Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled-Chapter 871 - 660: Donations and Development

Chen Pingsheng increased his holdings and reached a 6% stake in NVIDIA.

Google remains unchanged, with a 1% shareholding as before.

Mid-August marks the back-to-school season, and he was invited to attend the opening ceremonies of three universities in Magic City.

It’s probably because they hope he might donate some funds; good universities spend considerable sums on research annually.

Part of this funding comes from local and central government grants, but a significant portion relies on donations from alumni and successful individuals in society.

Chen Pingsheng donates to many universities every year, mostly focusing on technological fields and university programs related to his electric vehicle ventures.

He hasn’t donated much to Modu University, primarily because he never attended college.

Universities host annual anniversaries, often inviting successful alumni to deliver speeches.

When it comes to well-known figures in university donations in recent years, Lei Jun is undoubtedly the most famous.

Lei Jun donates generously to his alma mater every year.

Chen Pingsheng was just there to observe; he hadn’t decided to donate to Modu University yet.

For him, this type of reputation doesn’t hold much significance, and he has no desire to court fame.

On August 17th, he visited Capital City to inquire about when the pandemic would finally be over.

The estimated timeline was set for December this year; initially, restrictions would be eased in certain cities before complete reopening nationwide.

He also sought insight into the future of the real estate industry, and this topic was far more sobering.

Over the past twenty years, the domestic economy’s greatest driver has undoubtedly been real estate.

Judging by how the real estate market operates, it’s clear that the industry, which thrived for over twenty-five years during Tengfei’s era, is now poised for an epic transformation.

This transformation is dictated not by individual will but ultimately by market economy forces.

Simply put, there won’t be many buyers—similar to the stock market, where even if stock prices hit 10,000 points, without anyone willing to step in, the profits remain paper wealth and cannot be properly liquidated.

An era of price-without-market is coming.

Moreover, the first to impact housing prices won’t be new homes or secondhand properties.

It will be foreclosure homes.

Once foreclosure homes are sold at a certain price, it sets the benchmark for property prices in the region.

As the real estate market begins its decline, countless industries linked to it will also suffer.

Chen Pingsheng began preparing for this scenario long ago; once it reaches this stage, no one can stop the tide.

Public sentiment will start spreading rapidly through short videos and various online media platforms.

This is an inevitable macro trend.

One could say that for the next five years, industries tied to the real estate sector won’t be suitable for investment.

Beyond discussing the future of industry changes, he also asked about developments in clean energy.

The biggest shift in electric vehicles is that they will no longer solely support pure electric models.

What does that mean?

Domestic electric vehicles enjoy numerous national-level benefits, including exemption from purchase tax and considerable subsidies.

This is how they’ve managed to achieve market share on par with traditional fuel vehicles.

But to claim pure electric models have surpassed traditional fuel vehicles is downright nonsense.

The simplest counterpoint: if traditional fuel vehicles received the same purchase tax exemption and lower fuel prices, people would likely choose them overwhelmingly over electric cars.

And this is just one aspect. More importantly, electric vehicles have only performed reasonably well domestically.

Most foreign century-old car companies don’t dabble in pure electric models.

Many of them actually developed pure electric cars decades ago but later abandoned the technology.

If the industry remains limited to domestic success without competing internationally, it negates the primary purpose of supporting electric vehicles.

For Chen Pingsheng, this means he must not only intensify the research of solid-state batteries but also expand investments into extended-range and hybrid technologies.

Only then would it be possible to carve out a place in the global market.

Despite the domestic electric vehicle buzz, none of the companies have managed to establish a substantial foothold internationally.

This is the biggest pain point in the electric vehicle sector.

Overseas, there are no incentives for electric vehicles and no fuel prices as high as seven or eight yuan per liter.

In a nutshell, if fuel prices were halved, most people would blindly choose traditional fuel cars.

All the touted narratives about smart driving systems and other flashy tech features would be rendered meaningless.

As a result, the electric vehicle sector, which has been thriving in recent years, has actually fallen into a rather awkward predicament.

Lowering fuel prices or removing purchase tax exemptions—either of these measures would reveal the vulnerabilities of electric cars.

Claiming they’ve achieved world dominance isn’t entirely wrong, but only because others aren’t playing the same game.

And that’s where the awkwardness lies.

Electric vehicles must overcome this awkward situation to truly become a national asset.

Unfortunately, upon closer inspection, not a single company has managed to break free from it.

Chen Pingsheng spent nearly three days in Capital City before returning to Magic City.

Each time he visits Capital City, he keeps a low profile and doesn’t let too many people know.

After his return, he made several key decisions.

One was intensifying research on solid-state batteries, an area independently managed by Tengde Era.

Recently listed, the company secured 50 billion yuan in research funding and plans to recruit a batch of top-notch research engineers.

The other decision involved increasing investments in extended-range vehicles and hybrid technologies.

Relevant professional models in this field are sure to be launched in the future.

In today’s era, pursuing research is risky, but not doing so eliminates substantial development opportunities.

Fortunately, the nation strongly supports research and provides a range of subsidy policies.

Though he doesn’t rely on subsidy funds, the benefits of heavy research investments remain clear.

The electric vehicle industry has moved from its early-stage into a mid-stage phase—a classic elimination game.

Many mediocre players will face the inevitable axe.

While there are advantages, the drawbacks are even greater; a significant number of ordinary consumers inherently distrust electric vehicles when making purchase decisions.

In the future electric vehicle market, only three to five players will likely survive; beyond this amount, others will be eliminated.

Thankfully, he isn’t short of money, and turning losses into profits is merely a small initial goal. The next phase is securing a global foothold.

As for the real estate sector, he currently has no industries involved in that field.

Thus, there’s no need for him to liquidate any major assets.

Previously booming industries like bubble tea shops are now fading in popularity.

As for the restaurant business, its profit margins are alarmingly low. If there are choices available, such ultra-low-margin industries are truly unsuitable as start-up ventures.

The effort alone isn’t worth it, and the profits are abysmal.

Meanwhile, his wife’s business, Water Cloud Space, has also been affected by macroeconomic trends.

Revenue has declined year after year, but despite this, it still manages to maintain its core operations.

After all, in the four mega-tier cities, including Xiangjiang, Water Cloud Space owns its storefront properties outright.

The advantage of owning storefronts is evident—it significantly strengthens the business’s ability to withstand risks.