The growing army of “car companies making batteries”

With production capacity planning of several hundred GWh, car companies have clearly taken serious steps to manufacture batteries. Geely Automobile plans to exceed 200GWh of battery production capacity, Volkswagen plans to exceed 240GWh, Stellantis plans to exceed 400GWh, BYD plans to exceed 600GWh, and Tesla even claims that "the company's 4680 battery production capacity will increase to more than 1,000GWh in the future"...

"For new energy vehicles, the battery is the source of power and a key factor related to production and manufacturing costs. It is also the core of future competition in the new energy vehicle industry and one of the keys to victory." Industry analysts pointed out that companies that engage in new energy vehicles in the future will If you want to have good profits, the ability to control the industrial chain is very important. In particular, the power battery, which is the "heart" of new energy vehicles, must be controlled by yourself.

01

Car companies build battery armies to "expand"

More and more car companies are investing in power batteries. In February this year, it was reported that India's Tata Group was considering spinning off its lithium battery business to expand its influence in the fields of renewable energy and electric vehicles. It is reported that Agratas’ valuation when it goes public is expected to be between US$5 billion and US$10 billion (approximately RMB 36 billion to 72 billion yuan).

Prior to this, the Tata Group signed an agreement with the Indian government of Gujarat to build India's first lithium-ion battery super factory. The gigafactory is expected to have an initial investment of nearly 130 billion rupees (approximately US$1.58 billion), and construction is expected to begin within the next three years. The initial production capacity of the plant is planned to be 20GWh, and the later production capacity may reach 40GWh.

Recently, the Volvo Group announced that it has completed the acquisition of Proterra's battery business at a transaction price of US$210 million (approximately RMB 1.5 billion). The assets acquired include the battery module and battery pack development center in California, USA, and the battery business in South America. Battery assembly plant in Carolina. At the same time, the foundation stone for the fourth phase of Volvo Cars Asia Pacific Headquarters was laid, of which the battery center is the core project.

In recent years, Volvo has increased its presence in the battery field. Currently, Volvo has established a joint venture with Swedish battery company Northvolt. According to the plan, the first battery factory with a capacity of 15GWh will be built in 2024, and Volvo's battery production capacity will reach 50GWh by 2026. It is reported that Volvo will launch a third-generation battery architecture by 2025, which it claims can break through the volume energy density of 1000Wh/liter and will also support 800V and 350kW level fast charging.

Domestic car companies have also made frequent moves recently. At the end of last year, GAC Aion's Inpai Battery Smart Ecological Factory was completed and put into production. At the same time, it released a new breakthrough in magazine battery 2.0 - P58 microcrystalline super battery; Geely's automobile brand Jikrypton released the world's first mass-produced 800V lithium iron phosphate super battery. Fast charging battery - gold brick battery. According to Geely's official promotion, the volume utilization rate of the BRICS battery is as high as 83.7%, which is currently the power battery with the highest volume utilization rate in the world, surpassing Tesla's 4680 battery.

In addition, Times Changan Power Battery Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Changan Automobile, CATL and Deep Blue Automobile, created the first "Golden Bell Cover" battery cell in Yibin, Sichuan; NIO independently developed 4680 cylindrical batteries and manganese phosphate batteries Lithium iron batteries, among which lithium manganese iron phosphate batteries will be supplied to NIO's models and sub-brand Alps, 4680 batteries are expected to be used in NIO's third-generation platform (NT3) models in 2024.

02

Huge capacity planning

Automakers have many advantages in deploying power batteries. Tianfeng Securities pointed out that as battery technology matures, OEMs have the advantage of being a latecomer; backed by OEMs, power battery shipments are growing rapidly and stably; OEMs have a deeper understanding of vehicles. , vehicle-end demand can directly penetrate into the battery; new technologies, new processes and new equipment can be quickly applied; the battery and chassis are developed simultaneously, making it easier to apply technical solutions such as CTC.

Up to now, domestic and foreign car companies including Tesla, BYD, Geely, Great Wall, GAC, SAIC, NIO, Changan, Ideal, Volkswagen, Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Hyundai, Toyota, etc., have adopted self-research, self-built, Deploy power batteries through joint construction, equity participation, etc. Among them, many car companies have planned battery production capacity exceeding 200GWh.

For example, according to incomplete industry statistics, Geely's current investment in the battery field has exceeded 100 billion yuan, and its cumulative planned battery production capacity exceeds 200GWh. Among them, Geely's investment in self-built battery factories has exceeded 70 billion yuan, including multiple brand projects such as Yaoning, AVAIR, and Hengyuan New Energy. In terms of technology layout, data shows that Geely has submitted more than 3,000 patent applications in the battery field.

"As early as around 2009, Geely's laboratory has already begun to engage in battery research." An Conghui, president of Geely Holding Group and CEO of Jikrypton Intelligent Technology, said that batteries are very important and are the basis of electric vehicles. Jikrypton believes that a smart company For electric vehicle companies, if they want to become competitive in the future, batteries are the core and most basic element. This is also one of the moats for Ji Krypton's future development.

It is well known in the industry that Volkswagen has great ambitions in the battery field. According to the plan, by 2030, Volkswagen will invest more than 20 billion euros (approximately RMB 150 billion) with its partners to build six battery factories, with an overall production capacity of 240GWh, supporting the annual production of 3 million electric vehicles.

As the world's fourth largest car company, Stellantis said, "We have announced the construction of an annual battery production capacity of approximately 250GWh globally, but we need to build an annual production capacity of 400GWh globally. We have committed to building six battery super factories around the world. In the future There will be more." Among them, Stellantis plans to have an annual battery production capacity of 150GWh in North America and 250GWh in Europe.

Many car companies around the world have invested in large-scale battery projects. How do you think about it as a battery manufacturer? According to Zeng Yuqun, chairman of CATL, the professional division of labor between car companies and battery factories is different. Car companies are good at machinery, electronics, etc., but batteries involve electrochemistry. system, the depth of understanding of electrochemistry by car companies may be difficult to match that of professional battery manufacturers. Moreover, a question facing car companies is how to balance the relationship between huge investments and profits in self-developed and self-made batteries.

In fact, there are indeed certain thresholds for car companies to manufacture batteries, and it is not easy to realize their own advantages. According to McKinsey estimates, car companies need to produce at least 500,000 new energy vehicles or battery production in a region to reach more than 15GWh before self-produced batteries are expected to form a cost advantage. At present, there are still very few car companies that can meet this standard, but the trend of car companies making batteries cannot be stopped.