Chinese electric cars – Xiaomi accepts the challenge
Xiaomi has run its business along the lines of Apple, with CEO Lei Jun likening himself to the image of Steve’Jobs. The Chinese giant has been creating similar marketing campaigns to those run by the Silicon Valley holding company. Although Lei has been called a fake Jobs, the way they promote their new products has ensured their success.
Electric cars from Xiaomi
Xiaomi to launch electric vehicle project with $1.5 billion initial investment. Plans call for another $10 billion over the next decade. Xiaomi founder Lei Jun will head the company’s new electric car division. The company has so far focused on producing smartphones and technological equipment such as tablets, sports cameras, routers, segway vehicles, smart TV attachments for televisions, kettles or portable speakers.
Besides, Xiaomi is an investor in many smaller companies that offer various products. Lei Jun mentioned that he drives a Tesla himself and thought about producing electric cars some time ago. Xiaomi has considerable financial capital and a strong team of 10,000 people dedicated to research and development. The company plans to hire another 5,000 people.
The most popular electric cars
There are three types of vehicles on the market – fully electric machines (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV), car with combustion engine and electric drive (HEV). The most popular brand in this industry is undoubtedly Tesla. European market leaders are the Renault Zoe compact car and the Nissan Leaf. These models dominate the electric cars on our continent. Third place goes to Tesla with the Model S. Electric buses for public transport are also very popular in Europe. The leader is the Solaris Bus brand from Poznañ & Coach. In the last year the electric bus market in Poland has been developing rapidly. In 2020, there were a total of 416 units in Polish cities. Most in Warsaw (161), Zielona Góra (43), Krakow (29) and Jaworzno (24).
Electric car market in Poland and Europe
Sales of pure electric vehicles (BEVs) and PHEVs have increased significantly despite the COVID-19 panemic. The biggest market for such devices is Europe, which has surpassed China in the last year. Electric car registrations in 2020 up 43% globally. This makes the share of such cars in the automotive market increased to 4.2%. Green cars are quite popular in Europe. The Old Continent overtook China, which ranked first in the number of new electric and hybrid cars. Our western neighbors have contributed to this result, as more than 398,000 eco cars have arrived in their country. Germany is the leader in terms of buying this type of equipment, by comparison in the United States in 2020 there were 328 000 registered electric cars. The second market for such cars is France (194,000) and Norway (108,000). In our country electric cars are not yet so popular, last year we registered 4 430 plug-in hybrids. The most popular models were the Skoda Superb (500 units), Mitsubishi Outlander (225 units) and BMW 5 (215 units). The number of cars with only electric motors (BEV) is 3,679. Poles were most likely to buy Skoda Citigo (516 units), Nissan Leaf (491 units), Renault ZOE (355 units) and Mazda MX-30 (222 units).
Izera – Polish brick on the market of electric cars
Polish company ElectroMobility recently unveiled its plans to invest in the electric car market. To this company belongs brand Izera – which is the first Polish electric car produced in Jaworzno (woj. Silesia). Series production is expected to start in Q3 2023. The company has not disclosed the forecast price for Izera. Only indicated that an electric car is more expensive to buy, but cheaper to operate. It was pointed out that the monthly installment is expected to be lower than for a combustion car in the same segment. The first two cars of this brand were named T100 and Z100. The first of them is a compact hatchback, while Z100 looks like an SUV. At the time of presentation, not many technical details were revealed – it was reported that the batteries are to have a capacity of 40 or 60 kWh, acceleration of less than 8 seconds to 100 km/h. The range of the car on a full charge is expected to be about 400 km, and the maximum speed of the Izera is 160 km/h.
The decision of Xiaomi to enter the market of electric cars may prove to be the key to success of the already small holding. Observing the expansion of the Chinese giant on European markets, one can conclude that it may revolutionize the automotive market. Xiaomi’s decision to invest in the electric vehicle market should not shock. This industry is very popular and attracts other established companies – a similar decision to Xiaomi was announced by Dyson – manufacturer of fans and vacuum cleaners. Electric car market will attract new investors and will be a place of strong competition.
