Head of Chinese Brand: Many Electric Cars Become Obsolete After Just One Year

(Patria) - The electric vehicle industry is rapidly advancing in the world's largest market, China, where local companies launch new versions of their models every year, or even within the same year - like the Zeekr brand, which belongs to Geely.

William Li, CEO of Shanghai-based electric vehicle manufacturer Nio, emphasizes the need for electric vehicle manufacturers to prioritize consumer interests, as a lack of "systematic thinking" can erode user trust in the brand, Index reports.

- In recent years, chips, smart driving, intelligent cockpits, and other new forms of hardware have replaced engines and transmissions as the new key strengths of car manufacturers. Unlike before, when only the improvement of mechanical parts was considered, the iteration of chips and software is now very fast.

This means that many existing car owners can enjoy the latest configurations for only a short time before their vehicles become obsolete and are no longer compatible with the latest hardware and software - says Li.

A recent example of this is the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Zeekr, which faced customer pressure due to the release of its new 007 model just six months after the launch of the previous model.

- Therefore, manufacturers must have a more systematic approach, provide good services to existing customers, and plan software updates long-term. Because if old systems cannot be updated, it will significantly harm old users - says Li.

Most of the changes in the new Zeekr 007 model are software-based, as intelligent driving is improved with the Haohan Intelligent Driving 2.0 system.

Another upgrade in this newer model is the Zeekr OS AI system. Customers in China claim these changes will not come via OTA update for the 2024 model, which was launched about six months ago.

- Each generation of Nio new energy vehicles uses an intelligent system that integrates hardware and software. This enables long-term product maintenance - emphasized Li, as Nio prepares to deliver its first vehicle based on the NT3 platform.

Although it is more complex and expensive for manufacturers to upgrade the hardware of previous generation electric vehicle models, most of them upgrade the software via "over the air" updates to improve existing features and performance, while constantly adding new ones.