Category: eMobility

VW reportedly in talks to use Huawei software in its cars in China

Volkswagen is one of the top-selling car companies in China, but it is lagging behind local carmakers in the country's NEV market.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

Volkswagen has been in talks to use Huawei software in its cars in China, hoping to boost its efforts to gain a bigger share of the country's electric vehicle (EV) market, a Financial Times report said today.

Three people familiar with the situation said Volkswagen has spoken with Huawei about using the latter's technology in its cars, while another person said the German carmaker has held similar talks with other Chinese groups, according to the report.

Volkswagen is one of the top-selling car companies in China, but it lags behind local carmakers in the country's new energy vehicle (NEV) market.

In the January-April period, Volkswagen's joint venture in China, FAW-Volkswagen, sold 509,774 units at retail, up 1.4 percent from a year earlier, and came in second with an 8.6 percent share, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

BYD sold 702,608 vehicles during the period, up 79.2 percent year-on-year, and ranked first with an 11.9 percent share.

Volkswagen's other joint venture in China, SAIC Volkswagen, sold 338,673 vehicles at retail from January to April, down 2.7 percent year-on-year, and ranked fifth with a 5.7 percent share.

In the NEV segment, BYD ranked first with a 38.1 percent share from January to April, while was second with a 9.6 percent share.

The NEV sales of Volkswagen's two joint ventures were not in the top 10 of the January-April list published by the CPCA. The No. 10 on the list is , with 33,529 units sold from January to April and a 1.8 percent share.

In July 2020, Volkswagen founded software company Cariad under former CEO Herbert Diess, but earlier this month it removed almost all of Cariad's top executives from their positions.

The Financial Times report cited a person familiar with the talks between Volkswagen and the Chinese companies as saying the discussions reflected how big the problem is for a group like VW, whose unique selling proposition is their scale and platforms.

Another person said Volkswagen is also aware that a Chinese software partner could appeal to Chinese customers who favor local suppliers and are obsessed with stories of technological self-reliance.

Although its software is seen as lagging behind some local players in China, Volkswagen is one of the most aggressive of foreign car companies seeking change.

Last October 13, Horizon Robotics, one of the leading providers of computing solutions for smart vehicles in China, announced that Cariad would form a joint venture with it to accelerate its efforts to develop smart driving technology locally.

Volkswagen plans to invest about 2.4 billion euros for a 60 percent stake in the joint venture, which is expected to close in the first half of 2023, according to a statement from Horizon Robotics.

VW to invest €2.4 billion to form JV with Chinese firm Horizon Robotics

The post VW reportedly in talks to use Huawei software in its cars in China appeared first on CnEVPost.

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Tesla Leads Auto World In Operating Margin, Model Y Best Selling Car In World, 2 New Tesla Products — 17 Tesla Meeting Highlights

Tesla’s 2023 annual shareholder meeting was a few hours ago. Many of the things presented there were already presented in the company’s Master Plan Part 3, Investor Day presentation, and previous quarterly shareholder conference calls. However, let’s look at a few of the highlights. First of all, as many have been hoping, or at least […]

China issues policy to support NEV consumption in rural areas

A government document voices support for NEV development in rural areas in terms of NEV purchases, charging infrastructure development, and consumer education.

China issues policy to support NEV consumption in rural areas-CnEVPost

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

China has released a new government document to support new energy vehicle (NEV) consumption in rural areas, after NEV penetration in major cities climbed to high levels.

China's National Energy Administration and economic planner National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued the document on supporting the development of NEVs in rural areas for provincial and municipal governments and two grid operators, State Grid and Southern Grid. The document, dated May 14, was made public on May 17.

China has built the world's largest charging infrastructure, providing a strong guarantee for the rapid development of NEVs, but there are still problems in rural areas, including insufficient public charging infrastructure, which restricts the release of NEV consumption potential there, the document says.

The advanced construction of charging infrastructure and optimization of the environment for the purchase and use of NEVs are of great significance in promoting NEV consumption in rural areas, according to the document.

The document voices support for NEV development in rural areas in terms of NEV purchases, charging infrastructure construction, and consumer education.

Car companies are encouraged to develop more economical models for consumers in rural areas, especially products including new energy cargo-carrying mini-vans, mini-trucks and light trucks.

China will improve the evaluation system for used NEVs and encourage companies to provide quality vehicles for rural areas.

The country will increase the proportion of NEVs in business vehicles and encourage local governments to increase the use of NEVs in public transportation, road passenger transportation, rental cars, law enforcement, sanitation, and logistics.

Local governments are encouraged to provide consumption voucher support for local rural residents to purchase NEVs, offering trade-in incentives for them to phase out low-speed electric vehicles and purchase regular NEVs.

Credit support for auto consumption in rural areas will also be increased, and financial institutions are encouraged to reasonably determine the down payment ratio, loan interest rate, and repayment period on the premise of risk control.

In terms of charging infrastructure construction in rural areas, local governments should accelerate the construction of charging stations and strive to achieve charging piles in every township.

Local governments are encouraged to promote the construction of centralized public charging stations, and places with conditions such as gas stations should also promote the construction of charging piles.

Existing residential communities in rural areas are encouraged to carry out charging facility construction, and a certain percentage of public charging spaces should be allocated.

Before 2030, China waives the electricity capacity charge for centralized charging and battery swap facilities with a two-part tariff, and relaxes the investment efficiency constraint for grid companies in the construction of distribution grids.

China encourages research on technologies such as two-way interaction between electric vehicles and the grid (V2G), and explores the construction of integrated charging infrastructure in rural areas where the utilization rate of charging piles is low.

In terms of consumer education, China supports local governments and industry bodies to enhance consumer acceptance of NEVs and alleviate purchase and use concerns through a number of activities.

China passenger NEV retail drops 3.6% MoM to 527,000 in Apr, CPCA data show

The post China issues policy to support NEV consumption in rural areas appeared first on CnEVPost.

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China NEV insurance registrations for week ending May 14: BYD 46,892, Tesla 9,990, NIO 1,200

NIO's sales appear to continue to be dampened by the upcoming new ES6, as potential consumers may be waiting for this more cost-effective SUV.

The main channels that previously shared weekly auto insurance registrations in China stopped sharing these numbers, but multiple reliable sources that we track on a daily basis shared last week's numbers.

For the week of May 8 to May 14, insurance registrations for all passenger vehicles in China were 365,000, up 43.5 percent year-on-year, but down 11.8 percent from the previous week.

Insurance registrations for conventional internal combustion engine vehicles were 245,000 last week, up 29.8 percent year-on-year but down 20.3 percent from the previous week.

New energy vehicles (NEVs) were 120,000 units last week, up 82.7 percent year-on-year and 12.8 percent from the previous week.

In terms of NEV insurance registrations, BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY) continues to hold the distant lead with 46,892 units last week, up from 45,789 units the week before.
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During the week of May 1 to May 7, the first three days were the Labor Day holiday in China, although May 6 was a Saturday but a weekday. The holiday ran from April 29 to May 3.

(NASDAQ: TSLA) registered 9,990 insurance units in China last week, up from 5,928 the week before.

NIO (NYSE: NIO) had 1,200 insurance registrations last week, up from 1,100 the week before. These numbers are not precise to the single digit, as the sources tracked by CnEVPost did not share more detailed figures.

NIO's sales appear to be continuing to be dampened by the upcoming new ES6, as potential consumers may be waiting for the more cost-effective SUV.

The company announced yesterday that the new ES6 will be officially launched on May 24, with test drives available on the same day and deliveries to begin on May 25.

This will be its fastest model from launch to delivery, perhaps because of the lessons learned from the long waiting period for models including the ET5 that led to the loss of potential orders.

The continued product switchover led to months of sluggish NIO deliveries, which fell further to 6,658 vehicles in April. The company will report first-quarter earnings on June 9, when it is expected to provide guidance on second-quarter deliveries.

(NASDAQ: LI) continued its strong trend with 6,670 insurance registrations last week, up from 4,543 the previous week.

Li Auto is currently untroubled by product switches and its three models are competitive compared to their class, allowing it to maintain strong sales.

To show off that it is leading the pack of new car makers, Li Auto has shared weekly insurance registration figures for the past two months, but stopped sharing them this month.

On May 15, Li Auto founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang said on Weibo that their sharing of weekly data was complained about by some of their peers, so they were unable to continue sharing them.

Li Auto guided for second-quarter deliveries between 76,000 and 81,000 vehicles when it reported first-quarter earnings on May 10. Considering it delivered a record 25,681 vehicles in April, that guidance means it expects to deliver a total of 50,319 to 55,319 vehicles in May and June.

XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) had 1,500 insurance registrations last week, up from 870 the week before.

XPeng, similar to NIO, is facing a product switch, with potential consumers perhaps watching the upcoming launch of the new SUV G6.

It previously said the G6 would be officially launched and delivered by the end of the second quarter, with a price range of RMB 200,000 ($28,660) - RMB 300,000.

XPeng's monthly sales target for the G6 is two to three times that of the P7, its chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said during a March 17 analyst call after the company announced its fourth-quarter earnings.

XPeng delivered 7,079 vehicles in April, down 21.36 percent from 9,002 a year ago but up 1.1 percent from 7,002 in March.

It will report first-quarter earnings on May 24, when it is expected to provide guidance on second-quarter deliveries.

($1=RMB 6.9787)

Data table: China NEV weekly insurance registrations

The post China NEV insurance registrations for week ending May 14: BYD 46,892, Tesla 9,990, NIO 1,200 appeared first on CnEVPost.

For more articles, please visit CnEVPost.

How About These Tiltable, Portable Solar PV Panels?

This is a new one. A German solar company that mostly focuses on floating solar power plant solutions has come up with something novel. It has introduced tiltable, portable solar panels. These SKipp solar panels from Sinn Power are ideal for something like camping or mobile work sites where you move location frequently. Sinn Power […]
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