news

as the growth of pure electric vehicles gradually slows down, plug-in hybrid vehicles have become popular. what is even more unexpected is that the once criticized extended-range vehicles are more popular than plug-in hybrid vehicles.

according to data from the china passenger car association, the wholesale sales of extended-range vehicles reached 115,000 units in august 2024, a surge of 109% year-on-year. at the same time, the wholesale sales of pure electric vehicles in august were 592,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 6.6%, while the sales of narrow plug-in hybrid vehicles were 345,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 84%.

the "weakness" of the pure electric market is attributed to the sales differentiation of various levels of pure electric markets, and the decline of compact and small car markets has accelerated. the china passenger car association said that in june, the wholesale sales of b-class, a-class, a0-class, and a00-class pure electric vehicles were 218,000, 108,000, 118,000, and 94,000 respectively, among which the sales of a-class and a0-class pure electric vehicles fell by 1 percentage point and 10 percentage points year-on-year respectively. cui dongshu believes that with the adjustment of the tax-free policy to increase the range of electric vehicles, low-end small and micro electric vehicles are shrinking, pure electric vehicles are weak, and extended-range and plug-in hybrid vehicles will continue to strengthen.

the pure electric market is "either advancing or retreating", which is in sharp contrast to the "rapid progress" of the plug-in hybrid and extended-range markets. in particular, extended-range has gradually become a power form that major oems are focusing on.

according to media reports,xiaomi motorsthe third planned car is an extended-range suv, mainly for home use, and will be launched in 2026.xpeng motorsthe progress of xpeng motors is even faster. it is said that the extended-range vehicle project of xpeng motors has become clear, and the core components have been finalized in the first half of this year, and mass production is expected in the second half of 2025. in addition,zhiji autoit is also rumored that a benchmark will be released in the first quarter of 2025.ideal l7range-extended suv models.auspiciousits focus is on pure electriczeekr, and also released the news that it would develop an extended-range vehicle. at the 009 brilliant press conference, ceo an conghui also said at the media's inquiry on whether there were plans for extended-range vehicles in the future: "we do not rule out developing extended-range hybrid vehicles in the future."

sinceideal autosince the launch of the first extended-range vehicle in 2018, extended-range technology has been accompanied by controversy, and has been criticized by experts, industry insiders, and the media as "backward technology" and "pseudo-environmental protection". however, today, extended-range vehicles have proved their value with a series of impressive data, and major oems have also expressed their recognition of this technology with practical actions. so why has this "backward" technology in people's eyes suddenly become so popular?

from criticism to admiration

the history of range extension began more than 100 years ago.porschethe company's founder, ferdinand porsche, once designed a hybrid car in which an internal combustion engine drives a generator to charge the hub motor, but he abandoned this technology because the car body was too heavy after adding a battery and the charging problem could not be solved.

in the 1990s,nissannissan developed the e-power hybrid technology, which has a principle very similar to the extended-range technology. the nissan note e-power, which was launched in 2016, was once very popular in japan, but received a mediocre response in the chinese market because it was more expensive than fuel vehicles of the same level.

it was not until the ideal one was launched in the market in 2018 that extended-range vehicles really entered the public’s field of vision.niowhile electric car brands such as xpeng and tesla are determined to follow the pure electric route, ideal auto chose to enter the new energy vehicle track with extended-range hybrid power. this decision has caused ideal to face great controversy, and it has been questioned and criticized from peers and experts from time to time in the following years.

volkswagen china ceo stephan wöllenstein once said at a media communication meeting, "from the perspective of a single vehicle, extended-range electric vehicles have certain value, but from the perspective of the entire country and the earth, it is simply nonsense and the worst solution!" he explained, "the ultimate goal of developing electric vehicles is to reduce carbon emissions, but if it is generated by burning fossil fuels, there is no need to do so."

judging from the working characteristics of extended-range vehicles, there are three main reasons why industry insiders call it "backward technology": the engine can only be used to generate electricity, it consumes a lot of fuel when it is out of power, and it makes a lot of noise.

the engine of the extended-range vehicle does not directly drive the wheels, but is only used to generate electricity. energy loss is inevitable in the energy conversion process, and the energy conversion efficiency is low. in addition, the cost is high, the body is heavy, and the fuel economy is poor. in addition, the engine power generation cannot keep up with the speed at which the electric motor consumes electricity, which also exposes the shortcomings of the extended-range vehicle, that is, it needs to operate at high load or full load in the feeding state, which leads to the problem of high noise during the operation of the range extender.

however, the development did not go as expected by these people. on the contrary, ideal became popular with its extended-range technology and became the sales champion of new car brands. its sales in 2023 (376,000 vehicles) were even more than those of weilai (160,000 vehicles) and xiaopeng (141,600 vehicles) in the same period. wenjie, which launched the extended-range vehicle the fastest after ideal, became the big winner. in the first half of this year, the cumulative sales of the m7 model alone reached 100,000 units, and the cumulative sales of another extended-range vehicle m9 were about 59,000 units.

from the perspective of market macro-performance, ideal has successfully commercialized extended-range technology, opening up a new market segment, and the demand for this market segment is still growing. in 2023, the sales of extended-range electric vehicles increased by 181% year-on-year, far exceeding pure electric and plug-in hybrid. the growth rate in the first half of this year was as high as 124.2%, making it the power market with the largest growth rate among the three major mainstream new energy vehicles: pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and extended-range.

why is extended-range electric vehicles so popular?

in fact, the market's view on extended-range vehicles is popular mainly due to two factors:

from a technical perspective, extended-range vehicles can solve the range anxiety problem that is most criticized about pure electric vehicles.according to mckinsey's "2024 china automotive consumer insights" report, consumers' acceptance of pure electric vehicles has declined. in 2023, 22% of car owners no longer consider buying new energy vehicles, while in 2022, this proportion is only 3%. one of the main reasons is that consumers are anxious about the problem of energy replenishment. yes, even in the era of large batteries and high-speed charging, the problems of battery life and energy replenishment are still inevitably the two core anxieties of pure electric vehicle users. at that time, extended-range and plug-in hybrid vehicles with "fuel tanks" had inherent advantages. because they are equipped with fuel engines, when the battery is exhausted, the engine can automatically start to charge the battery or directly drive the vehicle, greatly extending the driving distance, alleviating the anxiety of energy replenishment on highways, and better coping with the severe cold climate in the north in winter. on the other hand, the battery capacity of the extended-range vehicle is larger, and it can provide a longer pure electric driving range than the plug-in hybrid model. in addition to solving the user's long-distance battery life anxiety, it can also achieve low-cost travel in the city for short distances.

from the manufacturer's perspective, extended-range vehicles have more cost advantages than pure electric vehicles.because the power battery is smaller, the r&d and production costs are lower, which just meets the needs of many manufacturers to reduce costs and make quick money. according to industry insiders, the cost of a mainstream range extender is about 10,000 yuan, plus the battery cost of the range extender, it only costs about 40,000 yuan. as for pure electric models, taking the 300,000-level model as an example, the battery capacity of pure electric vehicles is about 80-120kwh, and the cost is as high as 80,000-130,000 yuan.

based on the above two factors, although many industry insiders regard extended-range vehicles as a transitional route, as the pure electric vehicle market gradually becomes saturated, the potential of extended-range vehicles has begun to be released, and it has transformed from a "cold bench" to a "hot commodity".

how long will the extended-range vehicles remain popular?

after ideal auto, wenjie was the first new energy brand to launch extended-range technology products. in less than two years after the launch of its first extended-range vehicle, many brands including lantu, leapmotor, shenlan, and changan have successively launched extended-range vehicles. at the same time, according to the latest market news, in the next year or so, many brands will launch their own extended-range vehicles. most of these brands are positioned in the mid-to-low-end, which means that the extended-range market is likely to face saturation. then, how long will extended-range vehicles, as a "transitional route", remain popular?

since entering the era of new energy vehicles, the market share of traditional fuel vehicles has continued to decline at a visible rate. in august, sales of traditional fuel passenger cars were only 795,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 34.1%, accounting for only 45.6% of all passenger car sales in the country. new energy vehicles, on the other hand, have shown a booming development momentum.

among the three mainstream new energy vehicles, pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and extended-range, the order of sales volume and market share is pure electric > plug-in hybrid > extended-range; but if we look at the current growth rate, it is extended-range > plug-in hybrid > pure electric. among them, extended-range vehicles are the fastest growing market segment, but also the smallest power market. therefore, from the perspective of market development space, extended-range still has great development potential.

on the other hand, although the core trend of my country's new energy vehicle industry in the future is to develop a pure electric drive route, whether from the perspective of market demand or the current technological progress of pure electric models, at least in the short term, my country's new energy vehicle market has not yet reached the stage where it can completely follow a pure electric route. instead, it is committed to developing diversified technology routes to jointly support the multi-scenario application needs of my country's automobile users.

at present, there is no definite timetable for pure electric vehicles to overcome the anxiety of battery life and energy replenishment, especially in extreme climates and complex road environments. pure electric vehicles have the shortcoming of severely reduced battery life. extended-range vehicles, which have the advantages of long battery life and low cost for short-distance travel, are undoubtedly a good supplement.

zhu xichan, a professor at tongji university, believes that in the context of slowing electrification in europe and the united states, the transition period for extended-range models may last for 20-30 years, which means that extended-range models will usher in a golden window of time.

cui dongshu, secretary general of the national passenger vehicle market joint conference, also said that extended-range technology is definitely not a transitional technology. it has huge room for development both abroad and at home, and its share will increase significantly. china's extended-range technology will lead the world's development trend and play a huge role in gradually replacing oil vehicles. in other words, in the future, extended-range electric vehicles will have great potential and are expected to be active for a long time.

however, as more and more brands enter the extended-range technology track and launch related products, the extended-range vehicle market will usher in a new round of reshuffle in the next two to three years, which will also pose a more stringent test to the comprehensive strength of the oems.