What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 579 Mentor (4k)

He Xiaopeng has a clear forward-thinking vision for XPeng Motors' first model.

According to the car manufacturing cycle, even if we devote ourselves to it now, mass production models will not be available for at least three years. And will the current 400V high-voltage platform still be considered advanced technology at that time?

It was precisely because of this consideration that He Xiaopeng hesitated. He also knew that BYD's "Tang" was already 800V this year, and he couldn't help but feel that the 800V platform would occupy a certain proportion in three years.

Furthermore, closely related to the platform choice is the vehicle positioning. The 400V model can consider the low-to-mid-range, while the 800V model must consider the mid-to-high-end.

He Xiaopeng was also hesitant on this point. On the one hand, he saw that the Silicon Carbon Group had successfully entered the high-end market, but on the other hand, he felt that such a positioning was risky, as the subsidy environment for new energy had changed.

Having witnessed Mr. Yu's demeanor, he went on to express his strategic questions.

“High-voltage systems have higher requirements for components. Silicon carbon is not incapable of making 800V platforms, including the supporting charging piles, which we can also make.”

“But the cost of Kyushu is already as high as 32, and if we use 800V, the cost will increase by at least another 3.”

Yu Xing showed He Xiaopeng around the R&D department of the Silicon Carbon Group. Instead of immediately giving his opinion on XPeng Motors, he explained the hesitation he had encountered before.

"Mr. He, I don't know if you have conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the two options."

"Based on our own vehicle development and supply chain assessment, the silicon carbide devices required for 800V are five times that of traditional silicon-based IGBTs. This market is absolutely monopolized by overseas giants."

"Then there is the battery system. The 800V version needs to be 30% higher than the 400V version. The specifications of high-voltage connectors and fuses need to be upgraded, and the requirements for the thermal management system need to be increased."

"The motor needs to be redesigned to adapt to high voltage, and all high-voltage accessories such as on-board chargers and air conditioning compressors need to be redeveloped."

"In fact, I'm not trying to discredit them, but when I talked to Mr. Wang about the 'Tang' at the auto show last time, I was quite worried about whether their high-voltage modules had sufficient redundancy."

"Were your internal discussions based on all of these considerations?"

As Yu Xing began to explain, he turned to He Xiaopeng and asked his question. When the other party did not answer immediately, he asked another question: "Or do you think that because BYD can do it, you can definitely do it too?"

Despite asking in a calm tone, He Xiaopeng's face suddenly turned red.

Yu Xing knew the answer, but instead of criticizing directly, he simply explained: "BYD has a very good technological foundation. Although the situation has not been good in the past two years and the market has not yet been opened up, as I just mentioned, the IGBT module, which is monopolized by foreign countries, was developed by them in 05. In 09, they made the first automotive-grade IGBT chip, and in the past two years, they have iterated to version 2.0."

"China lags far behind in the field of power semiconductors, and BYD is very bold."

“I previously said in the office that we have the capacity to do difficult things. Once silicon carbon is launched and sales stabilize, we will also focus our efforts in this field.”

"Therefore, even with BYD like this, we still have some concerns at this stage of this year."

"XPeng Motors is great. If they had considered these issues and factors before actually investing, that would have been a good thing."

Yu Xing used a euphemistic way of putting it.

He Xiaopeng gave a wry smile twice: "President Yu..."

He changed to a direction that better suited his ideas: "Mr. Yu, if we abandon the 800V direction, I think the new energy vehicle market below 20 yuan is worth trying for the current industry. If you make a 30 yuan vehicle, the disruptive effect of new energy vehicles on the power system of fuel vehicles is not so obvious, but if you put it below 20 yuan, it will be quite obvious."

Yu Xing nodded: "BYD is doing this."

"But I don't think BYD's vehicle design and positioning are particularly outstanding," He Xiaopeng bluntly stated. "I also tried out the 'Tang' last time. If we were to make a model around 20 yuan, we could make it more youthful and intelligent, like..."

He gave an example: "Just like Xiaomi makes mobile phones, which are closer to young people and emphasize the spirit of enthusiasts. They are doing very well now. We come from the Internet industry and can consider a similar positioning, targeting young technology enthusiasts and emphasizing technology and innovation."

Yu Xing smiled and praised, "This positioning is much clearer than what you talked about before. 400V is not lagging behind. Tesla is also 400V now. As for what you think about in 3 years, I can also say with certainty that it will not be lagging behind at that time either."

He Xiaopeng was delighted, both because of President Yu's judgment and because he had praised his own thinking.

“There is such a group as young tech enthusiasts, but I had a particular characteristic when I first graduated.” Yu Xing blinked. “I noticed that many young people like me had this characteristic as well.”

He Xiaopeng guessed, "Are you willing to try something new?"

Yu Xing laughed and said, "It's poverty."

He Xiaopeng: "..."

“Xiaomi’s current strategy is very clear. You can use the analogy of mobile phone positioning to explain it. Therefore, it emphasizes cost-effectiveness,” Yu Xing said. “If you want to consider this direction, 20 yuan is not enough. You have to lower the price by 5 to 7 yuan. That’s what it means to emphasize cost-effectiveness and to make it a good first car for young people.”

College students almost never buy cars, and after graduation, they face the pressure of work and survival, so they are bound to be short of money. Under such circumstances, if they have a need to buy a car, most of them will not look at cars around 20 yuan.

This is the objective market situation.

Yu Xing considered, “If we start from this positioning, how to convey your brand image to your target audience is quite important. Once your car is in mass production, it needs to be effective as soon as it rolls off the production line.”

He Xiaopeng listened carefully and mentioned another disadvantage: "I just don't know what the subsidies will be like at that time."

“You’re going to make pure electric vehicles, right? Subsidies will definitely decline, but overall, I think it’s not too bad.” Yu Xing gave a strong analysis: “Plug-in hybrids and range extenders can clearly balance electricity consumption and range anxiety, so subsidies in this area will be reduced accordingly. Pure electric vehicles are different; they still need to be promoted. No matter what the outside world says, the policies from above are still determined by the market. The subsidies for pure electric vehicles and the penetration rate are definitely inversely proportional.”

He Xiaopeng said sincerely, "Mr. Yu, after hearing what you said, I feel much more at ease."

Yu Xing smiled and then introduced him to some policies and trends that he had discussed with Li Bin before.

He Xiaopeng listened attentively and took notes, then suddenly asked a question: "President Yu, since you have these judgments, when will the Carbon Silicon Group launch a pure electric vehicle? Will Kyushu launch a pure electric vehicle later?"

“Jiuzhou Pro and Max will definitely not be pure electric anymore. Designing a pure electric version based on the current range extender would require too many changes,” Yu Xing said thoughtfully. “Silicon carbon batteries will definitely be used for pure electric vehicles, but there is internal debate about it. For safety redundancy considerations, we are using lithium iron phosphate batteries.”

"The weakness of lithium iron phosphate is its low energy density. If we still use lithium iron phosphate in pure electric vehicles, the weight of the whole vehicle will be very high, there will be many related design changes, and the verification cycle will be extended. This is not a trivial matter."

He Xiaopeng pondered for a moment and said, "Then we should use ternary lithium batteries. I've heard that CATL's ternary lithium batteries have made great progress." "We're weighing this issue. The timing of using silicon carbide batteries for pure electric vehicles isn't essentially about choosing the battery type, but about balancing battery energy density with the overall vehicle design and performance," Yu Xing said calmly. "So, I'm thinking about going public as soon as possible and getting more funding to advance our ideas."

The listing of Silicon Carbon Group means that there are many directions to focus on. For example, the cooperation on lithium iron phosphate that was previously discussed with CATL is not very willing to continue to invest in this direction, but Yu Xing still plans to continue to work on it.

Cui Zhiyu thought the boss was rather stubborn in this regard, but... the boss has always been stubborn.

Yu Xing didn't talk much about his side, but instead reminded them: "If you want to make cars under 20 yuan, you need to consider the cost issue more. BYD has many interchangeable parts, so it naturally has a cost advantage."

He Xiaopeng's eyes gleamed: "President Yu, if domestic subsidies are still acceptable, I'm thinking we could try using subsidies to boost sales, and then use scale to reduce costs."

Yu Xing was a little surprised: "That's quite radical."

"Is it as radical as silicon-carbon technology?" He Xiaopeng asked with a smile.

Yu Xing recalled the comments he received when he discussed these kinds of ideas in Pengcheng, only now his perspective had changed.

He couldn't help but smile: "If that's the case, then just call me if you have any problems. At least in three years, joint procurement of millimeter-wave radar and the like will help everyone reduce costs."

Yu Xing doesn't think he's the only one who can be radical, and he doesn't mind offering help.

The growth of the entire new energy market cannot rely solely on silicon carbon and BYD; other manufacturers offering more options will likely attract more consumers.

He remarked, "Mr. He, your thoughts on XPeng Motors seem different from what you had at the last auto show."

"I read your market analysis whenever I have free time, Mr. Yu, and I'm constantly thinking about the success of silicon carbon and consumer demand," He Xiaopeng complimented. "With a mentor like Mr. Yu, my ideas will definitely become more and more advanced."

Yu Xing smiled slightly: "I have CCTV reporters here. Remember to praise me like that in front of the camera next time."

He Xiaopeng really remembered it.

He finally asked, "Mr. Yu, when will you go public?"

"We've already started some preliminary preparations," Yu Xing said without hiding anything. "If all goes well, I think they estimate it might be early next year."

He Xiaopeng offered his congratulations in advance, saying, "Then I'll wait to buy silicon carbon stock."

Yu Xing patted He Xiaopeng on the shoulder and laughed, "The thing you should do now is leave Alibaba. Jack Ma and the others really don't care about you as the president of the mobile business group, right?"

UC was acquired by Alibaba for $43.5 billion in June last year, and He Xiaopeng subsequently joined Alibaba as president of its mobile business group.

He Xiaopeng shook his head and said, "The acquisition agreement stipulates that I must work at Alibaba for three years."

“Agreements are written by people, and Mr. Ma is not an unreasonable person,” Yu Xing said.

Upon hearing this, He Xiaopeng suddenly coughed and said, "President Yu, you are quite familiar with President Ma. When can you put in a good word for me?"

“You could try getting Alibaba to invest as well. XPeng Motors gets the money, Alibaba gets the equity, and you get your freedom.” Yu Xing immediately thought of a solution and then laughed, “President Ma will be in Lingang in November. You can come along then, and we can all have a chat. Maybe we can even get you released.”

He Xiaopeng immediately grasped President Yu's hands with both of them and shook them repeatedly: "President Yu, if you're not the mentor, then who is? I'll definitely come along."

He didn't doubt Mr. Yu's influence. Although Lingang and Alibaba were competing in the short video market, their relationship was clearly much stronger than with Tencent.

Yu Xing withdrew his hand, a thought flashing through his mind: this matter needs to be discussed before Pinduoduo demonstrates any threat.

After lunch, He Xiaopeng and others continued to learn about carbon silicon under the guidance of Cui Zhiyu, while Yu Xing participated in another round of internal discussions on the positioning of the next model.

There are now two directions for silicon carbide manufacturing: MPVs that compete with the GL8 or mid-to-high-end pure electric sedans.

The former has common experience in Kyushu, while the latter is regarded as an essential path to invest in research and development and accumulate more technology.

Yu Xing has discussed this with Cui Zhiyu, Hu Zhengnan and others on several occasions. This time, he brought out the consensus of some senior executives: the second official model of the carbon silicon carbide will be a business MPV for the niche market, while the pure electric sedan will be developed in parallel as a half-generation model.

Carbon Silicon Kyushu is building a healthy self-sustaining cycle. Once it successfully goes public and obtains IPO financing, coupled with capital operations in the secondary market, it can develop one generation and accumulate half a generation, which will help it better expand into the new energy market.

It was a bit of a compromise, but the people in the meeting room were barely satisfied.

Kyushu plans to launch a large five-seater vehicle next year, officially launching a business MPV project, and simultaneously developing a half-generation pure electric sedan.

Yu Xing's meeting lasted until dark.

After he finished, he went to the window to smoke and saw that He Xiaopeng downstairs had actually been interviewed by CCTV.

CCTV set up a filming crew in Lingang after the initial sales figures for silicon carbon were released, intending to film footage of the new energy development in the area. They would also occasionally interview Yu Xing, and plan to edit the footage into a short documentary.

He Xiaopeng was unaware that President Yu was watching him.

He earnestly praised Mr. Yu: "I am very grateful to Mr. Yu for his guidance on new energy projects. He is my mentor in new energy. I admire the fact that silicon carbide has opened up its patents in the field of battery safety."

"I hope to compete with Mr. Yu in the new energy market in the future."

"I believe that Kyushu's silicon carbon technology will continue to shine even brighter in the second half of this year and next year. With this price and configuration, it has no rivals!"

He Xiaopeng sounded even more confident than Yu Xing himself.

While browsing through the Silicon Carbon Group in the afternoon, he also considered another suggestion from his mentor and decided to record the entrepreneurial history of XPeng Motors on Douyin to convey the brand image of his company to young people.

(End of this chapter)