After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future

In November, internet forces began to enter the field, with 360 partnering with Chery's Fang Yunzhou to establish Hezhong New Energy Automobile and create the sub-brand Nezha.

Alibaba threw in five hundred million dollars to invest in Xiao Peng Car, and Baidu announced loudly that they would no longer be late to the game by investing two hundred million dollars in Weima and developing their autonomous driving technology.

The sales of the Wuling Hongguang Mini were so good that they drove up the sales of BYD and Tesla, making it seem as though the era of new energy vehicles had already begun.

Internet giants are also considered new forces; they do not carry the psychological burdens of traditional enterprises. After all, in new industries, it's just about investing money.

If others invested and they did not, they could be eliminated from the market if the new energy market were to take off.

If everyone invested and the market did not take off, they would all lose together, which meant no one really lost.

Sometimes, the market is not about who does better, but about who does worse—and them not doing as badly.

Li Bing could not contain himself and hurriedly found Lu Liang to inquire about the progress of the Tianxing OS development.

Their NIO's new car launch had been scheduled, set for November 8th, just before Double Eleven.

Last year, Taobao's Double Eleven transactions reached 91.2 billion, and this year it was bound to aim for one hundred billion. If they could break through one hundred billion in a single day, the news would likely be all about Double Eleven by late November.

NIO had been quiet for too long; there were even rumors online that they were pulling out of the competition.

Li Bing could not stand it any longer.

"Has the ES8 come out?" asked Lu Liang with a smile.

"It came out a long time ago."

Impatient, Li Bing pulled out a miniaturized version, a 1:300 replica model weighing eight kilograms.

And he informed them that they planned to start introducing a battery-swapping scheme to address the slow charging and the scarcity of charging stations.

Battery-swapping stations represented a significant investment; NIO had an extra expense compared to Li Xiang, thus requiring more capital injection.

"I'll ask around."

Lu Liang knew that research and development could not be rushed, so he had never inquired about the situation in Beijing.

Through a phone conversation, he learned that the Tianxing OS, which had origins in Hammer OS, its Version 1.0 had already taken shape.

It was more mature and stable than when Li Xiang One was launched, though it was still being tested.

Li Jiahui couldn't help but mention that the design of Hammer OS was exquisite, as if it were made for vehicle systems, and its voice execution capability was unmatched.

During the conversation, he also recorded a short video and sent it to Lu Liang. The system's carrier was still the Li Xiang One.

Although Li Xiang One had not yet started mass production, like the NIO EP9, each of the co-founders had one.

The one belonging to Lu Liang was left in Beijing for Li Jiahui and their research institute to experiment with.

"Li Xiang student, open the sunroof shades, activate the passenger seat massage, set the air conditioning to 23 degrees, and play 'South Mountain South.'"

Li Jiahui issued four commands in one breath, and the smart voice control system executed them without any hiccups.

"Mr. Lu, it's good enough."

Li Bing's eyes widened, almost drooling.

It was worth the high price that had bankrupted Hammer compared to developing their own—significantly stronger.

And now, the vehicle system interface was more straightforward, smoother, and more aesthetically pleasing than when Li Xiang One was launched.

Although Tianxing OS had been licensed to both Li Xiang and NIO, other than these two, no one else knew about it yet.

The new Tianxing OS, originating from Hammer OS, was more like a completely new vehicle system.

Once loaded onto the NIO ES8, and changing the wake word, unless he mentioned it, others would mistake it for their in-house system.

This was also a gimmick.

The new forces in new energy vehicle manufacture were not afraid of being called pretentious; they were afraid of being ignored.

Trying not to smile, Lu Liang informed him that they decided to reveal NIO ES8 earlier on the 8th and inquired how long the system test would need.

Li Jiahui pondered for a long time: "System tuning needs three days, and with only four days for testing, some bugs might not be detected."

Lu Liang asked a rather silly question: "What bugs are there?"

"I don't know," Li Jiahui replied, half amused, as that was exactly why testing was necessary to see if there were any command conflicts.

Lu Liang repeated exactly what had been said.

Li Bing cleared his throat several times: "Mr. Lu, these are minor issues; I can stick to the script."

Even though command conflicts were still being tested, he could emphasize some of the commands that had been tested, like those in the video.

Lu Liang bowed his head, "Alright, I'll let them know, and NIO will send the car for testing then."

Next, he inquired about mass production issues. Weiliao, after all, was ranked first in line.

Although the mass production car was confirmed rather late, the Luzhou factory was continuously under construction and should be the first to start mass production.

Li Bing pondered for a long time, "Mr. Lu, that's actually the second reason I came to see you."

By the end of the year, the first phase of the factory would be complete, and Jianghuai was ready to go, deciding to follow the example of the Hongguang Mini by announcing and launching it.

Lu Liang furrowed his brows, "Crash testing, safety testing, can it pass in such a short time?"

The NIO ES8 differed from the Hongguang Mini, which could launch quickly because of the experience with Earth Light.

And they were very clear about their product positioning, an advanced version of ageing joy, with a speed limit of 80.

Lu Liang had driven it and also floored it once; it started to drift over 70, making it a bit hard to drive.

But the NIO ES8 was different, with a maximum power of 400kW and a horsepower of 544, it could sprint up to 200 kilometers per hour.

At speeds over 120, any minor problem could lead to a catastrophic accident, so safety performance testing was absolutely necessary.

"If we follow the normal process, it would take at least two years."

Li Bing didn't want to wait. No matter the consequences, he wanted to seize the title of the first mass-production car company.

This could significantly boost NIO's reputation. There might be safety risks, but he was willing to bet on the odds.

"Mr. Li, this is a car, not a smartphone."

Lu Liang's expression grew colder.

Last month, the Samsung Note7 had exploded, leading to a ban by various national aviation departments, but an exploding phone would at most cause burns to hands and faces.

Cars were different. Even at a speed of 70, it was enough to kill someone, and Li Bing was actually willing to gamble with people's lives on performance.

Although accidents occurred with any car model, those were rare incidents that happened after safety testing.

Lu Liang couldn't accept it. Li Bing's deliberate choice, which could be done yet wasn't, was just to rush for the top spot.

Especially now, during the market development stage, one bad apple could spoil the bunch.

"First place is not just an honor, it's also a responsibility," Lu Liang said solemnly. "Mr. Li, perhaps reconsider this."

Li Bing had his response on the tip of his tongue, but seeing Lu Liang's icy gaze, he swallowed his words, "Alright."

After some small talk, Li Bing left. He had to lead his team to Beijing to tune the car's system.

Lu Liang leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply, "Rapid market development doesn't seem to be entirely beneficial."

He remembered when he first met Li Bing, who had unconditionally introduced him to the Ningde Era to promote the new energy market.

Hoping to leverage Lu Liang's fame so more people would know about the industry, enlarging the market would benefit everyone involved.

First place is not just an honor, it's also a responsibility, and Li Bing surely knew this, yet he still wanted to proceed.

It showed that the past year's rapid development and associated pressures had compelled him to overlook his original intentions and choose a risky path.

"Does Li Xiang and He Xiaopeng also harbor similar thoughts?"

Lu Liang's brows furrowed. He had equity in Li Xiang, which he could potentially influence.

But Xiao Peng, and the emerging various forces, lay beyond his control.

"Troubled times."

Lu Liang rocked in his chair, suddenly thinking of BYD Wang, the vice-president of the New Energy Automobile Association.

He made a call to express his concerns, "Mr. Wang, healthy market development benefits every practitioner."

He hoped that Old Wang could bring forward suggestions next year, like tightening approvals and enforcing periodic safety tests.

First place isn't just an honor, it's also a responsibility – a principle that applied equally to Lu Liang.

Having gone to great lengths to promote new energy, many people had embraced new energy vehicles because of their trust in him, and he had to assume some responsibility for market regulation.

Old Wang's brows were furrowed, Lu Liang had the duty to supervise the market, but they at BYD had an even greater responsibility.

After pondering for a moment, "Mr. Lu, why don't you come to Shenzhen when you have the time? I recommend you join the association."

The headquarters of the New Energy Automobile Association was in Beijing, but its main office was in Shenzhen. Shenzhen was not only a key trial city for new energy but also home to their BYD.

BYD had begun to take over Shenzhen's rail transit, expected to completely replace fuel buses in ten years.

BYD could be considered the ruling party, while Lu Liang could be seen as the opposition; both powers exerting influence simultaneously.

The upper management had to consider their decisions carefully.