It is well known that Tesla owners have no peace of mind every day. As soon as they get their new cars, they worry about being betrayed. Just a few days ago, everyone must have been bombarded with news of Tesla’s price reduction again. Tesla “did not hesitate” to directly reduce prices by tens of thousands. The new Model Y hit a historic low of 259,900 yuan, which led to a collective rights protection action by the car owners who had just taken delivery of their cars not long ago… But let’s not discuss the impact of Tesla’s price reduction on the market for now. Today, let’s take a look at this market turbulence from the perspective of friendly rivals. Take the Fleva R7, for instance. Recently, I also saw its new advertisement in the elevator, “Why settle for WHY when you can have the Fleva R7?” It’s up to everyone’s understanding whether this “WHY” refers to the “Y” of Model Y~
First of all, as a spectator, I personally think that this is a great opportunity for Fleva to gain market advantage. On the premise of having enough advantages, Fleva can further widen the gap between the two. Let’s first take a look at the price. The Model Y that can be purchased with 259,900 yuan belongs to the entry-level version, while the starting price of the Fleva R7 is over 300,000 yuan. At first glance, the comparison seems unfair, but in terms of the purchase options that consumers can choose, Fleva does a fantastic work – the separation of car and battery, and the right to replace the battery.
Wow, this solves two problems at once: first, the separation policy of Fleva’s R7 car and battery reduces the basic price of the car body by 84,000-100,000 yuan, so the basic cost of purchasing a standard R7 starts at 218,500 yuan, and consumers’ pressure to purchase in advance is even smaller. Some people may say that the monthly battery rental fee is just as much as the installments, then what’s the difference? Well, there is a difference. This brings us to the second point, which is the replaceable battery. Only those car owners who choose the separation of car and battery can enjoy the right to replace the battery, which is equivalent to widening a channel for replenishing energy. After all, the efficiency of battery replacement stations is much faster than Tesla’s so-called V3 supercharging stations. Therefore, I think that in terms of both the pressure of early purchase and the actual experience of later use, the R7 has formed an all-round interception on Model Y.
So I understand that Tesla is also very worried now. The price increase is causing consumers to reject the products, and the competitiveness is obviously deficient. If the price continues to drop, those who are still waiting to buy will be even more reluctant to do so. Instead, it makes many old car owners call it quits. After all, it is still a problem of product advantage deficiency. Compared with the full-scale siege of Xpeng in terms of chip computing power and assisted driving configuration, Tesla is clearly inadequate. From this perspective, I will most likely choose Xpeng’s R7, which has a larger size, higher positioning, and richer configuration!
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.