Entering the severe winter, "the car is not frost-resistant" has become the "knot" of some new energy taxi drivers in Hohhot.
"The cruising range in winter has been greatly shortened, which makes people anxious." Master Ma, the driver, said that his new energy taxi has a cruising range of 430 kilometers, but it has been running for more than an hour recently, leaving more than 200 kilometers of electricity, so he had to quickly change the power station to change the battery. "After the battery can be replaced, the new battery is not fully charged, only 320 kilometers of electricity. At the end of the day, I went back and forth four times to change the power station, and every time I changed it, it was not a fully charged battery. The colder weather is still behind, what can be done? "
Drivers are afraid to turn on the warm air in cold weather.
The temperature in Hohhot continues to be extremely cold from December 15th to February 25th of the following year, with the lowest temperature around minus 30 degrees Celsius and the lowest daily temperature below minus 15 degrees Celsius. Outdoor, not only people can’t stand the cold, but also new energy taxis are constantly freezing. These problems of new energy taxis also appear from time to time in other northern cold areas.
According to the local plan, at the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, all 2,601 buses and public cruise taxis in Hohhot will be replaced by new energy vehicles. The reporter learned that in 2023 alone, Hohhot replaced 1069 new energy vehicles at one time and completed 40% of the "14 th Five-Year Plan" goal.
At three o’clock in the afternoon, it was the peak shift of taxi drivers. At a new energy vehicle power station in the South Second Ring Road of Hohhot, more than 30 taxis came to change electricity. At the entrance of the power station, a slogan is particularly eye-catching: "Changing electricity is as convenient as refueling!" However, the driver, Master Jia, told the reporter that he had been waiting in line for 30 minutes, but he had not yet reached half of the queue, and it was estimated that he would have to wait at least half an hour.
"When the weather is warm, the traffic volume here is not large, but in winter, the frequency of changing electricity for vehicles increases, and the power station begins to queue up." Driver Jia Shifu said.
In order to reduce the number of power changes, many drivers are afraid to turn on the warm air in cold weather. These days, sitting in the cab of a new energy taxi, the driver Li Shifu kept rubbing his hands with cold. He reluctantly said that new energy vehicles rely on electricity for heating in winter. When the warm air is turned on, the power failure speed is faster, and they dare not take long-distance orders at all. "It’s MINUS 20 degrees Celsius these days, and cars and people can’t stand it anymore. When it’s MINUS 30 degrees Celsius, the situation will be more serious."
In cold weather
New energy vehicles still have problems.
"New energy vehicles actually have many advantages, such as basically no maintenance, cheap electricity, and more comfortable to drive than manual fuel taxis." Li Shifu, an interviewed taxi driver, and his colleagues generally said that from the perspective of environmental protection and use cost, new energy taxis have incomparable advantages over traditional fuel vehicles.
However, in the cold weather, there are still some problems with new energy vehicles.
First of all, the number of batteries in the power station is insufficient.
Hu Zhiqiang, general manager of Inner Mongolia Aodong Hengshi Technology Co., Ltd., a power station operation company, told the reporter that the new energy taxis in Hohhot are mainly Dongfeng Qichen models, and each car only needs to change electricity twice a day in summer, while the number of changes in winter is about 3.5 times. "At present, 758 Qichen taxis in the city share 199 rechargeable batteries. Because the number of battery changes has doubled, the batteries simply can’t turn over. If they are not fully charged, they have to be replaced quickly." Hu Zhiqiang estimated afterwards that at least 300 batteries should be replaced to ensure that local drivers can replace them with fully charged batteries.
Secondly, the power exchange stations are remote and few in number.
It is understood that there are only four power stations corresponding to Qichen taxis in the city, which are located in the periphery of Hohhot, and there is no power station in the center of the city. "It is very inconvenient to change electricity. When we have more than 100 kilometers of electricity left, we have to hurry to change electricity, fearing that the electricity will be lost halfway." Master Jia said that frequent power changes, coupled with long queues for power changes, reduced his income by one-third after entering the winter. In the first ten days of November, 2023, the reporter observed that there were more than 30 vehicles queuing to change electricity in four power stations in Hohhot, and some drivers even queued for nearly 2 hours. The reporter learned that if there are enough batteries and power exchange stations, the normal speed of power exchange is 2 minutes per car.
Insiders suggest that the promotion of new energy taxis should be gradual, and the improvement of supporting facilities should be ahead of increasing the number of vehicles. "We should appropriately increase the number of power exchange stations, scientifically arrange the locations of power exchange stations, improve the convenience of power exchange, and deal with the quantitative relationship between batteries and power exchange stations to prevent congestion. At the same time, it is recommended that taxi drivers change power at different peaks to reduce centralized power change during the handover period. " Hu Zhiqiang said.
Take a long view
Layout of new energy taxi business
Many business representatives also believe that compared with the south, the new energy taxi operators in the north need to invest more "over-construction" costs. Hu Zhiqiang believes that it is imperative to increase the number of power stations and batteries because of the serious power failure and inconvenient power exchange in new energy taxis in winter.
Wang Zhenmang, chairman of Hohhot Passenger Taxi Industry Association, suggested that government departments and taxi operators should further improve the coping ability of drivers and related personnel and improve the efficiency of power exchange through centralized knowledge training and skill training. "With the arrival of cold wave and snowfall, it will be difficult for new energy taxis to take off the battery. It is recommended that 4S stores improve the one-stop after-sales service for emergency treatment." Wang Zhen said quickly.
At present, the temperature in many places in the north continues to decrease, and a large number of new energy taxis, power exchange and charging stations will face challenges and tests again. Many parties have appealed that we should seize the time to build a power station and replenish batteries, and at the same time take a long-term view to lay out the new energy taxi business, speed up the shortcomings, and effectively promote the transformation of green travel modes.
Comprehensive economic reference newspaper
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