By Zong He

At 13:50 on 31 May, BYD ‘Jinan’ loaded with 7,273 new energy vehicles set out from Nantong Port. The giant ship with 16 decks will cross the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, and arrive at Gioia Tauro, Italy and Barcelona, Spain. The shipment set a new record for the largest single-voyage, single-vessel export of vehicles from a single brand in China, marking the opening of a new channel for Chinese automobiles to reach overseas markets from the northern wing of the Yangtze River Delta.

Data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that from January to April, China exported a cumulative total of 1.384 million new-energy vehicles, and there is a 120% year-on-year increase. In April, sales of Chinese automotive brands in the European electric vehicle market reached a new high, with their market share surpassing 15% for the first time.

As an important hub for the development of China’s new energy vehicle industry, the Yangtze River Delta region accounts for about 40% of the China’s new energy vehicle output and more than 25% of the global production. In the first quarter of this year, exports of electric vehicles through the Shanghai Port reached 479,000 units, up 79.2% year on year, while automobile exports through Taicang Port totaled approximately 280,000 units, and there is a year-on-year increase of more than 90%. Vehicle roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) exports require efficient collection and distribution networks as well as open-space facilities. As a result, many automakers have turned their attention to the northern bank of the Yangtze River in search of new overseas shipping channels.

Nantong’s integrated logistics system—featuring ‘railways extending directly into the port area and ports connecting to oceans’—has become an ‘accelerator’ for the export of new-energy vehicles. According to reports, the 7,273 new-energy vehicles came from four cities, including Hefei, Changzhou, and Xi’an. More than 95% were transported by rail, with all vehicles arriving at the Lvsi Port Automobile Logistics Base on the Yanglv Railway in Nantong within seven days. Deng Huaiyu, Director of Logistics at BYD’s self-operated logistics center, explained that the rail-sea intermodal transport model can significantly improve transportation efficiency and reduce logistics costs. For this reason, Nantong Port has become BYD’s first export gateway for automobiles on the northern wing of the Yangtze River Delta.

To BYD ‘Jinan’, the shipping task is a trip home to visit family. Its birthplace is exactly the China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry Haimen Base in Nantong. ‘Jinan’ is not only the first 9,200-vehicle-capacity ultra-large roll-on/roll-off ship built by a Nantong shipbuilding enterprise, but also the world's first new energy roll-on/roll-off ship to adopt ‘dual green drive’ of LNG dual fuel + BYD marine battery pack.