Kinijoje kiekviena automobilio nanodalelė yra norimoje vietoje, Vakaruose – taip neišeina

„Geresnis autonominis vairavimas yra tik vienas iš būdų, kaip Kinijos automobilių gamintojai grasina žengti į priekį – jų elektromobiliai taip pat tampa didesni ir erdvesni.

 

     Kinijos automobilių gamintojai kuria naujos kartos didesnius, technologiškai pažangesnius ir konkurencingesnius elektromobilius, grasindami, kad jie dar labiau aplenksjų pasaulinius konkurentus, nes padidins eksportą visame pasaulyje.

 

     Dešimtys Kinijoje veikiančių automobilių kompanijų šiemet planuoja parduoti 71 naują akumuliatorių elektrinį modelį. Daugelis naujų modelių turi aukštesnius gaubtus, kad atrodytų drąsiau ir būtų daugiau vietos. Automobiliai turi didesnes padangas, kurios pagerina stabdymą. Sėdynės storesnės ir patogesnės. Baterijos yra vis mažesnės, galingesnės ir greičiau įkraunamos.

 

     Pakeitimais siekiama, kad automobiliai būtų dar patrauklesni klientams Kinijoje ir konkurencingesni užsienyje. Kartu su įkraunamais hibridiniais automobiliais, akumuliatoriniais elektriniais automobiliais pardavimus atima iš benzinu varomų automobilių ir jų gamintojų.

 

     Kinija taip pat žengia į priekį, kurdama technologijas ir taisykles, skirtas, savarankiškai važiuojantiems, automobiliams. Valdžios institucijos šią savaitę patvirtino duomenų saugumo priemones, skirtas labiau pajėgioms autonominėms transporto priemonėms. Jie patvirtino automobilius iš Tesla, Amerikos elektrinių transporto priemonių bendrovės, kuri taip pat gamina ir parduoda automobilius Kinijoje, taip pat penkis Kinijos gamintojus, įskaitant BYD, pagrindinį Tesla konkurentą pasaulyje, ir Nio, ilgametį Kinijos automobilių sektoriaus žaidėją.

 

     Patvirtinimai rodo Kinijos vyriausybės troškimą skatinti savaeigių transporto priemonių kūrimą, kurios plačiai laikomos esminėmis ateities konkurencingumui automobilių pramonėje. 

 

Ši technologija labiau suderinama su akumuliatoriniais elektromobiliais, nei su įkraunamais hibridais ar benzinu varomais automobiliais, o Kinijos kompanijos stengiasi pasivyti šių sistemų lyderę „Tesla“.

 

     Jungtinėse Valstijose „Tesla“ vadinamoji „Autopilot“ funkcija buvo daugelio vyriausybės saugumo tyrimų objektas. 

 

Tačiau Kinijoje reguliavimo institucijos ir plačioji visuomenė šią technologiją linkę vertinti, kaip saugesnę, nei pasitikėjimą žmonėmis.

 

     Kinijos automobilių gamintojai daug investuoja į pagalbos vairuotojui programinę įrangą. Elektromobilis „tampa robotu ant ratų“, – sakė Frank Wu, Jiyue dizaino viceprezidentas. 

 

Bendrovė yra bendra Kinijos automobilių gamintojo Zhejiang Geely ir vienos iš pagrindinių Kinijos dirbtinio intelekto kompanijų bei Tesla partnerės savarankiškam vairavimui Kinijoje, įmonės „Baidu“.

 

     Geresnės baterijos ir mažėjančios sąnaudos skatina Kinijos veržlumą į elektromobilius. CATL, įsikūrusi Pietryčių Kinijoje ir didžiausia pasaulyje elektromobilių akumuliatorių gamintoja, praėjusią savaitę Pekino automobilių parodoje paskelbė, kad naujausio akumuliatoriaus įkrovimas 10 minučių leis nuvažiuoti 370 mylių. 30 minučių pilnas įkrovimas leistų nuvažiuoti 620 mylių, nurodė bendrovė.

 

     Norint pasiekti šiuos atstumus, reikia ypač didelio tikslumo chemijos ir inžinerijos bei „kiekvienos nanodalelės įdėjimo į reikiamą vietą“, – sakė CATL elektromobilių verslo vyriausiasis technologijų pareigūnas Gao Huanas.

 

     Dėl pažangos automobilių gamintojai gali naudoti mažesnius akumuliatorius, atlaisvindami vietos automobilių salone, arba gali išlaikyti tokio pat dydžio akumuliatorių ir pasiekti didesnį atstumą.

 

     Didelė dalis papildomos vietos tenka didesnėms galinėms sėdynėms, turinčioms daugiau vietos kojoms.

 

     „Daugiau dėmesio skirsime galinei sėdynei – norime, kad ji būtų patrauklesnė“, – sakė Kinijos elektromobilių gamintojo „XPeng Motors“ generalinis dizaino direktorius Wang Tanas.

 

     Elektromobilių gamintojai pirmenybę teikė tam, kad automobiliai būtų kuo lengvesni, nes svoris yra tai, kas daugiausia lemia, kiek toli automobilis gali nuvažiuoti, prieš jį įkraunant. Tačiau galingesnės baterijos dabar leidžia elektromobiliams būti aukštesniems ir sunkesniems.

 

     Didesnės priekinės dalys sukuria prabangią išvaizdą, kuri priverčia daugelį pirkėjų žavėtis sportinėmis transporto priemonėmis, sakė Krisas Tomassonas, Nio dizaino viceprezidentas.

 

     „Aukštesnis frontas turi tokį prestižą“, – sakė jis.

 

     Kinijos automobilių gamintojai taip pat naudoja dizainus su daugiau kraštų, pavyzdžiui, mėlynai žalią Denza Z9GT sedaną, kurį demonstravo BYD parodoje. Jie pereina nuo lengvo, bet brangaus aliuminio ir gamina automobilius su didesne, kiek sunkesnio, bet pigesnio, plieno lydinių dalimi.

 

     Aliuminio kėbulo plokštės turi būti labiau išlenktos ir neleidžia atsirasti ryškesnių linijų, negu grįžtant prie plieno, sakė Stefanas Sielaffas, „Geely“ pasaulinio dizaino viceprezidentas. Dėl to automobiliai tampa vizualiai įspūdingesni, nes automobilių mados nukrypsta nuo ankstesnių elektromobilių apvalių formų.

 

     Klientai užsienyje ir Kinijoje tampa vis išrankesni. Daugelis perka įkraunamus hibridus, o ne tik, akumuliatoriais varomus, automobilius, nors Kinijoje abiejų rinka vis dar auga.

 

     Ne visi elektromobiliai Pekino parodoje yra didesni ir erdvesni. Xiaomi, Kinijos nebrangių išmaniųjų telefonų gamintojas demonstravo savo pirmąjį elektromobilį – sportinį sedaną SU7. Technologijų kompanija žengė žingsnį į automobilių rinką, dėl kurios „Apple“ daug metų galvojo, nieko nesiimdama.

 

     SU7 iš išorės atrodo beveik identiškas „Porsche Taycan“ elektromobiliui. Tačiau SU7 kainuoja mažiau, nei penktadalį Taycan, kuris Kinijoje svyruoja nuo 140 000 dolerių iki 275 000 dolerių.

 

     Lei Jun, „Xiaomi“ generalinį direktorių, vaikščiojantį po automobilių parodą, sekė minios gerbėjų.

 

     Kalboje SU7 pristatyme jis tryško pasitikėjimu, tačiau vis dar išreiškė susirūpinimą dėl vieno varžovo. „Išskyrus Teslą, vargu ar yra kas geresnis už mus“, – sakė jis.

 

     Kinijos automobilių vadovai nuolat išreiškia pagarbos ir baimės mišinį Teslai – automobilių gamintojui, kuris parodoje nepristatė jokių naujų automobilių. Praėjusią savaitę „Tesla“ paskelbė, kad pirmąjį šių metų ketvirtį pardavimai sumažėjo 9 procentais, o pelnas – 55 procentais, taip pat planuoja atleisti daugiau, nei dešimtadalį savo, visame pasaulyje dirbančių, darbuotojų arba 14 000 žmonių.

 

     Seniai įsitvirtinę Vakarų automobilių gamintojai, priešingai, atsilieka autonominio vairavimo srityje ir sunkiai stengiasi pasivyti elektromobilius.

 

     „General Motors“ ir „Ford Motor“ per pastaruosius penkerius metus prarado didelę savo rinkos dalį Kinijoje. „Ford“ 2020 m. Pekino automobilių parodoje pristatė daugiausiai diskusijų sukėlusį automobilį – elektromobilį „Mustang Mach-E“. Tačiau dėl administracinių problemų gamyba vėlavo daugiau, nei metus, o visuomenės susidomėjimas išgaravo.

 

     „Ford“ šiais metais nusprendė akcentuoti labai skirtingus „Mustang“ modelius, kuriuose sumontuoti stambūs penkių litrų V-8 benzininiai varikliai ir keturi išmetimo vamzdžiai.

 

     Billas Russo, buvęs „Chrysler China“ generalinis direktorius, dabar dirbantis elektromobilių pramonės konsultantu Šanchajuje, teigė, kad „Tesla“ tapo vienintele stipria pasauline varžove iš Jungtinių Valstijų elektromobilių rinkoje.

 

     „Jei Tesla kada nors mirs, visa elektromobilių rinka miršta kartu su ja Jungtinėse Valstijose“, – sakė jis.

 

     Įsisteigusios įmonės Europoje taip pat susiduria su didžiuliais iššūkiais. Kinijos elektromobilių eksportas į Europą auga, todėl Europos Sąjunga pradėjo tyrimą, ar jie nesąžiningai subsidijuojami.

 

     Ralfas Brandstätteris, „Volkswagen China“ generalinis direktorius, ragino Kinijos gamintojus pirkti automobilių dalis Europoje ir ten jas surinkti, pasitelkus Europos darbuotojus.

 

     „Tada jie turi dirbti su Europos darbo jėga, Europos įmonėmis ir turi konkuruoti toje pačioje aplinkoje, kurioje konkuruojame mes“, – sakė jis. Kinija taikė didelius tarifus ir kitas priemones, reikalaudama, kad tarptautinės įmonės gamintų automobilius Kinijoje Kinijos rinkai.

 

     Kinijos elektromobiliai vyksta toliau į JAV.

 

     „Geely“ iš Kinijos eksportuoja savo „Polestar 2“ į JAV ir už tai moka 27,5 proc. muitą. Ji taip pat pradeda eksportuoti savo naująjį „Polestar 3“, prieš planuojamą gamybos perkėlimą į surinkimo liniją, kuri bus baigta šią vasarą Pietų Karolinoje." [1]

1. China’s Electric Cars Keep Improving, a Worry for Rivals Elsewhere. Bradsher, Keith.  New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. May 1, 2024.

In China each nanoparticle of a car is in desired place, in the West - nor at all

"More capable autonomous driving is just one way Chinese automakers are threatening to pull ahead — their E.V.s are also becoming bigger and roomier.

Automakers in China are building a new generation of bigger, more technologically advanced and competitive electric cars, threatening to leap further ahead of their global rivals as they step up exports around the world.

The dozens of car companies operating in China plan to put 71 new battery electric models on sale this year. Many new models have taller hoods for a bolder appearance and more storage space. The cars have bigger tires that improve braking. The seats are thicker and more comfortable. The batteries are ever smaller, more powerful and quicker to recharge.

The changes are aimed at making the cars even more appealing for customers in China and more competitive abroad. Along with plug-in hybrid cars, battery electric cars are taking sales away from gasoline-powered cars and their manufacturers.

China is also moving ahead with the technology and regulations for self-driving cars. The authorities approved data security arrangements this week for more capable autonomous vehicles. They approved cars from Tesla, the American electric vehicle company that also builds and sells cars in China, as well as five Chinese manufacturers, including BYD, Tesla’s principal global rival, and Nio, a longtime player in China’s auto sector.

The approvals show the Chinese government’s eagerness to push the development of self-driving vehicles, which are widely seen as central to future competitiveness in the car industry. The technology is more compatible with battery electric cars than with plug-in hybrids or gasoline-powered cars, and Chinese companies are trying to catch up with Tesla, the leader in these systems.

In the United States, Tesla’s so-called Autopilot feature has been the subject of a series of government safety investigations. But in China, regulators and the general public have tended to see the technology as safer than relying on human drivers.

Chinese automakers have been investing heavily in driver-assistance software. An electric car “is becoming a robot on wheels,” said Frank Wu, the vice president of design at Jiyue. The company is a joint venture of Zhejiang Geely, a Chinese automaker, and Baidu, one of China’s main artificial intelligence companies and Tesla’s partner in its self-driving efforts in China.

Better batteries and falling costs underpin China’s push in electric cars. CATL, based in southeastern China and the world’s largest manufacturer of electric car batteries, announced last week at the Beijing auto show that a 10-minute charge of its newest battery would give a range of 370 miles. A 30-minute full charge would give a range of 620 miles, the company said.

Achieving these distances involves extremely high-precision chemistry and engineering and “putting each nano-particle in the right place,” said Gao Huan, the chief technology officer of CATL’s electric car business.

The advances have meant automakers can use smaller batteries, freeing up space in cars’ interiors, or they can keep the battery the same size and achieve greater range.

Much of the extra space is going into larger back seats with more legroom.

“We’re going to put more focus on the backseat — we want to make it more appealing,” said Wang Tan, the general manager of design at XPeng Motors, a Chinese electric car manufacturer.

Manufacturers of electric vehicles used to put a priority on keeping cars as light as possible, because weight is what mostly matters for how far a car can go before needing a recharge. But more powerful batteries now allow electric vehicles to be taller and heavier.

Bigger front ends create a luxurious appearance that taps into many buyers’ admiration of sport utility vehicles, said Kris Tomasson, vice president of design at Nio.

“A higher front has that prestige,” he said.

Chinese automakers are also embracing designs with more edges, like a blue-green Denza Z9GT sedan displayed at the show by BYD. They are shifting away from lightweight but costly aluminum and building cars with a higher proportion of slightly heavier but cheaper steel alloys.

Aluminum body panels need to be more curved and do not allow for the sharper lines possible with a return to steel, said Stefan Sielaff, Geely’s vice president of global design. The effect is to make the cars more visually striking as automotive fashions shift away from the rounded shapes on previous electric cars.

Customers overseas as well as in China are getting pickier. Many are buying plug-in hybrids instead of cars powered only by batteries, although the markets for both are still growing in China.

Not all the electric cars at the Beijing show are bigger and roomier. Xiaomi, a Chinese producer of inexpensive smartphones, displayed its first electric car, the SU7 sports sedan. The tech company has made a move into the car market that Apple has mulled for many years without undertaking.

The SU7 looks almost identical from the outside to a Porsche Taycan electric car. But it costs less than a fifth of a Taycan, which ranges in China from $140,000 to $275,000.

Lei Jun, the chief executive of Xiaomi, was followed by a crowd of admirers as he walked around the auto show.

He exuded confidence in a speech at the SU7 introduction while still expressing worry about one rival. “Except Tesla, there seems to be hardly anyone better than us,” he said.

Chinese auto executives consistently express a mixture of respect and fear of Tesla, an automaker that did not introduce any new cars at the show. Last week, Tesla announced a 9 percent fall in sales and a 55 percent drop in profits in the first quarter of this year, and plans to lay off more than a tenth of its worldwide employees, or 14,000 people.

Long-established Western automakers, by contrast, lag in autonomous driving and are struggling to catch up in electric cars.

General Motors and Ford Motor have lost much of their market share in China over the past five years. Ford introduced the most-talked-about car at the Beijing auto show in 2020, the Mustang Mach-E electric car. But administrative problems led to more than a year of production delays, and public interest evaporated.

Ford decided this year to emphasize very different Mustangs, equipped with hulking five-liter V-8 gasoline engines and four exhaust pipes.

Bill Russo, a former chief executive of Chrysler China who is now an electric car industry consultant in Shanghai, said Tesla had emerged as the sole strong global contender from the United States in the electric vehicle market.

“If they ever died, the whole E.V. market dies with it in the United States,” he said.

Established companies in Europe also face formidable challenges. China’s electric car exports to Europe are climbing, prompting a European Union investigation into whether they are unfairly subsidized.

Ralf Brandstätter, the chief executive of Volkswagen China, called for Chinese manufacturers to buy car parts in Europe and assemble them there using European workers.

“Then they have to handle a European labor force, European enterprises, and they have to compete in the same environment as we are competing,” he said. China has used steep tariffs and other measures to require that multinationals make cars in China for the Chinese market.

Chinese E.V.s are going next to the United States.

Geely is exporting its Polestar 2 to the United States from China, and paying a 27.5 percent tariff to do so. It is also beginning to export its new Polestar 3, before a planned shift of production to an assembly line being completed this summer in South Carolina." [1]

1. China’s Electric Cars Keep Improving, a Worry for Rivals Elsewhere. Bradsher, Keith.  New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. May 1, 2024.

 

Musk and China work together to replace all cars with electric autonomous vehicles. Biden administration in the USA persists in futile steaming

 

"HONG KONG -- Elon Musk's whistle-stop trip to Beijing for an audience with China's Premier Li Qiang highlighted how the power dynamic is shifting between Tesla and the Chinese government.

Tesla's chief executive left the country with assurances that the carmaker will be able to roll out its driver-assistance technology. The software underpins Musk's hopes for rekindling Tesla's growth in the world's biggest electric-vehicle market, where it is being outmaneuvered by homegrown rivals.

China, meanwhile, used his trip to promote its message that it is open to American businesses, despite rising tensions with the U.S. State media quoted Musk giving a stamp of approval to China's EV market, saying his comments dispelled U.S. concerns about overcapacity. Beijing also sought to show that foreign firms can thrive under its tight regulatory controls over data.

Musk emerged with a win, analysts said, but the meetings underscored that while China remains crucial to Tesla, Beijing now needs Tesla less to spice up its EV and autonomous-driving industry. Tesla has seen China sales fall as its rivals there flood the market with hundreds of new models, contributing to the American carmaker's first year-over-year quarterly car sales decline since 2020 and a sharp profit drop.

"China needed Tesla to open the EV market, I'm not sure China needs Tesla to open the market for autonomous vehicles," said Bill Russo, a Shanghai-based consultant for Automobility. Some Chinese companies are already capable of sophisticated driving technology on their own, he said.

Chinese officials feted Musk when he went to China in the early years of the relationship. They offered land, low-interest loans and tax incentives for Tesla to build a factory in Shanghai and its approval boosted consumers' perception of Tesla in the world's biggest auto market. Then-Premier Li Keqiang even took a Tesla for a spin within the gated Zhongnanhai leadership compound in 2019.

The deal worked out well for both sides. Tesla helped ignite China's EV industry, which is now the envy of the world. Shanghai became Tesla's most productive and cost-efficient factory, enabling it to lower the prices of its cars. Sales of Tesla's made-in-China Model 3 and Model Y soared, making the country its second-biggest market, as well as an export hub.

But Chinese carmakers inspired by Tesla have become fierce rivals, gobbling up its market share there and increasingly challenging it overseas. Expectations among many analysts that Tesla would expand its Shanghai factory to manufacture a more affordable EV have dimmed. Instead, a plot of land adjacent to its initial plant is being used by Tesla to produce its energy-storage Megapacks.

Workers at the car factory say operating hours were cut to five days a week from seven in March as it wasn't running at full capacity.

When talking about plans for Tesla's "Full Self-Driving," or FSD, features during a call to discuss the company's dismal earnings last week, Musk said Tesla would release the service "in any market that -- where we can get regulatory approval for that, which we think includes China."

Days later, he flew to Beijing to seek Chinese leaders' blessing. During his less-than-24-hour visit, Chinese regulators also gave Tesla's cars clearance for data that they collect on the road, potentially paving the way for the government to loosen bans on the vehicles going to sensitive sites such as military complexes and some government buildings.

Musk also agreed to a deal with China's Baidu for its FSD rollout, reassuring Chinese leaders over the security risks of Chinese user data.

"Pushing forward Tesla's FSD in China is of strategic value to Beijing, which aspires to build itself as a global data leader," said Feng Chucheng, founding partner at Hutong Research. "This will be much desired for Beijing to prove that its data regulatory regime is gaining traction."

Chinese state television showed the meeting between Li and Musk. Li, previously the Communist Party chief in Shanghai when Tesla was setting up its production facilities there, called Musk his "old friend" during their meeting.

The encounter marked a contrast to the grillings the CEO of Chinese company-owned TikTok has received during appearances before lawmakers in Washington. It also came days after President Biden passed a law ordering the video-sharing app's U.S. operations to be sold or face a ban.

Li used Sunday's meeting with Musk to signal to foreign businesses that the government welcomes their presence, as foreign direct investments are falling.

"China's huge market is always open to foreign businesses. China does what it promises," Li said, according to a government readout of the meeting. China is committed to offering a better business environment allowing foreign corporations to feel safe about investing in China, he added.

Global Times, a nationalistic Communist Party-backed newspaper, said in an article that China's current EV capacity has been jointly forged by both Chinese and foreign companies, in response to U.S. claims that China had a problem with EV overcapacity.

State media commentary highlighted Musk's comment Sunday that all cars would be electric in the future. "Based on what Musk said, not only is there no overcapacity, it is far from sufficient," it said.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned against industrial overcapacity in China during a visit to Beijing in early April and the Biden administration has mooted restrictions on Chinese cars over national-security concerns related to the data they collect. The European Union is considering imposing tariffs on Chinese cars as it investigates state EV subsidies.

Musk has often been a dependable ally to Beijing. He has publicly praised its ruling Communist Party and China's economic miracle. Musk was rebuked by the government of Taiwan after he described the self-ruled island as China's equivalent of Hawaii, with Taiwan's Foreign Ministry suggesting the Tesla CEO had sold himself to Beijing.

Investors saw the China trip as a success, sending Tesla's shares up 16% Monday, though they slipped 5.6% on Tuesday. Whether the latest blessing from Beijing will reverse Tesla's sliding fortunes in the country remains to be seen. Tesla is stuck with two aging mass-market EV models despite a recent refresh and the introduction of the Cybertruck, which hasn't yet been released in China.

Still, the endorsement from a top Chinese official could spur new sales for the U.S. carmaker, said Russo, the auto consultant." [1]

1. Business News: Musk Now Needs China More Than It Needs Him. Cheng, Selina; Huang, Raffaele. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 01 May 2024: B.6.