What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 678 User Experience (4k)

I didn't see you yesterday, but I see you today. Today is a beautiful sunny day.

The Xpeng Motors executives in the G3 car finally understood why President Yu had arranged the meeting time. It was certainly not a slight, but wasn't it a bit of an overreaction?

As Yu Xing said, Xia Yan was indeed the head of the company before He Xiaopeng joined full-time, and even after the latter joined, he still controlled the main operations of XPeng Motors.

After all, He Xiaopeng is not only not a senior figure, but he wasn't even considered a professional in the automotive industry before.

Xia Yan is different. He himself graduated from Tsinghua University with a major in automotive engineering and previously worked at GAC R&D Center, where he was one of the youngest section chiefs and his research focused on new energy vehicles.

It was simply because of the atmosphere at GAC Group and his own aspirations that he became a co-founder of XPeng Motors. Similarly, Yang Chunlei and He Tao also have GAC Group backgrounds, which is one of the reasons why XPeng Motors is located in Guangzhou.

Xia Yan has absolute respect for the market and admires the Silicon Carbon Group's pioneering work in new energy in China. However, after being the leader of the company for so long, it's hard not to feel uncomfortable to be scolded like this, especially from such a small perspective.

He envisioned this trip to Lingang as a time for everyone to enjoy drinks, sit down and discuss, and jointly plan for the development of the domestic new energy industry.

Sweating under this blazing sun is neither elegant nor sophisticated.

However you may think of it as high-end, when it comes to truly high-end, the cars sold by those carbon silicon manufacturers are indeed high-end.

Xia Yan remained awkwardly silent.

Yu Xingting couldn't stand talking under the blazing sun for long, so he drove the G3 to the shade of a tree and enjoyed the air conditioning before continuing his journey of being a loyal friend.

He did indeed agree to let He Xiaopeng try out the G3 mule cart, and he has been carefully examining products from domestic counterparts these past few days.

Carbon Silicon and XPeng, or any new energy vehicle manufacturer willing to seriously build cars, are undoubtedly in the same camp. Products at different price points can enrich consumers' choices and also enhance the overall brand image of new energy vehicles.

Furthermore, both sides intend to conduct joint procurement of some components, which would bring more tangible benefits. If this can be promoted as soon as possible, it would be a good example of similar operations in the industry.

In addition, there are potential benefits in areas such as the open-source ecosystem and technology licensing cooperation that silicon carbon is currently trying to promote.

“The carbon silicon plan is to hold a launch event for the Kyushu five-seater version around November.” Yu Xing changed the perspective. “But before that, considering the weather, the company plans to promote a service for car buyers.”

He Xiaopeng felt that President Yu was really at odds with the weather today, saying that G3 was like this, and that Kyushu was like this too...

Yu Xing continued, "This service isn't really necessary, but we still hope that silicon carbide can bring a better user experience to car owners, whether they have already paid for it or are considering paying for it. Although range-extended vehicles don't place much emphasis on batteries, given the current battery performance, we are indeed focusing more on developing the central and southern markets. Well, Beijing is an exception, as it can provide significant support in terms of new energy vehicle license plates and related policies."

"Because of this focus on the market, there is a feature in the Kyushu car that we did not consider. It is similar to the design problem of your G3 and BYD 'Tang', which is the steering wheel heating in the north, especially the northeast region."

“In winter, the temperature in Northeast China is much lower than in Beijing, so we sell even fewer cars there. But we do sell some, though not none. Last year, it was less than 5% of our customers, which is about 3000 car owners.”

"In cold weather, you can remotely turn on the air conditioning in Kyushu to raise the temperature, but that doesn't solve the problem of the steering wheel feeling icy cold to the touch."

Yu Xing paused here, looked at He Xiaopeng who was listening intently, and asked, "This is something we didn't expect at the beginning, Mr. He, why do you think that is?"

He Xiaopeng hesitated and said, "Remote heating is a feature that many gasoline cars don't have yet. It seems like it could solve the problem of preheating when it's cold."

Yu Xing then turned to look at the three Xpeng executives behind him, wanting to hear their side of the story.

Xia Yan said, "Jiuzhou's positioning is to give everything to car owners. For the past year or so, we have been promoting a full range of features, technological luxury, and the fact that a heated steering wheel is not difficult to implement. Although this is a small issue, since we have given everything else, we should give it to them as well."

He Tao also said, "I know that Kyushu's seats have a heating function. Combined with the remote air conditioning to preheat the seats, the steering wheel heating reflects the spirit of carbon silicon for perfection."

Zhang Lihua nodded, agreeing that this perfectly embodied the pursuit of perfection.

"This is a user experience issue, a problem with the car owner's driving experience. We did conduct cold-weather tests in Northeast China, but the test scenario is different from actual use," Yu Xing explained carefully. "We conducted user feedback with car owners and found that steering wheel heating was a frequently mentioned feedback issue."

“Remote air conditioning can indeed raise the temperature, but do you know how high the temperature inside the car can be before a real car owner can sit in the driver's seat from the outside and touch the steering wheel without feeling the cold?”

Yu Xing glanced at the four XPeng executives, only to be met with their bewildered expressions.

He explained, “It’s extremely cold outside. In places like Liaoning and Jilin, the temperature can drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius. Without a heated steering wheel, the interior temperature would need to be at least 25 degrees Celsius for the steering wheel to feel comfortable to the touch.”

Yu Xing then raised another question: "However, if the temperature inside the car rises to 25 degrees Celsius, another problem arises. When the outside temperature is actually minus 20 degrees Celsius, the driver is wearing thick clothes. In a car with a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, he can take off his shirt, but can he also take off his pants and shoes? A car ride of one hour or even several tens of minutes will quickly make you sweat. And if the temperature rises to 25 degrees Celsius, the steering wheel will feel icy cold to the touch."

"Therefore, we will provide car owners with a steering wheel heating upgrade before winter this year. Car owners in the north will all receive the upgrade, while car owners in the central and southern regions can choose for themselves. People in places where the winter is not cold do not need this."

He Xiaopeng was truly astonished by what President Yu had said.

From a purely logical standpoint, remote air conditioning is perfectly adequate, but in actual use, it has revealed a real issue, although this only reflects the experience of a small portion of car owners…

Moreover, such feedback does indeed occur after the other party has paid.

He Xiaopeng never expected that silicon carbide could be used to refine the user experience so meticulously.

Honestly, if it were him... he probably would just listen or look at the documents and reports, without figuring out the details of the temperature experiences and the chain reactions involved.

Yu Xing lit a cigarette and laughed, "This is a patch after the fact. Including labor costs, the upgrade cost for one car is less than 1000 yuan. Including customers in Beijing and the surrounding areas, plus customers in the Northeast, the conservative estimate is that the expenditure will be 2000 million yuan. But we plan to use this experience as a reason to persuade car owners in our northern stores in the future."

He asked He Xiaopeng, "Mr. He, do you think these kinds of details are useful?"

He Xiaopeng was a little unsure how to answer.

“One detail may not be enough. What we hope to present to potential car buyers is a new energy vehicle composed of these constantly improving details,” Yu Xing said earnestly. “Ultimately, it’s all about user experience, user experience, and user experience. Technology is used to serve users.”

He then pointed to the G3's stylish windshield and turned to ask Design Director Zhang Lihua, "Mr. Zhang, this design is definitely going to be used for advertising, right?"

Unable to deny it in front of his boss and superiors, Zhang Lihua could only nod awkwardly. The G3's design was very cutting-edge, with a large, curved windshield and a panoramic glass roof, which was already touted internally as offering "panoramic views."

“Look, you design it this way and then advertise it this way, but ironically, what you advertise will become a problem for the user experience,” Yu Xing said. “On a small scale, it is indeed just a matter of glass material, but on a larger scale, you have not carefully studied the impact of this design and have not seriously considered the actual user experience of car owners.”

He Xiaopeng's forehead was sweating again, even though the car was parked under the shade of a tree and the air conditioner was blowing cool air.

He took a breath and said earnestly, "President Yu, I have benefited greatly from this. There are no small matters when it comes to user experience."

Yu Xing nodded and patted the steering wheel again: "Your steering wheel adjustment only works up and down, not forward and backward. This kind of seating position adjustment is a bit strange. I haven't been able to drive for long periods of time these past few days, but I guess it might not be very comfortable to drive for an extended period of time."

He Xiaopeng then took out his phone and actually wrote down the questions that President Yu had mentioned.

He Tao, sitting in the back row, felt a mix of emotions as he watched this scene unfold.

After a moment, he said with a hint of resentment, "Hey, Mr. Yu, the subsidies are being phased out now, and they will continue to be phased out later. We really have to take into account the cost of manufacturing cars. We have done a lot of research on the customer group with cars priced below 200,000 yuan. We used to do the same when we were at GAC. After comprehensive consideration, XPeng must be more prudent in manufacturing cars."

The silicon carbide ...

As one of the key figures behind XPeng Motors since its inception, He Tao still needs to provide explanations and even justifications for his decisions.

He mentioned subsidies, which is one of the main questions raised by outsiders regarding silicon carbide. He also mentioned different customer groups, which is a blind spot for silicon carbide products. He further mentioned the GAC Group background, which undoubtedly made him sound more professional.

Regardless of whether it was a case of "the speaker being unintentional but the listener taking it to heart," Yu Xing didn't mind being even more outspoken.

"Mr. He, you're in charge of the supply chain at XPeng, right?"

He Tao's Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily as he replied, "Yes, Mr. Yu, this is my main focus right now. Our entire team is still being built, so I'm also responsible for production, manufacturing, and project implementation."

"Well, do you know the purchase price of this G3 glass from Fuyao?" Yu Xing asked. "Did you actually compare the costs of heat-insulating glass and non-heat-insulating glass? What's the logic behind placing this glass on the market?"

When the head of the silicon carbon industry asked this question, He Xiaopeng and Xia Yan both turned their attention to He Tao's face.

“This…” He Tao took a quiet breath. “President Yu, I didn’t really go into that much detail about the glass. Our main idea was to benchmark it against Tesla’s glass, which is to achieve 99% UV blocking.”

Yu Xing smiled and said, "We've disassembled Teslas and know about their glass. Do you know what glass is supposed to block to determine the temperature inside a car? Do you know if Fuyao can make glass that blocks ultraviolet rays and also has good heat insulation?"

Several documents flashed through He Tao's mind, but he just couldn't give a direct answer.

Zhang Lihua, who was standing next to him, hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "It looks like infrared."

Yu Xing nodded: "Yes, finally we can hear some common sense. It's infrared. Ultraviolet rays affect whether you get sunburned, and infrared rays affect the perceived temperature. There's also a total solar energy blocking rate that combines infrared and visible light. Mr. He, do you think Fuyao has any products that take all these into account? Like this kind of large glass roof."

He Tao still couldn't answer.

He Xiaopeng's face darkened, and he said, "Ask them now, ask who down there knows, ask them if they know the cost."

He held his phone in his hand but didn't make a call himself; he just kept glancing at He Tao in the back row.

He Tao silently took out his phone, dialed his subordinate's number, and then asked questions in front of everyone.

However, the first phone call clearly did not yield a clear answer.

He Tao called a second time, but still received no answer.

It took almost fifteen minutes of this to find the answer.

Fuyao certainly has better glass. The skylight glass currently used in the G3 is ordinary single-layer tempered glass, but there is also high-heat-insulating double-layer laminated glass that can also achieve the same effect.

He Tao then provided the cost answer: "This piece of glass costs 300, while Fuyao's double-layered laminated glass costs 1100, which is indeed much more expensive."

He Xiaopeng frowned, but said, "We do need to consider the cost, but we must also pay attention to this direct customer experience. We can't let car owners not drive at noon."

He Tao quickly agreed, saying he would go back and work on improving the situation.

At this moment, Yu Xing said with a smile, "Fuyao's double-layered laminated glass seems to be a bit pricey."

He Xiaopeng was slightly taken aback, and the atmosphere inside the car seemed to change as well.

Xia Yan glanced at He Tao out of the corner of her eye as he asked about the price.

He Tao pondered for a moment, sweat beading on his body, and said carefully, "President Yu, it's like this, we don't have any bargaining power when we get goods from Fuyao, and the G3 model is a non-standard size, so there will be an additional premium."

Yu Xing nodded: "If you're going to buy goods, you'll definitely be a small customer, so there are no discounts. We get our goods from Fuyao at 5%, while they can get 15% for large customers like Dazhong. However, Fuyao's single-layer tempered glass is no more than 250 per square meter, and double-layer insulated laminated glass is no more than 850 per square meter. You can take a look at the area of ​​the G3 canopy glass yourself."

He Xiaopeng listened to President Yu's casual remark, pursed his lips, and simply said, "Okay, President Yu, we will communicate with Fuyao again."

He benefited even more this time. As for whether the price issue was due to Fuyao or an internal problem, we'll have to wait and see after this hurdle is cleared.

Yu Xing remained smiling. After waiting a while without receiving any explanation from the back row, he naturally added, "Oh right, the price just now included the non-standard premium. Let's have lunch first; it's already noon."

He Tao suddenly felt the chill of the June weather.

He Xiaopeng already had doubts in his mind. At this moment, he realized that he might have done the most important thing. When it comes to finding problems, who can be more professional than the King of Short Sellers?

(End of this chapter)