New energy vehicle industry thrives in Hefei, E China's Anhui

Thanks to special policies and forward-looking plans, a new energy vehicle (NEV) industry ecosystem, featuring a full industry chain covering fields such as complete vehicles, key components, parts, applications and recycling, is taking shape in Hefei, the capital of east China’s Anhui Province.

The city hosts six complete vehicle manufacturers, including Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp. Ltd. (JAC Group), BYD Co. Ltd., NIO Inc., Volkswagen Group, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. Ltd., and Anhui Ankai Automobile Co. Ltd. This has resulted in an industrial environment characterized by openness, collaboration, mutual benefit, and coexistence.

Photo shows a workshop of a BYD factory in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province.  (Photo courtesy of BYD)

Home to more than 500 enterprises across the NEV industry chain, Hefei houses three major complete vehicle production bases, each with an annual capacity of 1 million units. Currently, six industrial parks for NEV components and parts are under construction in the city.

In 2022, Hefei's annual NEV output grew 133 percent year on year to 255,000 units, placing it among the highest in China. In the first five months of this year, the city's NEV output surged more than fourfold from the same period last year to 230,000 units, accounting for about 7.6 percent of China's total NEV output for that period.

"On average, a NEV rolls off the production line every minute in Hefei," said an official of the city's economy and information technology bureau.

On May 30, 2023, Volkswagen Group China established a wholly-owned technology company in Hefei. With a total investment of about a billion euros ($1.09 billion), the company is set to become Volkswagen Group's largest science and technology innovation center in China.

NIO has received substantial support in Hefei. The company and JAC Group have jointly built an advanced manufacturing base in the city, assembling numerous vehicle types.

"The manufacturing base has all-aluminum car body production lines and is equipped with a large quantity of intelligent equipment. The overall automation rate of welding can reach 98 percent here," said Yu Dongming, general manager of NIO's regional branch in Hefei.

NIO has invested more than 34 billion yuan ($4.69 billion) in research and development, according to Yu, who disclosed that the company has applied for and obtained almost 7,000 patents.

Since the NEV and intelligent connected vehicle (ICV) industry was named among the top 10 emerging industries in Anhui Province, Hefei has seized opportunities and intensified efforts to plan for the high-quality development of the NEV industry.

In recent years, Hefei has introduced a host of special policies to hasten the development of the NEV industry and further promote the application of new-energy ICVs.

The city has continually updated models for providing financial support to the NEV industry, manufacturing bases, and projects, bringing together over 100 billion yuan of funds for the NEV industry.

It has also established numerous new research institutes in collaboration with colleges and universities, pursuing breakthroughs in over 20 key technologies related to NEVs.

To expedite the application of NEVs, Hefei has constructed infrastructure facilities for NEV owners to charge and replace batteries. A 2-kilometer-radius service circle for charging and replacing batteries has been formed in urban areas of the city, capable of serving 250,000 NEVs daily.

Last year, a total of 70,000 NEVs were registered in Hefei, with one out of every four new vehicles in the city being an NEV.

In April, Hefei issued a policy stipulating that except for special purpose vehicles, newly purchased official vehicles of the Party, government institutions in Hefei, enterprises, and public institutions administered by the Hefei municipal government, as well as new city buses, will all be NEVs.

It's estimated that the city's annual NEV output will reach nearly 1 million units this year.