To change the "unplugged" situation of plug-in cars, what the government should do is not to cancel subsidies "one size fits all", but to remove obstacles in the construction of charging piles and do everything possible to improve the charging network.

"I heard that many Chinese consumers who buy plug-in hybrid vehicles seldom use the plug-in function, and the plug-in hybrid technology has been controversial for this reason. Should Mercedes-Benz develop plug-in vehicles?" In an exclusive interview at the Guangzhou Auto Show, Ni Kai, general manager of Mercedes-Benz China Sales and Service Co., Ltd., turned his back on customers and threw his doubts to the media reporters present.

Since this year, the "strange phenomenon" of "unplugged" electric cars has also troubled industry authorities, local governments, media and consumers. Yin Chengliang, deputy dean of the Institute of Automotive Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said recently that a survey of users who purchased plug-in hybrid cars in Minhang District, Shanghai showed that "almost many cars are used as traditional fuel vehicles."

Plug-in cars that enjoy huge subsidies are "unplugged" and do not use electricity. This obviously goes against the original intention of the government's policy of encouraging the development of new energy vehicles. Some experts have suggested canceling local subsidies for plug-in electric vehicles. It is understood that Shanghai is studying relevant countermeasures. Cities that were supposed to cancel the local subsidy catalog for new energy vehicles and include plug-in vehicles within the scope of subsidies seem to have found legitimate reasons not to subsidize plug-in vehicles.

Who is to blame if the electric car is “unplugged”? Some people think that consumers are too smart. Taking Shanghai as an example, if you buy a BYD "Qin" plug-in electric car priced between 189,800 yuan and 209,800 yuan, you can get a license fee of more than 70,000 yuan, a purchase tax of nearly 20,000 yuan, and a two-level financial subsidy of 63,250 yuan (83,250 yuan in Pudong New Area). In order to enjoy the preferential policies, many consumers bought plug-in cars even though they knew they did not have the conditions to install charging piles. As a result, they naturally could not use electricity.

The author believes that plug-in cars are "unplugged" and the problem should not be slapped on consumers. The government has introduced preferential policies such as exemption from license fees, exemption from purchase tax, and subsidies for the purchase of plug-in vehicles, with the original intention of supporting their sales. BYD's "Qin" topped the Shanghai bicycle sales rankings in September with a sales volume of 1,212 units, which just shows that consumers highly recognize the government's incentives. As for after buying a car, the car owner would rather carry a battery weighing more than 100 kilograms and burn oil at a cost of a few cents per kilometer instead of using the electricity that costs 9 cents per kilometer. The fundamental reason is not to take advantage of the government, but because the infrastructure cannot keep up and cannot be charged.

Plug-in cars are "unplugged", and the boards should not be slapped on the car body. As a new energy vehicle solution with mature technology and relatively acceptable cost at this stage, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, which usually use electricity or run out of electricity and "burn oil", are not only energy-saving and environmentally friendly, but also eliminate the "range fear" of electric vehicles. They have become the main focus of mainstream car companies, with global annual sales of more than 100,000 vehicles. In the first 10 months of this year, a total of 18,972 plug-in hybrid vehicles were sold in my country, which was 5.77 times the total sales last year.

New things will always encounter problems of one kind or another in the development process. If the general direction is correct, the scientific attitude should be to not avoid or give up, and to find ways to solve problems. Do you want to be encouraged to plug into the tram? The answer has long been clear: plug-in hybrid vehicles with a pure electric driving range of more than 50 kilometers will enjoy government subsidies like pure electric vehicles and extended-range electric vehicles. This policy has fully taken into account the daily car-using habits of Chinese consumers, and has confirmed at the technical level to the greatest extent the original intention of the policy that plug-in vehicles use electric power most of the time to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction.

So, how to encourage plug-in cars? It is foreseeable that the situation of incomplete charging facilities will not change for a long time. Consumers who buy new energy vehicles will also have to pay additional costs. What the government needs to do is not to cancel subsidies "one size fits all", but to remove obstacles in the construction of charging piles and do everything possible to improve the charging network. Of course, the form of subsidy payment for plug-in electric vehicles can be adjusted appropriately. Since car companies can monitor the battery usage of plug-in vehicles in real time through the cloud network, it should not be a problem to use technical means to make the real data of each vehicle's fuel and electricity consumption the basis for obtaining subsidies. Say one thousand, say ten thousand. Encouraging new energy vehicles should not stop eating due to choking. What do you think?