Electric car time-sharing rental: a tough piece of cake

Electric car time-sharing rental (also known as "shared cars") meets the travel needs of some people because of its environmental safety and high cost-effectiveness. However, the cake of electric car time-sharing rental seems to be big, but the threshold is higher than that of shared bicycles, so this cake is not so easy to "bite": the market development is far from mature, and the profit model and operation management experience are relatively lacking, which poses many challenges to enterprises. Recently, this newspaper investigated the operation model and user experience of time-sharing rental, and discussed with industry insiders the possibility of electric car time-sharing rental as a future green travel mode.

User: Great value for money, why not?

Shared cars have profoundly changed Ms. Zhu’s way of traveling.

Ms. Zhu, who lives in Beijing, did not buy a car because she did not get a license plate number. However, she does not think that not buying a car will have any impact on her quality of life - electric car time-sharing rental can basically meet all her travel needs. As an old user of a car-sharing platform for nearly three years, Ms. Zhu believes that the biggest advantage of car-sharing is that it is very convenient to travel in Beijing, especially within the Fifth Ring Road. "It only costs more than 100 yuan to drive from Fengtai District to the airport. On weekends, when the whole family goes out to play, the daily rental is less than 100 yuan no matter how far we go. It is much more cost-effective than taking a taxi or chartering a car."

Hao Yan, who lives in Chongqing, has her own car, but she is also a user of the car-sharing platform - Panda Car. She told reporters that when her family car needs maintenance or when there are not enough cars for friends from other places, she will choose to rent a shared car. She thinks the good thing about car-sharing is that "if the Ant Credit score reaches a certain standard, you can use the car directly without a deposit." "And you can see the remaining power of each car on the App, and you can choose a car according to the distance you want to go. It's very convenient."

The vehicles are unattended, and the whole process of using the car is operated by an app. The "minutes + kilometers" calculation and the provision of car-ready-to-use and time-sharing rental services have made many people, especially young people, favor shared cars. Take the electric car time-sharing rental app "EVCARD" that started in Shanghai as an example. The daily rental price of 0.5 yuan/minute or 180 yuan/day is more economical than taxis, and the car models range from BMW i3 to Chery EQ, meeting the different needs and experiences of users.

"The purchase cost of new energy vehicles is high, but the operating costs such as electricity prices and maintenance fees are low. Using new energy vehicles for time-sharing leasing can increase profit margins and meet environmental protection requirements." Wang Binggang, director of the Technical Committee of the National Electric Passenger Vehicle Technology Innovation Alliance and leader of the expert group of the National New Energy Vehicle Innovation Project, once said.

Enterprises: There are many challenges and the business model is still being explored

Analysys International believes that the booming new energy vehicle industry has provided good development opportunities for the time-sharing leasing sector. The participation of car companies has reduced the vehicle costs of time-sharing leasing. With the continuous advancement of the new energy vehicle industry, the increase in vehicle range and public charging stations will be more conducive to the comprehensive development of time-sharing leasing.

Due to the need to sell and promote new energy vehicles, many vehicle manufacturers such as BAIC and SAIC have begun to layout the time-sharing rental market. Many Internet startups are also competing to share the market. Currently, time-sharing rental companies are mainly divided into three categories: companies with car company backgrounds, such as GreenGo with BAIC's new background, Gofun of Shouqi, EVCARD with SAIC background, and Panda Car Rental of Chongqing Lifan; Internet startups, such as Youche Travel, PonyCar, Yidu Car Rental, etc.; companies with mature travel platform backgrounds, such as Shenzhou Car Rental and Mobike, etc.

As of May 2018, EVCARD has outlets in 62 cities across the country, with more than 2.4 million registered users. The official website shows that it has 3,801 outlets in Shanghai. However, compared with the shared bicycle platform, shared cars have not yet seen explosive growth, and users still reflect that the biggest problem is that there are not enough outlets.

Ms. Zhu told reporters, "There are often cases of 'car snatching' on weekends or holidays, and the lack of outlets makes it inconvenient to return the car. Some cars have poor hygiene, so I clean the car myself every time." If the round-trip journey exceeds the car's range and there are no charging stations along the way, it is easy to have the embarrassment of "resting" halfway.

In fact, the so-called "take, use and return" of shared cars is still "paper talk". The parking space is always a distance away from the destination, the car model cannot be selected at will, and other vehicles have "taken the lead" when you drive to the parking space... The lack of car models, the lack of vehicles, and the insufficient mileage are the problems faced by all cities. The lack of parking spaces is the bottleneck faced by time-sharing rental in first- and second-tier cities, and it is also the thick wall that keeps many people out of the "door" of time-sharing rental.

"The leasing model is still in its early stages of development, and business development faces many challenges. The lack of supporting resources such as car license plates, charging piles, and network layouts restricts the development of shared cars." Fan Yongyue, deputy general manager of Green Dog Car Rental, admitted in a speech in May this year that since a more suitable business model has not yet been found, the entire industry is still in the exploratory stage.

Industry: A bright future, but a long way to go

The "2017 China Car Sharing Status and Trends Report" jointly released by Southern Daily and strategic consulting firm PwC Strategy& predicts that the car-sharing market will continue to grow at an increase of more than 50% in the next five years, and the industry is expected to usher in a breakthrough development before 2020.

On August 8, 2017, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Car Rental Industry", which clearly proposed "encouraging the standardized and orderly development of time-sharing rental" and supporting the innovative model of time-sharing rental. With policy guidance and support, time-sharing rental has undoubtedly brought hope to the development of the industry.

With the relaxation of automobile joint venture equity ratios and the implementation of the "double points" policy, international competition in new energy vehicles has begun. For domestic brands, car companies that survive solely on subsidies will inevitably be eliminated, and the market environment will force domestic brands to constantly seek technological progress and service improvements.

Fan Yongyue, deputy general manager of Green Dog Car Rental, told the media that it would take some time for shared cars to develop to the current level of shared bicycles, and that three conditions must be met: first, the trinity of cars, parking spaces, and charging piles; second, the density of outlets must allow users to rent cars conveniently; and third, rental and return must be possible in different locations.

Wu Xiaoyuan, associate professor at the School of Automotive Engineering at Tongji University, believes that the connection between cars and charging piles and shared development must require collaborative innovation among government, industry, academia, research and application: the government must provide policy incentives, the community must open up resources, and users must actively participate; for operators, first, they must innovate business models (such as introducing dynamic pricing mechanisms); second, they must enrich application scenarios, expanding service objects from individuals and online car-hailing drivers to electric logistics vehicles, etc., and expanding virtual temporary dynamic outlets for time-sharing leasing operations; third, they must expand the sharing field; and fourth, they must prepare for overseas markets.

The "2017 China Car Sharing Status and Trends Report" believes that relevant companies need to establish a vehicle deployment mechanism that is suitable for local cities, and local government departments also need to introduce relevant laws and regulations in terms of improving supporting infrastructure and establishing industry order to promote the sustained and healthy development of related industries.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.