A translation of 文｜胡啦圈 in English Markdown
2022 is destined to be another year of vigorous development in new energy vehicles. However, we should also be alert to the fact that the growth rate began to taper off quietly in the first three quarters of the year. From June to September, the year-on-year growth rate of monthly sales of new energy vehicles slowed from 130% to about 80%, and the market share also temporarily stopped at 30%, where it had been surging to.
From a non-mainstream pursuit in the past to occupying 30% of the market now, new energy vehicles have crossed the first hurdle, with the seeds growing into saplings and basking in the sunlight. However, as the infancy period ends and enters the second half of the game, the remaining 70% of the market presents a new challenge, requiring the new energy camp to make a fresh start.
In the early stage of the new energy trend, electric vehicles were just becoming familiar to people. Their unique experience and trendy image attracted some adventurous consumers. But the key to conquering the majority of more practical and rational ordinary people lies in trust, reputation, and service.
Therefore, until the market completes this transitional transformation, the growth rate of the new energy market share has temporarily slowed down and stuck at 30%. However, some people have already realized the changes electric vehicles need to make to move towards mainstream. Recently, at the 5th Import Expo held in Shanghai, FAW-Toyota introduced the bZ4X, which was just launched on October 25, and the bZ3, which was shown for the first time in public as a real car.
The bZ4X and bZ3 from FAW-Toyota are the first array of Toyota’s pure electric exclusive bZ series, consisting of SUVs and sedans as the first wave of attack. Leveraging the development efficiency of the e-TNGA architecture, FAW-Toyota quickly realized the transition from “bZ” to “bZs”: bZ4X and bZ3, which are like left and right pure electric punches, met with consumers at the Import Expo. FAW-Toyota’s pure electric exclusive series galloped in, making the newly slowed market of new energy appear to have regained its bottom.
Only time will tell whether it’s reliable or not
In the early stage of the birth and development of electric vehicles, the most critical driving force comes from new automobile brands. For the first batch of adventurous users, electric vehicles are often not the only private cars, and the tolerance for product reliability and design completeness are relatively high. Therefore, these new brands are willing to adopt innovative, even bizarre designs and fancy but not necessarily practical functional configurations.
When the group that prefers novelty without considering practicality and cost has been completely absorbed, facing the remaining 70% of more rational and cautious consumers, the situation reverses. New brands generally do not have enough time and sales to accumulate word-of-mouth reputation. They may have negative reviews like spontaneous combustion in the early stages. The overly flamboyant appearance and configuration may not be appetizing for mainstream consumers.Despite the soaring oil prices this year, the market share of new energy vehicles has only increased to around 30%, and the explosive growth rate compared to the previous two years has inevitably slowed down. For the mainstream public, there are so many electric vehicle models on the market that it’s difficult to find one that is trustworthy, worry-free, and without concern.
At this time, First Automobile Works Toyota (FAW Toyota) has launched its long-awaited pure electric bZ series exclusively for electric vehicles. It not only takes advantage of the opportunity of a gradual market style shift, but also solves the burning issue of mainstream consumers’ vehicle selection this year. With the quality and reputation accumulated by Toyota in over 20 years in China, the FAW Toyota bZ4X and bZ3 are just right.
In fact, Toyota has always been a pioneer in automobile electrification. The first practical hybrid car was created by Toyota when it converted from pure gasoline to electrification. In the past 25 years, Toyota’s hybrid technology has undergone four technical upgrades. Due to the consistent insistence on safety and reliability as the core requirement, Toyota’s electrified models have never experienced a major battery accident in 25 years.
For FAW Toyota bZ4X, safety, reliability, and durability are still the top priorities. For the most critical battery system, FAW Toyota has set a goal of “90% battery capacity retention rate after 10 years” for its research and development. With a total investment of 8.5 billion yuan, FAW Toyota’s new energy independent factory has industry-leading technology and lean manufacturing inherited from Toyota, achieving high standards of manufacturing, high-quality vehicles, high efficiency of production, and zero pollution.
Whether or not a product is well-designed depends on whether users find it valuable. Reliability and trustworthiness are the basic factors that lead to good word-of-mouth, but the product itself must also be worth users’ active selection in order to continue the good reputation. What users actually need and what kinds of configurations users can really use are the key factors. The flashy, complicated, and useless functions that are common in electric vehicles on the market have become a discouraging factor for more mainstream and rational consumers. Beautiful product promotion videos are no match for users’ actual experiences.“`md
As the first SUV based on the e-TNGA pure electric exclusive architecture under FAW Toyota, bZ4X utilizes the flexibility of electric motor layout and adopts front and rear dual-motor four-wheel drive (four-wheel drive version). Based on this, FAW Toyota has developed the X-MODE four-wheel drive off-road assist mode and Grip-control intelligent crawl mode for bZ4X, using the natural advantages of pure electricity to endow bZ4X with mild off-road capability.
For users in areas with sufficient sunlight, FAW Toyota also offers a solar charging dome for bZ4X, which can provide up to 1750km of equivalent range per year. Coupled with the external discharge function of pure electric vehicles, the light off-road capability of bZ4X, and the large space of SUV models, bZ4X has become an excellent outdoor camping companion.
In terms of intelligence, FAW Toyota has equipped bZ4X with Toyota TSS 3.0 safety system as standard. FAW Toyota has always regarded the safety of drivers and passengers as the top priority. The development and utilization of intelligent driving systems are not used as attention-grabbing gimmicks or to sell OTA after-sales payments to users, but are regarded as basic safety configurations that benefit every bZ4X car owner.
As the first bZ series pure electric exclusive model, FAW Toyota bZ4X completely draws the line between oil-to-electric transformation, and uses the Ningde era ternary lithium battery flatly laid on the chassis to provide up to 615km of range. Simple and crude stacking of batteries is not FAW Toyota’s style, but instead uses the high-efficiency driving experience accumulated in hybrid vehicles to reduce power consumption to only 11.6kwh/100km.
With bZ4X officially on the market, FAW Toyota brought the first pure electric medium-sized car bZ3 to this year’s CIIE, with a dual-layout of sedan and SUV, which shows FAW Toyota’s high-level serious attitude.
“`For a globally renowned automaker like Toyota, the transition from conventional internal combustion engines to pure electric vehicles has always been a constant process. Just as over two decades ago, Toyota started the hybrid era, which actually opened the door to electrification for the entire industry.
Favorable to market changes, FAW Toyota has taken the opportunity to fully enter the new energy vehicle market when the share of new energy vehicles increased from 30% to 70%. The fully prepared bZ pure electric exclusive series and bZ4X models not only meet the practical needs and attract mainstream customers, but also support the new energy market at this critical and delicate moment.
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.