Under the "Double Carbon Era": a battle of Western new energy vehicles in China
On November 16, the CEO of Lucid Motors Peter Rawlinson accepted the interview from CNBC and announced that his company in a mid-decade plans to have plants in the Middle East and China. Foreign companies setting factories in China aren't surprising anymore, since China is one of the largest industrial powers. However, Lucid Motors as one company focusing on new energy vehicles will face its biggest opponent - Tesla. The sales volume of Tesla is continually increasing, and up to August 2021, the turnover reached 152,531, exceeding the volume for the entire last year.
However, new energy vehicles became more popular in China, because of the increased attention to climate change and policies due to the problem of global warming. Before the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Chinese government officially announced the “double carbon” goals, which promote the renewable energy industry. The Action Plan for Carbon Dioxide Peak Before 2030 relates to several areas: energy, industry, construction, traffic transportation, and scientific creativity. This regulates some high emission types of cars, they will be banned, but positively influences the industry of new energy vehicles.
Lucid Motor is considered the biggest component of Tesla. It mainly targets new energy vehicles and came on the market in February 2021. One published car, Lucid Air owns a double engine of 1086 horsepower, which is the only new energy car that can finish 0.25 miles in 10 seconds. Second, it has a strong cruising ability, that one time fully charged equals 517 miles cruising. The powerful cruising ability relies on its 113kWh battery, designed and produced by Lucid Motors. At the same time, it has the best 0.21 coefficient of drag, which makes it the world’s most aero-efficient luxury car.
Lucid Motors was once called by Atieva, which was invested by two Chinese companies: BAIC and LE. China is one of the biggest automobile markets with annual vehicle sales of around 25 million. With the support from the Chinese government that its target is to increase the penetration of new energy vehicles to 25%. The quality and design of Tesla are its advantages, however, more importantly, the price is its biggest advantage. Tesla set one of the factories in China, which avoids the high import tax and sells at a lower price, therefore it gains a huge group of followers and customers in China.
Once Lucid decided to step into the Chinese market, it’s unavoidable to make confrontation with Tesla. With the convenience provided by the Chinese government, under the policy of “double carbon”, the industry of new energy vehicles will bloom.