Pro uses Nidec’s latest Ni55 ternary lithium battery solution. The energy density of the battery pack reaches 183 Wh/kg, which surpasses the average level of 170 Wh/kg of NCM811 ternary lithium battery pack, but with better safety.
With about 70 kWh of electric capacity, the Geometry A Pro’s power battery pack weighs 395 kg, while the XPeng P7’s power battery pack weighs 450 kg. The lighter weight of the power battery pack has a significant positive impact on the handling quality, and the improvement of the cruising range.
In terms of power battery safety, Geometry A Pro took the lead in adopting the “Global Safety Barrier” design concept to protect the battery’s safety. This system is built from five major protections: the battery core layer, the battery system layer, the whole vehicle protection layer, the test verification layer, and the cloud big data layer.
During the production process of the power battery, the power battery cells are made in a sterile and pollution-free environment, and the “suspension design” is used to arrange the power battery cells inside the battery casing for added protection.
Combined with the vehicle structure design, Geometry A Pro also constructed a three-ring cage structure to prevent the battery from being crushed during collisions through the vehicle’s structure. This “Global Safety Barrier” design is said to be the first to pass the national CNAS certification.
Another dimension to note is energy recovery. The Geometry A Pro is equipped with dual-source heat pump air conditioning technology, which can increase the actual cruising range by 10% in winter.
Electric vehicles equipped with parameters of 70 degree electricity and 600 km cruising range, usually have a price over 200,000 yuan, but Geometry A Pro lowers the price to less than 150,000 yuan, equipped with high-cost components such as dual-source heat pump air conditioning, it is truly amazing how Geometry controls costs.
Proficient in trade-offs
You get what you pay for, and we should not forget this common saying.## Introduction
Consumers may doubt that the Geely Geometry A Pro, with a range of 600 kilometers and priced less than 150,000 yuan, may have compromised on its configuration.
However, in a highly competitive electric car market, compromising on costs and removing some features will not escape the scrutiny of consumers. Consumers may accept cost-cutting, but the key is what features have been cut and whether it affects their driving experience.
The Geely Geometry A Pro 600 Cube version is priced at 148,700 yuan and does compromise on some features.
Exterior
However, the Geely Geometry A Pro knows how to make trade-offs. The 600 Cube version sacrifices automatic driving for improved exterior, interior and power.
In terms of exterior design, the Geely Geometry A Pro has an upgraded two-tone body design. In consumers’ minds, the two-tone body is often an exclusive configuration of top luxury cars like Rolls-Royce and Maybach. There are fewer two-tone family cars because they are limited by cost and design aesthetics.
Cost increases are understandable, as adding another paint color means adding an extra process, which naturally increases costs. In terms of design, the two-tone body has a strong visual impact, but if the design is too extreme, it can lead to a “jumping game” feeling, which is visually abrupt.
The Geely Geometry A Pro uses smoked black headlight details optimization to avoid the occurrence of the “jumping game” problem, ensuring that the two-tone body is coordinated and luxurious.
Interior and Health
In terms of interior design, the Geely Geometry A Pro’s layout continues the style of previous models, but changes the cool tone design of previous models and adopts a more daring color scheme.
It is worth mentioning that the Geely Geometry A Pro has China Automotive Research Institute (CARRI) CN95 certification and German TÜV Rheinland certification, which guarantees the car’s air quality.
In terms of interior comfort, the Geely Geometry A Pro has features such as CN95 protection, ION negative ion purifier, AQS ecological filtration system, and antibacterial steering wheel, which can better protect the health of the car’s occupants.
Power
In terms of power, the Geely Geometry A Pro is the first in the full range to adopt a 150 kW permanent magnet synchronous motor, placing it among the top models in its class.# Markdown Text in English
To gain something, something else must be sacrificed. The Geometry A Pro 600 km model, priced at 148,700 yuan (~$22,918) with a range of 600 km, did not undermine the exterior, interior, or power, but rather removed some features in the autonomous driving system.
It is clear that Geometry has a well-structured strategy in terms of making trade-offs. For features that consumers frequently use, such as exterior, interior, and power, the Geometry A Pro 600 km model belongs to the first tier among its competitors. For less frequently used autonomous driving functions, such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC), and Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), they are included in the high-end versions of the Geometry A Pro.
By removing rarely used autonomous driving features, focusing on improving the range, and effectively using the savings, Geometry has made strategic and wise trade-offs.
Worry-Free After-Sales with a 30% Buyback Guarantee
When consumers buy an electric car, they are most concerned about depreciation, followed by range anxiety.
The rapid depreciation of electric vehicles has even discouraged used car dealers, with some vehicles losing 50% of their value within a year.
Consumers’ concerns about depreciation are not unreasonable. According to research by the China Auto Finance & Residual Value Research Committee, the brand with the highest residual value for electric vehicles is Tesla, with a one-year residual value of only 76%, and domestic brands have fared even worse.
The electric vehicle market is not the same as the mature gasoline vehicles market, which has a mature system for after-sales service and used car sales. The electric vehicle industry is still in its early stages and does not have a similar mature system.
Automakers should take responsibility for filling this gap in the market and providing guarantees for consumers. Unfortunately, most automakers lack this sense of responsibility and have not realized that competition in the electric vehicle industry goes beyond the product itself, but also includes automakers’ service levels.
Geometry has recognized this and made preparations accordingly.
To address depreciation problems in the electric vehicle market, Geometry has promised to provide the Geometry A Pro customers with a 30% buyback guarantee for two years. This depreciation protection plan is commendable.
Even in the mature gasoline vehicle market, few automakers dare to make such a promise.In terms of after-sales service, Geely Automobile provides first-generation Geely A Pro personal car owners with lifetime free three-electricity quality assurance service and lifetime free basic maintenance service to address consumer concerns about the reliability of the electric vehicle’s three-electric system.
In terms of car purchase service, for Geely Automobile APP users, Geely Automobile additionally provides a discount of 1000 yuan of online deposit to 6000 yuan of car purchase payment, and provides consumers with a maximum of 24 periods of interest-free loans.
From the perspective of the industry, relying solely on product power, it is difficult for electric vehicles to compete with the already mature fuel vehicles. Car companies need to provide comprehensive upgrade benefits in customer service, vehicle experience, and used car repurchase in order to make consumers pay for electric vehicles.
In terms of product power, Geely Automobile A Pro 600 km cubic version has the ability to compete with fuel vehicles after lowering the 600-kilometer endurance electric vehicle to less than 150,000 yuan.
After providing second-hand car value repurchase, lifetime free quality assurance, lifetime free basic maintenance and other services, Geely Automobile has provided consumers with a basic guarantee for giving up fuel vehicles and purchasing electric vehicles.
With the combined power of product and service, Geely Automobile first extended an olive branch to fuel vehicle owners with Geely A Pro.
Perhaps, the era of oil to electricity is coming, starting with the Geely A Pro 600 km cubic version.
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.