Under the background of the third energy revolution and the goal of "carbon peaking and carbon neutralization", energy-saving and environmental friendly new energy engineering machinery products will become the inevitable trend of future development. Since 2022, driven by policies and market expectations, the market demand for electric loaders has gradually released.
According to the statistics of 22 loader manufacturing enterprises by China Construction Machinery Industry Association, a total of 65280 loaders were sold from January to June 2022, including 499 electric loaders (5 tons).
Why does this "gap" appear? What is the deep-seated reason? What kind of way and mentality should we use to face the emerging market of electric loaders?
Recently, the first construction machinery network invited a number of industry experts to make an in-depth discussion on the current situation, problems and future development of the electric loader market.
Multiple challenges coexist, and the market must be treated rationally during the cultivation period
"The electric loader market is still in its infancy. Although the current sales volume is very small, enterprises can feel the speed of its progress."
Not only traditional manufacturing enterprises are "going inward", but also peripheral investors and new power enterprises in car manufacturing are also trying to take a share. At present, the customers who choose this product are mainly steel mills, coal yards, power plants, coal, chemical and other industries that are greatly affected by the national "double carbon" policy.
In addition, many business people admitted that in addition to the car price of hundreds of thousands of yuan, it is also necessary to install charging piles, transformers and other peripheral equipment with a unit price of 150000-200000 yuan (expensive), and the installation location should also be considered. The huge initial investment cost is also one of the main reasons that hinder individual users from choosing.
"This year, all brands are rushing to electrify products on the ground, rushing to try them out for users, and they are going crazy."
An industry source revealed that from 2019 to 2022, the price trend of the 5-ton electric loader was like a "roller coaster", which quickly fell back from the high of one million yuan to about 800000 yuan, and even lower prices had appeared at the bidding site.
In terms of marketing policies, all enterprises are the same, almost all of which are "experiential sales". In terms of financial policy, the repayment cycle of electric loaders is mostly 36 months, which is much higher than the maximum 12-month repayment cycle of fuel loaders. The agency will face the risk pressure that the funds are difficult to be withdrawn in the short term and the accounts receivable are too high.
At present, the vast majority of electric loaders are commercial sales, and customers mostly purchase by bidding. They have high comprehensive requirements for product quality, technology, services and procurement costs, resulting in a "price war" between enterprises.
"Price wars between enterprises will lead to low-level competition in the industry for a long time."
In this regard, many people in the industry feel that the electric loader has great development potential and growth space, but it is still in the cultivation period, and the premature emergence of the price war will harm its ecological environment and adversely affect the development of new products by enterprises. When the technology and market are not yet mature, it is necessary for enterprises to devote more resources to product research and development and upgrading in order to obtain stable market performance and promote the healthy and sustainable development of the whole industry.
Technical problems need further optimization and improvement
"By replacing the fuel system with the electric system, a lot of fuel costs and maintenance costs can be saved. Calculated by working 10 hours a day and 300 days a year, each electric loader powered from the public grid can save more than 200000 yuan in fuel and other costs every year..."
Some insiders believe that the "poor oil and electricity" is sweet, but the performance of electric loaders in actual use still lags behind everyone's expectations. According to him, in daily use, in addition to the common problems of "running, emitting, dripping and leaking" of fuel loaders, electric loaders will also have problems such as reduced production efficiency and electrical failures, mainly in the following two aspects.
First, the heating (heat dissipation) of components. In order to pursue production efficiency, users and manufacturers like equipment with long wheelbase, extended arm and large capacity bucket; Customers often work for a long time under heavy load conditions, which is easy to cause overload of motors, battery packs and braking systems. All of the above will cause the equipment to do a lot of work and accumulate heat, affect the working efficiency of the equipment, and then reduce productivity. Second, there are electrical circuit faults in the electric loader, such as the sudden stop of the vehicle, the alarm of the instrument, the sudden reduction of the pressure of an instrument, etc.
In a word, the accumulated technical experience will lead to differences in product quality and performance, and have a far-reaching impact on end users, which is mainly reflected in five aspects: power matching, operating performance parameters, energy efficiency, control and safety. Therefore, enterprises still need to make sufficient technical reserves and product reserves in order to win the reputation of users, and then let the electric loader market continue to grow.
Service capability is the key element to maintain customers
"Customers buy equipment for the purpose of making money, and the return on investment may be several times or even higher than the purchase price of the equipment, but if the service is not timely, it will seriously affect customers' income, which is much greater than the price of the equipment."
An insider said that in terms of after-sales service of Electric Loader products, new power enterprises and traditional enterprises have their own advantages. The technical maintenance personnel of some new car making enterprises are recruited from the field of electric vehicles. Compared with the personnel of the traditional enterprise "4S" store, they need to know more about the "three electricity" system and be able to troubleshoot in a short time.
Many service outlets and fast response speed are the main advantages of traditional enterprises. At present, traditional enterprises are still based on the service team of agents, supplemented by the technicians and salespeople of manufacturers to solve the mechanical faults of products. When encountering the problem of "three electricity" of equipment, they are more likely to contact the technicians of suppliers to help solve it. However, in order to better respond to the new needs of customers, they are also constantly improving the technical level of their service team, including actively participating in the relevant training of battery suppliers.
"This is the best time, this is the worst time; this is the bright season, this is the dark season; this is the spring of hope, this is the winter of disappointment..." at present, the situation of the domestic electric loader market is extremely consistent with this classic line. However, in any case, we should make full use of conditions to promote the transformation and development of things to the good.
New energy engineering machinery is still a new thing, and so is the electric loader. There is still great uncertainty about the future market trend. But it is certain that driven by the national environmental protection policy and the dual carbon strategy, the prospect is considerable. Therefore, enterprises in the industry need to develop cautiously and rationally, be customer-oriented, adhere to the strategy of market and technological evolution needs, achieve lower comprehensive costs, lower energy consumption levels, more comprehensive engineering support, fully integrate resources, and form a high-level electric loader system platform. Driven by the comprehensive advantages, the "blue ocean wind" of loader electrification will last longer and stronger.
