Against the backdrop of the national strategy and industry chain making low-carbon environmental protection a common goal for high-quality development in all industries, the first Shanghai International Carbon Neutrality Technology, Products, and Achievements Expo was held from June 11 to June 14 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center.
The exhibition area layout of this expo is divided into six main themes: low-carbon transportation, energy conservation and efficiency improvement, practical exploration, energy transformation, circular economy, and low-carbon services. According to official sources, nearly 600 domestic and foreign companies participated in the exhibition. EqualOcean observed that the participating companies mainly include new energy vehicle companies, automotive supply chain companies (chassis shells, autonomous driving and data services, etc.), transportation infrastructure companies, consumer retail companies, industry consulting companies, energy companies, and leading companies in various industrial chains.
This article will focus on the field of low-carbon smart transportation, which has a relatively large exhibition scale, to explore industry trends.
The EXPO Site
Car Makers Showcase Their Low-Carbon Muscle
Although not an auto show, many new energy vehicle companies and traditional car companies that are transitioning to electrification put in a lot of effort to set up booths to participate, indicating the importance of the low-carbon environmental protection concept in the industry. Therefore, it is essential to demonstrate their strength in the low-carbon field to the outside world.
According to EqualOcean's observation, passenger car companies on-site include SAIC Volkswagen (上汽大众), General Motors, BMW, Hong Qi (红旗), JAC Group (江汽集团), BYD (比亚迪), NIO (蔚来), LYNK & CO (领克), Rising Auto (飞凡), IM (智己), GEELY (吉利), Volvo, Polestar, NETA (哪吒), and ZEEKR (极氪). We even found the figure of Tesla, who is known in the industry for not liking to participate in exhibitions, but compared to the booths of domestic competitors, the area and layout of the booth appeared to be quite low-key, with only one Model S and Model X on display.
New energy vehicle companies, needless to say, exhibited only their own hybrid and pure electric models. For example, SAIC Volkswagen showcased the ID series and Audi's full range of pure electric E-tron; BMW exhibited its entire range of pure electric i-series, including the top-of-the-line BMW i7; SAIC-GM also presented the popular pure electric car Buick E5 that was showcased at the Shanghai Auto Show.
As a think-tank type media focusing on the overseas market, EqualOcean has previously listed out the Chinese automakers that have achieved outstanding sales performance in the European market. Due to the limited availability of charging station networks, most of their best-selling models are plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). We also found at the exhibition that LYNK & CO, which sold more than 30,000 vehicles in Europe last year, brought PHEV models of the 01/02/03 series, and BYD's main products for entering the European market, the Tang and Yuan series, also had a display of DMi plug-in hybrid models.
On the commercial vehicle front, Westwell (西井科技) brought the Q-Truck, an all-weather unmanned new energy vehicle, and the E-Truck series of intelligent network-connected energy heavy-duty trucks. These are two products that can tow a weight of 75 tons and have a full electric range of up to 150 kilometers, mainly used in closed-loop scenarios such as seaports and land ports for container logistics.
Trends in the Carbon Neutrality Industrial Chain: Smart, Low-Power, and Reducing Carbon Footprints
EqualOcean observed that the low-carbon transportation industry chain showcased at the expo mainly included several directions: autonomous driving, intelligent vehicle chips, automotive heating and cooling systems, environmental composite materials, and hydrogen fuel systems.
Autonomous driving, vehicle chips, and electric motors have become the most crucial upstream components of new energy vehicles. Combined with automotive heating and cooling systems, they will jointly determine the vehicle's power consumption level and thus affect the user's carbon footprint. Bosch is a globally renowned high-end two-wheel vehicle electric motor system supplier; Black Sesame Technologies (黑芝麻智能) is a leading R&D company for vehicle-grade autonomous driving AI computing chips and platforms; ALMCAR (天瞳威视) focuses on machine vision technology and applies it to automotive surround perception, driver fatigue monitoring, intelligent parking, and other scenarios. Valeo focuses on driving assistance and lighting systems and develops innovative low-power products, while Webasto is the core supplier of automotive parts such as roofs, heating and cooling, and charging management systems.
There are also some companies that focus on providing recycling services for scrap materials in the automotive, wind power, and aviation industries. HRC (中国恒瑞) is committed to the research and production of composite materials, and its carbon fiber building template materials come from the waste of composite materials.
Against the backdrop of the widespread use of hydrogen fuel systems in commercial transportation fields such as buses, ships, and heavy trucks, some energy companies are making efforts. HYPRIN (上氢能源) has the complete development capability of integrating fuel cell systems into powertrain systems and vehicle integration, and showcased a 120kw fuel cell system at the exhibition.