While the penetration rate of new energy vehicles is over half, new energy car repairs are still at an early stage of development, and the prematureness of the after-sale maintenance system has created the difficulty of consumers buying cars and finding them difficult and expensive to repair。
This fast-growing industry urgently needs a mature and well-developed after-sales maintenance system to support future market share growth。
The current low density of new energy vehicle maintenance networks compared to the development of a mature fuel vehicle after-sale system is a direct reason for consumers to reflect maintenance difficulties and long cycles. According to the chinese association of automobile maintenance industries, there are about 400,000 enterprises in the country that are involved in fuel vehicle repair and maintenance, compared to only 20,000 to 30,000 new energy vehicle repair businesses。
Unlike the after-sale system, the maintenance ecology of new energy vehicles is dominated by straight- branding or authorized after-sales services, with external repair plants still accounting for a smaller proportion. More than 90 per cent of the new energy private vehicles currently in circulation are still under quality assurance, while vehicles during quality assurance are concerned that external maintenance may result in the loss of quality assurance, preference will be given to repairing them after the direct sale, while de-priviating vehicles will be preferred to repair plants, taking into account the value for money。
The interface news learned that consumers call maintenance expensive, on the one hand, the car owner's visual perception that the cost of maintenance of new energy vehicles is higher than that of fuel trucks, and, on the other hand, that the price of maintenance after selling directly is much higher than that of an external repair plant, exceeding the psychological expectations of the consumer。
In the past, fuel engines and gearboxes accounted for one third of the total cost of the vehicle, and now the cost of a three-power system for new energy vehicles can account for half of the cost of the vehicle, mostly from power cells。
Once critical components such as power cells need to be repaired or replaced, the cost is likely to exceed the residual value of the vehicle itself. According to one maintenance technician, the replacement of a ninde-era battery would cost tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars, taking into account the value of the battery itself and the cost of working hours。
Owing to the reduced need for maintenance of new energy vehicles, the high operating cost of the door shop and the fact that most of the direct sales are made in a non-removable manner, the cost of repair offered after the direct sale is two to three times higher than at the repair plant。
Instead of doing what is customary in the industry, the immediate battalion or 4s store has more functional roles in checking malfunctions and changing vehicles, while the external maintenance plant has chosen to maintain the failure element。
Several new energy maintenance and post-sales operators informed the interface that, on the one hand, replacement of plant spare parts would be the most efficient way of dealing with them after the direct sale of a large number of maintenance orders, and, on the other hand, security responsibilities arising from post-sales maintenance could be borne by either the mainframe plant or the spare parts supplier。
According to the analysis of data from the national electronic car health files, the main failures in the maintenance of our new energy vehicle are concentrated in batteries, electrical and air-conditioning systems. However, in the view of a number of new energy maintenance operators, some of the new energy maintenance plants that have been transformed by traditional steam repair do not actually have the capacity to repair these failures。
“accordingly, such doors can repair or replace spare parts that do not involve critical components, such as car chassis, coverings, etc., which cannot be resolved once they involve critical components such as power cells.”
The new energy vehicle operating safety test protocol, which was formally implemented on 1 march this year, identifies national standards for new energy vehicle power cell safety, motor safety, electrical system safety and electrical safety, among which power cell and electrical safety are mandatory options。
The technological change in the structure and power of the vehicle as a whole has led to a corresponding change in the maintenance experience and rules developed during the fuel car age。
Zhang kaiqiang, director of new energy training nine, stated that while the standard procedures for operating new energy maintenance had changed and that previously vehicle failure had been judged by hearing sound, smell and eye observation, the new energy vehicle, because of its electricity implications, required maintenance staff to hold low-voltage electric certifications, familiarize themselves with auto electronology, and provide specialized insulation tools and other corresponding diagnostic equipment。
Because of the different logic of the design of each plant's whole vehicle, the location of spare parts, wire beams, etc., technical barriers exist between different brands, and there is no experience that can cope with the whole situation. The total integration of new energy vehicles is much higher than that of fuel vehicles, and the highly customized nature of new components, such as integrated mass casts, makes them suitable for replacement and makes local maintenance more difficult。
In addition, the new energy maintenance technicians agreed that hardware and technology problems were relatively easy to resolve, and that the real hard part was the software problem. “a number of modules have been replaced to re-import data and programming, but the mainframe system is encrypted and requires authorization from the manufacturer.”
A new energy 4s post-sale manager indicated to the interface news that each brand usually had strict controls over specialized detection equipment (specialized inspections) and that it was difficult for external repair plants to perform software upgrades, optimization and process gaps. 4s has branding authorizations to obtain manufacturer-supported open codes for projects that require code programming, such as maintenance modules。
This means that new energy vehicles are currently subject to strict authorization of the back-office system and that external repair plants may also be repairing without authorization to cause disputes or violations. The outside repair plant, which did not have an authorization, wanted to repair only through the 4s store, where it was paid to use its diagnostic management backstage to match the data。
Wang ho, chairman of the board of directors of the new energy motors technology ltd. In shandong, has been working for many years on post-sales system services, and it seems to him that, with the exception of considerations such as intellectual property protection and technical barriers, the back-office system of the mainframe plant is not open for more safety reasons and that the mainframe plant is ultimately responsible for vehicle safety。
“the whole vehicle control system, which includes a diagnostic management system, is developed centrally by the mainframe, and without a reasonable identity that cannot be accessed for back-office maintenance, the level of qualification of the external repair plant cannot be judged, and the host plant needs to take into account the impact on the safety of the vehicle of, inter alia, damage to the content of the critical core or loss of data.”
In addition, the maintenance of new energy sources is seen by many industry sources as a single supply chain for spare parts and insufficient capacity for maintenance. Unlike the multiple channels of spare parts in the fuel vehicle age, the current post-market supply of new energy vehicles is mainly from the original plant, which is more difficult to obtain from outside repair plants in addition to obtaining authorization from the mainframe or spare parts enterprises。
The shortage of human resources is also a more pressing problem, as zhang yanhua, president of the chinese association of automotive maintenance industries, said at the motel conference that less than 100,000 skilled people are currently engaged in new energy vehicle maintenance. Shortages of skilled personnel are mainly for battery detection and maintenance, recharge pillar failure maintenance, large data analysis, assistive and self-driving。
The interface news learned that training and education for new energy vehicle maintenance technologies are also relatively low and that it is difficult for industry practitioners to obtain relevant skills and support. New energy training courses are available on the market, which generally cost between several thousand and tens of thousands。
U kai ming, vice-chancellor of the school for motorcycle repair and repair, shongshan city, indicated that training schools already chose to work with technical colleges to prepare students, but often took several years from entry to maturity。
According to zhang kaiqiang, who is training in the maintenance of new energy sources, the new energy vehicles are still in their early stages of development, with few skilled people with maintenance skills and large regional disparities in the development of new energy sources at present, so that maintenance capacity is not evenly distributed between regions。
At present, the number of new energy vehicles is 31. 4 million, representing only 8. 9 per cent of the total. In the market as a whole, although the penetration rate of new energy vehicles is over half, low market holdings, short development times and inadequate ecological maintenance are at the root of the problem。
According to u kai ming, the difficulties that exist within the industry are linked, for example, the small number of repair sites is directly linked to the current holdings of new energy vehicles, and only a single source of spare parts supply is due to the fact that there is insufficient retention, and even when businesses outside the original plant produce alternative forms of spare parts, there are costs, time, and low current market demand。
“it is to form a closed ring, and when the system of after-sale services for new energy vehicles is as complete as the system of after-sale services for oil tankers is matured, the price will naturally fall, eventually forming a complete maintenance network, a supply chain of adequate spare parts, and professional talent.”
In the past, a mature after-sale model was developed based on the characteristics of fuel vehicles, but new energy vehicles, dominated by batteries, require a new system that includes technology, supply chain, management, etc。
In wang ho's view, the future sales of new energy vehicles will be different from those of fuel trucks. On the one hand, the bulk of future participants in after-sales services will be dominated by authorized channels, and the non-authorized new energy repair plants may be more difficult to survive; on the other hand, there will be a corresponding reduction in the need for repairs and maintenance as a result of a significant reduction in the failure rate of new energy vehicles。
The mainframe plant has strong control over the original plant's spare parts and technology, which is considered legitimate by a number of industry sources, after all, it has invested a considerable amount of research and development production. The more important issue is security, and new energy vehicles involving electricity and intelligence require more safety considerations in the mainframe. It is also intended to create its own ecological integrity in the area of after-sales, thereby establishing norms that will allow it to compete for more speech when the profits from new energy sales are reduced。
There is a view in the industry that the mainframe should be properly open to technology so as to allow a single repair plant in the industry, so that the number and quality of the repair in the industry can be significantly improved and the whole new energy maintenance business can develop. The opposite view was also expressed that technology openness was not well managed, that technology openness and the responsibilities and risks behind it had to wait, that it was indeed beneficial for the post-market to be opened, but that the issue of post-maintenance quality risks would ultimately have to be paid for by car brands。
Wang ho stated that while in the short run the conduct of the mainframe would create barriers to competition and would not be conducive to the full development of the post-market, it was also a necessary stage in the maturity of the market ecology. “in particular, the market is now relatively small, and the service benefits of the original plant are to address user concerns, and it can provide a relatively more systematic service that creates a model for subsequent after-sales systems.”
This also means that, in future, enterprises after repair and sale will have to follow authorized play to be involved. According to wang ho, authorization involves exclusive technology, exclusive parts and components, exclusive standards, and even specialized diagnostic equipment for detection and detection, and access to these are premised on entering the system of authorization and doing so through legitimate and legal identities. However, this ticket to the authorization system is not cheap, and to obtain the authorization of the mainframe plant usually requires meeting the requirements of the premises, tools and staffing, payment of authorization or membership fees, etc。
In the face of the electric wave, repair companies have to adapt to new changes in terms of technological difficulties, product patterns, service standards, and so on, and if the system of authorization becomes dominant in the future, this will mean that smaller independent repair plants in the market will be eliminated。
To date, new energy vehicles have developed, and an earlier number of new energy vehicles are now on the market from 2018 to 2020, having passed the quality assurance deadline, and an increasing number of new energy vehicles will face de-insurance problems as vehicle life increases. The new energy engine fixes are being built at a fast pace to systematize the call。
