This outcome is not surprising.

Main Text

Recently, an open letter from ER6 car owners seeking rights protection has been widely circulated within the industry.

The car owner stated that when purchasing the vehicle in 2022, they joined SAIC ER6's RBS battery rental program. At that time, SAIC ER6 promised to build 5,000 battery swap stations, but as of July 2024, only 26 stations have been built, mostly concentrated in Shanghai, making battery swapping extremely inconvenient in second- and third-tier cities. Car owners have repeatedly inquired about progress and were told that it is "under planning," while also having to pay high rental fees and service charges. Additionally, upon returning the battery, other fees are still charged, and relevant subsidies have not been received. The car owners have proposed adjusting rental fees, clarifying station construction plans, buying out batteries, and stopping the charging of other fees upon returning batteries.

It is reported that SAIC ER6's battery swap stations are produced by Genenergy Smart Power, which was established on September 21, 2022. The company is jointly invested by SAIC Motor, Sinopec, PetroChina, CATL, and Shanghai International Automobile City. In July 2023, ER6 began to accelerate its battery swap plan in full swing, with the expectation that the scale will exceed 3,000 stations by 2025. The specifics of ER6's battery rental program, namely the "RISING POWER ER6 Energy Solution" for vehicle-battery separation services, are as follows:

If you choose to lease a 77kWh battery pack, the car price will be immediately reduced by 84,000 yuan, with a monthly rental fee of 1,260 yuan (including an 80 yuan/month battery guarantee service fee). If you choose to lease a 90kWh battery pack, the car price will be immediately reduced by 100,000 yuan, with a monthly rental fee of 1,560 yuan (including an 80 yuan/month battery guarantee service fee).

The property rights of leased batteries belong to Genenergy Smart Power. ER6 R7 users who choose 1,500 kWh of charging and swapping rights per year for 2 years can automatically deduct the power difference when swapping batteries in the future. Batteries circulating in the market will receive maintenance services through Genenergy Smart Power's battery detection system, ensuring high battery health and safety.

Buying out the battery is still an option after leasing. When users want to stop the battery leasing model, they can choose to buy out new or used batteries from the battery mall. For daily commuting in the city, a small-capacity battery (77kWh) can be selected; for long-distance driving, a larger-capacity battery (90kWh or higher) can be swapped, reducing the frequency of recharging. ER6 will provide a daily rental model for users who choose the battery rental service and have a need to switch between different battery capacities, allowing users to flexibly convert between "large" and "small" batteries based on their needs.

In addition, regarding users who buy out batteries switching to the battery rental service, ER6 is accelerating the implementation of relevant policies with Genenergy Smart Power. In the future, buyout users may also sell their batteries to Genenergy Smart Power and then lease batteries.

For now, ER6's promises appear to be overly ambitious, resulting in significant deviations from reality. Judging from this rights protection letter, car owners feel deceived, not only having to pay high rental fees (1,260/1,560 yuan/month, including 80 yuan service fee) but also failing to enjoy battery swapping or charging subsidies. Battery rental fees are higher than industry standards, with additional service fees. The battery swap stations are incomplete, with no plans for new stations, and the company has been untruthful about the delays, leading to difficulties for users in charging. There are additional charges for buying out batteries, and upon returning leased batteries, there are other fees besides rental fees, including liquidated damages and disassembly fees. In the open letter seeking rights protection, car owners emphasized that if they had known that the construction of battery swap stations was so slow and the fees were so complicated, they would not have chosen the battery rental program, and the inconvenience caused should not be borne by car owners. If the relevant responsible persons of SAIC ER6 and Genenergy Smart Power continue to ignore the reasonable demands of battery rental car owners, the vast majority of battery rental car owners will unite and take legal action to formally sue SAIC ER6 and Genenergy Smart Power to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

From ER6's sales data, we can also see that the company is currently facing a severe situation. From January to May 2024, the cumulative sales of ER6 F7 were only 623 units, ranking 29th in mid-to-large car sales. Among them, in May 2024, the sales of ER6 F7 were 212 units, down 90.79% year-on-year and up 158.54% month-on-month. In May 2024, ER6 F7's share of the mid-to-large car market was 0.18%, down 2.78% year-on-year. In the mid-to-large car sales ranking in May 2024, ER6 F7 ranked 28th. In the May battery swap passenger car list, ER6 R7 ranked 12th with sales of 268 units, while the newly launched ER6 F7 in 2023 ranked only 17th with sales of 131 units, far below NIO series and Hongqi EQM5. The recent open letter from car owners further reveals ER6's predicament.

In response to this series of complaints, ER6 executives have promptly responded. Executives stated that the company attaches great importance to the issues feedback by car owners and has begun to formulate solutions. They acknowledged shortcomings in the planning and advancement of battery swap station construction and will accelerate the pace of construction, increasing the number and coverage areas of battery swap stations. At the same time, the charging standards for battery swapping will be reassessed and optimized to ensure reasonable pricing and transparency.

ER6 executives also emphasized that in the future, the company will continue to improve the quality of battery swapping services, strengthen the maintenance and management of battery swapping facilities, and provide car owners with more efficient, convenient, and high-quality battery swapping experiences.

The exposure of ER6's battery swapping issues has not only sounded an alarm for the company but also triggered in-depth reflections within the entire new energy vehicle industry on the development of the battery swapping model. How to ensure service quality and user experience while promoting the battery swapping model will be an important issue that new energy vehicle enterprises urgently need to address. We will continue to pay close attention to the progress of ER6's battery swapping issues and the development trends in the new energy vehicle battery swapping field.