Wang Chuanfu: How does an entrepreneur solve social problems?

About five or six years ago. Tokyo, Japan

Wang Chuanfu changed to various public transport and carefully investigated the rail transit here. He always runs to the car closest to the front of the car, because it is the best way to see the road.

The rail transit in Tokyo is 1300 kilometers, which is a huge system, including 396 kilometers of subway.

Why is the subway ratio not high? Because the subway is good, but it is also expensive. In China, most of them are: to build a 1km subway, it needs 8-1200 million yuan, and the annual maintenance cost is 30 million yuan, so as to ensure the drainage, ventilation and high-rise safety at underground time. If a subway train can't carry 7000 passengers per kilometer every day, it's not economical. China and Hongkong are the only subway companies in the world that can make their own money, with fares accounting for 14% of total revenue, mainly relying on property development and commercial income along the line.

Dadongjing has a population of 35 million and 8 million cars, 3 million more than Beijing, but there are no traffic jams. The reason is that most people take the bus, and many big companies don't have many parking spaces. People only drive on weekends, and there are no obvious peaks on weekends.

Most people in Tokyo take the bus most of the time, because the residential area is very close to the bus station, which is very convenient. At the same time, there is still some way to go for bus transfer, from the residence to the station, and going back and forth every day is also a big number. Because of walking more, people in Tokyo are thinner and live longer.

Wang Chuanfu understands that Tokyo is an "orbiting city". Rail transit is moderately ahead of schedule, and tracks and stations are built first, and then communities, businesses, office buildings, parks and so on are arranged around them. This is the world-famous TOD mode in Tokyo (bus-oriented-development).

What about China? Wang Chuanfu called China's urbanization model "a city on wheels" and "a city on the road". If cars are not limited to purchase, it will increase by 15% every year, which is the growth rate of third-and fourth-tier cities now, while the annual growth rate of highways is less than 1%. China has the largest urbanization movement in the world. Coupled with the car buying tide brought by consumption upgrading, the city will be blocked and will become more and more blocked. Starting from first-and second-tier cities, third-and fourth-tier cities will gradually become blocked cities.

Create a "cloud track"

Wang Chuanfu is an entrepreneur. When entrepreneurs see the super problem of urban congestion control, can they find a way to solve social problems and create shareholder value?

Wang Chuanfu thought of a method that existed decades ago but was later forgotten, that is, moving the road on the ground into the air, which is equivalent to doing subtraction on the road and adding in the air to form three-dimensional traffic. His basic ideas are: highways are for cars, and rail transit is for people; The more roads are repaired, the more cars there are, and finally the more roads are repaired, the more traffic jams there are; Only by developing air track and changing from "city on wheels" to "city on track" can the urban congestion problem be completely solved.

Wang Chuanfu named BYD's air rail transit project "Cloud Track". It took 5 years and 5 billion yuan, and finally it was successfully developed. A prototype car was built in BYD factory and put into practical use.

What are the benefits of "cloud track"?

Low cost: the cost is 65438+ 0.5 of the subway;

Short construction period: the time is1/3 of the subway;

Strong terrain adaptability: strong climbing ability, slope length 100 m, vertical height can be increased by 10 m, and the vertical height of subway with the same slope length can only be increased by 3 m; The turning radius is 45 meters, unlike the subway that takes 300 meters to turn over;

Low noise, can pass through urban buildings;

No right of way: Monorail, built at the height of10-15m above the urban green belt, does not involve demolition;

Moderate transportation capacity: flexible grouping, one-way transportation capacity1-30,000 people/hour;

No pollution, zero emission: driving depends on electricity. The car is equipped with a battery, which can recover some electricity when braking. If the power grid fails unexpectedly, the train can be pushed to the station by battery power, and the longest running distance with battery can reach 10 km.

Cloud track appeared in the second half of 20 16. It is suitable for the backbone lines of small and medium-sized cities and the encrypted lines of large and medium-sized cities, and can develop in coordination with other means of transportation such as subways, buses and buses, and complement each other. But some people joked on the Internet: What the hell is the "cloud track"? How does a private enterprise do rail transit?

The actual situation is that BYD has been negotiating with more than a dozen cities to build a "cloud track", and the market demand is huge. Because the "cloud track" needs to build factories in the local area for production, it can also drive local GDP and is more popular with the government.

Not only the government, but also developers such as Vanke, Country Garden and OCT. Vanke has formed an alliance with BYD and will conduct in-depth and comprehensive cooperation in urban rail transit development and industrial park development. Vanke's positioning as a "city supporting service provider" is highly coincident with BYD's vision of "cloud track". Yu Liang said that "track+property" is a very promising model for Vanke to solve the housing, living and working problems of ordinary people in the future. Country Garden signed a strategic cooperation agreement with BYD in June last year165438+1October, which will establish priority cooperation in rail transit construction, land development along rail transit and industrial parks. The cooperation mode between OCT and BYD is track plus tourism, which mainly solves the congestion problem caused by tourists flocking to tourist attractions.

While solving social problems, generate has a super business opportunity.

Before Cloud Track

Now answer why a private enterprise can do rail transit.

At present, Bombardier and Hitachi, as well as BYD, have mastered the technology of aerial monorail electric transportation. CRRC also has this ability, but at present it is mainly busy with subway and high-speed rail.

Chongqing has a straddle-type aerial monorail project near the Yangtze River, which is a joint venture between Hitachi and CRRC. Compared with the vehicles in Chongqing, the weight of "Cloud Track" is 14 ton, which is half lighter. "Cloud track" adopts permanent magnet motor, one motor is less than 200 kg, and Chongqing adopts induction motor, about 800 kg; "Cloud Track" is made of aluminum, while Chongqing's is made of steel. The "cloud track" body is about 4 meters high and can be streamlined. The body of Chongqing is about 5 meters high and can only be square.

Obviously, the solution of "cloud track" is to lose weight, which is more cost-effective.

Why can it be lightweight? Because BYD has invested heavily in electric buses before, it has formed many proprietary technologies and core technologies, so BYD electric buses are all made of aluminum. "Cloud Track" adopts all technologies of electric vehicles, batteries and mechanical structures. The reason why we spent 5 billion yuan on "cloud track" research and development is because most parts that meet the lightweight goal are not available outside, so we can only do it ourselves.

Without BYD's exploration and innovation in electric vehicles and electric buses, there would be no "cloud track" today.

Byd pollution control

"Cloud track" is to control congestion, and electric buses and taxis are to control pollution.

In more than 3,000 cities in 103 countries and regions around the world, more than 80% of the pollution exceeds the standard, and 1 person's death is caused by air pollution. Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau pointed out that about 1/3 of PM2.5 comes from motor vehicles.

In the big cities of China, the number of buses and taxis only accounts for about 2% of all motor vehicles, but their air pollution emissions account for more than 1/3, because most of them run from 5 am to night 10, all of which are slow trains; Logistics vehicles, sanitation vehicles, vehicles loaded with building materials and trucks account for about 18%, and emissions account for13; Finally, private cars account for 80%, but the emissions are not that big, mainly because the driving time is very short.

Seven years ago, when BYD proposed "bus electrification" in Shenzhen, it encountered many doubts. I haven't done it abroad, will you? Will it explode? Will there be any problem with the battery life after two years? Shenzhen strongly supports BYD's exploration, and has issued a series of electric vehicle standards and road standards by taking advantage of the first-in-first-test conditions in the SAR. In the end, the direction of urban bus electrification has become a national strategy. In 2065,438+07, Shenzhen plans to replace more than 0.5 million electric buses/KLOC-0, and Taiyuan will replace more than 8,000 pure electric taxis in 2065,438+06, becoming the first city in the world to realize 0/00% electrification of taxis/KLOC-0.

At the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, people from the London Olympic Organizing Committee came to pick up the flag and drove a diesel bus to the Bird's Nest. Today, BYD's electric bus runs on the streets of London.

Today, BYD's electric vehicle sales are already the first in the world. However, Wang Chuanfu believes that BYD will break out in the field of private cars when the cost of new energy vehicles is lower.

Wang Chuanfu's temperament

Wang Chuanfu's confidence comes from BYD's team of almost 20,000 engineers. Among them, there are 1000 people who study batteries alone, while foreign competitors Sanyo, Samsung and LG have only 300 people. Why can't you beat them?

Buffett's fund is the third largest shareholder of BYD. What they value BYD is that it has an "Edison temperament". 20,000 engineers, this value is invisible in the financial statements, but it is a decisive asset.

BYD's temperament stems from Wang Chuanfu's temperament.

1966, Wang Chuanfu was born in a peasant family in Wuwei County, Anhui Province, ranking seventh in the family. When I was in junior high school, my parents died one after another and my younger brother had to drop out of school to support his family. 1983, Wang Chuanfu was admitted to the Department of Metallurgical Physics and Chemistry of Central South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Although the school is close to Yuelu Mountain, he has never been there because he is poor. The spirit of hard struggle cultivated since childhood is destined to accompany Wang Chuanfu all his life.

From 65438 to 0987, Wang Chuanfu was admitted to Beijing Institute of Nonferrous Metals, Chinese Academy of Sciences for postgraduate study. After graduating from the master's degree, he stayed in the institute and was soon promoted to deputy director of the institute. 1995, Wang Chuanfu resigned to start a business. He raised about 2.5 million yuan from relatives who made investments, rented a workshop of about 2,000 square meters, produced rechargeable batteries, and had more than 20 employees. Although it is a new company, Wang Chuanfu shouted the slogan of competing with Sony and Sanyo to import batteries.

At the beginning of the sea, Wang Chuanfu went abroad to buy equipment and wanted to make his own brand of batteries. As a result, the other party not only refused to sell it to him, but also said, "You China people can't make batteries well." At that time, when I went abroad to go to the customs, the staff asked to check the return ticket, as if China people wanted to stay abroad, which hurt their self-esteem.

At that time, it took tens of millions to build a nickel-cadmium battery production line. Wang Chuanfu will settle accounts for everyone. "A set of imported equipment costs $200,000, depreciating for 60 months and 20,000 a month. If this money is used to hire people, how many people can be hired for 20,000 yuan, and more than a dozen people can't top a manipulator? " He decomposed the foreign advanced production line, replaced most links with manpower, and finally built the production line of "people+fixture = manipulator". This is how the "world battery king" began.

Wang Chuanfu likes to soak in the laboratory. He likes the feeling of being a "skilled worker", and the feeling of an engineer is that all innovative ideas can be actually made.

Self-research "fish pond effect"

From making batteries, to doing IT, to building cars, to "cloud track", BYD's every jump shocked and questioned the industry and finally had to accept it. The root of BYD's success lies in that in IT, automobile, solar energy, energy storage and other related industries, in the technical fields of molds, materials, machinery, electronics, software, computers, mobile phones, vehicles, etc., BYD adheres to the principle of "technology is king, innovation is the foundation", realizes full coverage of independent research and development, masters core technologies such as batteries, motors and electronic controls, and integrates and integrates these technologies to achieve re-innovation.

Wang Chuanfu once said, for example, to develop a subversive and innovative plug-in hybrid vehicle, we need an engine, an electric motor, an automatic gearbox, a battery, an electric motor and electronic control. However, if different parts suppliers are mixed together, not only is there no standard, there is no agreement, and even a contract cannot be signed. The difficulty can be imagined. But for BYD, it is only necessary to convene the general managers of six business divisions for a meeting. "BYD employees rely on a benign and sustainable cooperation system, not talking about cost sharing, not talking about mold fees, not talking about compensation, letting go, and finally I will pay the bill." "As we all know, the reason why we insist on independent innovation and all the core technologies are in our own hands is because BYD can 2,1+1+1> 3。 "

After years of accumulation, BYD's technological innovation has a "fish pond effect". Many ideas are constantly generated and stored in the pool, such as keeping a lot of fish and catching one if necessary. The electric car is a big fish and the "cloud track" is a big fish. Some are being raised and will be fished out in due course.

BYD Power

Wang Chuanfu is one of the most famous innovative industrialists in China.

He is an extremely simple man, who can't play golf and has no entertainment. As long as the company doesn't receive him, he will wear BYD overalls, punch in at work and go to the cafeteria for a working meal. But Wang Chuanfu is obsessed with technology and often spends a day in the laboratory and the design director's office. He is a man without "technophobia". He trusts young engineers in China who are eager to learn and willing to try, instead of worshipping senior technical experts in Europe and America.

He respects shareholders, but does not blindly follow the voice of investors. In 2003, institutional investors in Hong Kong were very puzzled when they learned that he decided to build a car. Doubt calls come and go, and even say that they want to short BYD shares. Within a few days, BYD's market value evaporated by more than 3 billion. But Wang Chuanfu was unmoved. He believes in technology, innovation and BYD's unique full coverage research and development model.

After long-term accumulation and focus on electrification, BYD is becoming a world-renowned green company. At the C40 World Mayors Summit at the end of last year, BYD issued the initiative of "Cooling the Earth 1℃". Wang Chuanfu said: "At the Paris Climate Conference in 20 15, major countries in the world achieved the goal of controlling global warming within 2℃ in this century. BYD's initiative to cool the earth 1℃ is not ignorance or arrogance. I know that in the next few decades, the trend of global warming is inevitable. I am 50 years old. I think that in my lifetime, I may not see the earth getting cold, but I hope our children can see it and our future generations can see it. "

Wang Chuanfu hopes to contribute not only to China but also to the world in the direction of green development.

At the C40 meeting, Wang Chuanfu has to arrange a dozen or twenty agendas a day. He is BYD's biggest marketing ambassador. In China, Wang Chuanfu will feel uncomfortable if he doesn't enter the technical laboratory for a day. In foreign countries, if you don't arrange enough customers to meet in one day, Wang Chuanfu will feel uncomfortable. It's not a day, it's a year. It's been almost 22 years since 1995.

1999, BYD's first salesman in charge of selling batteries in the North American market came to Los Angeles with only $300 pocket money and a pack of batteries. She does marketing in the most rustic way, that is, she calls one by one according to the phone numbers in the yellow pages. At first, she didn't pass English at all. A year later, she finished typing a yellow page and became fluent in English.

At the end of 20 16, when I saw BYD's electric bus shuttling back and forth between Stanford University and Facebook Park and saw BYD's factory in Lancaster, Los Angeles, I once again thought of the scene of 1999.

Zhang Jian said: "People born in heaven are no different from plants. If you leave one or two useful careers, you will live with the vegetation, that is, you will not rot with the vegetation. " One person can really change many things in the world. From Wang Chuanfu and BYD people, I strongly felt this infinite power.