Interview with Chengdu Auto Show 2021： A brand-new sub-brand of Krypton

On August 29th, the media day of Chengdu Auto Show in 2021, Krypton brand displayed a brand-new ecological strategy of energy replenishment, and released its sub-brand ZEEKR Power Krypton Energy. Relying on professional team, self-developed technology, partners and intelligent operation, we can build a complementary ecology and experience from three dimensions: family, city and service, and provide users with all-round energy solutions.

Lu Mi, general manager of Zhejiang Haohan Energy Technology Co., Ltd. said at the press conference: "We will be committed to exploring new technologies, new services and new experiences, realizing full-scene, full-ecological and full-life cycle energy management, and solving the pain points of users’ full-scene charging experience with ecological services, becoming the driving force and guarantee for extremely awkward users to travel, and endurance for life anytime and anywhere."

After the press conference, Mr. Lu Tao was indirectly interviewed by the media in the interview, and then we will share the key contents of the interview with you.

▲　Lu Tao　　General manager of Zhejiang Haohan Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

Reporter:This year, Tesla completed 500 charging piles, of which 200 were completed this year. I think we are expected to complete 290 this year. I would like to ask when all of them will be delivered. The first batch was delivered in September? Another question is whether the charging station is self-operated or a third party.

Liu Tao:First, our target plan is to complete 290 seats within this year, which is also a challenge for us. In September, the first charging station will be launched, and the overcharging station will also be launched. The light charging station is probably expected to be a little late. The second question is that all the 290 seats are self-operated.

Reporter:Regarding the charging power, Tesla’s charging power is 120kW, and Tucki’s is 90kW. What’s our charging power?

Liu Tao:We have a variety of product series, including 20kW light charging products, 60-120kW overcharged products and 360kW extremely charged products. Different products have different power. If it is equipped with a 400-volt platform, the fastest charging speed of Krypton 001 from 10% to 80%SOC can be about 30 minutes.

Reporter:Before, I saw that Krypton gave a lot of data, saying that we will deploy 360 kilowatts of charging in the future, but not in the initial 290 seats, or what?

Liu Tao:Our piles can support the maximum charging power of 360 kW, and the planning of extremely filled piles will have some technical foresight, and it will go a little ahead, which can match the vast future architecture, and it is possible to carry the future 800 V platform. .

Reporter:Let me explain that the number of 290 stations includes different powers, not all of them are the same, and the power of different gradients is different. The highest power is 360 kW.

Liu Tao:Yes, our 290-seat charging station includes extremely charging station, overcharging station and light charging station, because each station is equipped with different charging facilities and charging piles.

Reporter:What is the proportion of our high-power charging piles among the 290 seats?

Liu Tao:Now, at present, we are competing with friends in the market for some capacitor and site problems. It is not certain that the remaining current in this shopping mall can be matched to the pole-filled pile or pole-filled station. We will take measures according to local conditions. At present, there is no very accurate proportion, which may not be suitable for full announcement, but we will announce the proportion later. Now we are looking for places with land and electricity while building in batches, and there are still some uncertainties.

Reporter:What is the plan that our charging network will be initially opened to Geely Group, third parties and other brands?

Liu Tao:Our polar charging station is not open now, only for polar krypton. Our overcharging station and light charging station can be opened.

Reporter:I think we gave a free charge this morning with a thousand degrees limit. Can this car be used to run Didi?

Liu Tao:Our press conference said that it is only limited to the first non-operating car owner of YOU version, and it is definitely not possible to run Didi.

Reporter:We released the brand ZEEKR Power this morning. It is not an after-sales service system now, but a brand. So in your opinion, what is the difference between it and the after-sales service system of Krypton? Why is it a brand?

Liu Tao:Many friends regard energy replenishment or charging as a part of after-sales service. Our business system should be called energy service accurately. In energy service, energy replenishment is only one part. Energy service also includes battery operation and similar optical storage integration, micro-grid construction, etc. It is a big energy layout. In Geely’s view, the whole energy service system, including Krypton, is a very, very large plate or business unit, so it is not just a simple small link in after-sales service, so we will pay more attention to the layout and input resources of energy services than other countries, so we will become an energy company operating independently and serve the Krypton brand at the same time. Therefore, the sub-brand of krypton energy was born, which is such a situation.

Reporter:In the morning, I heard you speak on the stage, and there was a scene that the office area and scenic spot would use 20 kilowatts of light power. Is this based on cost considerations or something? The figure of 20 kilowatts is not enough for any car in public areas, because it is better to charge it quickly, and it is better to walk quickly. Why is it 20 kilowatts?

Liu Tao:Good question, as I said at the press conference, it is not necessarily directly related to the cost. Of course, we also hope to control the cost. Because there are many charging scenarios, and I just said that the light charging pile is 20 kilowatts, you just mentioned that we will also put in extremely charging stations and over-charging stations in offices or other destinations, which does not mean that these places will definitely put in or only put in light charging stations. This is not necessarily related. At the same time, I also said in the morning that we should not only charge quickly, but also charge well. The reason for charging quickly is that we have a 360 kW output including high-power extremely-charged piles, which can quickly solve the user’s needs with very urgent needs. Now I have to leave immediately after charging, and I can’t wait that long. In another case, it is well-filled. When we look back, you will find that if you are a new energy vehicle owner now, and you go to dinner with friends, you will find that it will take at least 2 hours, but it will be filled up very quickly. If you use extremely-filled piles or extremely-filled stations now, there will definitely be some overtime and delay costs, which will be a loss to the whole social resources. We definitely hope that the user will charge the car in 2-3 hours, charging it with a light pile, and you don’t have to go down to move the car. For example, it is a very painful and bad experience for you to eat a meal for 30 minutes.

Reporter b：This scene doesn’t mean that you are waiting for charging. You may have gone to the scenic spot to play, the car is charging here, and then you drive away after playing in the scenic spot, not to let you sit and wait in this scene.

Reporter:Why is the number 20?

Liu Tao:It must be a comprehensive consideration, including 20 kilowatts on the R&D side, the market side, the user side and the cost side. We don’t just say 30 kilowatts, 40 kilowatts and 50 kilowatts at will. Generally speaking, we will classify the scenes of pure electric vehicles according to the parking time. For example, we will stay at home for one night, stay in the company for one day, and stay in the mall for only 2-4 hours. We will charge about 50%-60% of the starting SOC and ending SOC data of pure electric vehicles under normal circumstances. Based on big data calculation, according to 60% of the 100-degree battery of Krypton 001, it will be charged about 60 degrees. According to the parking time of 2-4 hours, 20kW is enough, which can definitely meet the charging demand in this scene, make full use of power resources, cover more parking spaces and provide more charging parking spaces.

Reporter:Weilai said in the publicity that he hoped that every Weilai user would live in the electricity area, and how many kilometers there would be a power station. Is there such a goal for us to have a charging station within how many kilometers in the future?

Liu Tao:We don’t have a specific frame to determine how many kilometers away from the user community, because we have to consider the overall distribution of all users. At present, there is no particularly accurate way to calculate the user data because Extreme Krypton 001 has not been delivered. Second, we now feel that for all extreme Krypton car owners, we should solve the core problem first. The core problem is that we are now laying out in some places in the core of supermarkets and CBD, and solve the problem that these users often go to the scene first. It is the second step to extend it to calculate how much to do. At present, the core pain point for users is the core of the city center, not the suburbs.

Reporter:There is a new round of financing these two days. Is the sub-brand of our charging station a wholly-owned sub-brand of Geely or something else?

Liu Tao:ZEEKR Power, the sub-brand you are talking about?

Reporter:Right.

Liu Tao:This brand should not exist. It is jointly owned by several companies, and ZEEKR Power serves ZEEKR.

Reporter:Weilai’s power exchange station is just a few companies.

Liu Tao:Different, NIO Power only serves NIO (Weilai), and it does not serve other brands.

Reporter:From the profit model, for example, just now, I accepted the brand of Krypton, and the owner will have a free charge every year when placing an order this year. What is the profit model?

Liu Tao:I understand that you are planning profit points for all specific overall energy companies, or are you referring to profit points for only stations?

Reporter:Our brand.

Liu Tao:At present, our profit is related to the user experience. At this stage, we will pay more attention to the user experience, and profit is only the second priority. From the perspective of the whole energy service system, there are many companies in the market that look at the situation of new energy vehicles and energy companies in the same important position. If there are enough new energy vehicles in the market, energy companies can make more layouts through new energy vehicles, which can incubate many business models. However, in the early stage, the first thing is to sell the vehicles and implement the follow-up strategy on the basis of ownership, so it is not necessary to achieve profitability in the early stage. Of course, the two of them will have some complementary functions.

Reporter:I think the morning press conference also talked about the plan of charging cars. I am very interested in this matter. Weilai NIO Power also mentioned this thing, but now they are gradually reducing the proportion of mobile charging cars in the whole energy service. What is the initial deployment logic of our car? Priority in first-class cities or as a supplement in other cities?

Liu Tao:It suddenly occurred to me that you just had a question. You just talked about the point of profit. Now private cars are in a rapid growth trend, growing at a rate of 100% and 200%. It is a very large incremental market at present. If there are enough pure electric cars in the market, the profit part is very large. But at present, we will grasp the user experience and profit with both hands. You just mentioned the urban layout of charging cars. At present, we will give priority to the service of mobile charging stations in first-tier cities. Mobile charging cars will probably do some tests one after another in September, and it is expected to start online at the end of September.

Reporter:Will the use of charging cars be a right of users, or will there be a higher charge?

Liu Tao:At present, the charging car will be in the whole service system, and the user side and the retail side have not announced the specific rules and policies, because they are still doing some calculation and specific research work. When they announce the specific content, we will consider combining the two services of mobile charging car and valet charging (charging) to give users an experience, but at present, there is no specific plan and policy.