Decarbonization is the first huge challenge facing the automotive industry

Against the backdrop of global warming, many countries have made commitments to carbon neutrality and carbon peak and have taken corresponding actions. The Chinese government has also clearly put forward the strategic goal of "striving to reach carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060". The electrification of automobiles is a major measure to achieve the emission reduction targets of the Paris Agreement, and some countries have officially or informally announced plans to ban the sale of fuel vehicles.

First, we will fully implement the "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)", promote the development of a new generation of smart electric vehicle technologies and products that are deeply integrated with energy, transportation, and information and communications, improve the infrastructure system, and build a new industrial ecology. Second, we will continue to optimize the standard system, and with the needs of industrial scale development and the innovative development of new technologies as the guide, accelerate the research and improvement of the standard system for key components such as new energy vehicles, power batteries, chips, and operating systems. Third, we will enhance the basic capabilities of the industry, accelerate the construction of key common technology service platforms such as power batteries and fuel cell systems, improve the supply guarantee system for key components such as automotive chips, and enhance the testing and verification service capabilities for automotive electrification and intelligence. Fourth, we will implement the national "dual carbon" strategy, adhere to the strategic orientation of pure electric drive, strengthen policy guidance, strengthen the research and development and application of low-carbon and zero-carbon technologies, and promote the comprehensive green development of automobile manufacturing, use, scrapping and recycling.

With the advancement of the "dual carbon" goals, energy-side reforms will allow electric vehicles to use renewable energy and truly achieve green development. At the same time, new energy vehicles can achieve vehicle-grid interaction by connecting to the power grid. The ideal model of wind power, photovoltaics, energy storage, electric vehicles and smart grids will be realized ahead of schedule. In the next 3 to 5 years, technology and policies will further support the greening of electric vehicles, gradually moving from small-scale pilot projects to large-scale development, and the energy revolution and the automobile revolution will achieve substantial synergy.

Low carbonization is the first huge challenge facing the automotive supply chain. Under the vision of global carbon neutrality, almost all vehicle manufacturers and parts industries are highly concerned about and rely on the transformation of the supply chain. How to achieve green, low-carbon or net zero emissions in the supply chain is a problem that companies must solve. The timetable for carbon neutrality of large automobile companies is before 2035 or 2040, which is only 10-20 years from now, when net zero emissions will be achieved in the entire industrial chain. This means that not only the vehicle manufacturing link, but also the production and manufacturing of upstream parts and components to logistics and transportation must achieve net zero emissions. Intelligence is the second challenge facing the automotive supply chain, especially chips. In 2021, the global automotive industry will reduce production by about 10 million vehicles due to chip supply shortages, and China will reduce production by an average of 20%. The supply chain is a key threshold that electric vehicles and smart cars must cross in the future development. This supply chain is global, and companies will be affected by external factors such as international factors in addition to their own strategies. In particular, the epidemic, trade disputes between major countries, technological competition, and shipping will affect the changes in the pattern of the automotive industry supply chain.

China has launched a series of supporting policies for new energy vehicles, formulated and implemented systematic standards, and local governments have introduced corresponding supporting policies based on their actual conditions, building the world's most comprehensive new energy vehicle policy support system covering research and development, investment management, production access, market supervision, financial subsidies, tax incentives, promotion and use, safety supervision, etc. In the past two years, a series of relevant policies have been introduced, including the "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)", the National "14th Five-Year Plan", the "Carbon Peak Action Plan before 2030", and the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening Industrial Cooperation to Promote Industrial Green Development", which further improved the policy system and played a positive role in promoting the high-quality development of new energy vehicles.

Today, new energy vehicles have become the "locomotive" for my country's efforts to become a powerful automobile nation. However, who still remembers that once new energy vehicles were put into use, they were criticized for "no power in traffic jams on highways, air conditioning in summer, and battery life in winter". After nearly 20 years of research, development and demonstration operation, the industrialization and marketization of new energy vehicles in my country have been accelerated, and have become a new driving force for the high-quality development of the automobile industry.

In the past decade, the theme of the automotive industry's transformation has been electrification. In the next stage, the theme of the transformation will be intelligence based on electrification. The popularization of electrification must be driven by intelligence. Electric vehicles alone will not become a market selling point. Only smarter cars will be the focus of market competition. On the other hand, only electric vehicles can be more fully embedded with intelligent technology, and the best carrier of intelligent technology is the electrification platform. Therefore, on the basis of electrification, intelligence will be accelerated, and the "two transformations" will be formally combined in automobiles.