The "war" between CATL and car companies in the field of power batteries will inevitably break out.
At present, Tesla and BYD, the two giants with the largest sales of new energy vehicles in the world, both have a deep strategic layout in the field of batteries. As long as other car companies have electrification ambitions, almost without exception, they have extended their tentacles to power batteries. When car companies make batteries, it is inevitably the cheese of battery manufacturers.
For example, the ambitious Tesla rolled off the assembly line with its 10 million 4680 battery in June this year. In the future, the company's 4680 battery production capacity will be increased to more than 1000GWhThe long-term production capacity target is even 2000GWh and 3000GWh. Battery China has pointed out that Tesla "how many batteries still need to be purchased" by then?I'm afraid it's already "do it yourself, have enough food and clothing".
Once upon a time, in the field of power batteries, there was a trend of "car companies fleeing from the CATL era", and car companies have built their own battery factories to seek power battery autonomy. In fact, this trend has not stopped in recent years.
According to incomplete statistics in the industry,Geely has invested more than 100 billion yuan in the battery fieldThe cumulative planned battery production capacity exceeds 200GWh. Among them, the investment in self-built battery factories has exceeded 70 billion yuan, including Yaoning, Weirui, Hengyuan New Energy and other brand projects. In terms of technology, data shows that Geely has filed more than 3,000 patent applications in the field of batteries.
Great Wall's Honeycomb Energy plans to build more than 10 battery production bases around the world, with a total planned production capacity of 600GWh by 2025 and more than 2,900 battery patents.
Car companies are "in control of their own destiny".
Recently, the self-produced batteries of car companies seem to have exploded. On December 14, Geely's car brandZEEKR released the world's first mass-produced 800V lithium iron phosphate ultra-fast rechargeable battery - Golden Brick Battery. According to reports, the volume utilization rate of gold brick batteries is 837% is currentThe power battery with the highest volume utilization rate in the world (surpassing the Kirin battery and Tesla 4680 battery of CATL).。At present, the BRICS battery has been officially mass-produced and rolled off the assembly line, and will be installed on the new ZEEKR 007 model launched on December 27 for the first time.
According to ZEEKR, thanks to the self-developed global 800V architecture, the maximum charging power of the BRICS battery can reach 500kW, which can be charged for 15 minutes and increase the range by more than 500 kilometersThe fast charging speed is comparable to CATL products. In August this year, CATL released the Shenxing super-charged lithium iron phosphate battery to achieve 4C overcharging, which can be charged for 10 minutes and travel 800 miles (400 kilometers).
The battery is very important and is the foundation of electric vehicles, whether it is batteries, motors, electronic control (three electrics), are the foundation of electric vehicles. ZEEKR believes that as a smart electric vehicle company, it wants to form competitiveness in the futureThe battery is the core and most basic element, which is also one of the moats for the future development of ZEEKR. An Conghui, President of Geely Holding Group and CEO of Zeekr Intelligent Technology, said.
Just two days before ZEEKR released its product,GAC Aion's Inpai Battery Intelligent Ecological Factory was completed and put into operation, and at the same time, it released a new breakthrough in magazine batteries, P58 microcrystalline super energy battery. The battery adopts GAC's own lithium iron phosphate technology, with a life span of 1.5 million kilometers, a cycle count greater than or equal to 4,000 times, and an energy density of 146 battery packs5wh kg, supporting a range of more than 700 km. It is reported that the first phase of the Inpai Battery Smart Ecological Factory can achieve a production capacity of 6GWh, and the production capacity will be expanded to 36GWh in the later stage.
Relevant data show that at present, GAC Aion's productsMore than 650,000 vehicles equipped with magazines and batteries have not had a single spontaneous combustion.
As early as 2017, GAC Aion's first self-developed EV battery pack was put into production, and in the same year, the independent research and development of power battery cells and the construction of battery cell test lines were launchedSince 2021, a number of advanced battery technologies such as magazine battery system safety technology, sponge silicon anode sheet battery, and ultra-fast battery have been released one after another. Now, the new generation of P58 microcrystalline super battery cells has been put into production, which will empower the two major brand models of Aion and Haobo in the future.
In the long term, we want to do 70% (the battery) ourselves and 30% (the battery) externally. Smart electric vehicle companies, don't make money without batteries. Li Bin, chairman of Weilai Automobile, once said.
In October this year, Weilai announced that it would invest 2 billion yuan to establish Weilai Battery Technology (Anhui)** and officially enter the power battery industry. It is reported thatNIO is developing its own 4680 cylindrical battery and lithium manganese iron phosphate batteryAmong them, lithium manganese iron phosphate batteries will be used in NIO's models and sub-brand Alps, and the 4680 battery is expected to be used in NIO's third-generation platform (NT3) models in 2024.
It is worth noting that in September this year, the first battery technology center of Stellantis, a European automotive giant and the world's fourth largest car company, opened in Turin, Italy. Stellantis saidBy 2030, the company plans to expand its battery production capacity to 400GWh per year. At the same time, the company is working to ensure the long-term availability of critical materials and chemicals to meet battery capacity expansion.
Self-built battery factories have become a trend
The benefits of car companies making their own batteries are obvious. Tianfeng ** believes that car companies have a deeper understanding of the car, and the demand of the car can directly penetrate the battery;In the process of research and development, the battery and chassis are developed simultaneously, making it easier to apply technical solutions such as CTC. In addition to self-built battery factories, many car companies also build joint ventures with battery companies.
For example, in November this year, Changan Automobile, CATL, and Deep Blue Automobile jointly established the first "Golden Bell Jar" battery cell of Changan Power Battery, which was established by the three parties, rolled off the assembly line in Yibin, Sichuan. Currently,Golden bell jar battery has been assembled with Changan Qiyuan, Deep Blue Automobile and other products;In the future, the first 87ah standard battery cell built by the factory will also be installed on many Changan products.
In July this year, the main body of the FAW Fodi new energy power battery project, a joint venture between FAW and BYD, has been cappedWith a total investment of 13.5 billion yuan, it will eventually achieve an annual production capacity of 45GWh of power batteries, which can exceed 1 million vehicles;The 20GWh power battery project of Ruipu Saike, a joint venture between SAIC and Ruipu Lanjun, was officially put into production.
In May this year, the first batch of battery cell products of Shandong Geely Xinwangda power battery *** BEV 173AH rolled off the assembly line. As the first iconic product of Geely Sunwoda's pure electric strategy, this product will be installed in Volvo models, and will be expanded to high-end models such as Zeekr and smart in the future. Previously, Sunwoda signed an investment agreement with Geely Group and Zhejiang Jirun for a power battery project, which will build an annual production capacity of 800,000 sets of hybrid batteries.
However, the road to self-production of batteries by car companies is not a smooth road. McKinsey estimates,Automakers need to produce at least 500,000 new energy vehicles or batteries at least 15GWh in a regionSelf-produced batteries are expected to form a cost advantage.
Despite this, it has become a trend for car companies to build their own battery factories. Industry insiders pointed out that in the era of electrification, battery companies have become the most influential part of the industrial chain due to the high proportion of battery costs. In the long run, automakers will not be able to tolerate this situation forever.