What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 511 Ready to Unleash Power

The European consortium quickly finalized its investment decision in the silicon carbon group and then boarded its return flight.

With IDG's Xiong Xiaoge's introduction, the relatively perfect performance of Silicon Carbon Group, the ready funds from local Chinese capital, and the upcoming market push, this investment is generally full of expectations.

Of course, another extremely important point is to refer to Tesla, a US-listed company.

Jonas believes that Yu Xing's statement about the last round of financing before the IPO is not an exaggeration. Just like when Tesla went public in 2010, it only had one supercar, the Roadster, on the market, and its annual revenue was just over $1 million. However, after effectively using the secondary market to raise funds, it now has a market value of nearly $300 billion.

Tesla's market capitalization was only $20 billion when it went public, but given its current growth, $300 billion is by no means the end.

Compared to Tesla, the potential of Silicon Carbon Group is also enormous.

The return flight would take a long time, and after reading the newspaper for a while, Jonas couldn't help but talk to Marcus again about the trip to Lingang.

"I have to say, Lingang's silicon carbon group has really left a deep impression on me."

"It may not become China's Tesla, but such a huge market should have a representative electric vehicle company under strong policy guidance."

Marcus put away his notebook, turned to look at Jonas, and agreed: "Carbon Silicon Group's cars are competitive, or rather, any car that can be sold at a loss will be quite competitive."

He laughed and said, "There are already many hybrid models in the Chinese market that can get government subsidies, but it seems that they are only doing it to get subsidies. The cars from Lingang are not satisfied with this, which I think is very valuable. Yu Xing is an ambitious person."

The subsidy conditions are public, and there are many car companies in the Chinese market, but judging from the current performance, the models built by the Silicon Carbon Group are undoubtedly of the highest standard.

This standard is not only the highest among subsidized models, but also the highest global standard that can compete with well-known automakers across different levels.

Marcus went on to mention details that impressed him: "The Silicon Carbon Group's car also performed best in the moose test. I really didn't expect it to perform so well with its weight."

The moose test was also a demonstration of the vehicle's performance by the Silicon Carbon Group in the conference room. According to the documents and video presentation, its result was 75 km/h, while the Mercedes-Benz ML achieved 67.6 km/h in this test, which was said to be close to the limit for mid-to-large SUVs.

What does 75km/h mean?
Because SUVs have a high center of gravity and a large unsprung mass, this performance is almost equivalent to a sedan's 85km/h level, while the BMW M3, a performance sedan known for its handling, only reaches 80km/h.

Jonas, Marcus, and others generally believed in the data presented in the conference room, but still chose a test that was relatively easy to reproduce, namely the elk test in Kyushu.

The test results were unexpected. The vehicle's posture was stable, and the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system intervened promptly and gently. Not only was there no fraud, but the vehicle ultimately achieved a speed of 77 km/h, exceeding the stated data.

Marcus observed carefully during the test, and both Yu Xing and Thomas remained calm about the performance.

This performance alone is not comparable to BMW or Mercedes-Benz; only the high-spec Cayenne S equipped with Dynamic Chassis Stability Control (PDCC) and Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus) can rival it.

PDCC counteracts body roll through active anti-roll bars, while PTV Plus dynamically distributes torque to the rear wheels in corners to improve steering precision. Combined with the performance of the air suspension, this results in a speed of 76 km/h.

Furthermore, the publicly available data for the BMW X5M is 72 km/h, while that for the Jeep Grand Cherokee is 63.5 km/h.

But what are the prices of those models?
It's hard not to be impressed by the fact that they can perform better at a much lower price.

What's even more insightful is Yu Xing's calm answer: "The electric car's battery is located at the bottom, which gives it a low center of gravity. This gives it an inherent advantage. The front and rear motors have a significant advantage over the mechanical four-wheel drive of gasoline cars in terms of torque adjustment. Gasoline cars take 200ms, while electric motors only need 20ms. In addition, we also used Bosch's iBooster system. All of these combined electrification features will give the car a higher level of safety in real-world scenarios."

Very calm, and very confident.

Jonas and his colleagues were unaware of Bosch's iBooster system beforehand. They only learned about it that evening when they urgently supplemented the relevant materials. They discovered that Bosch's system could build up 30% of the braking force in advance during emergency braking, which could shorten the braking distance by about 3 meters and thus provide crucial performance in the moose test.

When the speed of the 'Kyushu' drops from 77 to 72 km/h, energy recovery can contribute 40% of the deceleration force.

Such an excellent system is only available on a handful of models: Volkswagen's e-UP, Audi's hybrid A3, Porsche's 918 Spyder, and Tesla's upgraded Model S this year.

When Jonas and others saw that the Model S was also on the list, they became even more certain that Silicon Carbon Group's choice was correct.

Marcus talked for a while about the cost-effectiveness of 'Kyushu', and couldn't help but sigh about it: "The electrification of automobiles has really increased competitiveness. Even a company like Silicon Carbon Group, which has only been established for a few years, can make such a product. Is the future really going to be the era of electric vehicles?"

'Kyushu' is just the first car from Silicon Carbon Group, while the models that frequently appear and are used as comparisons are all products of Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and other automakers' years of experience and technological accumulation, and have always been loved by consumers around the world. This contrast between the two is really hard not to feel complicated.

In particular, Marcus and Jonas are from Europe.

Jonas, who had worked at Volkswagen, paused for a moment before pondering, "Toyota has reduced its holdings in Tesla. Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada believes that the demand for pure electric vehicles is limited, and there are still differing opinions in the industry regarding electric vehicles."

Toyota made a strategic investment of $5000 million in Tesla in 2010 and has now reaped a return of more than $4 million, which can be described as an excellent move.

Besides Takeshi Uchiyamada's views on the future market, the two fire incidents involving Tesla in the United States this month are also a negative factor.

The incidents that occurred in Seattle at the beginning of the month and in Mexico in the middle of the month both involved Model S vehicles catching fire after a collision, directly causing Tesla's stock price to plummet in a single day, wiping out more than $20 billion in revenue.

Daimler, which also made a $5000 million strategic investment in Tesla, sold its shares after the incident, cashing out approximately $7.8 million.

Marcus paid close attention to Tesla's performance, which led him to discuss the more specific reasons for the share reduction. However, he then steered the conversation back to Silicon Carbon Group: "Lingang's cars do not use ternary lithium batteries, which is a wise move. Range-extended vehicles are not as dependent on battery performance. I think Yu Xing's consideration in this regard is farsighted. Both Silicon Carbon Group and CATL need a safer reputation now."

Even a company like Tesla, which has been established for over a decade, raises questions about the safety of its high-energy-density ternary lithium batteries after an accident, let alone a company like Silicon Carbon Group, which has been established for several years.

Moreover, Marcus believes that public opinion in the Chinese market may be more conservative on this point. If the company can wait until ternary lithium becomes safer before considering adopting it, it would logically be more likely to avoid development risks.

Jonas agreed with this analysis, but then scoffed, thinking of Daimler's sell-off of Tesla stock: "Daimler and the others need funds to pay fines. I heard the U.S. is planning to fine Volkswagen more than $20 billion for its diesel emissions cheating."

“Over two billion dollars? Only two billion dollars?” Marcus exclaimed in surprise. “The two billion dollars is the criminal fine,” Jonas said. “The civil fines and consumer settlements are the bulk of the problem. That will take at least 15 billion dollars. Besides this diesel emissions scandal, Volkswagen also has two antitrust investigations. This is really a major blow!”

At least $170 billion in losses...

In addition, several other executives are facing criminal investigations in the United States, which are destined to result in prison sentences.

More importantly, Volkswagen is reportedly going to completely shut down its diesel vehicle business in the United States.

Fines, detention, parking...

Marcus clicked his tongue. Hearing Jonas's description, he felt a chill instead of sarcasm and ridicule: "Over the mountain is truly a venomous snake!"

Jonas wholeheartedly agreed.

Their discussion about the silicon carbon group seemed to have stopped unconsciously because they had experienced the toxicity of the mountain peak.

After a long pause, Jonas shook his head and said, "With Volkswagen losing its diesel car business, it also needs to accelerate its transformation to make up for the loss of market share. Now is a critical juncture in the industry, from technology verification to large-scale mass production. The US market and the Chinese market are already taking action."

Marcus, reflecting on what he had seen and heard in Lingang, suddenly hesitated: "Do you think Volkswagen can compete with Silicon Carbon Group in the electric vehicle market?"

Jonas couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

Without hesitation, he replied, "Of course it can. That's Volkswagen. As long as Volkswagen puts in the effort, it will definitely become more competitive."

Jonas then added, "But Silicon Carbon Group will also gain market share in China. It is on the right track, and I believe our investment in it is also a correct decision."

Marcus hesitated for two seconds, then nodded.

Although Volkswagen has issues such as emissions fraud, market monopoly, intense internal struggles, and a lack of effective electrification transformation, things should improve once it starts to move in that direction.

……

Silicon Carbon Group has completed a new round of financing that sets a new record for itself and is also a record for financing new energy projects globally.

This actually surprised many people.

Silicon Carbon Group has raised US$13.35 billion in three rounds of financing. In addition, it has secured nearly US$3 million in low-interest loans over the years, bringing the total value of the company in Lingang to over RMB100 billion.

When the news of the financing broke, it naturally attracted the curiosity of the media.

The Silicon Carbon Group internally considered this news to be a positive exposure, so Cui Zhiyu appeared to talk about the company's fund allocation. The vast majority of the funds were allocated to research and development and factory construction. Because of the late-mover advantage, the equipment and technology are among the best in the world.

The reporter also wanted to interview BOSS Yu Xing, but was politely refused. In the end, he could only take pictures of the car brand logo that the Silicon Carbon Group was willing to expose and the impressive super-large die-casting machine.

The logo for the car of the Silicon Carbon Group was decided to be a lightning bolt early on, but considering the common power warning signs in daily life, the final design is a shield as the core outline, with a bright silver metal frame, and the inside is spliced ​​with dark blue and silver-gray blocks, and then a silver lightning bolt diagonally through the shield, creating a technological atmosphere.

The reporter thought the logo was pretty good, and colleagues generally gave it a medium to high rating. However, when discussing the 'Jiuzhou' car, the opinion suddenly turned sour.

"I heard it's going to be launched next year, and the cars will start at least at 30 yuan. They're crazy! The Silicon Carbon Group has really gone mad!"

"It's not that Silicon Carbon Group is crazy, it's that Yu Xing is crazy. If I have 30 yuan, wouldn't it be better to buy a BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Audi? What kind of person would spend that kind of money to buy a new brand that may go bankrupt at any time?"

"Yu Xing works in the internet industry, especially the mobile internet industry. His Douyin (TikTok) is quite interesting. But when he tries to build cars, he's really not cut out for it. He became famous at a young age and became arrogant. He only realized how difficult it is when he hit a wall."

The reporter who came to Lingang for the interview, hearing the general doubts of his colleagues, helped to explain: "General Manager Cui did say that it is a differentiated competition, seeking a customer group that recognizes safety and comfort."

However, besides BBA (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi), Volvo is more known for its safety. With many models in the automotive market already occupying various niche labels, this explanation only garners more questions and ridicule.

This is the treatment that new brands of new energy vehicles should receive.

After the interview, Cui Zhiyu approached the boss, who was experiencing the three rows of seats, and mentioned the suggestion from the company's advertising: "President Yu, should we invite car reviewers to come and visit as a group, give us some feedback, and see if there is anything that can be improved?"

The interior design of the 'Kyushu' still has room for improvement. For example, the seating experience of the three rows of seats is improved. The latest model uses a seat cover tightening process to push the second row forward, thereby creating two more fingers of space for the third row.

"No need. I can imagine what the feedback will be. If they ask me to change the six seats back, then should I change them or not?" Yu Xing said with a smile. "Well, not only do I not need to, I feel we should also be on guard. We welcome normal feedback and suggestions, but we also need to be careful about any abnormal actions."

Cui Zhiyu knew that President Yu was being unscrupulous again, but there were indeed a group of car reviewers in the industry who did not only make a living by reviewing cars.

Yu Xing did not discuss this matter in detail on this occasion, but instead experienced the latest improvements with Cui Zhiyu, which was something that had not been shown to the European consortium.

The previous third row had already made efforts to provide comfort, but it was still inevitably a bit cramped. The solution was either to lengthen the car from the outside or to cut space from the inside. The former involved too many design and cost changes, so the latter became the option for improvement.

With the seat covers tightened, the backrests of the second-row seats can be pushed forward, and the seat cushions also use an optimized foaming process, allowing the legs to be raised an additional 10mm for movement.

Yu Xing felt a little constrained when he sat up, but Cui Zhiyu, who is 175cm tall, had a much better experience.

Cui Zhiyu believes that the final design for this part can now be completely finalized.

(End of this chapter)