Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-08-03)

T E C H N O L O G Y

2

Hyperdrive

16

Edited by

Dimitra Kessenides

and David Rocks

● Automakersaretargeting

driversoutsidebigcities

forcheaperelectricmodels

Green Acres for China’s EVs

Chinabuysmoreelectricvehiclesthananyother

country,andmostsalesoccurinbigcitiessuchas

BeijingandShanghai.EVbuyerstherecanafford

tospend300,000yuan($43,000)ona sedanlike

theTeslaModel3.

FangYunzhou,chairmanofoneofTeslaInc.’s

localrivals,hasa differentcustomerinmind:a con-

sumerwholivesina lessaffluentsmallcityoreven

a farmerinthecountryside.“Ourgoalistopro-

videa realproductaffordableforthewholemarket,

rather than a rich kid’s toy,” he says.

Fang, 45, is the founder of Hozon New Energy

Automobile Co., a 6-year-old EV maker backed

by local governments in eastern China’s Zhejiang

province and one of a handful of companies

thatwanttoexpandthemarketforEVs.Hozon

is bettingthere’sa pathtoprofitabilityinselling

inexpensivebattery-powered autos in China’s fly-

over territory. The price of Hozon’s first SUV, the

Nezha N01, starts at less than 67,000 yuan. In early

July the company began delivery of another SUV,

starting at about 140,000 yuan, that can travel

more than 250 miles on a single charge.

Targeting drivers outside big cities could help

Hozon survive the massive consolidation taking

place in China’s EV industry. As auto sales boomed

in the mid-2010s, hundreds of EV makers hoped

to become the country’s answer to Elon Musk’s

Tesla. But demand started to falter even before

the effects of Covid-19 hit the economy, because

there was a reduction in government incentives in

mid-2019. Only 11 of the country’s EV makers suc-

ceeded in raising funds last year, among them WM

Motor Technology Group, Li Auto, and Hozon,