Zotye will launch a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle with a 3.5KW/L power density stack

With "promoting the construction of hydrogen refueling facilities" being written into the 2019 National People's Congress Government Work Report for the first time, the clarion call for the industrialization of hydrogen energy has been sounded. Sinopec Group and Air Liquide Group of France signed a memorandum of cooperation at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to discuss strengthening cooperation in the field of hydrogen energy, which further promoted the high-quality development of China's hydrogen energy industry.

As a key area of ​​hydrogen energy application, the automobile industry is accelerating the industrialization of hydrogen energy application. Unlike foreign countries that mainly promote hydrogen fuel cell passenger cars, China currently pays more attention to the development of hydrogen fuel cell commercial vehicles. Although passenger car companies such as Great Wall are vigorously developing, China is still relatively lagging behind in fuel cell passenger cars. But surprisingly, it seems that the fastest movers in fuel cell passenger cars are not large automakers such as Great Wall and GAC?

Recently, Zotye and Air Liquide have reached a cooperation to jointly develop metal bipolar plate fuel cell stacks and apply them to Zotye models. After a period of investment, according to Zotye Auto, in August this year, the design of the hydrogen fuel cell metal plate stack jointly developed by Zotye Auto and Air Liquide has been completed. According to the current verification test results, the performance of the whole stack is expected to reach or exceed 3.5KW/L, exceeding the current level of Toyota's 3.1KW/L, reaching the international advanced and domestic first-class level.

It is understood that Zotye Auto is currently building a domestic first-class and internationally leading fuel cell stack development laboratory with two 40kW-class, one 50kW-class and one 120kW-class laboratories. It is also constructing a pilot production line, which will have the capacity to produce 1,000 bipolar plates per year, seal, assemble stacks, assemble fuel cell systems and conduct quality inspections.

Zotye Auto is well-known in the Chinese auto industry for its "Tape Measure Department", and the scene of the Porsche President visiting the Zotye booth at the auto show has become a "famous scene" in the Chinese auto industry. In the context of the overall downturn in the auto market and the optimization and adjustment of the structure of China's auto industry, it seems that manufacturers with only "external" performance are no longer sustainable. Only by practicing "internal skills" can they gain recognition from consumers, survive in the fierce market competition, and avoid becoming the object of "optimization".

In the cold winter of the auto market, Zotye Auto's sales have been declining. In 2016, Zotye Auto's sales reached 330,000 vehicles, ranking among the top ten Chinese auto brands in sales that year. However, in 2018, Zotye Auto's sales were 154,800 vehicles, and the cumulative sales in the first nine months of 2019 were only 99,600 vehicles. Zotye Auto's latest financial report shows that in the first three quarters, it achieved revenue of 5.401 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 59.59%, and a net profit of -760 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 283.02%.

At the same time, Zotye has been hit by almost all the negative news that a car company should not have, including rumors of bankruptcy risks, factory shutdowns, and dealers and suppliers collectively collecting debts. Zotye Auto has been hit by almost all the negative news that a car company should not have. In 2019, Zotye Auto can be described as "miserable". Zotye has increased its investment and is looking for new tracks. The transformation from a "measure tape department" to a "R&D center" is more of a helpless move. The 2018 annual report released this year shows that Zotye Auto's R&D investment has grown against the trend under the overall downward trend of the automotive industry. The total R&D expenses in 2018 were 712 million yuan, an increase of 21.15% over the same period last year.

At the same time, with the decline of subsidies for electric vehicles and a sharp decline in sales, Zotye has quickly entered the hydrogen fuel cell passenger car market. According to Zotye Auto, the transformation of the E200 fuel cell model has been completed, and it is expected to reach mass production conditions in 2020. The system integration of the new SUV platform model has completed bench testing. Combined with Zotye's fuel cell vehicle mass production plan, based on sales of 10,000 units, it can achieve sales revenue of 2.2 billion yuan, with an average price of 220,000 yuan per vehicle. Although it is still a small car at the A00 level, it is far lower than the sales price of Toyota Mirai , which is nearly 500,000 yuan, and still has a certain appeal.