I have to say that Musk is more acceptable when he doesn't talk nonsense.
And this guy always speaks highly of China.
Whether it is for the market behind it or if you really think so.
Chen Pingjiang thought carefully about what Musk had just said.
You know what, it contains a lot of information.
First, Tesla seemed to have almost reached an agreement with the Shanghai side, but the Shanghai side took its own emotions into consideration and was still a little unsure, so it did not finally agree.
This is well understood.
On the side of the Shanghai government, they naturally want to bring Tesla in, so that they can solidify the title of Shanghai as the city of automobiles.
By then, there will be several super-brand car companies in Shanghai.
They are SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC General Motors, SAIC-owned, Tesla and Jiuzhou.
It will almost make you invincible in future competition.
But they were also afraid that Chen Pingjiang might have some ideas.
Oh, I just landed and the factory hasn’t been built yet, but you are eager to invite my competitors here, what do you mean?! ?
Chen Pingjiang nodded: "If Tesla can build a factory in Shanghai, I will be the first to welcome it. This is my true inner thought. Tesla's joining can deepen our industrial chain and enable us to make better cars. In addition, healthy competition between us will promote the rapid iteration of our products."
Chen Pingjiang thought very clearly about this point.
If Shanghai wants to bring Tesla in, and we block it, it would be shameless. Moreover, if Shanghai blocks Tesla, other cities will always be vying for it. Therefore, as long as Tesla comes in, it doesn't matter where it sets up the factory to Jiuzhou.
In this case, it is better to say good things openly and make everyone happy.
Obviously, Musk didn't expect Chen Pingjiang to be so easy to talk to, and his face immediately lit up with joy.
Chen Pingjiang continued: "As for the supply chain, maybe you are overthinking it. These suppliers not only provide products for Jiuzhou Auto, but also provide products for other brands. Moreover, we will not interfere with the internal behavior of suppliers."
This is the official term.
Manufacturing tens of thousands of parts for a car involves multiple suppliers, some of which are common suppliers, such as Panasonic, LG, and CATL for batteries, Nvidia and Intel for chips, and Bosch and Magna for powertrains.
These are large companies and will not be controlled by car companies.
The other suppliers are small in scale, dependent on the giants, and will also receive technical feedback from the car companies. Of course, the car companies will control these suppliers.
Otherwise, if the supplier who worked hard to feed the technology and orders turns around and provides parts to his competitors to fight against himself, it would be more disgusting than eating shit. What's more disgusting is that some of the technologies are exclusive. After a while, XX comes out and we also have this technology.
Fortunately, Musk did not force it, but nodded and changed the topic to the Charging Alliance.
It is only 2016 now, and the construction of outdoor charging piles is still in its infancy. The scarcity of charging piles will in turn affect consumers' user experience and is also a key factor in determining the sales of new energy vehicles.
The country is now advocating the construction of outdoor charging piles, resulting in a terrifying number of operators with different backgrounds.
A rough calculation:
Among them are not only large energy companies, such as State Grid and Sinopec, but also new energy vehicle manufacturers, as well as real estate developers and properties.
Do you think this is over?
Third-party charging operators, local governments and even individual businesses have all joined the game.
The participation of different entities has made the distribution of charging piles more widespread, but it has also brought about problems such as inconsistent standards and uneven service quality.
Musk's meaning is also very simple.
The two companies each built a large number of charging piles, and then recognized each other in China. Jiuzhou S1 owners can use Tesla's charging piles, and Tesla owners can also use Jiuzhou's charging piles.
This will maximize car sales and provide users with a good after-sales experience.
This alliance excludes third parties in the early stages. After all, the construction of outdoor charging stations has just started, and Musk's approach is equivalent to strangling the new car-making forces behind them.
Even if they can't be strangled to death, they will be in big trouble.
When buying a car, car owners have to consider whether it is easy to charge.
Once charging stations from other car companies, energy companies, property and real estate developers become widely used, the charging alliance established by both parties will absorb them.
By that time, the game will be standard.
It can not only expand the commercial value of its own charging network, but also enhance its social influence.
Does it look familiar?
That’s right, this is how it works in the communications and AI fields.
When there were only two or three companies on the market, this group of people banded together to monopolize!
Once everyone knows how to do it, we will start playing with standards. Only those who meet our standards can do this and that, and those who don’t will be targeted, thereby increasing our own voice in the industry.
Faced with the hope in Musk's eyes, Chen Pingjiang did not respond immediately, but said he would think about it.
Afterwards, the two sides ended the closed-door meeting, leaving time for Chen Pingjiang and Musk to chat alone.
This private chat is more interesting.
Neither side even had an interpreter present.
After so many years of training, Chen Pingjiang's English level is not top-notch, but as long as Musk speaks slowly and clearly, he can still guess some of what he says.
If you really can't communicate, you can use translation software.
"Chen, you are just as I imagined, very young, handsome and wise. I said on Twitter a long time ago that you are the only technology figure in the world who can impress me." Musk made a corny confession right at the beginning.
Chen Pingjiang laughed: "So, is this how you criticize me on TV?"
Musk was not embarrassed. "You know, it's a talk show, and TV stations need ratings. Besides, although I talked about the shortcomings of Jiuzhou Automobile, I didn't deny your value. I noticed that your TikTok has performed very well in the North American market and even in the global market, and of course there is also the Orange phone."
"You should really think carefully about my suggestion of charging stations. Construction has just begun. If we plan early and grab good locations, such as shopping malls and gas stations, we will be almost invincible."
Chen Pingjiang smiled and shook his head: "Elon, I'm afraid it's not as simple as you think! If I'm not mistaken, not only China, but also North America and Europe will definitely stop this situation once it is discovered to be spreading. Just imagine, if it is not stopped, wouldn't it be equivalent to monopoly? This is not conducive to the health of the market. I think the biggest rival of electric vehicles is still gasoline vehicles, and that is ourselves, not our competitors."
"Since we have to open up sooner or later, why not be more generous and open it directly? I have no objection to forming an industry alliance and setting standards. After the charging network is opened up, it will increase revenue and thus reduce the investment in charging pile construction. Moreover, in some remote areas, it can also increase the utilization rate of charging piles and reduce idle costs."
"The most important thing is, if this alliance is exclusive, others will band together to form an alliance, and then we will be the ones who are isolated."
After listening to Chen Pingjiang's words, Musk frowned and thought for a long time, then spread his hands and said, "Okay, I admit that what you said makes sense, so do you agree?"
"of couse!"
Chen Pingjiang obviously had no reason to object.
This is not really a case of courting disaster, but rather a cooperation where 1+1 is greater than 2.
Being able to deploy outdoor electric equipment earlier is better than anything else.
In the second half of the private conversation, the two had a great time chatting about all sorts of things.
We talked about everything from chips to Mars immigration, from unmanned driving to hibernation capsules.
This surprised Musk.
He is much older than Chen Pingjiang. When he became a billionaire, Chen Pingjiang was just a student.
But even such a young man, no matter what he said, Chen Pingjiang could always understand it quickly, and then discuss it in related fields, and it was not a superficial debate.
If the other party was a professional scientist, Musk would not be so shocked.
But the other party is just a businessman. How can a businessman know so much?
For example, on the topic of Mars immigration, Musk prefers to go directly to Mars in one step, and he vows that it can be completed within 20 years.
Chen Pingjiang refuted the arguments one by one and pointed out that developing the moon is the top priority.
When talking about driverless cars, their opinions diverged again.
"Nono, LiDAR is not cheap, and overall, it is an expensive and unnecessary technology. Humans can perceive and understand the environment very well with their eyes and computers, and so can cars, which can use cameras and processors. Pure vision systems must be the best!"
Chen Pingjiang argued with a smile: "But AI technology cannot reach the level of humans in a short period of time, and even humans have shortcomings, such as encountering ghosts poking their heads out while the vehicle is driving. Moreover, pure visual effects will definitely not be able to solve the problem of autonomous driving in harsh environments such as blizzards and smog."
Musk: "Let's not discuss which solution is better. But you can't deny that the high cost of lidar will hinder the popularization of electric vehicles and the large-scale deployment of autonomous driving technology. I still advocate reducing hardware requirements by optimizing software and algorithms rather than relying on expensive sensors."
Chen Pingjiang: "Just because lidar is expensive now doesn't mean it will be expensive in the future. You know, once the Chinese enter an industry and master it, once it is mass-produced, the price will be driven down. By then, there will be both lidar and multiple cameras, combined with AI. I think that will be the ultimate form of driverless cars."
Musk: "But... LiDAR generates a huge amount of data. Processing this data requires higher computing power and more complex algorithms, which may lead to reduced system efficiency. But this is not the case with vision systems. Vision-based systems can be continuously optimized through deep learning and eventually reach or even exceed the performance of LiDAR."
In short, everyone has their own opinions on this topic and no one can convince anyone else.
However, both of them also said that they would compare the two solutions again in a few years to see which one is better.
This topic can only be left to time.
After the private meeting, Chen Pingjiang invited Musk to visit the construction site of the Jiuzhou S1 super factory.
After just one look, Musk gasped: "Damn it... You're kidding me, aren't you? You mean... in less than five months, it's almost finished?"
"It's just that the factory area and supporting buildings are basically completed. We still need to debug the production line and conduct trial production. I estimate that it will be almost done in two months."
Chen Pingjiang’s “showing off” made Musk eager to make a move.
Tesla’s biggest weakness has always been production capacity and delivery.
If his future factory can be put into production so quickly, wouldn’t that solve his biggest weakness?
In fact, the construction speed of Jiuzhou Automobile's super factory is indeed faster than that of Tesla in the future.
After all, it was Chen Pingjiang who gave the order, so CEO Yin Yunxiang had to live and eat on the construction site and did not even have a rest during the New Year.
Not only Musk was shocked by the construction speed, but also the many entourage behind him were shocked.
This construction speed cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world except in China.
This requires the cooperation of a large number of units, the support of various departments, hard-working workers, and perfect supporting facilities...
If you were to go to another country, land acquisition might take a lot of time and energy.
If there is a shortage of construction materials, they have to be transported from other regions, or even imported.
The same is true for workers. They may go home after working for eight hours, and have two days off during holidays.
Even if you have solved all the above problems, you may still be reported by the environmental protection department that appears out of nowhere, or nearby residents may gather together and hold up signs.
Musk has encountered all of these and is fed up with them.
"Chen, I am now more determined to invest and build a factory in China. Do you know? Last year, SpaceX's rocket was ready to launch, but due to complaints from environmental protection organizations, we had to postpone the launch for two months and take a lot of useless measures." Musk smiled bitterly: "Because the local environmental protection organization said that the huge noise from the rocket launch will cause depression in the seals in the nearby waters, and in order to prove that it would not happen, we caught 200 seals and let them listen to the engine noise every day to prove that they did not have depression."
Chen Pingjiang: “…”
Even he didn't expect it to be so outrageous.
"Listen to me, man. America has too many problems. It's not just the so-called environmental organizations, but your government as well. If I were you, I would definitely stand up and actively oppose these."
Musk seemed to have grasped the point after hearing this, and asked in confusion: "Do you think I, a businessman, should get involved in politics?"
"Why not!" Chen Pingjiang laughed: "If I were an American, I would do the same thing and change my country from the bottom of my heart."
This time, Lao Ma looked at Chen Pingjiang with a different look.
"You are right, Chen! Indeed, I should not sit idly by and watch this country sink and decay day by day. It is indeed time for me to do something. I am not afraid of you laughing at me. Because of the damn diversity, my son became a 'daughter' after returning home from school one day some time ago." (End of this chapter)
And this guy always speaks highly of China.
Whether it is for the market behind it or if you really think so.
Chen Pingjiang thought carefully about what Musk had just said.
You know what, it contains a lot of information.
First, Tesla seemed to have almost reached an agreement with the Shanghai side, but the Shanghai side took its own emotions into consideration and was still a little unsure, so it did not finally agree.
This is well understood.
On the side of the Shanghai government, they naturally want to bring Tesla in, so that they can solidify the title of Shanghai as the city of automobiles.
By then, there will be several super-brand car companies in Shanghai.
They are SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC General Motors, SAIC-owned, Tesla and Jiuzhou.
It will almost make you invincible in future competition.
But they were also afraid that Chen Pingjiang might have some ideas.
Oh, I just landed and the factory hasn’t been built yet, but you are eager to invite my competitors here, what do you mean?! ?
Chen Pingjiang nodded: "If Tesla can build a factory in Shanghai, I will be the first to welcome it. This is my true inner thought. Tesla's joining can deepen our industrial chain and enable us to make better cars. In addition, healthy competition between us will promote the rapid iteration of our products."
Chen Pingjiang thought very clearly about this point.
If Shanghai wants to bring Tesla in, and we block it, it would be shameless. Moreover, if Shanghai blocks Tesla, other cities will always be vying for it. Therefore, as long as Tesla comes in, it doesn't matter where it sets up the factory to Jiuzhou.
In this case, it is better to say good things openly and make everyone happy.
Obviously, Musk didn't expect Chen Pingjiang to be so easy to talk to, and his face immediately lit up with joy.
Chen Pingjiang continued: "As for the supply chain, maybe you are overthinking it. These suppliers not only provide products for Jiuzhou Auto, but also provide products for other brands. Moreover, we will not interfere with the internal behavior of suppliers."
This is the official term.
Manufacturing tens of thousands of parts for a car involves multiple suppliers, some of which are common suppliers, such as Panasonic, LG, and CATL for batteries, Nvidia and Intel for chips, and Bosch and Magna for powertrains.
These are large companies and will not be controlled by car companies.
The other suppliers are small in scale, dependent on the giants, and will also receive technical feedback from the car companies. Of course, the car companies will control these suppliers.
Otherwise, if the supplier who worked hard to feed the technology and orders turns around and provides parts to his competitors to fight against himself, it would be more disgusting than eating shit. What's more disgusting is that some of the technologies are exclusive. After a while, XX comes out and we also have this technology.
Fortunately, Musk did not force it, but nodded and changed the topic to the Charging Alliance.
It is only 2016 now, and the construction of outdoor charging piles is still in its infancy. The scarcity of charging piles will in turn affect consumers' user experience and is also a key factor in determining the sales of new energy vehicles.
The country is now advocating the construction of outdoor charging piles, resulting in a terrifying number of operators with different backgrounds.
A rough calculation:
Among them are not only large energy companies, such as State Grid and Sinopec, but also new energy vehicle manufacturers, as well as real estate developers and properties.
Do you think this is over?
Third-party charging operators, local governments and even individual businesses have all joined the game.
The participation of different entities has made the distribution of charging piles more widespread, but it has also brought about problems such as inconsistent standards and uneven service quality.
Musk's meaning is also very simple.
The two companies each built a large number of charging piles, and then recognized each other in China. Jiuzhou S1 owners can use Tesla's charging piles, and Tesla owners can also use Jiuzhou's charging piles.
This will maximize car sales and provide users with a good after-sales experience.
This alliance excludes third parties in the early stages. After all, the construction of outdoor charging stations has just started, and Musk's approach is equivalent to strangling the new car-making forces behind them.
Even if they can't be strangled to death, they will be in big trouble.
When buying a car, car owners have to consider whether it is easy to charge.
Once charging stations from other car companies, energy companies, property and real estate developers become widely used, the charging alliance established by both parties will absorb them.
By that time, the game will be standard.
It can not only expand the commercial value of its own charging network, but also enhance its social influence.
Does it look familiar?
That’s right, this is how it works in the communications and AI fields.
When there were only two or three companies on the market, this group of people banded together to monopolize!
Once everyone knows how to do it, we will start playing with standards. Only those who meet our standards can do this and that, and those who don’t will be targeted, thereby increasing our own voice in the industry.
Faced with the hope in Musk's eyes, Chen Pingjiang did not respond immediately, but said he would think about it.
Afterwards, the two sides ended the closed-door meeting, leaving time for Chen Pingjiang and Musk to chat alone.
This private chat is more interesting.
Neither side even had an interpreter present.
After so many years of training, Chen Pingjiang's English level is not top-notch, but as long as Musk speaks slowly and clearly, he can still guess some of what he says.
If you really can't communicate, you can use translation software.
"Chen, you are just as I imagined, very young, handsome and wise. I said on Twitter a long time ago that you are the only technology figure in the world who can impress me." Musk made a corny confession right at the beginning.
Chen Pingjiang laughed: "So, is this how you criticize me on TV?"
Musk was not embarrassed. "You know, it's a talk show, and TV stations need ratings. Besides, although I talked about the shortcomings of Jiuzhou Automobile, I didn't deny your value. I noticed that your TikTok has performed very well in the North American market and even in the global market, and of course there is also the Orange phone."
"You should really think carefully about my suggestion of charging stations. Construction has just begun. If we plan early and grab good locations, such as shopping malls and gas stations, we will be almost invincible."
Chen Pingjiang smiled and shook his head: "Elon, I'm afraid it's not as simple as you think! If I'm not mistaken, not only China, but also North America and Europe will definitely stop this situation once it is discovered to be spreading. Just imagine, if it is not stopped, wouldn't it be equivalent to monopoly? This is not conducive to the health of the market. I think the biggest rival of electric vehicles is still gasoline vehicles, and that is ourselves, not our competitors."
"Since we have to open up sooner or later, why not be more generous and open it directly? I have no objection to forming an industry alliance and setting standards. After the charging network is opened up, it will increase revenue and thus reduce the investment in charging pile construction. Moreover, in some remote areas, it can also increase the utilization rate of charging piles and reduce idle costs."
"The most important thing is, if this alliance is exclusive, others will band together to form an alliance, and then we will be the ones who are isolated."
After listening to Chen Pingjiang's words, Musk frowned and thought for a long time, then spread his hands and said, "Okay, I admit that what you said makes sense, so do you agree?"
"of couse!"
Chen Pingjiang obviously had no reason to object.
This is not really a case of courting disaster, but rather a cooperation where 1+1 is greater than 2.
Being able to deploy outdoor electric equipment earlier is better than anything else.
In the second half of the private conversation, the two had a great time chatting about all sorts of things.
We talked about everything from chips to Mars immigration, from unmanned driving to hibernation capsules.
This surprised Musk.
He is much older than Chen Pingjiang. When he became a billionaire, Chen Pingjiang was just a student.
But even such a young man, no matter what he said, Chen Pingjiang could always understand it quickly, and then discuss it in related fields, and it was not a superficial debate.
If the other party was a professional scientist, Musk would not be so shocked.
But the other party is just a businessman. How can a businessman know so much?
For example, on the topic of Mars immigration, Musk prefers to go directly to Mars in one step, and he vows that it can be completed within 20 years.
Chen Pingjiang refuted the arguments one by one and pointed out that developing the moon is the top priority.
When talking about driverless cars, their opinions diverged again.
"Nono, LiDAR is not cheap, and overall, it is an expensive and unnecessary technology. Humans can perceive and understand the environment very well with their eyes and computers, and so can cars, which can use cameras and processors. Pure vision systems must be the best!"
Chen Pingjiang argued with a smile: "But AI technology cannot reach the level of humans in a short period of time, and even humans have shortcomings, such as encountering ghosts poking their heads out while the vehicle is driving. Moreover, pure visual effects will definitely not be able to solve the problem of autonomous driving in harsh environments such as blizzards and smog."
Musk: "Let's not discuss which solution is better. But you can't deny that the high cost of lidar will hinder the popularization of electric vehicles and the large-scale deployment of autonomous driving technology. I still advocate reducing hardware requirements by optimizing software and algorithms rather than relying on expensive sensors."
Chen Pingjiang: "Just because lidar is expensive now doesn't mean it will be expensive in the future. You know, once the Chinese enter an industry and master it, once it is mass-produced, the price will be driven down. By then, there will be both lidar and multiple cameras, combined with AI. I think that will be the ultimate form of driverless cars."
Musk: "But... LiDAR generates a huge amount of data. Processing this data requires higher computing power and more complex algorithms, which may lead to reduced system efficiency. But this is not the case with vision systems. Vision-based systems can be continuously optimized through deep learning and eventually reach or even exceed the performance of LiDAR."
In short, everyone has their own opinions on this topic and no one can convince anyone else.
However, both of them also said that they would compare the two solutions again in a few years to see which one is better.
This topic can only be left to time.
After the private meeting, Chen Pingjiang invited Musk to visit the construction site of the Jiuzhou S1 super factory.
After just one look, Musk gasped: "Damn it... You're kidding me, aren't you? You mean... in less than five months, it's almost finished?"
"It's just that the factory area and supporting buildings are basically completed. We still need to debug the production line and conduct trial production. I estimate that it will be almost done in two months."
Chen Pingjiang’s “showing off” made Musk eager to make a move.
Tesla’s biggest weakness has always been production capacity and delivery.
If his future factory can be put into production so quickly, wouldn’t that solve his biggest weakness?
In fact, the construction speed of Jiuzhou Automobile's super factory is indeed faster than that of Tesla in the future.
After all, it was Chen Pingjiang who gave the order, so CEO Yin Yunxiang had to live and eat on the construction site and did not even have a rest during the New Year.
Not only Musk was shocked by the construction speed, but also the many entourage behind him were shocked.
This construction speed cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world except in China.
This requires the cooperation of a large number of units, the support of various departments, hard-working workers, and perfect supporting facilities...
If you were to go to another country, land acquisition might take a lot of time and energy.
If there is a shortage of construction materials, they have to be transported from other regions, or even imported.
The same is true for workers. They may go home after working for eight hours, and have two days off during holidays.
Even if you have solved all the above problems, you may still be reported by the environmental protection department that appears out of nowhere, or nearby residents may gather together and hold up signs.
Musk has encountered all of these and is fed up with them.
"Chen, I am now more determined to invest and build a factory in China. Do you know? Last year, SpaceX's rocket was ready to launch, but due to complaints from environmental protection organizations, we had to postpone the launch for two months and take a lot of useless measures." Musk smiled bitterly: "Because the local environmental protection organization said that the huge noise from the rocket launch will cause depression in the seals in the nearby waters, and in order to prove that it would not happen, we caught 200 seals and let them listen to the engine noise every day to prove that they did not have depression."
Chen Pingjiang: “…”
Even he didn't expect it to be so outrageous.
"Listen to me, man. America has too many problems. It's not just the so-called environmental organizations, but your government as well. If I were you, I would definitely stand up and actively oppose these."
Musk seemed to have grasped the point after hearing this, and asked in confusion: "Do you think I, a businessman, should get involved in politics?"
"Why not!" Chen Pingjiang laughed: "If I were an American, I would do the same thing and change my country from the bottom of my heart."
This time, Lao Ma looked at Chen Pingjiang with a different look.
"You are right, Chen! Indeed, I should not sit idly by and watch this country sink and decay day by day. It is indeed time for me to do something. I am not afraid of you laughing at me. Because of the damn diversity, my son became a 'daughter' after returning home from school one day some time ago." (End of this chapter)
