The continued low level of lithium carbonate, the raw material of power batteries, is bringing more space for the price reduction of new energy vehicles. According to the data released by Shanghai Ganglian, battery-grade lithium carbonate has fallen below the 100,000 yuan ton mark for many consecutive days, and the price of ** remained at 9 on January 29750,000 tons of new low.
The reporter noticed that at the peak of 2022, the price of one ton of lithium carbonate soared to 520,000 yuan, and now it has fallen by more than 81%. The industry pointed out that the current imbalance between supply and demand in the whole lithium battery industry chain is triggering a chain reaction in the industrial chain, such as CATL and other giants are combing production line resources, promoting cost reduction, and promoting lower-priced battery cell products to car companies.
The leading battery manufacturers are focusing on "cost reduction" this year
According to Xinchun information data, the average price of lithium iron phosphate square power cells was as low as 0 last week38 yuan watt-hour; Ternary square power cell 0475 yuan watt hour, all compared with the same period last year. Cao Li, vice president of Leapmotor, revealed that the current purchase price of iron-lithium battery cells is only 04 yuan watt-hour, this year's "power battery ** is expected to be compressed to 0."32 yuan or so".
According to data released by the Advanced Industry Research Institute in December 2023, China's power battery capacity utilization rate has dropped from over 75 in 2022 to an average of less than 65 in 2023. The reporter noticed that in order to ensure the market position, the head battery factory reorganized the production line resources, and this year's "cost reduction" will be the first priority.
According to a source in the power battery industry chain, CATL is promoting the first lower lithium iron phosphate battery cell products to car companies, and it is expected that "most car companies' products will switch to this low-cost product in the middle of this year, and the target is the pure electric model market of 100,000-200,000 yuan."
In addition, BYD's Fodi Battery also revealed an internal notice, urging the team to continue to reduce costs, and at the same time, Fodi Battery will maximize its benefits in 2023 through the procurement team's layers of screening, removing the inferior and retaining the good, and full bidding and bidding.
It is conducive to the further improvement of the penetration rate of new energy vehicles.
The industry generally believes that if lithium carbonate continues to decline in 2024, the cost of power batteries can continue to fall, and there may still be room for price reductions for new energy vehicles.
The reporter noticed that from the second week of January this year, lithium carbonate, the main raw material of power batteries, continued to decline and fell to a new historical low, which has become one of the fuses of the new energy vehicle war. Tesla's recent financial report pointed out that thanks to the cost reduction of batteries and manufacturing, the cost of one of its flagship models, the Model 3, has dropped by 30%, and for this reason, Tesla has also led the first wave of price cuts in the new year in the Chinese market.
According to battery industry insiders, when the unit of lithium carbonate** is reduced by 100,000 yuan, the cost of a pure electric vehicle battery with a power of 70kWh will be reduced by 0 compared with the high price of lithium850,000 150,000 yuan. According to industry insiders, the spot price of battery-grade lithium carbonate in 2024 may fall below 80,000 tons. "This means that there is a lot of room for price reductions for new energy vehicles this year. ”
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the passenger association, pointed out that the decline of lithium carbonate ** means that new energy vehicles "compete" with fuel vehicles are more confident, which is conducive to the further improvement of the penetration rate of new energy vehicles.
In addition, senior automotive analyst Gu Zhijun believes that with the decline in the cost of power batteries, power battery packs above 100kWh will no longer be exclusive to high-end models, and are expected to be rapidly popularized in pure electric models in the range of 200,000 yuan and 300,000 yuan**, while pure electric models with a cruising range of more than 800km will become the core area of new energy vehicle competition. (Guangzhou**Quan**Reporter Deng Li).