Electric vehicle consumption still needs to get rid of "range anxiety"

Recently, a press conference for the "Listening to the Voice of the People Behind Electric Vehicles - China Electric Vehicle Development Public Opinion Survey Report" hosted by Jigong Media and Electric Times Magazine was held in Beijing. Jian Linni, the author of the report and director of the Shenzhen Electric Direct Drive Technology Key Laboratory, said that my country's electric vehicle industry is in its infancy and it is urgent to conduct in-depth research on consumers to understand their views, expectations and demands on my country's electric vehicles. "Whether consumers are willing to buy electric vehicle products and services is the criterion for testing the success or failure of electric vehicle development." Jian Linni frankly stated that the purpose of writing the report is to start with clarifying consumer demand, and then effectively guide industrial development, guide market expectations, promote the matching of supply and demand, and ultimately promote the rapid and sound development of the electric vehicle industry.

The report collected nearly 50,000 valid questionnaires, revealing the problems in the early planning and market promotion of the electric vehicle industry from the perspective of consumers. The survey found that in recent years, my country has lacked popular science publicity for the public, which has led to cognitive deviations and even misunderstandings of electric vehicles among consumers. Only 28.5% of the respondents thought they understood electric vehicles, but the vast majority of consumers lacked a basic understanding of the performance and working principles of electric vehicles. Even many consumers bought electric vehicles out of helplessness under the purchase restrictions and subsidy policies.

In addition, the report summarizes some of the issues that consumers are most concerned about with electric vehicles: for example, there has been no substantial breakthrough in the core technology of power batteries; the planning and construction of charging infrastructure is not in line with consumer expectations; and car manufacturers have failed to start from the demand side and deeply explore the market potential in the segmented market.

At present, my country's basic charging facilities are still imperfect and it is inconvenient to recharge on the way. "Range anxiety" is still the biggest problem that plagues the development of electric vehicles. The survey shows that consumers generally expect electric vehicles to have a longer driving range. 48.3% of respondents expect a driving range of more than 400 kilometers, and 36.5% expect a driving range of more than 200 kilometers. "The cost of electric vehicles has always been a key factor leading to the difficulty of promotion. A longer driving range will inevitably increase the cost of batteries. Getting rid of "range anxiety" requires, on the one hand, upgrading battery capacity and improving the charging facility network, and on the other hand, anticipating the increase in car purchase costs. Whether consumers can be guided to establish reasonable expectations for driving range will be the key to narrowing the gap between supply and demand." Jian Linni said.

It is worth noting that consumers are very sensitive to the price of electric vehicles. As many as 70% of the respondents expect the price of electric vehicles to be cheaper or equivalent to that of fuel vehicles of the same level, and 60.2% of the respondents believe that government financial subsidies for car purchases can motivate them to buy electric vehicles. After June 11, the 2018 subsidy policy began to be implemented. As the subsidies for the main market models with low prices and short mileage declined, many people were not optimistic about the sales of electric vehicles in the second half of the year. In this regard, Jian Linni said that in the short term, the new subsidy policy will have a certain inhibitory effect on the demand for car purchases in the second half of the year; but in the long term, the subsidy will be tilted towards models with high mileage, which will promote the medium and large-sized new energy vehicles and the improvement of battery capacity. This optimization of the vehicle structure will drive the upgrade of the battery and supporting material system, and will also improve the manufacturing level and average mileage of electric vehicles.

"Subsidies played an important role in the early stages of industrial development, but industrial development cannot always rely on subsidies. At the current stage of development, although electric vehicles have been greatly simplified in terms of parts and components compared to fuel vehicles, their production and supply system is not mature enough and has not yet formed a scale effect, and the cost of power batteries remains high. In the future, the fiscal subsidy policy should continue to be implemented and should not be cut or cancelled too quickly. This is determined by objective reality." Jian Linni believes that the intensity and method of subsidies can be appropriately adjusted, so that car companies can maintain their enthusiasm for continuing to invest in the research and development and production of electric vehicles, while also making them feel a sense of urgency and crisis, forcing them to work hard to improve their cost control level and the overall competitiveness of their products.

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.