China's Geely Auto grows EV ambition as fossil fuel vehicle demand sinks

Wed, August 17, 2022 

The Geely Automobile Holdings logo is pictured at the Auto China 2016 auto show in Beijing

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China's Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd aims to increase the proportion of electric vehicles (EVs) in its total sales to 50% in 2023, as it accelerates a transition to electric power amid weakening demand for petrol-driven cars.

Sales of pure electric and plug-in hybrids will already account for more than 30% of Geely's monthly sales in the second half of this year, Chief Executive Jerry Gan told reporters in an online event on Thursday.

One out of five vehicles Geely sold in the first half were full electric or hybrid, sales of which increased nearly four fold, compared with a 20% slump in sales of vehicles with combustion engines, according to the company.

Hangzhou-based Geely, China's highest-profile automaker globally due to the group's investments in Volvo Cars and Mercedes-Benz, posted a 35% fall in first-half net profit.

The company said its vehicle sales, which fell 9% in the first half in China, were below management expectations, citing COVID-19 curbs and shortages of semiconductors.

Those challenges along with intensifying competition and rising raw material and battery costs would put pressure on sales through the end of 2022, it said.

China's auto sector has been hit hard by government efforts to combat COVID-19, with many areas including the commercial hub of Shanghai under lockdowns of varying lengths.

Authorities have tried incentives to revive demand, and the central government has halved purchase tax to 5% for cars priced at less than 300,000 yuan ($45,000) and with engines no larger than 2.0 litres.

Geely posted a 29% rise in six-month revenue though June to 58.18 billion yuan, thanks to better product pricing and product mix which offset the sales declines.

Geely is also seeking to expand further into Southeast Asia and Europe. Its exports increased 64% in the first half and accounted for 18% of total sales.

Geely said previously its total annual vehicle sales including EV brands Zeekr and Geometry would hit 3.65 million units by 2025, with more than 30% of them electrified.

($1 = 6.7883 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Stephen Coates and David Holmes)

Electric car boom stresses public charging infrastructure, J.D. Power study finds

EV owners rank Level 2 and DC Fast Charger networks

CHRIS TEAGUE

Aug 17th 2022 

Automakers are cranking out new EV models at lightning speed, but a recent J.D. Power study shows that the public charging infrastructure has a long way to go to catch up. The organization found that EV owners in high-volume areas struggle with finding a working charger and noted that overall satisfaction with EV purchases depends on where the buyer lives. The organization polled 11,554 owners for the 2022 study between January and June 2022.

J.D. Power points out that there are more Level 2 charging stations in operation than ever, but people are less satisfied with them. The study used a 1,000-point scale to judge satisfaction and found that sentiment around Level 2 chargers dropped 10 points to 633 in 2022.  Satisfaction with DC fast chargers has not changed since last year, remaining steady at 674 points.

Read more: What do Level 1, Level 2 and DC fast charging (Level 3) mean?

Most people are fine with the ease of charging. J.D. Power scored satisfaction with the ease of charging at 699 for Level 2 chargers and 745 for DC fast chargers. As the organization notes, this shows that most people understand how to use EV chargers and can use them without significant difficulty. On the flip side of the satisfaction coin, ratings for the cost of charging are much lower, at 446 for Level 2 and 473 for DC fast charging.

Unsurprisingly, maintenance and operability play significant roles in EV owners’ satisfaction. Being able to use a charger is just as important as there being a charger in the first place. The study found that 20% of owners did not charge during recent visits to a station, and notes that of those people, 72% indicated that it was because the charger wasn’t working correctly. In terms of charging station companies, Tesla Destination chargers led the way with a score of 680. Volta came in second and ChargePoint third. 

Read more: EV charging guide | What to know when buying an electric car

Owners also tend to have different experiences depending on where they live. States like California and others in the Pacific region offer more extensive infrastructure, so the ownership experience is better than in a state like Montana, where there are far fewer chargers. Interestingly, owner satisfaction was highest in the west-north-central area, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and others. 

J.D. Power measures satisfaction with Level 2 and DC fast charging stations across 10 areas: 

Ease of charging
Speed of charging
Ease of payment
Ease of finding this location
Convenience of this location
Things to do while charging
How safe you feel at this location
Availability of chargers
Physical condition of charging station