The new national standard "Tightening Curse"

Under the new national standard's "tight spell", the food delivery industry has suffered a catastrophic disaster. Switching to electric vehicles to create a gas station for delivery drivers!

Take away, an industry that all countrymen are accustomed to, is about to suffer a "disaster of extinction" due to policy reasons.

The OTO business in China has been thriving for a long time. Since the noisy battle of the OTO industry in 2015, the development speed of the domestic food delivery industry has been getting faster and faster, which has also given birth to a special professional group: food delivery guys. They ride electric two wheelers through the city alleys, delivering hot and steaming meals to people. It can be said that the prosperity of the urban OTO industry today cannot be separated from the struggle of this group.

However, beyond the hustle and bustle, there are hidden worries. On April 15, 2019, the new national standard of the electric two wheeled vehicle industry was officially implemented. The emergence of this policy will profoundly change the entire industry. Why is a car that Chinese people are accustomed to?

1. The impact of the new national standard on foreign salespeople

Before that, we need to understand what the new national standard is.

The full name of the new national standard: the new mandatory national standard for electric bicycles, "Safety Technical Specification for Electric Bicycles", was released on May 15, 2018 and officially implemented on April 15, 2019. According to the new national standard, electric bicycles must have the ability to ride on foot, a maximum design speed of no more than 25km/h, and a total vehicle weight (including battery) of no more than 55kg.

We all know that the most commonly used mode of transportation for delivery drivers is electric two wheelers. As an industry that places great emphasis on timeliness and efficiency, the food delivery industry often rides at speeds of 40-60km/h in order to meet deadlines. However, the "new national standard" on speed limits greatly restricts the efficiency of the food delivery industry. After 2020 (when the country limits all vehicles that do not meet the new national standards to be on the road), the overall delivery speed of food delivery will definitely decrease significantly.

Speed is only one aspect, and the new national standard's restrictions on vehicle quality have imposed a death sentence on it. According to the 2018 China Instant Delivery Industry Development Report jointly released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and Meituan Dianping, the electric vehicle batteries used by instant delivery riders have limited range and most cannot support a day's delivery work.

So, most food delivery drivers choose vehicles with large range and high endurance, or buy an extra car, one for riding and one for charging, which can barely maintain endurance. But now these vehicles do not comply with the new national standard and can only be abandoned. The restrictions on the overall quality of the vehicle under the "new national standard" mean a decrease in battery capacity. You can only choose more expensive lithium batteries to improve the range, and the increase in range is also very small.

Moreover, compared to lead-acid batteries, lithium batteries have stronger activity and are difficult to extinguish once a fire breaks out. Therefore, it is not safe for users to charge at home themselves, and the government has repeatedly requested to avoid charging people and vehicles in the same room and to prevent unauthorized cable charging.

Once, the Chinese government's "ban on motorcycles" gave two wheeled electric vehicles the opportunity to enter the market, but the official implementation of the "new national standard" imposed significant restrictions on electric two wheeled vehicles. This means that more than 90% of vehicles on the market will have to undergo "over limit" treatment and exit the market during the transition period of the next year. And where should the delivery guys who used to meet their work needs go?

2. The battery swapping industry born under the new national standard

Lu Jinlong, the president of Jiangsu Electric Vehicle Association, once said at a meeting that the new national standard represents the bottom line of the electric two wheeler industry, which means it cannot be broken through or ignored. This means that this problem cannot be solved at the policy level. So, the upgrading of user demand, including delivery drivers, the implementation of new national standards and regulatory policies, have collectively stirred up a thousand waves in the two rounds of electric stock market. And the capital side, which has always had a keen sense of smell and invests in new rather than old, has also realized that this may be an opportunity to change the structure of the electric vehicle industry.

Meanwhile, the traditional electric vehicle market still uses lead-acid batteries, which not only have long charging times, heavy weight, and short range, but also cause serious environmental pollution. Unable to meet the usage needs of electric vehicles under the new national standard, lithium batteries have significant significance as a substitute.

Data source: Compiled by GGII and China Business Industry Research Institute

Under market demand, the development of the lithium battery industry is also very rapid. According to statistics, the global lithium-ion battery market production increased by 21.81% year-on-year in 2018, reaching 188.80 GWh, with a compound annual growth rate of 27.12% over the past five years.

This is also part of the reason why the lithium-ion battery swapping industry has been booming this year. According to data provided by the China Bicycle Association, the number of two wheeled electric vehicles in China has exceeded 250 million and is still growing at a rate of 10% per year. The stock market is large enough, which means there is a lot of space for lithium battery replacement.

The so-called battery swapping refers to not charging an electric vehicle when it runs out of battery, but directly replacing the depleted battery. The advantages of this model are obvious. Firstly, it does not require charging, thus eliminating the issue of battery life; Secondly, centralized charging eliminates safety risks for users. It can be said that, while meeting the density of battery swapping stations in urban areas, battery swapping mode is the truly safe and reliable mode of transportation in the future!

3. Easy ride, help food delivery guys embark on their future journey!

Yiqi Battery Swap, as a company that has been building its own "battery swapping empire" since 2015, has its own unique insights into the battery swapping industry.

As Yiqi, committed to becoming a world-class new energy service platform for road transportation, its independently developed and manufactured intelligent battery swapping network system aims to optimize the energy supply mode of domestic travel vehicles through the installation of offline battery swapping networks.

The intelligent battery swapping network system consists of three parts, namely the swapping electric bicycle, the Easy Ride mobile app, and the offline battery swapping station. When the electric bike runs out of battery, users can connect to a physical offline intelligent battery swapping network through the Easy Ride mobile app, and navigate to a battery swapping station with a fully charged battery through their phone. The process is similar to the application process of refueling a car, which can perfectly solve the inefficiency of traditional electric bikes with slow charging and short range, and improve travel efficiency by 80%.

At present, Yiqi has partnered with thousands of physical dealerships to operate in 26 cities including Shanghai, Chengdu, Kunming, Nanchang, Yiwu, Suzhou, Quanzhou, Hefei, Putian, Zhengzhou, Beijing, Xi'an, Nanjing, and Shijiazhuang. Nearly 10000 Yiqi battery swapping cabinets have been deployed, providing high-quality battery swapping services for billions of electric vehicle users in the future. With the continuous investment of electrical cabinets, the service radius between power stations has been reduced to within 2.5 kilometers, and the total number of offline intelligent swapping stations will exceed 1 million in the future.

Previously, Yiqi Battery Swap collaborated with several battery manufacturers to customize batteries. Recently, it announced that it will establish a lithium battery project production base in Yiwu, Zhejiang and develop batteries on its own. This means that EasyRide has seized the "ticket" to the era of battery swapping electric vehicles at the battery end.

The technical aspect is only a part, and Yiqi is more accustomed to starting from the user's perspective. Due to the high frequency of battery replacement for food delivery riders, who run 120-150km every day and need to change their batteries 2-3 times, Yiqi has a special monthly package with unlimited battery replacement during the package period. The monthly card price for Yiqi battery replacement is 199 yuan/month, which is extremely thoughtful compared to the 299 yuan/month battery replacement price offered by a domestic battery replacement company.

Of course, user stickiness is based on the sufficient density of battery swapping stations, the formation of large-scale layouts, the convenience of user use, and the low cost. It can be foreseen that as the user experience of Yiqi battery swapping continues to improve, Yiqi's future path will definitely be more long-term, and delivery drivers will also get better and better with the help of Yiqi battery swapping!