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Editor | Qin Yan

"for owners of new energy vehicles, what worries them most about long-distance self-driving during holidays? "

The answer, of course, is the battery life anxiety and the charging problem. Although the number of public charging piles in China has increased steadily in recent years, due to the uneven distribution of charging piles and the surge in the number of pure electric vehicles, it is still very difficult for car owners to charge, especially during the long holidays. highways, rest stops and so on are even more difficult to find.

To this end, many netizens have proposed that if a new energy vehicle can be like a mobile phone, it only needs to "rent" a nearby shared portable battery to replenish the battery when there is no power, which may greatly ease the driver's anxiety about battery life. In fact, this kind of car "portable battery" already exists in the industry.

As early as 2017, Weilai launched a NIOPower plug-in car. After several years of development, today's new energy vehicle "mobile charging" devices seem to be hot again, whether it is the power grid, car companies, or entrepreneurs, are stepping up the development of similar products.

During the Spring Festival last year, State Grid has already arranged mobile charging cars in some high-speed service areas for six new energy vehicles to charge at the same time; not long ago, State Grid launched the first batch of intelligent mobile energy storage and charging robots in Yixing, Wuxi; FAW Red Flag, Volkswagen, and so on, have also launched similar charging devices.

According to people in the investment field, the new energy vehicle "portable battery" contains the hottest concepts such as sharing economy, intelligence and robots, so it is also highly sought after by capital, attracting many small and medium-sized enterprises to step in and try to seize the wind of the industry.

So, what is the prospect of portable battery, a new energy vehicle? Can it completely solve the problem that it is difficult to charge new energy vehicles? What kind of constraints and bottlenecks does the development of this market face?

"01" can be dispatched on demand, the main account "portable battery"? "I think this (mobile charging equipment for new energy vehicles) can be said to be the best solution to alleviate the charging problem at present."

Talking about the popularity of new energy vehicle "portable battery" devices, Wei Hang, the technical director of a car charging equipment operator in Shenzhen, said that now the mobile devices of new energy vehicles have developed into a 2.0 era, compared with the huge size of the previous generation of equipment. usually with the help of transport vehicle scheduling, the new generation of equipment is very small.

For example, the mobile plug-in cars that were arranged in the high-speed service area during the holidays belong to the first generation of products. At present, the second generation equipment of most enterprises is usually only half a DC charging pile, and is equipped with movable wheels, so it is very convenient to move and dispatch.

"more intelligent products can even achieve call scheduling and self-replenishment in charging stations." Weihang said that at present, although the scale of domestic public charging piles is increasing year by year, the growth rate is weak and unevenly distributed, and the speed of new pile construction still can not catch up with the growth rate of new energy vehicles.

Because of this, he is very sure that the flexible and compact mobile charging equipment for new energy vehicles has a good development prospect. Relevant data show that in 2022, the domestic public charging infrastructure will increase by about 650000 units, and the cumulative number has reached 1.8 million units.

However, figures released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers on January 12 show that domestic sales of new energy vehicles in 2022 were 6.88 million. On January 11, the Ministry of Public Security released the latest statistics that the number of new energy vehicles in China has reached 13.1 million.

"although the complimentary charging piles that come with the car are growing rapidly, car owners can't carry a pile when they drive long distances." Weihang said that this explains why there are long queues of high-speed service areas and urban charging stations when it comes to short holiday.

On the other hand, in some central urban areas with large charging demand, limited by site approval, planning, and high rental costs, it is very difficult to build new piles in a short period of time, while a large number of charging piles located in the suburbs are not visited for many years, resulting in a large waste of charging resources.

Large-scale construction of public charging piles in the high-speed service area only serves the charging peak of the holiday holiday every year, and the input-output ratio is obviously not cost-effective.

Because of this, the mobile charging devices of new energy vehicles that can be dispatched have the opportunity to display their talents.

"in the central area of a big city, there is a great demand for charging, but the rent for the construction of public charging piles is expensive and the progress is slow, but with mobile charging equipment, there is no need to build them. A few charging stations and parking lots can be put directly into the existing charging stations and parking lots during the peak period. you can solve the charging problem."

When it comes to the long holiday, car owners return home one after another, the demand for charging in the high-speed service area is large, and the demand in the urban central area is reduced, the charging equipment can be transferred to the service area, charging stations near highway entrances and exits, and public parking lots for support.

In addition, in some shopping mall complex parking lots, mobile charging equipment can also be used instead of fixed charging equipment planning, which can make rational use of parking space resources.

On the one hand, avoid vacant parking spaces with charging piles during peak hours, and on the other hand, avoid charging parking spaces occupied by ordinary fuel vehicles. Mobile charging equipment can be dispatched anywhere to recharge the vehicle.

Thus it can be seen that thanks to the characteristics of flexibility and schedulability, the launch of new energy vehicle mobile charging equipment can indeed alleviate the difficulty of new energy vehicle owners to travel and charge to a certain extent. However, compared with the fixed public charging piles, the cost of charging the car "portable battery" is also quite high.

The charging price of "02" is several times more expensive? "customers adjust charges according to their own operating costs. At present, the mainstream of the industry is 5-8 yuan per kilowatt-hour of electricity."

Compared with the charge of fixed DC fast charge and AC slow charge pile, which varies from 0.6 million yuan per kilowatt-hour, the charging cost of mobile charging equipment for new energy vehicles is obviously much higher. However, Li Ying, head of a new energy charging equipment manufacturer in Guangzhou, said that this is related to the high manufacturing and operating costs of the equipment.

Li Ying explained that at present, the mainstream mobile charging equipment for new energy vehicles in the industry has a built-in battery capacity between 80,160 kilowatt-hours (kWh). It can charge 2 pure electric vehicles (if there are two A0 pure electric micro cars and one ordinary compact electric vehicle).

The battery used for energy storage by mobile charging equipment is the same as the single battery that makes up the power battery of new energy vehicles. at present, the procurement cost of 1 kilowatt-hour battery in the industry is between 800 and 1200 yuan, therefore, a mobile charging device with 80 kilowatt hours, the cost of the energy storage part has reached at least 64,000 to 72,000 yuan.

"not counting the boost system, if you still want to achieve intelligent functions such as call scheduling and automatic recharging, the cost will be even higher. The ex-factory price of an intelligent mobile charging device with 80 kilowatt-hours of electricity will not be less than 120000 yuan." Li Ying revealed that the price of ordinary 120kW DC quick-charging piles is only 50-60, 000 yuan, and in some cities, there is a subsidy of 1, 000-2, 000 yuan per car for new piles.

In addition, when a mobile charging device charges a vehicle, it needs to go through a step-up process, and there is a certain loss of charging efficiency. In other words, a device with 80 kilowatt-hours of electricity can only release about 72 kilowatt-hours of electricity for the vehicle to recharge. naturally, the loss of electricity will also be attributed to the owner.

"as for the energy replenishment of mobile charging devices themselves, most of them are also quickly charged through public DC charging piles."

Li Ying said that compared with the fixed DC fast charging pile, the mobile device has experienced energy replenishment and step-up charging, resulting in greater power consumption.

Therefore, she believes that the charge of 5-8 yuan per kilowatt-hour for charging a vehicle with a mobile charging device is actually not high. "at present, the highest charge in the industry is charging 12 yuan per kilowatt-hour, and operators have to guarantee profits."

On the other hand, the mobile devices produced by the company are aimed at charging stations with large passenger flow but limited sites and fast charging piles, flexible allocation of charging resources, as well as special mobile charging equipment rental and operation organizations. put charging equipment through sharing with charging stations and parking lots.

By charging the vehicle with a mobile charging device, the output current can reach more than 60 amperes. therefore, the new energy vehicle is fully charged with 80% of the electricity, which takes about the same time as the fixed DC fast charging pile, and the equipment itself takes only one hour to replenish energy.

However, when it comes to whether the mobile charging equipment for new energy vehicles is too expensive and charging too high, Li Ying said that at present, manufacturers, including his company, are also trying to use cascade recycled pure electric vehicle power batteries to make similar devices to reduce costs.

"the equipment is said to be flexible, but it doesn't need to be as mobile as a car. Using echelon cells, the same capacity and volume will be larger, but the cost will be reduced, and it is also economical. The retired power battery also has a new way to solve the big problems in the industry."

Li Ying said that if recycled cells can be used reasonably to make mobile charging devices, coupled with the gradual popularization of equipment, the cost for car owners to use equipment to charge their vehicles may be reduced to less than 5 yuan per degree, but it will still be higher than fixed piles. After all, the operating costs of manufacturing are there.

"03" can only make money three times a year? So, the large account "portable battery" such a high charging fee, there are really consumers to pay the bill?

A dozen car owners were randomly questioned in the group of friends of several new energy car brands, and the answer is almost the same: if you encounter full charging posts in the service area on the way back to your hometown during a long-distance self-driving or long holiday, if you encounter a mobile charging device, you may grit your teeth and use it once, but you won't use it usually.

Obviously, new energy vehicle mobile charging devices, like the increasingly expensive sharing portable battery, are emergency in the eyes of consumers, and will try to avoid charging high-priced electricity if possible. For operators of mobile charging devices, it is an one-off business.

However, under the packaging of the concepts of new energy superimposed sharing economy and artificial intelligence, the long-existing but lukewarm car mobile charging equipment race track has attracted many enterprises to join and try to dig gold crazily on the new energy supply tuyere.

"probably after the Spring Festival this year, a large number of car owners have returned home after three years, and the problem of high-speed charging is prominent, so that enterprises see the business opportunities for mobile charging. There are not only charging equipment manufacturers, but also small and medium-sized entrepreneurs." Charging pile industry analyst Gary revealed that in the past to do large "portable battery", either the power grid national team, or the head of the car company, the capital is very abundant.

Now, with the growing heat of the track, many familiar charging pile manufacturers have begun to transform and develop similar products. "some friends used to make charging piles and rescue fast charging equipment, but now they have enlarged the energy storage battery of the rescue equipment. I've made a mobile charging robot, and I'm ready to go into production next."

As for charging station operators who have been in the charging pile industry for a long time, Gary admitted that they are rarely interested in similar mobile charging robots. After all, station operators all know that the charging industry pays attention to small profits and quick turnover, and the operating cost of mobile charging equipment is too high, so it is difficult to attract car owners to use it.

"at best, I will only rent one or two units in an emergency during the long holiday when there is a large demand for charging, so as to make a quick profit." On the contrary, there are many small and medium-sized entrepreneurs who do not understand the mode of operation of the industry, choose to do mobile charging equipment rental business, "this is an asset-heavy operation, and there are only three long holidays a year, there will be a greater demand for charging."

Gary said that manufacturers and rental operators believe that it is a good business to put mobile charging devices into major complexes and parking lots on weekdays. However, as long as the charging fee is a few cents cheaper, the car owner will not hesitate to drive to another charging station a few kilometers away to recharge.

[conclusion] it can be seen that although there is a certain demand for the large account "portable battery" of new energy vehicles, it is only during the long holiday season that portable battery's mobile charging devices with similar business bottlenecks are shared with mobile phones, which is indeed not a new industry outlet.

With the rapid surge in the number of new energy vehicles, the layout of charging infrastructure is also gradually improving. No matter how many concepts are superimposed on the large "portable battery", it can not change the nature of its transitional products. You must think twice before following the trend.

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: know Notes (ID:dongdong_note), author: know who you are.

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