AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)11/29 Report--

Zhejiang Geely Holdings Group Co., Ltd. ("Geely Holdings") and Weilai Holdings Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Hangzhou on November 29th. The two sides will carry out comprehensive cooperation in many fields, such as battery standards, technology, network construction and operation, R & D and customization of power exchange models, battery asset management and operation, except in the field of TOC. Weilai will also enter the field of operating vehicles.

According to the contents of the agreement, the two sides will effectively cooperate with stock sites and new sites to build a larger and unified power exchange network through the mode of "co-investment, co-construction, sharing and co-operation". The two sides will join hands to create two major power exchange standard systems of "private cars" and "operating vehicles" in China, so as to provide more convenient, perfect and safe services for users with different needs. The landmark significance of the cooperation between Geely Holdings and Weilai is that the NIO Power power exchange system is about to move from to C to serving both B and C at the same time, and to serve other brands at the same time. NIO Power's profit is expected, and even will begin to feed back.

A week ago, on November 22, Changan Automobile and Weilai Guanxuan reached a cooperation agreement on power exchange business. The two sides will cooperate in four areas: unifying battery packs, jointly establishing power exchange system, jointly building battery asset management mechanism, and jointly developing power exchange model products. According to the agreement, the two sides will jointly promote the establishment of exchange battery standards. On the basis of a unified battery package standard, Changan Automobile will jointly develop interchangeable models with Lai Motor. The first interchangeable passenger car model of Changan Automobile, which shares battery packs with Lulai Motors, is scheduled to be launched in 2025.

Just the day before the contract was signed, Li Bin said in an internal speech that in addition to Changan Automobile, there were 4-5 companies in the back. A few days later, Geely Holdings also announced cooperation with Xilai, as more and more car companies joined the electricity exchange system. The electricity exchange network is gradually moving towards the power exchange sharing network, and the "power exchange alliance" has initially taken shape.

For a long time, the market has never stopped questioning the sustainability of the power exchange business. on the one hand, the cost of changing the power station is high, and every year it needs to pay a huge amount of investment to change the construction of the power station, which leads to sustained huge losses. on the other hand, the improvement of charging speed has reduced the profit space of changing power stations. In addition, there is also a model compatibility problem in the Weilai power station, which makes it difficult to adapt more automobile companies to amortize costs, which makes it more difficult for Weilai to break even.

According to relevant data, as of November 20, there were a total of 2103 exchange power stations across the country, with 798 new ones this year. According to the plan, this year, Xilai Automobile will have a total of 2300 power stations. According to officials, the third generation of power stations can basically break even from 60 to 60 a day. At present, about 20% of the replacement stations have reached the standard, and power exchange can only produce economies of scale to reduce operating costs. Therefore, with the addition of Changan and Geely, the supply chain costs and operating costs of power exchange can also be shared, so that the Weilai power station can be profitable more quickly.

However, the ideal is very full, the opening up of power exchange cooperation is only the first step, and it will take a long time to make a profit. There are many reasons. First of all, as the core component, the battery package not only affects the appearance of the vehicle model and related communication protocols, wiring harness and other aspects, but also affects the development level of software and hardware, how to achieve a unified standard for the Weilai power station, so as to achieve the seamless connection of power exchange between the major brands, which also takes time to run-in. In addition, according to Li Bin, the fourth generation power station facing the mass market, while the one, two, and three generation power stations currently in use will not be open to the public, which means that the future still needs to invest a lot of money and time to build. However, with the participation of Changan, Geely and other enterprises, the development and layout time of the fourth generation power station may be greatly shortened.

The era of fighting alone has passed, and car companies should speed up innovation and embrace competition through cooperation. The cooperation between automobile enterprises precisely shows that no enterprise can have the core leading capabilities of intelligence, networking and electrification at the same time. Cooperation in competition and competition in cooperation will become the standard of the new industry. Only through open cooperation, deep integration, and giving full play to the long board effect, can Chinese and foreign car companies and new and old forces create high-quality products that meet the needs of users and continuously enhance the global competitiveness of China's intelligent network and new energy vehicles.

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