Chapter 1025 - A Consensus View

First Motor was a deputy ministry level organization and was under the supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. However, the deputy minister referred to the chairman directly appointed by the state, not the general manager in charge of business operations. As for the general manager, there was generally no administrative level associated with the position, but the power was equivalent to a department level. (1)

Right now, both men sitting across from Jiang Chen were senior officials of the Hua Republic.

Jiang Chen always eyed the Hua auto market, and Hua just happened to have a strong need for magnetic levitation vehicles. Luer’s patents on magnetic levitation technology were controlled by Future Heavy Industries. Future Heavy Industries planned to use these patents for a joint venture with First Motor.

The purpose of a joint venture was to reduce taxes but also to receive preferential policies. In contrast, the magnetic levitation vehicles would only be sold in Hua, so it wouldn’t take market shares away from other Asian markets.

The most important reason for joint ventures with state-owned enterprises was to reduce the amount of troubles that could arise from entering alone. It was better to not worry about minor problems not worth Jiang Chen’s time.

In addition, when forming a joint venture with First Motor, Luer would continue to expand in the Hua market with a focus on the high-end market.

The supporting magnetic levitation roads would be funded by the Ministry of Transportation with Future Heavy Industries providing the technology and equipment. The project would be open to bidding by all construction companies in Hua.

The first phase of the project was to be based in Wanghai. The existing road infrastructure in a part of the Wanghai urban area would be converted. If it indeed had a positive effect, the project would be promoted to the first-tier cities across the country then gradually cover the major highway network before entering second and third tier cities.

After talking with Minister Zhou about the supporting infrastructure, Jiang Chen suddenly had an idea and smiled.

“Well, since we’re building magnetic levitation roads, we have to provide magnetic levitation technology. Since the magnetic levitation vehicles are all pure electric vehicles. why not just give me the charging stations to develop as well to avoid compatibility issues?”

Jiang Chen completely made up the compatibility issue.

The wireless charging technology of Celestial Trade was extremely high-end, but only Xin achieved full adoption of wireless charging stations. Most of the charging stations in the gas stations in other countries were mainly wired. However, in these countries, it was still possible to see Luer. Those vehicle owners weren’t worried about finding charging stations.

The secret was that Luer pure electric cars sold overseas were equipped with a notebook-sized wired-to-wireless conversion device which connected to the charging line of wired charging stations. As long as the car was parked within ten meters, it would charge the vehicle.

Minister Zhou apparently didn’t understand the details. He nodded thoughtfully. Only, when he was about to make a decision, he was troubled.

“This… doesn’t seem to be within the jurisdiction our Ministry of Transportation. The management of gas stations is complicated. Some of the gas stations on the highway are owned by the state oil companies, and some are operated by local enterprises or even self-employed individuals. But I will help pass on your opinion. As to how to implement that…”

“It’s not that troublesome.” Jiang Chen smiled and waved his hand. “You can’t stick to the rules. The charging stations don’t have to connect to a large tank. You don’t have to build it in a gas station. I think the highway service areas are a great idea. Think about it—put four or five charging stations in the parking lot of the service area, and the owners can park their cars there. The cars can be charged in a meal’s time. Not only is this convenient for people, but it can also increase passenger traffic in the service area. A win-win situation.”

Minister Zhou’s eyes lit up. As soon as he heard the proposal, he immediately understood the benefits.

Although the gas stations weren’t overseen by the Ministry of Communications, the highway service areas were operated by the local transportation department. The income generated by the service area made up part of the profits of the operating company, while the other part was fiscal revenue! And this income was at least above ten billion a year!

Not only would he gain political achievements but the benefits would also be visible. With such a big piece of cake in front of him, Minister Zhou couldn’t sit still.

“I will go back and study this proposal. This should be no problem!”

Since the Minister of Transportation assured him, then it was pretty much decided.

Soon, the assistant brought a copy of the “Provisional Regulations on the Management of the Magnetic Levitation Traffic in Xin” and handed it over to Minister Zhou.

The purpose of this trip was completed. With an important thought in his mind, Minister Zhou immediately bid farewell to Manager Guo.

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows in the top floor office, Jiang Chen overlooked the car that left Future Building and finally burst out laughing.

He didn’t care about the income from the charging stations. The national grid would take the majority of the cake. The operating company would take a bite then regional finance and also the central government would also want a piece. Although he created the cake, only a small remained in the end.

What he really cared about was the fact that he would develop the standards.

If the charging stations of all highway service areas were replaced with wireless charging piles manufactured by Future Heavy Industries, then other competitors who wanted to enter the pure electric vehicle market would have to accept the standard set by Future Heavy industries and simultaneously pay a licensing fee and certification fee. Otherwise, the car owners would be in constant search for charging stations.

Indirectly, Future Heavy Industries established the standard and raised the barriers of entry and the cost of potential competitors. The benefits generated by this would be far greater than the operation of the charging stations themselves, but this wouldn’t be realized in the short term.

In addition, the service of charging stations would be linked to Future Technology’s service.

The user would only need to click on the button “Pure electric vehicle charging” in Future 1.0. The application would complete the charging service and retrieve payment based on the user’s GPS information.

Moreover, on the mobile phone, the user would also be able to view the electricity price of the nearby charging pile in real time. In the future, they wouldn’t need to have a bunch of cards and complete the operation completely card-free.

Back at the desk, Jiang Chen opened the holographic screen and called Yang Guanglei, the CEO of Future Heavy Industries. He informed him of the cooperation with First Motor and the necessity to expand the production line of wireless charging stations.

Not just on the highway, but all the parking lots in the city also required this infrastructure. If Hua was determined to implement “three-dimensional traffic,” then pure electric vehicles would enter a period of high growth.

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Chen sank into the chair and stretched his body. Then he asked the assistant to pour out the tea for a cup of coffee.

But just now, there was a phone call from Kelvin.

(1) The administration level follows the descending order of, state, ministry, department, unit, and office.