Wei Lai, a startup that was once expected to become the Chinese version of Tesla , finally appeared with its first product.
On November 21st, Weilai Auto held its first press conference at the Saatchi Art Gallery in London, releasing the English brand “NIOâ€, the new logo and the first product electric super-run EP9.
"We don't want to target Tesla. Tesla is the company of the previous generation." Li Bin, founder and CEO of Wei Lai, told reporters.
Weilai NIO EP9
The world's fastest electric car
It is understood that the electric super-run EP9 released by Wei Lai has proved to be the fastest electric vehicle in the world. EP9 produced the fastest electric car lap time of 7 minutes and 05 seconds in the test on October 12th at the North Ring Road in Nurburgring, Germany. On November 4th, the French Paul Ricard was refreshed by 1 minute 52 seconds. The fastest electric car lap speed on the track.
“As a start-up company, we urgently need to prove our technical strength.†Qin Lihong, co-founder and co-president of Weilai Automobile, explained to reporters why he chose to use super-run as the first product. “At the time of defining this product, Our positioning is a product that can prove the extreme performance of electric vehicles, so we all call it 'monster' internally because it is technically fierce. We also hope that it is a refined product. A beautiful monster. For us, the balance between ferocity and beauty is very difficult."
Launched production car in China next year
Like many emerging auto companies, Wei Lai has its own mass production target after demonstrating its technical strength. In fact, there are indications that Wei Lai has already made a very good layout on the road to mass production compared to some “PPT car†companies.
The reporter learned that Weilai Automobile's supply chain layout in China is very complete. It has set up a manufacturing base for vehicle test lines and electric drive assemblies in Nanjing. It has battery-related manufacturing bases in Kunshan and Changshu. Beijing It has a software center and a business representative base in Hong Kong.
“Because China is the market we must first develop and launch mass production, the layout in China will be based on manufacturing, supply chain, R&D and business.†Qin Lihong told reporters.
It is reported that Weilai Automobile's first mass production product will be available within a few months and is currently in the final test phase. The second mass production product for the Chinese market has also started research and development six months ago.
Li Bin believes that the way to integrate existing resources will bring more efficiency to Weilai Auto's mass production. “It is clear that we will not build factories. Through cooperation with Jianghuai Automobile of Hefei, they have helped us build the first. A factory. Now there are some car manufacturers working with local governments to build a factory in a remote area, which makes no sense."
The outside world has many speculations about the mass production products of Weilai Automobile.
"You can tell you clearly that the speculations about our mass production products may be wrong now. It is not yet announced." Li Bin told reporters exclusively. Previously, the car media announced the mass production plan of Weilai Automobile – an SUV with a price of around 200,000.
"Our positioning is very clear, home users in first- and second-tier cities. This part of the crowd wants the car is our goal." And a car industry marketer told reporters that from the point of positioning the family, the SUV has There is a great possibility, and now the SUV is also a market that is growing rapidly and is being sought by major manufacturers.
Ma Huateng, Lei Jun, Liu Qiangdong became the first owners
It was learned that the first batch of EP9 had a total of 6 shares, which were donated to the six main investors of Weilai Auto, namely, founder and chairman Li Bin, car and founder Li Xiang, Jingdong Group CEO Liu Qiangdong, Xiaomi Technology CEO Lei Jun, Tencent Company CEO Ma Huateng and Gao Lei Capital founder Zhang Lei.
At the press conference on the same day, Li Bin’s EP9 was shown, and Li Bin’s personal signature was on the car in front of the rear hub. “The first six cars are tailored to the individual needs of the six investors, including color and interior accessories, reflecting the personality and needs of the owner. In terms of color configuration, all six cars are blue, but light and dark. Details such as saturation and saturation are different." Li Bin told reporters. Previously, the EP9, which represented Weilai Automobile in the North Ring Road of Nürburgring, Germany, belonged to Lei Jun.
" Tesla is the previous generation company"
Previously, Wei Lai was often referred to as China's Tesla. However, Li Bin told reporters that Wei Lai will not be bidding on Tesla. “I think Tesla is a company of the previous generation. We are a new generation. It’s not just the technical aspects, but more importantly, the way the users are treated, the overall experience will be subverted.â€
"Tesla's car is selling too expensive, and our products will certainly not be so expensive." Li Bin said. At the same time, he also said that price is not the main problem. “Why China has a lot of high-end cars that can afford Tesla at the same price, but Tesla is still not popular in China. The most important reason is that the Chinese market is more difficult to solve than the US charging problem, and it is compatible with China’s national conditions. The plan is that we want to focus on solving it."
“We are first and foremost a car company, followed by technology companies, technology companies, energy-related companies, and a lifestyle company. We have a good vision and hope to create a pleasant lifestyle through our services. Li Bin said.
The reporter learned from Wu Lai, CEO of Weilai Automobile North America Co., Ltd. that the future products of Weilai Auto will achieve the fourth level of automatic driving (Note: According to the US industry classification, automatic driving is divided into five levels, the fifth level is the highest level) . At the same time, public information shows that Weilai Automobile has obtained a test license for self-driving in California.
However, Wu Si Li told reporters that Wei Lai's breakthrough in technology is far more than automatic driving. There will be many possibilities beyond people's imagination in the future.
“Our products are software-defined cars. In the future, we will build a big data platform, build autonomous learning capabilities of vehicles, and even apply augmented reality and virtual reality to future vehicles. This is what the company wants to do because we Is a digital company, is a new generation of automotive companies." Wu Si Li said.
Why is an electric car?
At the press conference, Li Bin talked about the motivation of his own creation of Wei Lai. He said that one day in 2014, one month later, his first child will be born. On that day, Beijing City was enveloped in a thick smog. “I stood on my balcony and couldn’t even see the tallest building in Beijing 500 meters away. At that moment I thought I should do something.â€
But Li Bin said that his own research and development of electric vehicles is not from the perspective of energy and money. “If the company is only thinking about fuel consumption, it is doomed to fail. In my eyes, hybrid and hydrogen energy vehicles are ghosts. Because this is not a thinking from the perspective of user experience.â€
He told reporters that it took a long time to figure out one thing before envisioning the introduction of electric car products. The electric car companies want to succeed in the Chinese market, first of all, let the user experience the convenience of charging than to refuel, "must have to To achieve power-on time is shorter than refueling, this will have a market. To solve this problem in China requires more forward-thinking thinking." Li Bin said.
Li Bin pointed out that electric vehicles are the most suitable models for autonomous driving and unmanned driving. Secondly, the charging experience is more convenient than refueling. It is only by these two points that electric vehicles are the inevitable trend of automobile development.
"Chinese soul, American brain, European face"
Despite being a start-up company based in China, Weilai Auto has a national layout and team. Qin Lihong told reporters that Weilai Automobile currently has two management headquarters in China and the United States. In the globalized structure, the product design center is in Munich. The technology pilot and forward-looking strategy is the R&D center in the UK, the US and China. It is also the two management headquarters, and China is still the most important supply chain and production site.
"In other words, our products have a European face, the American head, the Chinese body and the soul." Zheng Xiancong, co-founder and executive vice president of the future car, gave an analogy to the reporter.
Li Bin told reporters that Wei Lai Automobile was positioned as a global start-up from the beginning. "I don't have to prove that China is better than others. The most important thing is to bring together the best talents in the world to provide the best cars and travel modes for people all over the world. But there is no doubt that we are one from China. The company, China is our main market and the most important talent."
"I hope competitors are also successful"
In recent years, Internet vehicles have gradually emerged, and a number of emerging automobile companies have emerged in the industry. “Just like smartphones have replaced traditional mobile phones, the Internet-making campaign is overturning the existing auto industry landscape. There is a lot of work to do here,†a senior car commentator told reporters.
“I think that a big and complex product and service company like a car, only when technology (electric drive, car networking, autopilot, etc.) and business model (direct sales, e-commerce, finance, etc.) change at the same time, the new enterprise I have the opportunity to enter, and this time is in line with the two points I said. On the day of the conference, Li Xiang, one of the founders of Weilai Automobile, and the founder of the car, wrote in a long article on Weibo.
According to incomplete statistics, at present, only the Internet car companies that have been born in China for the past two years have the singular car founded by former 360 vice president Shen Haijun, the Ali car owned by Ma Yun, and the LeTV car of Leshi Group. However, since the automobile industry is a capital, technology and talent-intensive industry, it is always full of challenges for new companies to enter this field. The industry is questioning that some enterprises are stuck in the “ppt car†stage.
Li Bin told reporters that he rarely pays attention to the situation of competitors. "I hope that competitors can also succeed. Everyone has good development. You may think that I am very official, but this is my heart, because we are all It’s a startup. If one fails, people will think that young companies are not reliable.â€
Li Bin said that Weilai Automobile is a goal-oriented company, but Weilai Automobile does not want to be a company that only shouts slogans and does not do practical things. So far, Weilai Automobile has not announced any detailed goals.
After the press conference at the end of the day, the reporter asked Li Bin if he was relieved. Li Bin smiled with a tired look and said, "Where is this where? Where is the road behind?" However, he immediately said: “Before I said that our probability of success is 5%, and now there are 51%. Success is already a high probability event.â€
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