The opposite of new energy is old energy. For a long time, people have used oil as an energy source.
Oil is a non-renewable energy source, and the environmental pollution and global warming caused by oil consumption pose serious challenges to the global community. According to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy 2019, global oil reserves totaled 1.73 trillion barrels by the end of 2018. In terms of production, at the 2018 reserve-to-production ratio, global oil production could last for another 50 years at current levels. In terms of consumption, global oil consumption increased by 1.4 million barrels per day in 2018, exceeding the historical average, with China's consumption increasing by 680,000 barrels per day.
Meanwhile, the automotive industry is one of the world's largest oil consumers, with automobiles demanding over 20 million barrels of oil per day, accounting for more than 20% of total oil consumption.
Therefore, in the long run, the electrification of automobiles is an inevitable trend in order to reduce the automotive industry's oil consumption, improve the global energy structure, and reduce pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the International Energy Agency's "World Energy Outlook 2018," the widespread adoption of new energy vehicles will effectively reduce the automotive industry's demand for oil, and it is projected that by 2040, nearly half of all passenger cars worldwide will be electric.
In recent years, the trend of vehicle electrification has accelerated significantly. Governments around the world have successively introduced plans to phase out traditional gasoline-powered vehicles and various subsidy policies, and have accelerated investment in supporting infrastructure such as charging stations. Major global automakers have successively released new energy vehicle strategies and launched forward-developed electric vehicle platforms.
Driven by policies, the user experience of new energy vehicles is constantly improving, costs are continuously decreasing, and infrastructure construction is becoming increasingly complete. The penetration rate and consumer acceptance of new energy vehicles, especially new energy passenger vehicles, are constantly increasing.
Currently, the "new four modernizations" of the automotive industry—electrification, connectivity, intelligence, and sharing—are reshaping the industry landscape. The rapid development of new technologies such as 5G, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence is driving the evolution of automobiles into advanced intelligent mobile terminals. Electrification serves as the optimal foundation for technologies like vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and autonomous driving. The new energy vehicle industry has entered a critical stage from its introductory phase to its growth phase. This, coupled with the transformation and upgrading of the automotive industry through these "new four modernizations," will further accelerate the disruptive changes occurring within the automotive sector.
From the perspective of my country's economic and social development, the automotive industry is a crucial pillar of the national economy, significantly contributing to GDP and employment. However, due to the late start of my country's automotive industry, the core technological capabilities required for traditional automotive manufacturing remain relatively underdeveloped. Simultaneously, influenced by the complex international and domestic situation, the traditional automotive industry has been impacted, with my country's annual automobile sales declining for the first time since 1990 in 2018. Nevertheless, the production and sales of new energy vehicles have maintained positive and rapid growth, with both increasing by over 60% year-on-year in 2018. New energy vehicles have become a new driving force for China's automotive industry and economic growth.
Since 2010, when the State Council decided to "accelerate the cultivation and development of strategic emerging industries," designating new energy vehicles as one of the seven strategic industries, China's production and sales of new energy vehicles have ranked first in the world since 2015, accounting for 50% of the global market share. New energy vehicles will shoulder the mission of enabling China's automotive industry to leapfrog ahead, playing a huge driving role in related industrial chains and providing new momentum for China's economic development.
