Gasgoo.com (Shanghai April 26th)– The sales of SUVs has been surging in China since 2011 and consumers’ love affair with SUVs has expending into the segment of alternative energy vehicles this year.
On April 25th, the big opening of the 2016 Beijing Auto Show, pure electric SUVs have stolen the spotlight at the exhibition hall of alternative energy vehicles.
JAC has introduced its SUV IEV6S, which was claimed by the company to be China’s the very first domestic pure battery SUV. BAIC’s EX200 also has made its debut ahead of the Show. These two SUVs are both believed to hold great potential cause both JAC and BAIC have been long devoted in exploiting the segment of alternative energy vehicles.
According to JAC’s long term strategic planning on alternative energy vehicles, this Chinese domestic carmaker will introduce the third generation electric models powered by all-solid-state lithium battery with a range exceeding 400 km. Comparably, BAIC will also stick to its ES strategy, namely Energy and SUV.
Qoros also introduced its very first pure battery SUV 5EV at the show, a compact city SUV based on Qoros 5 that will come into production in 2017. Besidees, Tesla and Huwtai Motor also introduced their pure battery SUV.
The introduction of these pure battery SUVs seems to foreshadow the future of alternative energy vehicles. But to be noted, besides Tesla, all other aforementioned SUVS are all built on traditional fuel vehicles in a bid to control costs.
According to Wang Binggang, an industrial expert, large models such as SUVs are not the best choice to promote pure electric powertrains, due to its large size and high consumption.
In fact, the average combined range of 250 km, which is relatively incapable for most SUV consumers. Besides, the storage of charging facilities and its poor performance in colder weathers are also two challenges facing alternative energy vehicles.
Technically, hybrid powertrain may be a better choice for alternative energy SUVs.
JAC also confessed that its IEV6S at this stage is just a complement to its product lines with a focus on a few cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
So it is highly likely that this round of electric SUV push is just for testing water.
