Author: Feng Jingang
Introduction：For intelligent electric vehicles, it’s not a problem to make them at whatever price, but whether they are user-friendly or not is the key.
On November 3, based on the V model, NIO Auto launched the V Pro. The new car is aimed at intelligence, and NIO defines it as “a true intelligent pure electric SUV below 100,000 yuan”.
Zhang Yong, co-founder and CEO of NIO Auto, said, “NIO V Pro not only meets the needs of young users for intelligent cars, but also brings them a user-friendly car experience with intelligent and humane features. We will continue to uphold the original intention of ‘making cars for the people’, adhere to the principle of ‘equal rights in technology’, and strive to achieve the popularization of intelligent value. We firmly believe that, based on saturation R&D investment, support from the intelligent friend circle, and the backing of Internet technology, we can produce an intelligent and good car at a price of 100,000 yuan.”
Obviously, NIO is still arguing with the industry months ago about whether 100,000 yuan can buy a good intelligent electric car, and they believe that it can be achieved. V Pro is the answer given by NIO.
At the 13th Automotive Blue Book Forum, He XPeng, CEO of XPeng Motors, expressed his views on intelligent electric vehicles, saying, “I think 150,000 yuan is the basic watershed for intelligent cars. In the field of intelligence (vehicles), it is impossible to truly make a good intelligent car without 150,000 yuan.”
The leaders of new forces all like to think about the industry. Some of them are low-key, while others like to express their opinions. He XPeng belongs to the latter. Although his nature of expressing himself has brought a lot of attention and traffic to XPeng Motors, it has also caused some controversy.
Regarding He XPeng’s statement, Zhou Hongyi, chairman of 360 and also an investor of NIO, once again fired back, saying, “Firstly, just because you can’t do it, doesn’t mean that others can’t do it. Don’t underestimate the combination of Chinese manufacturing and Internet industry. Secondly, intelligent electric cars will become the first car for many ordinary Chinese consumers.”
Currently, XPeng Motors’ product pricing range is between 150,000 and 400,000 yuan, while NIO Auto’s product pricing range is between 50,000 and 150,000 yuan. Different product pricing ranges lead to different understandings of products, which is normal. Moreover, “doing it well” is a term that cannot be defined.
Therefore, whether a product is good or not is the key to who can win the discourse power.
V Pro includes two models: the long-endurance intelligent and interesting edition and the long-endurance intelligent enjoyment edition. After subsidies, the official prices are 76,900 yuan and 80,900 yuan, respectively. The long-endurance intelligent enjoyment edition is a newly added top-of-the-line model, with a price increase of 4,000 yuan. It adds intelligent features such as full-speed adaptive cruise control, automatic parking, lane-keeping assistance, active braking, and lane-change assistance to the original V model, and is also the world’s first car to be equipped with 360 Car Safety Guardian.|Vertical comparison of WM, XPeng, NIO and other intelligent electric vehicle products, NETA V Pro’s core intelligent configuration is considered complete. Therefore, NETA V Pro can be called a 100,000 yuan-level intelligent electric vehicle. As for whether it is good or not, it can only be verified through horizontal comparison of the same level.|
NETA V Pro is positioned as an A00-class SUV, and currently has no direct competitors. If we consider the price, NETA V mostly has two competitors, Euler Black Cat and Zerun T03.
|Based on the core intelligent configuration mentioned above, Euler’s Black Cat has incomplete configuration, without lane keeping assistance and full speed adaptive cruise control. Zerun T03’s intelligent configuration is generally complete, but compared to NETA V Pro, it also lacks lane change assistance and 360-car safety guardian. However, Zerun T03 is about 5,000 yuan cheaper.
From the actual experience of electric vehicle journalists with Zerun T03’s driving assistance, its performance can only be said to be satisfactory. As for the level of intelligence configuration of NETA V Pro, we have not yet experienced it, so it is hard to judge.
Zhou Jiang, the president of NETA Automobile Trading Company, said, “Intelligent cars should not be just a pile of configurations, but should pay more attention to usage scenarios and user intelligent experience.” According to Zhou Jiang, the intelligent actual experience of NETA V Pro should not be inferior.
|Horizontally speaking, the core intelligent configuration of NETA V Pro can be regarded as the highest among the same level, and if the experience level of all models is the same or even better, it will be the strongest intelligent electric vehicle at the 100,000 yuan-level.
There are high expectations for intelligent electric vehicles, and the core logic behind it is the replacement and ban of functional mobile phones by smartphones. At present, whether to make a 150,000 yuan intelligent electric vehicle or a 100,000 yuan intelligent electric vehicle is just a characteristic judgment of the industry’s stage of development. In the future, even a 50,000 yuan electric vehicle could be made intelligent, but the experience gap compared to a 500,000 yuan electric vehicle will be very obvious.
Therefore, for smart electric vehicles, it is not a problem to produce them at different price points, but whether they are easy to use or not is the key.
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.