The story of the global EV boom is actually also the story of China’s EV boom. Lured by government subsidies, the country’s consumers are flocking to electric cars made by Tesla and its Chinese peers. Warren Buffett-backed EV giant BYD is poised to overtake Tesla as the world’s largest seller of battery-powered electric vehicles, with sales mostly domestic. With the flood of cheap EVs, China has overtaken Japan to become the world’s largest exporter of automobiles.
Elon Musk has also acknowledged that China will dominate the EV market. “There are a lot of people who think the top 10 car companies are going to be Tesla, followed by the nine Chinese car companies, and I think they’re not wrong,” Tesla’s CEO said in a recent speech. Ta. new york times meeting. “Chinese car companies are very competitive.”
One reason for this? Chinese EV manufacturers are releasing new models at a much faster pace than foreign EV manufacturers.
“For the existing international population, [original equipment manufacturers]“Typically, the service life of a product is six to eight years, and the development period is three to five years,” Zhang Fan, head of design at state-run automaker Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC), said last week. Ta. luckBrainstorm Design conference held in Macau.
Chinese companies do all this in half the time, he suggested. “If we took the same amount of time, we would have evolved twice. [does] That’s why we’re growing so fast,” he said.
“Everyone is moving forward in China. Everyone is trying to test the next big thing,” he continued.
Design changes
This speed is also giving Chinese automakers the opportunity to fundamentally rethink what cars are like. “UI, UX…these are subjects that previous generations of designers never had to worry about,” he says.
Frank Wu, head of design at self-driving brand Jiyue Auto, said that thanks to innovations in voice communication and artificial intelligence, his team was able to “remove probably 90% of traditional physical buttons.” , said he thought it resembled a “spaceship.” It’s a kind of visual design language for the cabin. ” (Jiyue is a self-driving joint venture majority-owned by Chinese automaker Geely Automobile and tech giant Baidu as a key partner.)
Features that have long been included in gasoline-powered cars are not needed in electric cars. For example, EVs do not have the same cooling requirements as cars with internal combustion engines. This means that the front grille, a standard component of gasoline-powered cars, is completely unnecessary.
Some companies are considering designing cars around battery swaps, and instead of first waiting for a charging station to become available and then waiting for the battery to recharge, Just by inserting the battery, the EV can be quickly “charged”.
However, Wu pointed out that pursuing a battery-swapping model would also force changes to the car’s design. He suggested that cars that rely on battery swapping will require thicker designs. “This raises the hip point for the passenger seat,” he says, adding, “It makes the overall package of the car look a little taller or a little higher compared to Porsche types, which have a very low ride height and are very low. It seems like it lacks sexiness.” Wide and beautiful proportions. ”
Other automakers are also starting to take notice of the novelty of Chinese EV design from up-and-coming startups like Nio and Xpeng. “These startups have no tradition and can do something completely different,” Michael Mauer, Porsche’s chief designer, told Bloomberg in a late October interview. “It makes the decision-makers, the management committee, more open-minded.”
competition
China’s EV market is mired in fierce competition between traditional automakers like GAC, hot startups like Nio and Xpeng, and EV giants like BYD and Tesla. (Who’s not there? Japanese, American, and German automakers who were slow to recognize China’s growing demand for electric vehicles.) The sector is in a price war as companies try to grab market share. I’m depressed.
Guangzhou Automobile Group is a latecomer to China’s EV market, having just launched a division specializing in EV development in 2017. “We feel left behind,” Zhang said. The Chinese government has been promoting the development of electric vehicles for more than a decade, providing billions of dollars in subsidies for both production and consumption, creating a political embarrassment for GAC.
“We are a state-owned company, but our performance was not very good. So we feel guilty, so we had to do something,” he said.
Wu pointed out that cars are expensive and more like buying a house than a phone. “There are a lot of things that people emotionally connect with when they look at a car.” Cars may be cheap and technologically advanced, but “if they don’t look good… that’s not going to motivate someone to buy the product.” I think.”
Meanwhile, Zhang observed that most Chinese EV companies have settled on similar designs, such as removing the front grille, even as they try to carve out a unique identity. He said, “What everyone is trying to do is [have a] It’s a new look, but…this new look is very similar to each other,” he said.
GAC executives also admitted they weren’t sure whether good design alone was enough to win in China’s highly competitive EV market. “We have to be realistic. Designers don’t make decisions. We are supporters. We are advisors. But we don’t have the power to decide.” he said.