You may not know that on the highway during this May Day holiday, in addition to the traffic jam, there is also a "secret" hidden - 5 out of every 10 cars are fuel vehicles. What is even more surprising is that many of these fuel vehicles are new models: Changan's new Blue Whale engine model can run 1,000 kilometers in one box of fuel, Geely renamed the fuel vehicle department to "China Star Business Department", and Great Wall even took out a 4.0T V8 large-displacement engine... It is obvious that new energy is the general trend, but these car companies suddenly "roll in the fuel vehicle" crazily. What is the medicine sold in the gourd?
Fuel vehicles "make a fortune in silence": sales account for more than 50%, and overseas
Open the sales list in the first quarter of this year and you will find an abnormal phenomenon: 59% of Geely and 74% of Great Wall's sales still come from fuel vehicles. Even BYD, which claims to be "comprehensive new energy", has contributed 15% of its fuel vehicle destroyer 05. In the domestic market, third- and fourth-tier cities and rural areas are still the main battlefields for fuel vehicles - the coverage rate of charging piles is less than 30%, and the fluctuations in oil prices are far less realistic than the anxiety of battery life.
The real explosion
You may not know that on the highway during this May Day holiday, in addition to the traffic jam, there is also a "secret" hidden - 5 out of every 10 cars are fuel vehicles. What is even more surprising is that many of these fuel vehicles are new models: Changan's new Blue Whale engine model can run 1,000 kilometers in one box of fuel, Geely renamed the fuel vehicle department to "China Star Business Department", and Great Wall even took out a 4.0T V8 large-displacement engine... It is obvious that new energy is the general trend, but these car companies suddenly "roll in the fuel vehicle" crazily. What is the medicine sold in the gourd?
Fuel vehicles "make a fortune in silence": sales account for more than 50%, and overseas
Open the sales list in the first quarter of this year and you will find an abnormal phenomenon: 59% of Geely and 74% of Great Wall's sales still come from fuel vehicles. Even BYD, which claims to be "comprehensive new energy", has contributed 15% of its fuel vehicle destroyer 05. In the domestic market, third- and fourth-tier cities and rural areas are still the main battlefields for fuel vehicles - the coverage rate of charging piles is less than 30%, and the fluctuations in oil prices are far less realistic than the anxiety of battery life.
The real explosion point is overseas. China's automobile export volume is the world's largest in 2023, of which fuel vehicles account for more than 70%. Among the cars sold by Chery in Russia, 8 of them are fuel vehicles; Great Wall pickups conquered the desert with diesel engines in the Middle East; even the base camp of old German car companies has SUVs equipped with Changan Blue Whale engines. A Dubai car dealer bluntly said: "The price of fuel vehicles in China is only half that of BBA, but air conditioners can withstand the high temperature of 50 degrees, which is a necessity."
Technical war begins: Cars that refuel can also "evolve intelligently"
When everyone thought that fuel vehicle technology had reached its peak, domestic brands made new tricks. Changan's new Blue Whale engine uses aerospace-grade thermal insulation material, which increases the thermal efficiency to 44.28%, 3 percentage points higher than Toyota Hybrid. When refueling, open the mobile APP and the system will automatically calculate the most cost-effective driving mode based on oil price fluctuations and road conditions.
Geely is even more amazing, and directly moved the configuration of a pure electric car to a fuel car. The Xingrui L Zhiqing version is equipped with an 8155 chip, and the central control screen is exactly the same as the Galaxy series new energy vehicle. The voice assistant can even remind you that "the price of oil in the 92 gas station 2 kilometers ahead will be reduced by 30 cents." Car owners found that this system reduced the city's fuel consumption from 8.5L to 6.3L, which is equivalent to the fuel cost per kilometer being cheaper than that of the subway.
The Great Wall has started to play the "oil-electrical combination". Tank 300 Hi4-T version, low-speed electricity and fuel-saving, high-speed fuel-returning, dual-power superposition during off-road. A car owner has conducted actual testing in the Alaxan Desert, with a comprehensive range of more than 1,200 kilometers, saving two tanks of gas money than the pure oil version. The technical person in charge revealed: "This system cost 1.8 billion yuan, but the profit of fuel vehicles is high, and they will be repaid in three months."
Real user choice: 5 minutes of fuel, 1,000 kilometers of range
At a Geely 4S store in Beijing, consumers who came to see the fuel version of Xingyue L were crowded with exhibition halls. The sales manager did some calculations: the hybrid version is 30,000 more expensive than the fuel version, and it is calculated based on the annual price increase of 20,000 kilometers, and the fuel cost difference will only be tied for 7 years. "Many people directly say that charging is too troublesome, so it's time to run far and secure."
The reverse choice of new energy vehicle owners is more interesting. A Tesla Model 3 owner bought Changan CS75 PLUS for his family. The reason is very realistic: "It is still reliable to travel long distances. The last time he drove a tram to Inner Mongolia, he caught a cold when charging. "Data shows that 30% of new energy car owners still retain fuel vehicles, forming a combination of "tram commuting + oil trucks traveling" during holidays.
Car companies' abacus: Use fuel vehicles to support new energy
Open the financial report and discover the secret truth: Geely makes a net profit of 8,000 yuan for each fuel car sold, while Zekr loses 47,000 yuan per electric car; the gross profit margin of the Great Wall Tank series is as high as 35%, while Ora New Energy is only 12%. R&D engineer revealed: "The fuel vehicle platform is transformed into a hybrid, and the cost is 60% lower than the development tram from scratch."
The actual pressure of globalization is also forcing choices. The EU has postponed the schedule for banning fuel vehicles, and Malaysia has directly rejected the electric vehicle subsidy policy. The first production line of Chery's factory built in Brazil is all fuel vehicles. "You have to live first to talk about the future." An executive of a car company said privately, "The money you earn with fuel vehicles can last until the day of new energy profit."
Another track outside the charging station: gas station transforms into service area
A keen company has long been planning a recreational ecosystem. Shandong Expressway Group has added exclusive services for fuel vehicles in the service area: free glass washing and tire pressure testing, and a direct reduction of 1 yuan per liter per liter of No. 95 oil members. Shell launched a "smart gas station", the camera automatically recognizes the license plate, and the money will be deducted after adding fuel, and the entire journey will not be removed.
What's even more ruthless is that the car company will end up in person. Great Wall and Sinopec cooperate to build a comprehensive station of "super charging + super fast refueling", and next to the refueling gun is an 800V charging pile. Geely pilots the "Good Recharge Coupon" in Hangzhou, adding 200 yuan of oil to get 50 kWh of electricity, and drains oil truck users to their own charging piles. These actions reveal the real intention: fuel vehicles are not transitional products, but an important part of the energy ecology.
At the end: The "Two Legs" Philosophy on the Steering Wheel
When we are discussing the oil and electricity dispute, car companies have long since jumped out of either one or the other. SAIC-GM-Wuling Hongguang MINI EV is selling well, but the Wuling Star fuel version of the same brand still sells more than 10,000 yuan per month; while BYD is promoting the U8, it is equipped with a DM-i hybrid system on the fuel car. This "needed and wanted" strategy seems contradictory, but it actually implies the truth of the market - there are no backward technologies, only products that cannot evolve.
The picture of gas stations and charging piles standing side by side may be the norm for the next decade. As a self-driving blogger said: "No matter how gas, tram, it is a good car that can take me across National Highway 318." What car companies need to do is to let consumers always have a choice when stepping on the accelerator.
