What are the international changes of Chinese power battery companies
The internationalization of Chinese power batteries has accelerated significantly
The most obvious change is that since 2021, Chinese power battery companies including Top 10 power battery companies have entered a substantial advancement stage in other capacity construction:
◆ The Thuringia Base of CATL is expected to achieve a power battery production capacity of 14GWh in 2022;
◆ Vision Power plans to add three power battery super factories in France, the United Kingdom and the United States;
◆ SVOLT landed in Saarland, Germany, and built two factories for battery cells and module PACK;
◆ Guoxuan Hi-Tech acquired Bosch Group’s Göttingen factory in Germany and established a European production and operation base;
◆ Farasis and Turkish car manufacturer TOGG jointly build a Turkish power battery factory;
◆ EVE purchased the target real estate and established a power battery manufacturing plant in Hungary.
The reason is that, on the one hand, the acceleration of electrification in Europe has become the next major battlefield for Chinese power battery companies.
The data shows that the market for new energy vehicles in Europe will continue to grow in 2021, with sales of 2.338 million units, a year-on-year increase of 66%;
The penetration rate of the new energy vehicle market in Europe in 2021 will reach 16.5%, higher than China’s 13.4%.
At the same time, the sales of new energy vehicles in the United States have exceeded expectations, with sales reaching 670,000 in 2021, a year-on-year increase of more than 100%.
In terms of top-level planning, the European Union proposes to achieve zero-emission targets by 2035, and the United States also proposes that by 2030, the proportion of new energy vehicles will reach 50%. With the continued rapid development of electrification, it is not just vehicle power batteries, we have written before that electric bus batteries and truck batteries are also being used in large numbers.
Whether it is the electrification strategic goals of Volkswagen, GM, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and other international car companies, or the top-level policy determination and subsidy support, they are all supporting the sustained and rapid development of European electrification. It is estimated that by 2030, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in the European and American markets are expected to match or even surpass the Chinese market.
On the other hand, China’s top power battery companies already have the hard core strength of “going out”. The number of other countries fixed-point projects and orders has increased, the transformation of China’s battery innovation technology has led, and the international ecosystem led by Chinese material companies has begun to take shape, all indicating that China’s power batteries have begun to lead the world.
The huge market scale, the internationalization of customers, the internationalization of production capacity, the internationalization of technology, and the zero-carbon transformation and deployment of superimposed product production by Chinese power battery companies will continue to drive the globalization and growth of Chinese power battery companies.
Driven by changes in the international market
It is true that with huge other countries orders in hand, the demand for production capacity delivery in various countries has been released one after another, which has become the most direct reason for the internationalization of Chinese power battery companies.
As the leading representative of Chinese power battery companies, CATL has cooperated with international car companies such as Ford, Fisker, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Daimler Trucks, Tesla, BMW, ELMS and other international car companies to increase cooperation since 2021.
Its international supply speed and production capacity release speed are all at the forefront of the industry. The release of the battery capacity of the Thuringian base of the CATL in 2022 will mark the entry into a new stage of the international supporting supply of the CATL.
After winning orders from European long-term associations such as PSA Group and Turkish company OTOKAR, SVOLT Energy cooperates with Great Wall Motors’ internationalization strategy, and the construction process of its European factories is also accelerating.
In July 2021, Lyric Robot won the 16.3399 million euro (about 125 million RMB) European project lithium battery assembly line order from SVOLT Energy, which also shows that the former European factory has entered a substantial stage.
Envision Power has reached cooperation with international mainstream car companies such as Renault, Nissan and Honda, and has won orders for Mercedes-Benz EQ series batteries, prompting it to plan to add three new factories in France, the United Kingdom and the United States, and to cooperate with customers’ mass production pace Release capacity.
As the exclusive supplier of TOGG’s first electric vehicle platform, Farasis is expected to have a procurement demand of 30GWh in the next seven years, and will jointly build a Turkish power battery factory with it.
It can be seen that, unlike the last round of Chinese power battery companies that received international orders or project designations, with the implementation of the electrification strategy of international car companies, the realization of localized production of power batteries or nearby matching has become China’s power battery internationalization speed change. salient features.
It is worth noting that since the start of 2022, driven by the pressure of carbon emission reduction and the transformation of the automobile industry, many international car companies have continued to improve the purchase amount of power batteries, investment goals and promotion speed of electrification.
The purchase of BMW batteries has increased from the original plan of 12 billion euros to more than 20 billion euros (about 140.3 billion RMB); Stellantis Group released the “Dare Forward 2030” plan, aiming to sell more than 5 million pure electric vehicles worldwide by 2030; Hyundai Motor plans to invest about 19.4 trillion won (about 101.2 billion RMB) in electric vehicle-related businesses by 2030.
At the same time, Ford Motor independently split its electric vehicle business and added an additional US$20 billion (about RMB 127.3 billion) on the basis of the previous investment of US$30 billion; Annual investment of 23 billion euros (approximately RMB 161.8 billion) in the field of electrification…
There is no doubt that the adjustment of electric vehicle promotion goals by international car companies will stimulate the continuous growth of power battery demand and the substantial expansion of production capacity. Under the huge market demand, the process of international construction of Chinese power battery companies is expected to be further accelerated.
Technological innovation instigates global change
Technological innovations leading the world are also helping to “speed up” the internationalization of China’s power batteries.
As a group of companies with the fastest speed of building factories in other countries, Chinese power battery companies such as CATL, SVOLT Energy, and Envision Power have begun to demonstrate stronger and stronger innovation capabilities, leading new energy vehicles from battery technology to product production. stage of development.
From the perspective of product technology, CATL will launch the third-generation CTP battery technology in April, which is called “Kirin battery” internally. The energy density of the corresponding LFP and ternary systems reaches 160Wh/kg and 250Wh/kg respectively. The energy density is 13% higher than that of the 4680.
At the same time, the 1000km higher specific energy heat-free diffusion technology of CATL will be mass-produced in 2023.
The product idea of SVOLT Energy’s short-knife battery is to adopt a long and thin design, with high compatibility, adapt to different scenarios and platforms, and meet the needs of high group rate, low cost, and high safety.
Its short knife battery has also fully passed a series of safety performance tests such as overcharge, impact, vibration, drop, and short circuit, and has successfully passed the acupuncture test.
From the perspective of product production process, facing global competition, Chinese power battery companies are also instigating the zero-carbon transformation of power battery production.
For example, CATL has established a sustainable development committee, which takes the carbon emission of materials as an important consideration when purchasing, and will continue to strengthen its suppliers’ requirements for material carbon reduction. At the same time, it has also stepped up the implementation of energy-saving projects, increased photovoltaic power generation, and provided training on the carbon footprint of the supply chain.
The power battery factories planned and constructed by Envision Power in the United Kingdom, France and the United States all adopt Envision’s zero-carbon technology solutions to meet the stringent carbon emission requirements in Europe, and at the same time help Chinese lithium battery industry chain enterprises to solve the stringent carbon emission requirements in Europe.
SVOLT has also announced the establishment of an AI intelligent ecological alliance, through artificial intelligence, advanced analysis and edge/cloud computing and other technologies, to improve efficiency, improve quality, and carry out carbon traceability.
Standing in the perspective of a new round of power battery changes, Chinese battery companies have broken through the limitations of traditional technologies, from systematic and continuous technological and product innovation to zero-carbon industrial production, which will make China’s power batteries in the process of internationalization. Continue to win the “early run” advantage.
