Chapter 244: Forging Paths in Electric Innovation

The production line installation is mostly complete; we’re now focusing on technical debugging.

Two experts from Jiangsu Province are still at the factory, showing up on time every day to oversee the production equipment and guide our technical team—they’re truly dedicated.

Yang Congxin isn’t great at hosting people, so Xu Zhiquan arranged for HR manager Wu Yue to step in, occasionally taking the two tech experts out for meals and some fun.

Keeping those experts happy ensures the production line setup goes much more smoothly.

…

Currently, only fewer than ten people in the company know about Chenfeng Technology introducing the latest motor technology.

Xu Zhiquan specifically instructed everyone to keep it confidential from the two experts from Jiangsu Province.

After all, they’re future competitors in the same industry, so it’s wise to keep one of Chenfeng Technology’s tech trump cards hidden.

When Xu Zhiquan and Yang Congxin went to the Capital City to sign the ‘technology buyout contract,’ they also finalized the ‘motor procurement contract.’

The Chinese Academy of Sciences has a partnered motor factory in Tianjin, and they offered a decent discount on the quote.

Xu Zhiquan discussed with Xu Chen that once we have more funds, we could consider acquiring or building our own motor factory to better support tech development and upgrades.

Xu Zhiquan’s trip to the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Physics Institute also helped build some connections.

In the future, we might explore longer-term collaborations or even poach a couple of tech talents.

Xu Zhiquan mentioned to Xu Chen that those PhD and Master’s students working for their supervisors there get paid pitifully low wages, so there’s potential to lure them over.

Right now, Yang Congxin’s team’s technical foundation is still a bit weak, so for future upgrades, we’ll need to bring in some high-end talent.

Additionally, Xu Zhiquan gathered more info on related manufacturing fields from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Currently, the best manufacturing production lines in the country still come from Japan and Germany.

Once Chenfeng Technology reaches a certain scale and builds up resources, we’ll need to import more advanced tech and lines from Japan and Germany.

On this, Xu Zhiquan chatted briefly with Wu Yongming after returning.

The country is encouraging the import of advanced overseas tech, and the city and province can provide matching support policies.

That’s for later, though; no rush for now.

…

…

At the Chenfeng Technology Park’s Comprehensive Building main conference room.

That noon, Yang Congxin organized an internal closed-door meeting with just the core team.

The current product design proposals have all been collected.

We need to pick a direction quickly, refine it a few more rounds, and then push forward…

These designs came from several design institutes and companies in the Capital City and Provincial Capital, all with experience in motorcycle and electric two-wheeler industrial design.

Two of them stand out, having worked on products for electric vehicle companies in Tianjin and Wuxi.

They handle not just industrial design but also tech design and later production stages, though their quotes are higher as a result.

…

Yang Congxin spent nearly an hour projecting and going through the product proposals.

A couple of them really caught the eye and sparked interest.

As everyone dove into discussion, it quickly turned into some heated debates…

The pedal-style design is great, but the overall cost might exceed two thousand yuan, and selling a premium product like that could be tough—especially since no one’s heard of Chenfeng Electric Vehicles yet…

“After all, we haven’t built a name for Chenfeng Electric Vehicles yet…”

“I’ve seen plenty of pedal-equipped electric bikes in Tianjin; locals mostly ride those…”

“But in the south, you hardly see any with pedals—could be supply issues or just user preferences.”

“This one’s design fits the ‘Chenfeng Ice Power’ name well; it looks pretty techy.”

“Another thing is our target users. Some designs clearly lean female, others male…”

…

…

Xu Zhiquan smoked quietly, listening, and couldn’t help glancing at Xu Chen.

He thought to himself that bringing in Guo Liang was spot-on.

Clearly, Guo Liang was making a huge contribution to this product discussion.

Yang Congxin and the other two tech managers were too focused on the product and tech details, barely considering market demands or user preferences.

Guo Liang, though, perfectly complemented them.

Fang Jun was there too, with a notebook and calculator in front of her.

She stayed mostly expressionless and silent, but whenever the budget went over, she’d raise her hand and coldly say:

“That’s over budget; we can’t do it.”

…

After over an hour of discussion, things calmed down a bit.

Everyone turned to the boss, Xu Zhiquan, who was smoking and glanced back at Xu Chen in the back row.

Xu Chen was munching on a bunch of grapes, looking a bit innocent.

“What’s your take, young Mr. Xu?” Xu Zhiquan asked with a smile.

Xu Chen thought for a moment: “Actually, we’ve covered most of it in the discussion, and the conclusions are pretty clear.”

The group exchanged puzzled looks; they hadn’t actually reached a consensus.

A few proposals were quickly ruled out, but two were still on the table, leading to some arguments.

Only Yang Congxin and Fang Jun had worked with Xu Chen before and knew his insight and skills.

Back in the Bright Factory acquisition bid, despite being at a disadvantage, Xu Chen’s moves turned East Morning Star Co. into the winner.

Yang Congxin’s two tech managers just knew Xu Chen as the boss’s son; they’d only met him once or twice and didn’t realize his role in the company.

They figured he was just here to observe, since he hadn’t started university yet…

Guo Liang had seen Xu Chen’s capabilities before, so he felt some anticipation when he spoke.

…

Xu Chen pondered a bit more:

“This is just my view; we still need to consider everyone’s input and Xu Zhiquan’s final call…”

“Most conclusions were already brought up; they’re out in the open.”

“In China, electric two-wheelers haven’t scaled up yet, but they’ve basically split into northern and southern styles.”

“The northern style is led by a couple of companies in Tianjin and some surrounding workshops.”

“Their products are simple, like bikes with a battery added, complete with pedals.”

“They’re cheap and dominate the northern market…”

“The southern style comes from a few companies in Jiangsu Province—our production line is from there too.”

“Their designs are more luxurious, with motorcycle-like pedals and stylish looks.”

“They cost several hundred more and cover the southern market…”

These are the current market realities.

The group had a vague sense of this, but it hadn’t fully clicked.

As someone reborn, Xu Chen had knowledge from his past life about the development of electric vehicles in China, tied to a promotion project he was once involved in.

“Northern simple, southern luxurious” was the market pattern from the early 2000s to the 2010s.

Various factors shaped this, but at its core, it’s about industry clusters and consumer perceptions…

Xu Chen continued:

“Electric two-wheelers can be seen in two ways:

First, as ‘electric bicycles.’

An upgrade to bikes, basically adding a battery and motor…

Second, as ‘electric motorcycles.’

A downgraded version of motorcycles, swapping the fuel tank and engine for a battery and motor…

Neither is better or worse; bikes are common, so ‘electric bicycles’ are easy to grasp.”

That’s why most people call electric two-wheelers ‘electric bicycles’…

Motorcycles are more upscale but less common, which also makes them feel premium.”

‘Electric motorcycles’ sound classier than ‘electric bicycles’…”

“Overall, the two proposals on the table…”

One is the ‘electric bicycle’ style, leaning northern with simple designs, pedals, and low cost.

The other is ‘electric motorcycle’ style, southern-inspired with stylish designs, motorcycle-like pedals, and higher cost…”

The group looked back at the projected proposals; it matched what Xu Chen said.

These insights were straightforward, but without Xu Chen pointing them out, they might not have connected the dots—especially the comparison between ‘electric bicycle’ and ‘electric motorcycle.’

Xu Chen went on:

“Personally, I lean toward the ‘electric motorcycle’ direction—the pedal-equipped, premium model.”

If we go with ‘simple’ products, we won’t have much edge.

Tianjin’s factories are already pumping those out cheap.

We’d have to sell at a loss or dump them to break in…”

“The southern ‘premium’ electric bikes haven’t made big moves in the north yet.”

We launch pedal-equipped, premium ones in the north, and they’ll have a clear advantage over Tianjin’s simple models.

Of course, we’ll need to keep pricing competitive—not too high, or users will go for the cheap options…”

But the market still has room for profit, giving us flexibility.”

Yang Congxin nodded slightly and asked:

“What pricing range do you think works?”

Xu Chen thought it over:

“It depends on costs… My suggestion is to price 15-25% above the northern mainstream simple models.”

Keep costs 20-30% higher than those, and aim for 10-20% profit…”

He paused:

“Balance costs and pricing with these standards, and we’ll secure our profit while staying in a consumer-friendly range.”

Guo Liang nodded after thinking: “This approach covers all angles.”

He glanced at Yang Congxin and Fang Jun: “We’ll need to crunch the product costs carefully.”

Xu Chen added:

“One more thing: Our pricing should be 10-25% lower than the southern Jiangsu ‘premium’ models…”

I figure within a year, those two companies will try expanding into the north.

That way, when they do, we’ll still have the price edge.

They have nationwide pricing, so they can’t vary it much by region…”

Yang Congxin adjusted his black-framed glasses:

“In that case, the proposal direction is set.”

He pointed to one of the projected product images:

“But we’ll have to calculate the costs precisely; that affects parts procurement and more…”

Xu Chen nodded:

“I agree with this design path.”

Of course, we can tweak some details, mainly in design elements and colors.”

I suggest creating four variations in this direction for user surveys—Guo, you handle that.”

Guo Liang smiled: “I was just about to say that; the bike’s shape should get real consumer feedback.”

Xu Chen nodded:

“This current design skews a bit toward female users.”

For our first product, let’s make it more neutral to appeal wider.”

No need to go super feminine or masculine—just balanced.”

Guo Liang: “Exactly; this version might turn off a lot of male buyers.”

Fang Jun chimed in:

“A neutral design would match our spokesperson Bing Ge’s image too.”

Xu Chen laughed: “Fang Jun’s got a point!”

He pulled out his phone and flipped through some files:

“Yang, I’ve sent you a few images.”

These are logos I had outside designers create for ‘Chenfeng Technology’ and ‘Chenfeng Ice Power’—we can slap them on the products for the next iterations.”

Yang Congxin received the files and projected them on the screen.

Everyone stared and couldn’t help but feel impressed.

“You know, adding these logos really makes it look high-end!”

“This is great; tweak the bike design a bit, and it’ll be the best-looking electric bike in China!”

…

Xu Chen’s insights quickly led to agreement.

Especially with the logos up, the team felt way more confident about Chenfeng Technology’s new products.

Yang Congxin couldn’t help but think, “Young Mr. Xu is something else.”

He recalled the acquisition plan days and how Fang Jun suggested consulting Xu Chen—Yang had his doubts back then…

Yang Congxin’s two tech managers were even more surprised; they had no idea ‘Young Mr. Xu’ was a key decision-maker.

And crucially, everything he said made perfect sense…

They’d never met with him before, so this was a shock.

How could a high school grad who’s not even in university yet be so knowledgeable about products, design, markets, pricing…? It seemed like he knew it all! …

Guo Liang looked up at the screen, feeling pleased.

He thought joining Chenfeng Technology was the right call.

In a way, his decision to join stemmed from his trust in Xu Chen, built over six months of surprises and insights from this ‘young teacher.’

…

Fang Jun remained expressionless and turned to Xu Zhiquan:

“What do you think, Xu?”

Xu Zhiquan chuckled, stubbed out his cigarette, and said:

“I’m on board!”