On September 13th, Wuhan Aodong Jianghan Oceanwide Power Station changed, and the network car queued up to enter the power station for automatic power exchange. (Photo by Ni Na, an all-media reporter from Hubei Daily)
In the factory area of Baowu Group, the sky-blue first unattended heavy truck substation can realize automatic power exchange for various heavy truck models, and the whole process takes only 3 to 5 minutes. (Hubei Daily all-media reporter Ni Na correspondent Li Ying photo)
Hubei Daily All-Media Reporter Huang Lei
Book a battery on the software and drive the car to the designated power station. After a series of fully automatic operations, the electric car can be "fully charged", and the whole process only takes about 3 minutes. On September 10th, the all-media reporter of Hubei Daily witnessed this scene in Weilai Power Station near Han Street.
The scene of changing electricity is becoming more and more common in Wuhan. Nowadays, it is gradually expanding from the field of private cars to operating vehicles such as network cars and logistics vehicles, and has become a new track for new energy vehicle batteries.
Industry giants are scrambling to lay out "changing electricity"
New energy vehicles are becoming more and more popular, but the long charging time is still one of the main pain points.
In order to solve the pain point, some enterprises in the new energy industry are stepping up the construction of power stations in Han.
In November 2018, Weilai built the first power exchange station in Hubei in Wuhan. Up to now, Weilai has built 39 power exchange stations, 28 overcharge stations and 14 destination charging stations in Hubei. Geng Yanheng, general manager of Weilai Wuhan City Company, said that 20 Weilai power stations have been built in Wuhan, and will continue to be built in hot demand areas.
As more and more new energy vehicles enter the field of operating vehicles such as network cars and trucks, the power exchange mode with greatly reduced recharge time is more favored.
In 2021, Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. Passenger Car Company (hereinafter referred to as "dongfeng fengshen") joined hands with Aodong New Energy to build a city-level power exchange service network in Wuhan and bring power exchange trips into Wuhan.
On November 30th, 2021, the first batch of 100 dongfeng fengshen E70 battery-changing vehicles were put into the car and taxi market in Wuhan, and it is expected that the number will exceed 2,000 by the end of this year. By the end of August, 2022, 13 power stations had been put into operation in Wuhan.
On June 10th, 2022, the first new energy heavy truck power station in Wuhan was completed and put into use in Baowu Group. New energy heavy trucks are mainly used for logistics in the park and short-distance logistics. The power exchange station can exchange electricity for 80 new energy heavy trucks in one day, and the time for changing electricity for a single vehicle is only 3 to 5 minutes, and it is fully automatic and unattended for 24 hours. On the same day, Baowu Group teamed up with Dongfeng Company to put into use 50 new energy vehicles with 49 tons of heavy trucks at one time, which was the first time that Baowu Group put into large-scale new energy heavy trucks. At present, Baowu Group has built two heavy-duty truck-changing power stations, and the number of new energy heavy trucks has exceeded 60.
The network car receives more than 1,000 yuan per month.
How was the power exchange experience? The reporter interviewed some private car owners and network car drivers.
"It takes about the same time to change electricity as to fill a tank of oil. You don’t have to roll down the window and say’ 95 full’, just sit in the car all the time." Ms. Yu, a citizen of Wuhan, bought a battery replacement version of Weilai EC6 last year, and chose to rent the battery. The fare was reduced by 90,000 yuan. She said that there is a fuel car at home, and it is a brand-new experience to drive a new energy car with a battery-changing version. "After paying a certain monthly rent every month, you can change electricity indefinitely. I have a long commute distance, a driving mileage of more than 30,000 kilometers a year, and a very tight working time. No matter from the perspective of economy or convenience, the new energy vehicle with battery replacement is more suitable. "
An online car driver admitted that charging the online car takes about 1 hour to 2 hours, and it only takes a few minutes to change the electricity. Every hour saved will probably increase 45 yuan’s income, and it is expected to receive more than 1,000 yuan of orders every month. "This is a very good income for the network car driver."
The reporter also learned that compared with fuel trucks, the purchase cost of replacing heavy trucks is slightly more expensive, but the annual operating cost is obviously lower. It only takes one and a half years to "catch up" with the difference in car purchases.
The relevant person in charge of the Wuhan Parking Lot and New Energy Vehicle Supporting Facilities Construction Command introduced that for car owners, the power exchange mode mainly has the following advantages:
Quick recharge. With the power exchange mode, it only takes a few minutes to complete the energy supply. The new energy passenger car will take more than 5 hours to charge slowly, and it will take 1-2 hours to charge quickly. It takes 5-6 hours for new energy heavy trucks to charge quickly.
Reduce costs. Power batteries account for a high cost of new energy vehicles. According to the current price of batteries, the cost of batteries accounts for 40% to 60% of the vehicle cost. The battery is provided by lease, and the cost of car purchase will be significantly reduced.
And that service life of the battery is prolon. Battery operating companies can monitor, maintain and manage batteries in a centralized way, which is conducive to prolonging the life of power batteries and improving the safety of batteries.
For operating companies, the difference between peak and valley electricity prices can be used to reduce the charging cost. In addition, charging in the low power consumption period can also effectively reduce the power grid load.
100 power exchange stations will be built by the end of next year.
The power exchange industry is welcoming a period of rapid development.
Wuhan has continuously introduced policy support. In September 2021, the Wuhan Municipal Development and Reform Commission issued the Interim Measures for the Construction and Operation Management of Charging Infrastructure for New Energy Vehicles in Wuhan, which clearly provided support for the charging and replacing infrastructure in simplifying the examination and approval procedures, land use security, reward and compensation policies, electricity price policies, and encouraging innovation.
The state also explicitly encourages the popularization and application of the power exchange mode. In October 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the first batch of pilot cities for the application of power exchange mode in China, and Wuhan was among them.
To this end, in June 2022, the Wuhan Municipal Government issued the "Pilot Implementation Plan for the Application of New Energy Vehicle Switching Mode (2022-2023)". The plan is clear. By the end of 2023, Wuhan is expected to popularize 18,000 new energy vehicles and build 100 power stations, and strive to build a leading pilot benchmark city for the application of new energy vehicles in China, thus boosting the high-quality development of the automobile industry.
"Changing electricity will not completely replace charging, but it will be a good supplement." Zheng Peng, Secretary-General of Hubei Electric Vehicle Circulation Association, said that the charging time is short in the sub-field of network car-sharing, or in the peer-to-peer application scenario of park logistics, so it is very suitable to use the power exchange mode. Many new energy vehicle enterprises in Wu Hanyou will have more room for development in Wu Hanyou in the future.
The relevant person in charge of Wuhan parking lot and new energy vehicle supporting facilities construction headquarters said that as a pilot city for comprehensive application of new energy vehicle power exchange mode in China, in the future, Wuhan will unlock more power exchange scenarios, so that more people can learn about the convenience of new energy vehicles.