BYD enters the Japanese electric car market, 10 electric buses start the attack

With the rapid development of new energy vehicles, countries are stepping up the development of electric vehicles. According to reports, BYD "conquered" the Japanese electric market. It is reported that 10 electric buses will land in Okinawa and stand firm in the Japanese market.

Two years ago, five BYD K9 electric buses entered Kyoto, Japan, and BYD became the first Chinese car brand to successfully enter the Japanese market.

Two years later, the first Chinese car company to eat crabs in the Japanese market pulled the new energy map to Okinawa, a historic city that receives millions of tourists every year.

On December 1, 10 BYD K9 pure electric buses were officially put into operation in Okinawa, Japan. The purchaser was Okinawa's ship docking agency Ship Agency, which was designed to allow electric buses to undertake the tourist connection mission of the Okinawa port in Okinawa.

BYD K9 Okinawa Operation Launch Ceremony

It is understood that this team is also the first pure electric bus fleet owned by Okinawa. The bus plays a very important role in the entire transportation system of Okinawa, because Okinawa is a place with a wide island, no subway running through it, and only one single-track tram line. Traffic can only rely on bus or taxi.

Today, the most underdeveloped public transportation in Japan has run a pure electric bus for the first time, and it is also a bus designed and manufactured by Chinese car companies. It is necessary to know that Japan's automobile industry is well-known in the world, and Toyota, Honda, Nissan and other strong car companies are numerous, and the market is relatively saturated. In other words, Japan is a market that, even if it takes a lot of effort, can eventually make foreign car companies fall back.

Among all the foreign car companies, BYD did not particularly impress Japan. As early as 2003, BYD planned to enter the Japanese market, but was accused by Sony of "infringing Sony's two lithium-ion rechargeable battery patents" (after BYD won).

In 2010, BYD acquired the large-scale automobile mold manufacturer in Japan, the Pavilion plant of Sugawara, which had caused Japanese media to worry about the technology outflow of the factory with more than 60 years of history. It is known that no Chinese manufacturer has purchased manufacturing in Japan before. .

In 2015, BYD K9 appeared in Kyoto and was ridiculed and questioned by Japanese netizens. It can be said that the feelings of resentment have been accompanied by the development of BYD in Japan.

But in the end, two lawsuits allowed BYD to win Sony in the United States and Sanyo in Japan.

BYD K9 runs in Kyoto, Japan

Since it is so difficult to gain a foothold in the Japanese market, why can BYD K9 get the favor of Japanese operators again?

At the press conference, Okinawa Ships Agency’s executive president, Matsuda Miki, revealed some reasons for the decision to cooperate with BYD:

I am very convinced BYD. I visited the headquarters of BYD and came to Shenzhen. Shenzhen air is very clean, I can be impressed by BYD's pure electric bus everywhere on the street.

In 2011, BYD took the opportunity of the Universiade to launch 200 K9 batches in Shenzhen, and is now helping Shenzhen to promote the goal of 100% electrification of public transportation. But Shenzhen is only the corner of BYD K9 commercial operation.

Because, in the past 6 years, BYD's electric bus has been promoted in more than 200 cities in more than 50 countries and regions in the world. The company's partners also include Facebook (commuter car), Grab (web car), Didi Technology giants such as the establishment of a joint venture company that operates new energy vehicles.

“There are more than 200 cities in the world running tens of thousands of BYD electric vehicles. BYD's mature experience in this field will ensure that we can successfully provide high quality solutions and services.” BYD Asia Pacific Automotive Sales Division General Manager Liu Xueliang said this at the meeting.

Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD's Asia-Pacific auto sales division, told us that BYD has a 100% share of the pure electric bus market in Japan.

So what is BYD’s “mature experience”?

In terms of safety, K9 passed the stringent safety “examination” of China, the United States, and the European Union before entering the threshold of the Japanese market: in 2013, it obtained the EU vehicle certification (the Japanese bus uses the European standard) In August of the same year, he obtained the California sales license; in 2014, he passed the test of the Altoona Bus Research and Test Center in Pennsylvania, USA, and obtained the US Federal Transportation Administration TVM qualification.

However, for a developed country such as Japan, which has a strong automobile industry base, it is absolutely not enough to have a paper certification. Its technical barriers and requirements for products are very high. In addition, new energy is a brand new system compared to traditional fuel vehicles with a fixed service system and a mature industrial chain.

The K9 model uses BYD's self-developed lithium iron phosphate environmentally friendly battery, which has high safety and stability. The battery pack supports 4,000 cycles without failure, and the cruising range can reach 250-300 km at full power.

In terms of vehicle body technology, the K9 is equipped with a bidirectional inverter charging and discharging technology, a wheel drive system, a smart key system and an electronically controlled air suspension system (which can realize side functions and facilitate wheelchair passengers).

In addition, in response to the special nature of the earthquake in the Japanese market, the new car is also equipped with the VTOL function for emergency use. This customized configuration can turn the car into a mobile super charging treasure (324KWh) for external loads (such as Refrigerator, air conditioner, induction cooker, etc.).

However, as far as the Japanese market is concerned, the product strength does not seem to allow foreign car companies to form unique advantages. At best, it can be considered a basic basis.

"The driver's driving habits and follow-up service system, the entire set of solutions, need to be re-established," said Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD's Asia-Pacific auto sales division.

In other words, what really supports BYD's expansion in Japan is the core “new energy total solution”. This means that BYD does not only provide a certain product in Japan, but provides a comprehensive solution, including energy acquisition (solar power station), storage (storage power station), and applications (new energy vehicles, electric Forklifts, etc.).

BYD new energy overall solution

BYD Solar Power Station

BYD Energy Storage

BYD pure electric forklift put into use in Japan

In fact, BYD is no longer a battery company, not just a car company, but a supplier and service provider of new energy solutions with multiple business groups such as cloud tracks, passenger cars, commercial vehicles, electronics, and batteries. .

BYD's years of work in the new energy field has brought it to the top spot in the global sales of new energy vehicles. In 2016, BYD's new energy passenger car market share in the global market climbed to about 13%.

The “Urban Bus Electrification” solution, which was proposed seven years ago, has now risen to China’s national strategy and is also “going out” and being introduced by many overseas countries (Japan, USA, UK, Singapore, etc.). .

As Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD, said before: "In the era of the green industrial revolution, new energy is the future."