SMM: on Sept. 1, it is reported that Junlian Zhihang, a subsidiary of Junsheng Electronics, has been designated for the 5G-V2X platform project of Lulai Automobile a few days ago, with a project amount of about 660 million yuan, and its products include 5G-TBOX and 5G-VBOX of V2X. The above products will be available in December 2021 and will be first deployed on the EE7. At the same time, they will also involve ES6, ES8, EC6 and other models.

The message, which is less than a hundred words, indicates the next product plan of Lulai: the EE7 may be the fourth model of Lulai. At the same time, a reporter from the Financial Associated Press learned from the Trademark Office of the State intellectual property Office that EE7 applied for registration on February 21, 2019 and has obtained the trademark right, which indirectly proves the existence of this car.

As for the planning of the new product, Weilai said, "official information shall prevail." However, a person familiar with the matter said, "this will be a smart car that uses 5G vehicle networking technology."

The fourth model may be mass produced in the fourth quarter of next year.

In April this year, Weilai received as much as 10 billion yuan in financing from the Hefei government. "Weilai China expects revenue of 14.8 billion yuan in 2020 (3 models on the market) and 120 billion yuan in 2024 (6-8 models)," according to a gambling agreement circulated in the industry. According to this plan, Weilai, which currently has only three models, is bound to launch a new car every year for the next four years, otherwise it will not be able to complete the agreement.

Based on the above information and the statement of Qunsheng Electronics that "supply will start in December 2021", it is inferred that EE7 will start mass production in the fourth quarter of 2021 and is likely to continue production at the Jianghuai Weilai factory.

At the Chengdu auto show in July this year, Li Bin, CEO of Weilai Motor, told reporters that the production capacity of the Weilai Jianghuai plant was being increased by 25% to 5000 vehicles per month by September at the latest. Li Bin also revealed, "if nothing happens, the fourth model of Weilai will also be settled in the Jianghuai factory."

Public data show that Jianghuai Weilai factory plans to have an annual production capacity of 100000 vehicles, with three models in production, such as ES8, ES6 and EC6.

Recently, after a field visit to the Jianghuai Weilai factory, a reporter from the Financial Associated Press learned that the current production beat of the factory is 20 cars per hour, a single shift of 10 hours a day, and a daily output of 200 vehicles. This means that Weilai has completed an increase in production capacity of 5000 vehicles a month.

"now it is all in a single shift. If it is changed to a double shift and the production line is upgraded, the annual production capacity of (Jianghuai Ulai) can reach 120000 vehicles." Jianghuai Weilai factory insiders said that the Jianghuai Weilai factory production line has great flexibility and can produce a variety of models, among which the third production car EC6 has entered the PP stage (pre-production stage) and will soon be mass produced and delivered.

The figures show that the ES6 sold 2610 vehicles in July and the ES8 sold 923, with a total of 3533 models; the third model, the EC6, was scheduled to start delivery this month. According to this calculation, the production capacity of Jianghuai Weilai factory can basically meet the demand.

Even so, Xilai has begun to plan a second factory. On August 11, Xilai released its quarterly report for the second quarter of this year. On the conference call, Li Bin said that the company has made a very complete and detailed plan for product development in the next few years, and it is certain that a second factory will need to be built at some point. "this is already under planning."

Will 2021 be the first year of 5G smart cars?

The above Qunsheng electronic information not only reveals the product planning of Weilai, but also further confirms that Weilai will strengthen its layout in the field of self-driving.

On the conference call on August 11, Li Bin said that at present, Lulai spends about 600 million yuan on R & D every quarter, and the investment in self-driving technology research and development will certainly increase in the future. On August 15, Ren Shaoqing, former R & D director of Momenta, joined Weilai to be in charge of autopilot R & D. at the same time, Weilai announced that the autopilot R & D team would be mainly in China.

On Aug. 31, Xilai announced that it would expand its offering size by 18% to 88.5 million American depositary shares ((ADS),), which correspond to one Class A common share of the company. The offering price is $17 and the total financing is expected to exceed $1.7 billion, making it the largest rights issue in China's high-end smart electric vehicle industry. Part of the money will be used for the research and development of autopilot technology.

It is worth mentioning that Junsheng Electronics, the partner selected by Xilai Automobile, is also one of Tesla's suppliers. In February this year, Junsheng Electronics announced that Shanghai Lingang Junsheng had received a letter of intent from Tesla and was officially identified as the supplier of Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y models. In addition, in its financial report for the first half of 2020, Qunsheng Electronics mentioned that its main customers include BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen, Audi, Tesla, GM, Toyota and other global vehicle manufacturers and domestic first-tier independent brands.

Junsheng Electronics said in its semi-annual report that the first generation of OBU (vehicle terminal products) has been completed and is expected to be mass produced in 2021, which is expected to become the first 5G-V2X mass production project in the world.

However, according to the person in charge of Junsheng Electronics, "this (refers to the information disclosed in the semi-annual report) 5G-V2X mass production project does not refer to cooperation with Weilai, but with other manufacturers, the mass production period is between the first quarter and the second quarter of next year." In other words, the project will be earlier than the delivery time of the Lulai 5G-V2X platform project.

In fact, just from the progress made by the supplier Junsheng Electronics in cooperation, we can see that a number of car companies, including Xilai Motors, hope to take the lead in 5G self-driving. "5G cars are just like 5G mobile phones, usually consumers can only remember the first mobile phone that uses 5G technology, so car companies want to get a head start," an industry insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters.

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