Author: James Yang Jianwen
Light Orange era, a new force in the car industry, emerged at the Guangzhou Auto Show.
Many people haven’t heard of this new car company.
Especially during this auto show, new forces (XPeng, Nio) and new strengths (Voyah, Salon) are taking turns in the spotlight, and their popularity is obviously higher than that of this newcomer.
Moreover, there are already plenty of new energy brands on the market, so announcing the establishment of a new automaker at this time requires great courage.
This raises my curiosity: how does this newcomer plan to make cars, and what kind of cars do they want to make?
Before we start, we need to answer a question: who is Light Orange era?
Who is Light Orange era?
Strictly speaking, the first appearance of the Light Orange era was on November 9th. At that time, they held a media communication meeting in Beijing and officially announced their existence to the outside world.
Light Orange era was established on June 25th, 2021 with a registered capital of 10 million yuan. According to data from Qichacha, in September of this year, Light Orange era completed angel round financing, and the financing amount was not disclosed. They plan to complete the A round financing around April next year, and start the B round in the second quarter.
The “Light” in Light Orange era represents a relaxed attitude that is open, inclusive, and flexible, creating a travel and mobile life experience that makes users feel relaxed and happy. “Orange” refers to products designed for the masses. Our market is not just first-tier cities, but we focus more on second-tier, third-tier, and even sinking markets. “We want to bring a more sunny and friendly feeling to everyone, so we use the word ‘orange’.”
Founder and Chairman Bian Biao said that Light Orange era aims to make intelligent electric vehicles that the masses can afford and use.
Innovation integration is the corporate gene and inherent advantage of Light Orange era. At the beginning of its establishment, Light Orange era integrated various genes and characteristics, such as automobile manufacturing, intelligent technology, and mobile Internet.
From the team members of Light Orange era, hints can also be seen.
Founder and Chairman Bian Biao: obtained a dual bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University, studied abroad in the UK, worked in the financial industry, and led the creation of a one-stop financial service platform. Additionally, Bian Biao has led or participated in multiple IPO or equity fundraising projects. In an interview, Bian Biao revealed that he has invested in many smart car-related enterprises. These financial and resource coordination capabilities undoubtedly help the fledgling Light Orange era.# CEO Mou Lu:
Having worked in game product development at Tencent’s subsidiary TiMi Studios for 10 years, I entered the car networking industry in 2015 and became the CEO of Xpeng Motors. Over the past four years, Xpeng has established long-term service partnerships with more than ten domestic mainstream independent and joint venture automakers such as FAW Red Flag, FAW Pentium, Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle, BAIC, Huachen Auto, Dongfeng Nissan, Beijing Hyundai, Dongfeng Yueda Kia, and Huachen Renault respectively as Tier1 and Tier2 partners. Clearly, this experience can also be reused in the era of light orange to help it quickly build its competitiveness in the smart connected vehicle segment.
Chief Scientist Tong Xiaoyu:
Formerly as the General Manager and Party Secretary of China Unicom Sichuan Branch and the Vice President of China Unicom Research Institute and Vice Chairman of CETC HUA Cloud Information Technology Co., Ltd., Tong Xiaoyu has quite deep research in the communication field. Moreover, it is obvious that Tong Xiaoyu also has corresponding resources at the government level, which can help Light Orange to some extent.
At the Guangzhou Auto Show, Light Orange announced a long-term strategic partnership with China Unicom Guangdong Branch, mutually important partners, to carry out comprehensive and in-depth cooperation in multiple fields. Light Orange and Unicom are about to cooperate to create the first 5G smart car with a product positioning of “new terminal + new space.”
In addition to these individuals, former Department Head Designer of GAC R&D Center and Chief Designer of BaoWu Auto’s Design Department, Tian Xiaoyang, also joined Light Orange as Deputy General Manager of Design.
It is said that former Deputy Director of GAC Research Institute and Director of New Energy Vehicle Technology R&D Center and Chief Technology Officer Li Gang has also joined Light Orange. This expert has been engaged in the automotive industry for 22 years and has supported and participated in many major vehicle development projects of GAC.
It has to be said that this team is really full of talent.
The personnel of Light Orange come from first-line automobile teams in China, with more than 20 years of vehicle development experience and successful launch of multiple vehicle models. They also strictly control costs through strong supply chain integration capabilities. In addition, there are many people from the in-car system, car networking and entertainment industry, as well as from the industrial Internet, finance, technology, and ecology industries. Currently, the team has over 200 members, the vast majority of whom are three-electricity and software development personnel.
As pointed out by Bianbiao, Light Orange first borrowed the business model of technology internet companies and established a full-service ecosystem value chain of “people-car-home-enterprise.” It uses data collection, data analysis, data services, and other means to build a new terminal that is based on travel scenes and covers “perception, intelligence, service” and “people-centric.”
As for the future development direction, Light Green Age released the “Company Vision” at the communication meeting:
- Master the core technology, build unique products, and construct an intelligent service platform + full-value chain service ecological system;
- Extend products, form future smart travel application scenarios, and establish differentiated competitive advantages;
- Solidify the business ecosystem and expand the combination of value-added, derivative products, and services.
The first wave of new energy vehicle production was policy-driven, driving the industry to achieve leapfrog development. The second wave, however, is driven entirely by demand. In their view, “although there are many new energy brands on the current market, the high-quality electric vehicle market that the public can truly accept is still a blank space.”
And this is Light Green Age’s opportunity.
Debut of the First Pure Electric Car
At the Guangzhou Auto Show ten days later (November 19th), Light Green Age presented its first answer – the first smart technology “new species VC”.
This is an electric compact SUV that looks a little like the Volkswagen ID.3, which is in line with Light Green Age’s product positioning.
There are many things to look forward to in this new car:
Firstly, the car is equipped with ultra-fast charging technology. Charging for 8 minutes can drive 200 kilometers. What does this mean?
Guangzhou Automobile Group Aion’s ultra-fast battery technology can achieve 5-minute charging, with actual driving of 207 kilometers. Behind this technology is a high-voltage platform of 880V and a supercharge of 480kW.
Secondly, to address winter battery decay, Light Green Age says it has used innovative technology that greatly enhances winter resistance and effectively improves users’ travel anxiety.
By the looks of it, the QING CHENG era still has a relatively strong technical foundation.
According to Mu Lu, modularity, entertainment, and personalization are the “new species” of QING CHENG era products. Through modular design, users can have a greater sense of participation in cars: for example, “unique central armrest components,” and gaming-style steering wheels…
What was not mentioned earlier is that the new car is based on the QING CHENG era’s first technical platform — the first generation of pure electric platform EEZI STEP1.0.
Regarding this platform, the currently known information is: products under the platform will adopt a cage-type body structure, flexible chassis, and battery pack design, and cover multiple levels of pure electric vehicle models for expansion.
This brings great imagination space for the QING CHENG era.
As for production and manufacturing, QING CHENG adopts the “light assets” operation mode, which has the advantage of being able to focus resources on research and development and save money. On the other hand, it can also help QING CHENG era quickly push products to the market.
Currently, the new car is in the pre-production car stage, and is expected to be launched and start shipping in the second half of next year.
Let the Bullet Fly for a While
Overall, the QING CHENG era has a pretty fast pace. From the team’s debut to the new car debut, it took only 10 days. Next, it plans to achieve mass production and delivery of the new car in less than a year.
So, can QING CHENG era become the “fiercest wave” among the new forces, as it claims?
Responding with a line from that classic movie: “let the bullets fly for a while.”
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.