Take action, develop the new energy industry, and support the national new energy strategy.

Recently, Qihoo 360 founder Zhou Hongyi's "car selling solicitation" sparked a wave of excitement in the domestic new energy vehicle circle and attracted widespread attention from netizens.

After becoming the owner of the Zeekr 009 Glory Edition and the red AITO M9, on July 5, at the headquarters of FAW Group, Liu Changqing, Assistant General Manager of FAW Group and Vice President of the Hongqi Brand Operations Committee, delivered the Hongqi HQ9 PHEV to Zhou Hongyi. At the delivery ceremony, Zhou Hongyi said, "As soon as I see the name Hongqi, I don't even need to think about it, I just make the choice!"

It is reported that during his visit to FAW Group, Zhou Hongyi and his entourage also visited the Hongqi Cultural Exhibition Hall and the Prosperity Plant Assembly Workshop, demonstrating their trust and recognition of Hongqi's product quality and strength.

The Hongqi HQ9 PHEV is the first model equipped with Hongqi's self-developed "Super Hybrid" technology, positioned as a mid-to-large MPV, showcasing the connotation of high-end business luxury with its elegant design both inside and out. The model also supports "three-screen" interaction and Hongqi SmartLink 3.0 system, providing vehicle-level intelligent OTA and a smooth human-machine interaction experience.

Zhou Hongyi sold his Maybach S600 for 9.9 million yuan and purchased three domestic new energy intelligent connected vehicles within a few months, representing his support for the intelligent connected vehicle and domestic new energy vehicle industries and using practical actions and personal influence to raise public awareness of domestic new energy brands.

He believes that domestic new energy intelligent connected vehicles will redefine luxury cars and hopes to influence more consumers and entrepreneurs to join in supporting domestic new energy vehicles.

01 Zhou Hongyi's car changes are not just a personal choice

On April 18, "Zhou Hongyi sells his car" became a trending topic on Weibo, as Zhou Hongyi decided to sell his 9-year-old Maybach, abandoning traditional imported luxury cars and switching to domestic new energy intelligent connected vehicles.

In the following half month, nearly 20 automakers drove their new energy vehicles to the foot of Qihoo 360's headquarters, and Zhou Hongyi continued to test drive, post short videos, and live stream, sharing his experiences. Under Zhou Hongyi's online popularity, domestic new energy vehicle brands became the center of attention again and again, which can be described as a large-scale science popularization of new energy vehicle products and technologies, as well as an effective batch of domestic new energy vehicle sales.

On April 28, the Maybach auction was held, and it was finally sold for 9.9 million yuan. Zhou Hongyi immediately announced that all proceeds, after tax deduction, would be donated.

In the next three months, Zhou Hongyi happily took delivery of three domestic new energy intelligent connected vehicles.

In addition to the aforementioned Hongqi HQ9 PHEV, on May 24, as one of the first car owner representatives, Zhou Hongyi participated in the delivery ceremony of the Zeekr 009 Glory Edition. He said he chose this car because "safety is the greatest luxury," and he values Zeekr 009 Glory's active and passive safety, as well as privacy security after networking.

On June 1, Zhou Hongyi again took delivery of an AITO M9 at the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Auto Show, with Yu Chengdong, Chairman of Huawei Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU, personally accompanying Zhou Hongyi through the delivery ceremony, which was broadcast live to the public. He spoke highly of the AITO M9, particularly emphasizing its outstanding performance in safety and intelligent driving experience. He said that the AITO M9 may be the best car in terms of intelligent driving in China, with no competitors and a significant lead.

It is reported that Zhou Hongyi plans to select seven domestic new energy vehicles. He publicly stated that this is not "consumption downgrading" but rather a hope to influence more consumers and entrepreneurs, directing public attention from "imported luxury cars" to "Made in China" and allowing them to experience the strength and charm of Chinese brands.

Zhou Hongyi explained that purchasing domestic new energy intelligent connected vehicles not only allows people to enjoy intelligent life but also significantly contributes to national strategies. "Every user who buys an intelligent connected vehicle is contributing to national strategies."

In recent years, exports of "new three samples" represented by new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products have grown rapidly, changing the structure of foreign trade exports and becoming a new driving force for foreign trade growth. The development of the "new three samples" industry is crucial to the country's new energy strategic goals.

According to data from the General Administration of Customs, in 2023, China exported a total of 1.773 million new energy vehicles, accounting for 33% of total exports and achieving a growth rate of 67.1%. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to May 2024, China exported 519,000 new energy vehicles, an increase of 13.7% year-on-year.

Globally, Chinese new energy vehicles occupy an important position. In 2022, China's share of the global new energy passenger car market exceeded 63%, and in 2023, it reached 64%. From January to May 2024, China continued to maintain a 64% share, with its share in April and May reaching 67%. China has been the world's largest producer and seller of new energy vehicles for nine consecutive years.

New energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products are closely related and mutually beneficial. According to Wang Lingjun, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Customs, in 2023, China's exports of electric passenger cars, lithium-ion batteries, and solar cells, collectively known as the "new three samples," totaled 1.06 trillion yuan, exceeding the trillion yuan mark for the first time, with a growth rate of 29.9%.

New energy vehicles are the flagship product among the "new three samples," and using photovoltaic power generation, new energy vehicles achieve environmental protection. Together with photovoltaic power generation and energy storage technology, the new energy vehicle industry contributes to the country's new energy strategy.

02 The "Photovoltaic Revolution": China's Leading Role in Global New Energy

Currently, the global energy transition is in a critical period of development opportunities, and the vigorous development of new energy will cooperate with the transformation of traditional fossil energy to form a joint force, which is the only way for a country to achieve its new energy strategy.

The shift from oil to electricity represents an unprecedented transformation in the global automotive industry, and it is an irreversible trend. By generating electricity through new energy sources such as photovoltaics to charge new energy vehicles, truly abandoning coal-fired power, will be an important step in the new energy strategy.

Obviously, the new energy vehicle industry is closely integrated with photovoltaic power generation and energy storage technology, forming a complete green energy ecosystem.

Photovoltaics, as an essential component of global new energy, is quietly changing the global energy structure, and China's photovoltaic industry development occupies a leading position globally.

Since China surpassed Germany to become the world's largest photovoltaic application market for the first time in 2013, China's photovoltaic industry has maintained a sustained growth momentum. According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), global solar production expenditures (about $380 billion) will exceed oil production expenditures (about $370 billion) for the first time in 2023. Among them, China produced 80% of the world's solar panels, 85% of solar cells, and 97% of solar wafers.

Currently, China's photovoltaic industry has entered the trillion-yuan track. In 2022, the total output value of the photovoltaic industry exceeded 1.4 trillion yuan, and in 2023, the total industry output value exceeded 1.75 trillion yuan, an increase of about 350 billion yuan compared to the previous year.

China's earliest photovoltaic power station was built by the Gansu Natural Energy Research Institute in Gansu Province in 1983 and has been stably generating electricity for over 35 years.

To date, China's photovoltaic industry has indeed established the most complete industrial supply chain advantage globally, forming a complete industrial chain from industrial silicon, high-purity silicon materials, silicon ingots/rods/wafers, solar cells, modules, inverters, photovoltaic auxiliary materials, photovoltaic production equipment to system integration and photovoltaic product applications, and has formed a group of world-class leading enterprises in each major link.

Regarding this, Zhou Hongyi also feels deeply that "through industrial chain integration and entrepreneurs' efforts, China's photovoltaic industry has built a highway."

First, China has a significant cost advantage in solar photovoltaic power generation. A recent report by Wood Mackenzie, a consulting firm, shows that the cost of producing solar modules in China fell by 42% in 2023, to $0.15 per watt.

Taking the price of solar modules in December 2023 as an example, China's cost was $0.15/watt, much lower than India ($0.22/watt), Europe ($0.30/watt), and the United States ($0.40/watt). This means that Chinese-made modules are 50% cheaper than European-made modules and 62.5% cheaper than American-made modules.

Zhou Hongyi pointed out, "The cost of domestic solar photovoltaic panel power generation has been extremely low. From the digital comparison, it can be seen that photovoltaics have significant advantages in power generation costs both domestically and internationally."

It is worth mentioning that Zhou Hongyi discovered that China's unique ultra-high voltage and ultra-high voltage transmission lines make the loss of transporting electricity from photovoltaics very low, at approximately less than 5%. China's western regions have vast gobi deserts and uninhabited areas. If photovoltaic panels could be installed there for photovoltaic power generation, turning the entire northwest into a green power production base would create significant economic benefits.

"You should know that Qinghai has 100,000 square kilometers of land that can accommodate photovoltaic panels, but only 1,000 square kilometers have been installed so far, just 1% of the total, which has already generated enormous power generation. If we build many intelligent computing centers in Qinghai and use green power to turn computing power into green computing power, we will truly achieve 'east data, west computing,'" said Zhou Hongyi.

In fact, Qihoo 360 Group has also done this. On July 11, at the 25th China Qinghai Green Development Investment and Trade Conference, Qihoo 360 Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Qinghai Provincial Government. The two parties will promote the development of green computing power industries, jointly build intelligent computing centers and digital industrial parks, and establish "urban big model service centers" relying on intelligent computing center resources.

Secondly, Zhou Hongyi said, "Currently, the design life of photovoltaic panels is 20-30 years, and after the next technological breakthrough, it is expected to reach 40-50 years. In other words, for half a century, as long as there is sunlight, photovoltaic panels can achieve long-term and continuous power generation."

Zhou Hongyi compared it vividly, "In terms of input costs, every watt of electricity invested in producing photovoltaic panels can produce 100 watts of electricity over its lifetime. It is equivalent to using 1 ton of carbon dioxide emissions to reduce 100 tons of carbon dioxide emissions." From a financial perspective, photovoltaic power generation can serve as a substitute for traditional energy sources.

The advantages of the photovoltaic industry are helping China take a leading role in the global new energy industry.

03 The New Energy Strategy: Balancing Economic Benefits and National Security

With the photovoltaic strategy, Zhou Hongyi pointed out that China is expected to take the lead in achieving its strategic goals of peaking carbon emissions and carbon reduction within the next 10-20 years.

The data speaks for itself. In 2023, China's installed solar power generation capacity reached about 610 million kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 55.2%. From 2013 to 2023, photovoltaic installed capacity grew from over 19 million kilowatts to over 600 million kilowatts, an increase of more than 30 times.

According to estimates, 100 million kilowatts of installed photovoltaic power generation capacity can reduce about 76 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. In other words, through photovoltaic power generation alone, China reduced about 463.6 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions last year.

In fact, replacing coal-fired power with photovoltaic power generation and developing the new energy industry not only helps reduce carbon emissions, address the energy crisis, and achieve economic benefits but also concerns national security.

By combining the photovoltaic industry with the new energy vehicle industry and using photovoltaic power generation to meet the charging needs of new energy vehicles, oil extraction will be significantly reduced. Zhou Hongyi pointed out, "The international price of a barrel of oil ranges from $50 to $60, while achieving the same energy effect with photovoltaic power generation may only cost $5, far below the crude oil extraction prices of Saudi Arabia and Russia. If we use photovoltaic power generation to drive cars in the future, we won't need to endlessly extract crude oil."

"Coal and oil are non-renewable, and once they disappear, the development of human civilization may be constrained and stagnate. Converting some carbon-based energy into photovoltaic green renewable energy can truly solve the energy crisis facing humanity."

He said that if photovoltaic power generation replaces coal-fired power on a large scale in the next 10 years, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles reaches 80%-90%, China can save 500 million tons of crude oil imports annually, equivalent to $300 billion in foreign exchange. "If China can save so much crude oil imports, the problem of being 'choked' in the Strait of Malacca will be alleviated, which is of great strategic significance to national security and national defense security."

Alleviating energy security pressures, reducing crude oil import dependence, and improving national economic benefits and security are significant aspects of developing a new energy strategy. The combination of new energy vehicles and green power generation has enormous potential and significance.

From the independent research and development of "three-electricity" core technologies to supporting parts factories, to smart cockpits and autonomous driving, the completeness of China's new energy vehicle industry chain is unique globally. The global value of China's development of a new energy strategy is indispensable.

Realizing the importance of the national new energy strategy and actively promoting the development of the new energy industry is the responsibility of every citizen. We need more "flagbearers" like Zhou Hongyi, who actively support domestic products and enhance their influence. "Many hands make light work," Zhou Hongyi has repeatedly urged that entrepreneurs and people from all walks of life should join the ranks of supporting domestic new energy vehicles. "This time, it's not about how much energy Zhou Hongyi has; it's about the strength that comes from a large number of people."