“if we don’t have green, we can’t call it 100% new energy vehicles.
Energy must use green electricity in order to be a real new energy vehicle.
” Recently, at a top forum that brought together a large number of elites in the industry, a leader in the automobile industry expressed his original views.
He stressed that the development of new energy vehicles is a multi-level and multi-dimensional process, which can be summarized as “top-middle-bottom” three battles.
The “first half” we usually refer to is electrification, that is, promoting the transformation of traditional fuel vehicles into electric vehicles, while the “second half” is intelligent, focusing on the application of cutting-edge technologies such as self-driving vehicles and the Smart Internet.
However, in this boss’s view, there is another crucial link that can not be ignored, and that is “greening”.
He further elaborated that if we only achieve electric and intelligent, but not green, then we can not call it 100% new energy vehicles.
Because the core of the new energy vehicle lies not only in the innovation of the vehicle itself, but also in the energy system behind it.
Therefore, the root of the development of new energy vehicles lies in the transformation and greening of energy.
The new energy revolution we are promoting now is precisely for this goal.
Because only by realizing the new energy revolution and ensuring that the energy comes from green electricity, can we really have new energy vehicles.
The long road of green energy, in fact, the question of whether new energy vehicles are really environmentally friendly has been widely questioned as early as the beginning of the promotion of new energy vehicles.
Some people believe that although electric vehicles have almost zero emissions during use, significantly reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, their environmental protection is not indisputable, and a major doubt is the battery charging problem in electric vehicles.
The batteries of electric vehicles are charged directly from the power grid, but the power source of the power grid is a complex problem.
In many places, power grids still rely mainly on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas to generate electricity.
This means that although electric vehicles do not produce exhaust emissions when they are in use, they may produce large amounts of carbon dioxide and other pollutants in the process of obtaining electricity.
As a result, they believe that if electric vehicles get most of their electricity from fossil fuels, their overall environmental benefits will be greatly reduced.
They worry that the popularity of electric vehicles could lead to an increase in fossil fuel consumption, exacerbating global climate change and environmental pollution.
Of course, with the acceleration of the popularity of new energy vehicles, the awareness of the broad masses has also been further improved.
This old view has changed a lot: the environmental protection of electric vehicles is the result of a comprehensive consideration.
Although there may be pollution in the process of obtaining electric energy, compared with traditional fuel vehicles, the environmental benefits of electric vehicles in the whole service cycle are still significant.
In addition, with the continuous development of renewable energy and the green transformation of the power grid, the power source of electric vehicles will become more and more clean and environmentally friendly.
However, this process may take a long time.
As the expert said, according to the latest data released by the National Energy Administration, the development momentum of clean energy is strong, and the proportion of wind photovoltaic power generation has risen to 20% in the first half of the year, compared with 16.
8% last year.
This remarkable growth undoubtedly demonstrates China’s determination and effectiveness in promoting the transformation of the energy structure.
Last year, the proportion of electricity generated by non-fossil fuels reached 36%, and this year it is expected to further climb to 40%, indicating that China’s energy system is gradually moving towards a greener and sustainable direction.
Although fossil energy still accounts for 60% of power generation, of which coal accounts for a relatively large proportion, with the rapid development of clean energy, this pattern is quietly changing.
Last year, clean energy generation was close to 300 million kilowatt hours, and this year is expected to achieve 20% growth, easily breaking the 300 million mark.
If this growth rate can be maintained in each of the next seven years, clean energy generation is expected to reach 3.
1 billion to 3.
5 billion kilowatt hours by 2030, which translates to about 4.
5 trillion kilowatt hours.
Assuming 13 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity generated in 2030, clean energy will account for 35 per cent.
If clean energy such as hydropower and nuclear power is taken into account, non-fossil energy will account for more than 55% of power generation, meaning that new energy will occupy a dominant position in the energy structure.
This prospect is not out of reach.
In fact, given the combined drive of technological progress, policy support and market demand, clean energy generation in 2030 is likely to exceed expectations and achieve a higher level of breakthrough.
Therefore, we have reason to believe that a new energy era dominated by new energy is coming to us at an accelerated pace, which brings not only profound changes in energy structure, but also a great contribution to environmental protection and sustainable development.
So go back to the controversial question: is electric car “green”? The answer is yes, but the degree is more complicated than people generally think.
The zero-emission characteristics of electric vehicles in the use stage do make them environmentally friendly, but their environmental protection also needs to consider factors such as battery production, recycling and the source of electric energy used in charging, all of which may have an impact on the environment.
Big batteries and big fuel tanks go against their original intention.
Once upon a time, there was a lot of pinching between the oil car party and the tram party.
Supporters of the two factions are unswerving about their respective positions and often engage in heated debates on the Internet or in real life.
The oil car party emphasizes the advantages of strong battery life, convenient refueling and mature technology of traditional fuel cars, while the tramcar party promotes the environmental protection, low noise and gradually improved charging facilities of electric vehicles.
The two sides have their own advantages and do not give way to each other, so this “contest” about car power has lasted for a long time.
Nowadays, with more and more hybrid models, the battery pack is getting bigger and bigger, or the fuel tank is getting bigger and bigger, which makes more people question the opportunistic transformation of automakers into new energy car companies.
At present, many automakers increase the mileage by increasing the capacity of the battery pack or the volume of the fuel tank.
Therefore, some people think that this can see market feedback and economic benefits more quickly, but it is not to invest more resources to overcome the technical problems of pure electric vehicles, which does not fundamentally solve the core problems of new energy vehicles.
At the World Power Battery Congress in 2024, Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, made a speech to hit the crux of the development of the new energy automobile industry.
He put forward the view that the product innovation of new energy vehicles is “large in size,The trend of “heavy weight” has undoubtedly touched sensitive nerves in the industry.
Zhu Huarong spoke with data, and a set of sharp comparisons revealed the core of the problem: in the field of new energy vehicles, the proportion of vehicles weighing between 1.
5 tons and 2 tons is as high as 58.
64%, while models with 2 tons to more than 2.
5 tons also account for a large proportion, reaching 21.89%. In contrast, models with 1 to 1.
5 tons accounted for more than half of the fuel vehicles, reaching 58.41%. This data comparison clearly outlines that while pursuing battery life and performance, new energy vehicles have inadvertently embarked on the path of “heavyweight” development.
Zhu Huarong’s concerns are not without reason.
In order to improve battery life, new energy vehicle brands have chosen to expand fuel tanks (for extended-range or hybrid models) and increase battery pack capacity, which undoubtedly puts a heavy “burden” on the vehicles.
This kind of “moving forward with heavy loads” not only drives up the production cost of the vehicle, but also allows consumers to bear higher energy consumption and maintenance costs during use.
It obviously runs counter to the original intention of new energy vehicles to save energy, reduce emissions and make green travel.
, What is even more serious is that with the continuous increase in the quality of power battery packs, the weight of power battery packs of some models has soared to 700kg, and the weight of the entire vehicle has exceeded the 3000kg mark.
This current situation has caused domestic electric vehicles of the same level to generally increase the weight of 100-200kg compared with fuel vehicles.
Especially for medium and large SUV models, in order to maintain a long cruising range, they have to sacrifice the weight of the body.
The weight of the whole vehicle easily exceeds 2 tons, which is particularly cumbersome compared with fuel vehicles of the same level.
This “heavyweight” trend not only tests the energy consumption performance of the entire vehicle, but also poses a challenge to the automotive industry’s transformation into a direction of low energy consumption and high efficiency.
Zhu Huarong’s speech is undoubtedly a profound reflection on the industry: After all, the future of green travel should not be at the expense of energy efficiency and increased environmental burden.
In fact, the original intention of new energy vehicles is to reduce dependence on traditional fossil fuels and reduce exhaust emissions, thereby protecting the environment.
However, if the weight of the vehicle continues to increase due to the pursuit of long battery life, then this original intention may be greatly reduced.
The increase in weight not only means an increase in energy consumption, but may also have a negative impact on vehicle handling and safety.
Of course, this does not mean that we have to completely give up the pursuit of long battery life.
On the contrary, long battery life is still one of the important competitiveness of new energy vehicles.
However, we should achieve a win-win situation between long battery life and light weight through technological innovation and intelligent design.
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