The rapid development of the new energy vehicle market has become an unstoppable trend. In this development trend, the power battery has become a very important part of it. As a member of the three-electric system, the core component of electric vehicles, the development of power batteries has also ushered in a "golden age".
China's power battery manufacturers, led by the Cataline era, are becoming the most important part of the global power battery supply. According to data from SNE Research, a South Korean market research firm, in November, the global installed power battery capacity was 33GWh, up 26% month-on-month. In the global power battery TOP10, Chinese companies have accounted for 6 seats, and their total installed power batteries account for 54.8% of the global total installed capacity. Chinese batteries are becoming more and more important.
First, BYD entered the top three, and Chinese manufacturers occupied two of them
In November, CATL continued to secure the championship throne, LG still ranked second, and BYD surpassed Panasonic to enter the top three. Among other domestic enterprises, China Innovation Airlines once again ranked seventh, Guoxuan Hi-Tech fell to eighth in the list, Yiwei Lithium Energy rose one place to ninth, and Xinwanda ranked tenth, making it on the list for the first time.
In this list, the first Ningde era, the third BYD, the seventh Zhongxin Airlines, the eighth Guoxuan Hi-Tech, the ninth Billion Wei Lithium Energy and the tenth Sunwoda, all from China. Among them, among the top three seats, Chinese companies occupied two seats, and the combined market share of CATL and BYD reached 47.6%, accounting for almost half of the global power battery installed capacity in November.
The market share of CATL, BYD, Zhongxin Aviation, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, Yiwei Lithium Energy and Sunwoda combined has reached 54.8%, more than half of the global market share. The rise of China's power battery is not just a slogan, it is already a proper reality.
The cooperation with BMW Brilliance has enabled CATL to smoothly open up the domestic and foreign passenger car markets, and the partners are all over the major car companies at home and abroad. After Tesla was domestically produced, the Ningde era smoothly entered the Tesla supply chain and became uncontrollable since then.
As the "leading boss" of the power battery, the Ningde era continued to march forward in November. From the overall order point of view, since the beginning of this year, CATL has locked in a number of long orders, including winning a 4-year order from Tesla, signing a 10-year long-term strategic cooperation agreement with Great Wall Motors, obtaining a 7-year order for Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles, and supplying Volkswagen, Hyundai, Rolls-Royce, etc. At present, CATL has completed the supporting facilities of most traditional passenger car factories, bus factories and special car factories, and has cooperated with most first-line manufacturers such as SAIC, Geely, Dongfeng, GAC, BAIC, Changan and so on, and is the power battery manufacturer with the most supporting models.
In terms of new car-making forces, popular models such as WEIO ES8, Xiaopeng P7, Ideal ONE, and WM EX5 are equipped with CATL era batteries. In terms of overseas customers, in addition to traditional car companies such as BMW, Volkswagen, Tesla, Daimler, Jaguar Land Rover, Honda, etc., CATL has also expanded new power enterprises such as the Us Fisker.
At present, CATL has landed 10 production bases in the global layout, including Fujian Ningde, Fujian Xiamen, Jiangsu Liyang, Qinghai Xining, Sichuan Yibin, Guangdong Zhaoqing, Shanghai Lingang, Jiangxi Yichun, Guizhou Gui'an and German Thuringia. According to the plan, the production capacity of CATL is expected to exceed 670GWh by 2025.
BYD went from fourth in October to third in November, up 12.5% month-on-month. Unlike other companies in the list, BYD's batteries are currently mostly for their own use, which shows the popularity of BYD's new energy vehicles in China: 30,000 in May, 40,000 in June, 50,000 in July, 60,000 in August, 70,000 in September, 80,000 in October, 90,000 in November...
With a number of blockbuster models such as DM-i, BYD also won the sales championship of China's new energy passenger cars in November. However, BYD is not only satisfied with self-sales, but also the external supply of power batteries is also accelerating. Ford Mustang Mach-E recently officially opened the delivery work in China, using BYD's ternary lithium battery, fully benchmarking Tesla Model Y.
Tesla and BYD cooperation on power batteries have also been rumored for a long time. Previously, Toyota held an electrification strategy conference and brought 17 pure electric models in one go. One of the most noteworthy is the bZ SDN concept car. It is the first pure electric vehicle cooperated by Toyota and BYD, positioned as a pure electric mid-size car, and the styling borrows from the design language of some Toyota bZ4X concept cars. It is understood that the mass production version released in the future will use lithium iron phosphate blade battery technology from BYD, and the price may be less than 200,000 yuan. It is reported that the new car will be launched at the Beijing Auto Show next year and is scheduled to be officially launched at the end of 2022.
The model is seen as an upgraded version of the Corolla, one of the best-selling models of all time in the automotive industry. If Toyota's bZ mass production car can continue to remain competitive enough, the growth of BYD batteries is also imperative. BYD's strong growth has also broken the "three-legged dingli" pattern of the previous global power battery market Ningde era, LG and Panasonic, forming a new "three-legged dingli" trend led by Ningde era, LG and BYD.
Second, China's new energy market broke out, and the price of lithium carbonate jumped three times this year
Behind the rapid rise of China's power battery companies is the outbreak of China's new energy market. At the 2022 China Auto Market Development Forecast Summit and Investment Cooperation Conference held on December 14, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers predicted that China's total automobile sales in 2021 would be 26.1 million units, an increase of 3.1% year-on-year. Among them, the sales volume of new energy vehicles was 3.4 million units, an increase of 1.5 times year-on-year.
Ouyang Minggao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and vice chairman of the China Electric Vehicle 100 Association, previously said at the 2021 annual media communication meeting of the China Electric Vehicle 100 Association that the reason for the market outbreak this year is the result of technological progress, rich products and powerful policies.
In terms of technology, electric vehicle battery technology continues to improve and cost decline, the structural design of battery systems continues to innovate, such as large-scale applications such as blade batteries and C2P, and lithium iron phosphate batteries are equipped with cars on a large scale. At the same time, the introduction of intelligent auxiliary driving technology for electric vehicles and the superiority of electric vehicle handling performance have also attracted more and more consumers to choose new energy vehicles.
In terms of products, the brand image of electric vehicles has been improved after years of promotion, and a large number of new models have been introduced, and the styling is newer than that of traditional cars. In particular, new energy vehicle models are abundant, covering all passenger car levels, and a new "two-end squeeze" phenomenon has emerged in market segments and product structures.
In terms of policy, the continuation of subsidies, the price increase of double credits, and the introduction of the national double carbon strategy have a positive effect on manufacturers and young customers. At the same time, the role of subsidies on consumption is gradually fading, and the proportion of private car purchases based on market consumption has risen to nearly 75%.
According to Ouyang Minggao's forecast, China's new energy vehicle sales will continue to grow to 5 million units next year due to battery supply, chip supply and production capacity constraints. It is estimated that the market share of new energy vehicles will be more than 20% next year. By 2025, the annual sales volume of new energy vehicles in China can reach about 7 million to 9 million units, and about 17 million to 19 million units in 2030.
The explosive growth of the new energy vehicle market this year has also made the main raw material of the new energy vehicle power battery, the battery-grade lithium carbonate price, staged a "triple jump" within a year. It is understood that lithium carbonate is an inorganic compound and is one of the necessary raw materials for lithium battery production.
According to reports, the average price of lithium carbonate has jumped from 50,000 yuan per ton at the beginning of the year to 274,000 yuan per ton today. Among them, the price of lithium carbonate rose by more than 30% in December, and the year-on-year increase was more than 400%, and the price has reached a record high.