From knock-off old-man's electric vehicles to industrial giant

Chapter 168 Buying Stars: You Can Resist the urge to run two orders? You're something else! (Bonus Chapter)

The "oil vs. electricity" debate on the internet was already beginning to emerge during this period.

There has always been a group of people on the internet who are obsessed with fuel consumption, led by the "Three Aunts" (a term referring to women who are extremely fuel-guzzling).

However, in cities with license plate restrictions, the price of a three-year-old's car is not cheap.

Take Shenzhen as an example. A high-spec 1.2T Corolla costs over 130,000 yuan on the road. If you add the high license plate fee, it will easily exceed 200,000 yuan.

Although the rules for bidding for license plates are simple, you can win one if you have money.

But spending 70,000 to 80,000 yuan to bid for a blue license plate in order to buy a car is also very painful!

Now a brand new option is available: buying a new energy vehicle.

Among the various new energy vehicles, a new option that cannot be ignored has recently emerged.

A certain poker forum.

-

[Living in Shenzhen, I'm thinking of buying a Corolla for commuting, but I can't afford the 70,000 RMB registration fee. Should I buy a gasoline car or the currently popular Mazda 6 S7? I've heard that this new energy vehicle charges quickly and is fuel-efficient?]

Below are a bunch of replies.

"What happens when the battery of a new energy vehicle fails after a few years? Replacing the battery costs at least 100,000 yuan."

"Listen to me, new energy vehicles save fuel but not money. They've only been around for a short time."

"Gasoline-powered cars have been around for many years, while electric cars in China have only been around for a few years. Those who know cars all choose Japanese brands!"

"Star S7, isn't that a ride-hailing car? A bunch of people online bought Star S7s and are using them to drive for Didi. I've seen them all! They even teach you step-by-step how to register as a Didi driver and how to get free electricity from the Star S7 app."

"Wow—that's outrageous! It's a car worth at least 200,000 yuan."

"You're the kind of person who can resist the urge to make two trips after buying a Xingchen car (thumbs up)!"

……

The comments section was as usual, with all sorts of opinions.

In terms of sheer numbers, owners of gasoline-powered vehicles hold an absolute advantage.

now.

Some owners of Star Auto also browse the forum.

We were happily eating hot pot and singing songs...

When I saw this comment.

Click.

My good mood for the day is ruined!
Anyone who buys a car will be unhappy if it's labeled as a ride-hailing vehicle.

"Hilarious, do you really like the smell of gasoline that much? New energy vehicles have always been very cost-effective in cities with license plate restrictions."

“I traded in my 10-year-old Ford Focus for a Star S7. At least in my experience, the driving and riding comfort, maintenance costs, and overall experience are all better than my previous gasoline car. Plus, the manufacturer offers a ten-year battery warranty. I don’t know what kind of mentality those who say the Star S7 is no good have.”

"Everyone who bought the Starlight says it's great. Those who try to discredit it by mentioning ride-hailing services and its battery are simply ignorant about the car!"

People who debated the scriptures joined spontaneously.

A new round of verbal battles has begun.

This kind of war of words will likely continue for at least several years.

at the same time.

Many more people came across the post, were surprised, and then began to pay attention to Xingchen Automotive, this "new brand".

Few people realize that the emergence of Xingchen Automotive seems to have brought greater attention and buzz to new energy vehicles from the consumer sector.

……

at the same time.

After two rounds of financing, Vaillant Battery has officially launched its IPO plan.

Because of the dual-class share system, the only option at present is to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Once the domestic policy is released in two years, companies holding dual-class shares will also be able to list on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.

Furthermore, Vaillant Battery has simultaneously applied for global patents covering areas such as "battery structure design," "lithium iron phosphate material modification," and "thermal management system."

With the prospects of Weineng Battery in place, and having secured Yutong Bus, a leading customer in the new energy bus industry, its valuation is almost second only to CATL.

The growth of new energy vehicles and the market demand for battery technology are both sufficient to support continuing this story, and the prospects are very promising.

While telling the investors his story, Xu Yi also raised Xingchen Automotive's current development needs. Xingchen Automotive is just a "newcomer to the car manufacturing industry," and it is lacking in terms of connections and resources.

The overall strategy of developing vehicle hardware in-house is almost complete.

However, Xingchen Motors is currently lacking one of the most important departments.

That is, top-notch talent capable of leading the development of autonomous driving algorithms!
Compared to the hardware field of car manufacturing, talent in this area is extremely valuable.

Top algorithm engineers often need to have experience in fields such as deep learning, machine learning, visual perception, and decision control.

Those who can stand alone are either in Silicon Valley or at the top of major domestic companies.

Even top-tier headhunting firms can't do it.

Xu Yi is in a great hurry.

Air suspension can still be imported.

Intelligent driving algorithms don't have substitutes!
……

"Mr. Xu, you seem to have a more confident attitude towards the future development of autonomous driving and new energy vehicles than other emerging entrepreneurs?"

Liu Xing, a core partner in Sequoia Capital's new energy sector, said from across the table.

The two chatted while drinking coffee.

Xu Yi feigned surprise: "No way, am I the most boastful CEO among these new energy vehicle manufacturers?"

“No, He Xiaopeng and Li Bin, one is betting heavily on autonomous driving, and the other believes that battery swapping will eventually conquer the world. Their expectations are much higher than yours.” Liu Xing shook his head.

Sequoia Capital has invested in XPeng Motors' Series A+ round and NIO's Series D round, as well as a series of investments in the new energy sector. These investments were all led by Liu Xing, who also served as the Sequoia representative director for these new energy projects.

Xu Yi: "Then why do you think I'm the most confident?"

"Because you give me the feeling that you can win, both in terms of mentality and reality," Liu Xing said bluntly.

……

There was silence for a while.

"You're really good at reading people!"

Xu Yi could only sigh.

These top investors have incredibly discerning eyes.

"So compared to XPeng Motors, I'd much rather become friends with you, Mr. Xu." Liu Xing smiled and handed over a business card.

Xu Yi took a business card and immediately saw a name.

Wu Xinzhou – Vice President of Engineering, Autonomous Driving Business Unit, Qualcomm, leading the development of the Snapdragon Ride platform…

Tsinghua University (Undergraduate), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Master's and Doctoral)

……

"XPeng and NIO are both aggressively recruiting top talent in autonomous driving. In China, apart from the core team members of Apollo, the only place to find even more highly skilled individuals is Silicon Valley. Just recently, He Xiaopeng chatted with me and said that he was looking for a capable and qualified person in charge of autonomous driving..."

If you, Mr. Xu, are interested, I can try to make the connection.

Liu Xing continued.

Xu Yi stared at the business card for a few seconds, then couldn't help but take a breath!

to be frank.

He wasn't really familiar with other top talents in the autonomous driving industry.

But he did have a real impression of this "Wu Xinzhou"; he had seen him on Bilibili before.

He was the head of autonomous driving at Qualcomm, and later moved to XPeng Mobility.

Then, in 23, he was recruited by Huang Renxun, who was wearing a leather jacket, to work at Nvidia in charge of autonomous driving development, reporting directly to Huang.

Before Huawei's ADS intelligent driving system entered the new energy vehicle market, XPeng's autonomous driving algorithms were always at the forefront of the industry, mainly relying on top talents in this field.

Moreover.

After taking office, Wu Xinzhou brought many people from Qualcomm, including the former Qualcomm software director and the technical head of Qualcomm's ADAS chip design solution.

This means that the entire intelligent driving team has been supported, and they will have enough connections and resources to work on chip design and communication later on.

……

(End of this chapter)