网易100天---11、New Energy Vehicle in China

Passage 1
中国新能源车销量正处于世界领先水平
China Is Leading A Surge in Electric Vehicle Sales
From ASIAINSIGHT & WEFORUM · 259 words · 2 mins
With the explosive rise of environmental awareness among citizens, and renewed convictions by the government and car makers in reducing air pollution in cities, China’s demand for new energy vehicles – referring to full battery-powered electric vehicles [EVs] and plug-in hybrid vehicles PHEVs) – has been reaching new peaks year on year . As of 2016, China dominated with 40% global market share , surpassing the US as the largest manufacturer of EVs.

The US has been slow to adopt EVs, which accounted for only 1% of its car sales in 2017. In April 2018, 20,000 passenger EVs were sold in the US, compared to 72,000 in China. While an American car buyer currently has around 40 electric-powered models to choose from, they will have 100 by 2022. Acrossthe world, almost 300 models will be on sale by then.

From 2019, vehicle manufacturers in China will effectively be forced into producing EVs through a ‘New Energy Vehicle’ credit system. This demands that they generate credits through either selling their own EVs or buying credits from other EV vendors. China’s policies to boost EV sales are part of its strategy to build a major EV industry. More EVs also mean healthier air and fewer oil imports.

By 2040, 200 million EVs will be on the road in China, accounting for 60% of its vehicles. Globally, this figure will be 559 million - a third of all cars. At this point, electric cars and buses will be displacing an estimated 7.3 million barrels of transport fuel every day.

Passage 2
新能源汽车市场即将跨入新时代
The New Energy Vehicle Market Is Entering A New Era
From NIELSEN · 467 words · 4mins

Thanks to the faster pace of opening-up and dual credit policy, the new energy market is entering a new era. Instead of being driven by favorable policies such as subsidies or license plates , its development model is shifting from policy orientation to market orientation with dramatic changes in its market structure and demands. In the future, competitiveness of products will be the key to capturing market share.

Young, Educated Consumers Turning to New Energy Vehicles

In 2017, nearly 30% of the owners of new energy vehicles were born in the 1990s, among whom over 51% hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, up 3% over the previous year. These young owners focus on practical functions such as riding convenience and comfort (35%), space (29%) and power performance (28%).

Although vehicle appearance remains a theme, they prefer a sense of technology rather than the elegance or fashion attributed to traditional fuel vehicles. They believe such technology is reflected not only in the appearance but also in electronic devices. Hence autonomous driving and connection services are popular among new energy vehicle owners. Compared with 2017, their demands for autonomous-driving and connection increase by 5 percentage points. These owners mainly desire for more open vehicle operating systems and free access to APPs, followed by continual improvements and upgrades to operating systems.

Consumers Show Higher Perception, Satisfaction and Demands

Since 2017, BEV acceptance has surpassed plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and continues to rise in 2018. Nielsen’s study in 2018 reveals about 37% of potential consumers will consider a BEV while 31% plan to select a PHEV. In the past three years, satisfaction of new energy vehicles has risen to 4.2 out of 5 in 2018, up by 0.2 pts compared to 2016.

Compared with 2017, expectations on charging time and mile range was almost 50% higher than actual. Compared to current average of 286km of max mile range and 7.3 hours of charging time for vehicles, the owners of new energy vehicles expect 442km and about 5 hours respectively . While new energy vehicles see faster improvements over fuel vehicles , owners expectations on battery technology and range are growing quickly as well.

New Energy Users Emerging in Third-Tier Cities

Unlike owners in first and second-tier cities , vehicle owners in the third-tier cities are generally older (average 35.8 years old), most of whom are married with children (80%). Their income is relatively low, and 38% of them make below RMB10,000 per month. 82% of these owners are first-time purchasers, 40% of whom bought cars priced at less than RMB100,000. Due to low price and convenience, they tend to choose to pay in full . Over 60% of potential users in third-tier cities choose sedans , and rank comfort and convenience (43%), vehicle price (27%) and maintenance cost (27%) as key factors for vehicle purchase.