Today, we celebrate the World Environment Day. In 1972, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) designated June 5 as World Environment Day to raise global environmental protection awareness and encourage joint efforts to create a sustainable future.

 

With the release of a special edition of NIO Capital newsletter today, we would like to extend our most sincere gratitude to our portfolio companies helping protect the environment. Through their efforts and innovations, they are making it possible to build a modern society where humans and nature can co-exist in harmony, and they will empower the future of humanity with more sustainability and imagination.

 

▌Aulton New Energy

 

 

Aulton New Energy, a global pioneer and leading company in the battery swap business, reduced carbon emissions by about 380,000 metric tons in 2022, up around 85% compared to the previous year*.

 

By April 2023, Aulton had registered 54.9 million battery swaps in total. As for its arsenal of technologies, the company owns more than 3,000 global patented technologies and patent applications in the battery-swapping industry. It has been awarded international certifications, including the world’s first CE certification for EV battery swapping systems and the relevant IEC certifications. Moreover, it has played an active role in formulating over 80 domestic and international industry standards.

 

Aulton’s battery swap stations have attained the goal of making fast battery swaps available to multiple models under different brands, allowing the switching of batteries in just 20 seconds. By providing user-friendly shared services that are fast, safe and secure, Aulton has significantly contributed to optimising land use and efficient and effective use of public resources.

 

▌PCG Power

 

 

Power management solution provider PCG Power recently held ceremonies with Opple Lighting, an integrated lighting solution provider, and Minxing Group, a furniture manufacturer, respectively, to kick off the construction of new projects for distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation.

 

The distributed PV project to be co-built with Minxing Group will be able to provide 1.85 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity for Minhou Minxing Weaving Co. Compared with thermal power; the facility will help the company save 555 tons of standard coal and cut CO2 emissions by 1,456 tons. Those benefits are equivalent to the effect of planting 80,000 trees.

 

The project with Opple, on the other hand, will generate green power totalling 11.12 million kWh for the latter. Compared with thermal energy, it will help save 3,339 tons of standard coal and reduce CO2 emissions by 8,749 tons, the equivalent of planting 480,000 trees.

 

Focusing on development, investment and operation opportunities associated with new energy assets, PCG Power aspires to become China’s largest provider of comprehensive energy management services for industrial parks and communities and contribute to implementing China’s strategic plan for attaining carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.

▌Ambilight

 

 

Auto-dimming glass provider Ambilight’s latest technology for all-solid-state flexible electrochromic (EC) films can block more than 99.99% of UV rays, with a total solar energy transmittance of around 40%. Static testing of NIO EC7 with an EC sunroof and those with an ordinary one was conducted under the same environmental conditions, and the results showed that temperatures inside the former were down by up to 13 degrees Celsius.

 

As a world-leading developer of EC technologies, Ambilight’s innovative EC materials have been widely used in such fields as automobiles, architecture and consumer electronics for products including rearview mirrors, sunroofs, and facades in architecture projects.

 

EC glass facades can reduce buildings’ energy consumption by at least 8%, and help cooling, heating and illuminating systems save energy by up to 20%, according to data released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the United States.

 

▌NewLink

 

 

NewLink, a leading global provider of energy IoT solutions and one of China’s pioneering companies in digitalizing the energy sector, helped reduce carbon emissions by some 2.16 million tons in 2022, up about 52% from the previous year*.

 

By taking advantage of digital technologies, including big data, IoT and AI, NewLink is pushing for efforts throughout the supply chain to save energy, cut emissions, and increase efficiency and lower costs.

 

Besides, the company is working to increase its presence in new technological frontiers, especially in autonomous driving and intelligent solutions for energy replenishment.

 

Over the past seven years, its painstaking efforts have led to a highly competitive “NewLink as Service” business model, which links all players throughout the industry and allows everyone easy access to relevant services.

 

▌Sunman Energy

 

 

Lightweight solar pioneer Sunman Energy helped reduce carbon emissions by about 210,000 tons in 2022, up 75% from the previous year*.

 

Globally, Sunman Energy is the only company specialized in the R&D and manufacturing of lightweight solar PV devices, the only enterprise with experience in lightweight PV module installation stretching back six years or more, the only company boasting lightweight PV modules’ total installed capacity over 400 MW, and the only enterprise that owns a production facility for 1 GW lightweight PV modules.

 

The company has developed innovative polymer composite materials and module packaging technologies for their application in high-efficiency crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells, with manufacturing processes and equipment for commercializing the new materials.

 

Moreover, its R&D team has successfully rolled out the “eArc”, the flexible c-Si PV modules using polymer composite materials instead of glass, which are lighter and thinner than their conventional counterparts.

 

In September 2022, Sunman Energy collaborated with global logistics giant Kuehne+Nagel in installing lightweight, flexible eArc modules on the top of heavy trucks. According to reports, applying photovoltaic power generation can help each vehicle save up to 1,200 litres of fuel per year, thus reducing the trucks’ total fuel consumption by as much as 6% while cutting each truck’s CO2 emissions by 3.8 tons per year.

 

▌AlphaESS

 

 

In 2022, AlphaESS saved about 1.5 million tons of CO2, representing a 60% year-over-year increase from 2021*.

 

AlphaESS is a leading global energy storage solution and service provider. The company specializes in residential and commercial applications and delivers pre-eminent products and fit-for-purpose solutions. AlphaESS has 15-plus subsidiaries providing local services and 90,000-plus systems actively running in over 80 countries, enabling millions of people to enjoy reliable, accessible, clean energy.

 

▌Eacon

 

 

As of March 2023, the cumulative mileage of the unmanned operation of Eacon reached 1.65 million kilometres, and the number of days of regular operation without safety personnel exceeded 270 days, leading the industry in all key performance indicators.

 

Eacon focuses on unmanned driving in mines and helps the mining industry develop green and intelligently. It has formed a four-in-one unmanned transportation operation and application system with a “dispatching command platform and supporting the dispatching centre, single-vehicle unmanned system, network communication system and cooperative operation system”.

 

The company has operated 24-hour driverless operations of multiple groups in large open pit mines such as China Energy and TBEA. It has become the first in the industry to enter the natural scene and operate on a large scale. It is also the only high-tech company that has realized L4-level driving automation on the domain controller of vehicle-grade MCU in the mining track.

 

▌Inceptio Technology

 

 

Compared with 2021, Inceptio Technology’s 2022 carbon emission reduction figure rose more than tenfold*.

 

The intelligent heavy trucks equipped with Inceptio’s Xuanyuan autonomous driving system have been operating commercially for more than 40 million kilometers and have maintained safety with zero accidents. According to reports, applying the Xuanyuan autonomous driving system can reduce fuel consumption by 3%-5%.

 

As an autonomous driving tech leader in trunk logistics, Inceptio has independently developed full-stack L3/L4 autonomous driving technologies. In collaboration with some automakers, it attained the goal of mass-producing intelligent heavy trucks based on those technologies at the end of 2021.

 

The company aims to provide its customers in the logistics industry with safer and more efficient autonomous driving technologies, as well as the new-generation TaaS (Transportation-as-a-Service) freight transport networks. It has started commercial operation of intelligent heavy trucks regularly, in joint efforts with many leading logistics companies and cargo owners from well-known brands.

 

Through collaborative efforts with its partners, Inceptio aims to provide green and innovative logistics services that will be safer, more intelligent, and friendlier to the environment. The company will contribute to the implementation of the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the global efforts to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

 

▌YKC

 

 

In 2022, YKC saved about 2.4 million tons of CO2, representing a 46% year-over-year growth from 2021*.

 

YKC is China's leading SaaS-based EV charging network and energy management service provider. The company has built China’s leading third-party charging IoT SaaS platform, with businesses covering over 370 cities and serving over 10,000 electric pile operators.

 

Apart from charging piles operation, YKC also provides a “three-in-one” solution that brings distributed solar, energy storage, and demanding service together. Through accurate data monitoring, scientific analysis methods, and intelligent allocation strategies, YKC provides customers with carbon data statistics, carbon emission optimization, and carbon trading matching services to build an accurate, flexible and free carbon trading platform. In addition, YKC will create the largest charging network in GLP’s logistics parks around China, further contributing to reducing carbon emissions.

 

▌TrunkTech

 

 

Autonomous truck developer TrunkTech has supported the Port of Tianjin in its effort to build the world's first "smart zero-carbon" terminal. So far, the scale of TrunkTech autonomous driving fleet at the terminal has reached more than 100 vehicles, with the operation mileage hitting 2 million kilometers, and over 1.8 million containers have been transported.

 

TrunkTech specializes in commercializing cutting-edge autonomous driving technologies and innovation of business models in this field.

 

Based on the core technology of unmanned autonomous driving to which it has independent intellectual property rights, TrunkTech has developed the AI-enabled ART transport robot equipped with "AiTrucker," the company's full-stack, independently-developed L4 autonomous driving system.

 

As a vehicle capable of fully unmanned driving and powered by the latest energy, the new robot has achieved "zero-carbon" emission in the true sense of the word. It allows the port to realize unmanned autonomous transport of containers around-the-clock, with operations being accurate, safe and stable in complex real-world scenes.

 

The "smart zero-carbon" terminal project, in which TrunkTech is a participating party, has set a world record for building an autonomous wharf in the shortest time. 13 challenging problems have been solved, leading to 76 innovations. A fleet of some 100 autonomous vehicles has been put into commercial operation. With its all-new business models, the project is leading global ports toward intelligent upgrading and low-carbon development.

 

* The data is from NIO Capital 2022 ESG Report based on the VC firm’s reasonable estimates.