From Biden's request that charging piles for new energy vehicles must be "made in the United States" to the European Parliament's resolution to stop selling new fuel vehicles in 2035, new energy vehicles and charging piles have recently become a hot topic, especially the discussion about pile enterprises going out to overseas has surged.

01

Charging piles go out to overseas with great heat.

With the rapid growth of global sales and possession of new energy vehicles, charging piles, as supporting basic equipment, have ushered in a broad market space.

Not long ago, the data released by Ali International Station showed that the overseas business opportunities of new energy vehicle charging piles increased rapidly by 245% in the past year, and their overseas demand will triple in the next 10 years, with a market size of 15.4 billion euros (about RMB 113.2 billion).

The global charging pile boom continues to strengthen, which is driven by many factors.

1. Market drivers

(1) Demand side

The rapid popularization of new energy vehicles in the world is an important factor to promote the growth of demand in the charging pile market.

The data shows that in 2022, the global sales of new energy vehicles reached 10.824 million, a year-on-year increase of 61.6%. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), by 2025, the global sales of new energy vehicles are expected to reach 15 million to 20 million.

At the same time, the market is facing a serious imbalance in the ratio of new energy vehicles to charging piles.

According to EV Tank's data, by the end of 2022, there were more than 25 million new energy vehicles in the world, and the ratio between them and public charging piles was only 9:1.

In other words, every nine new energy vehicles can only share one charging pile. Coupled with factors such as uneven geographical distribution, the lack of charging piles is far more serious than people think.

At the same time, this situation will also stimulate the outbreak of global demand for charging piles. For example, at present, all kinds of facilities abroad are willing to lay out charging piles, and many hotels in Britain are already planning, hoping to attract more guests with the advantage of charging piles and improve the auxiliary passenger flow of catering business.

IEA predicts that by the end of the 21st century, the world will need about 40 million charging piles. From the perspective of environmental protection, if we want to achieve "net zero emission" in 2050, electric vehicles must take over traditional vehicles, and then the world will need at least 200 million public charging piles.

(2) Policy side

The emphasis on climate change and the drive to achieve carbon neutrality have made many countries increase their support for new energy vehicles and their supporting infrastructure.

For example, as mentioned above, the European Parliament passed the proposal to stop selling fuel-engine vehicles in Europe in 2035, which will stimulate the sales of new energy vehicles in the European market, thus driving the growth of demand for charging piles.

China, South Korea, Japan and other Asian countries' subsidies for electric vehicles are also one of the important factors to promote the market demand for charging piles.

2. Major markets

According to the data of Ali International Station, the buyers of charging piles in China mainly come from Europe and America, among which the top five countries are Britain, Germany, Ireland, the United States and New Zealand.

(1) Europe

On the whole, IEA's forecast shows that the number of new energy vehicles in the EU will reach 21.9 million by 2025 and 58 million by 2030. At present, there are only 330,000 charging stations in Europe, and the geographical distribution is uneven, so the charging pile gap is obvious.

Geographically, the Netherlands is a region with relatively complete charging facilities in Europe. As of April last year, the ratio of vehicles to piles was about 5: 1. France and Germany closely, with 10:1 and 20:1 respectively. The number of charging piles in these three countries accounts for about two-thirds of the whole EU.

The new energy track is still a big trend. With the increasingly fierce competition, the marketing cost will rise, while the European market has a favorable trend under the subsidy policy.

(2) the United States

According to the IEA forecast, the number of new energy vehicles in the United States will reach 11 million by 2025 and 38.3 million by 2030.

The goal of the US government is that by 2030, electric vehicles will account for at least half of new car sales, and at least 500,000 charging piles for electric vehicles will be installed in all States of the United States.

Therefore, from the demand side, the American market is also quite potential, and the price of charging piles in Europe and America is generally higher than that in China, and the gross profit margin is relatively high.

However, Biden's government has recently requested the localization of charging pile production, and many people are worried that the export of domestic charging piles to the United States will be affected.

Some people in the industry believe that this policy will indeed have an impact on China's pile enterprises going to overseas, but there are also ways to avoid it, such as setting up factories in the United States.

Specifically, due to the high supply end and labor costs in the United States, the core components of charging piles can be produced in China and then assembled in the United States. As long as 55% of the cost of charging piles comes from American parts, the restriction policy can be circumvented.

(3) Asia Pacific

In the Asia-Pacific region, the market of electric vehicle charging piles will reach 5.762 billion US dollars by 2026, and the subsidies of Asian governments for new energy vehicles are one of the important factors to promote the charging pile market.

Take Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world, as an example, the number of fuel vehicles in the country is very large, and the Indonesian government is vigorously developing the green economy and expanding the construction of new energy charging stations, which will promote the demand for public charging piles.

02

China pile enterprises speed up going to overseas.

At present, there are many pile enterprises involved in overseas business in China. The data shows that there are 37 companies in the A-share charging pile sector, 65% of which are from the power equipment industry, and some companies are from mechanical equipment, household appliances and other industries.

Industry insiders pointed out that with more and more entrants, the competition on the charging pile track will become more and more fierce. In the long run, "burning money" is not a long-term solution. How to better control the operation and maintenance data and deep services behind it will become a difficult problem for pile enterprises.

03

Matters needing attention for charging pile enterprises to go to overseas

1. Product certification

Charging piles must pass the European standard and American standard certification when going out to overseas. As far as the European CE certification process is concerned, it needs to go through the stages of certification application, certification data preparation, product testing, submission of inspection report for review, and issuance of CE certification certificate after examination.

The certification of American standard usually takes about 7 months. Undoubtedly, the earliest offshore enterprises that have completed the certification will enjoy the industry development dividend sooner.

2. Business link layout

The charging pile track seems simple, but in fact, its complete industrial chain involves many links, including R&D and manufacturing, sales, operation and maintenance, and the development of supporting intelligent applications (small programs, etc.).

Leading enterprises in the world generally involve multiple links, even complete links, but it is also a challenge for offshore pile enterprises.

In terms of distribution channels, the data of Ali International Station shows that 30% of the main buyers of charging piles in China are local wholesalers, and 20% are construction engineers and 20% are property developers. In other words, the charging pile is mainly in B2B mode at present.

In R&D and manufacturing, high-voltage fast charging and safety will become the most important factors in the market, so new technological changes will become the competitive point of pile enterprises.

In addition, the manufacturing of core components of charging piles and downstream operators are the core links that pile enterprises need to pay attention to.

Like overseas certification of products, it can be said that the earlier and wider the overseas channels are, the more likely the enterprises with the advantages of fast charging technology will stand out in the overseas track.

3. Branding

It is the general trend for brands to go out to overseas, and no matter which industry, they have to pay attention to brand competitiveness. Therefore, pile enterprises must also pay attention to brand building, such as the layout of independent stations, which is not only beneficial to brand building, but also beneficial to traditional B2B to reduce its dependence on the platform, reduce intermediate costs and obtain more accurate inquiries. Different industries also have different emphases in the direction of brand development.

Generally speaking, charging piles belong to the product-oriented industry, so in addition to using independent stations to deepen brand advantages, it is also necessary to exert strength from the product side.

Overall, the new energy industry will continue to maintain a good trend this year.