On January 18, EVOGO, a power exchange brand under CATL, was officially released. The combined power exchange solution launched by the new power exchange brand consists of power exchange blocks, quick change stations and APP, which can provide power exchange services for A00-C class passenger cars and logistics vehicles, and take the lead in launching the first batch of EVOGO power exchange services in 10 cities.
Among them, the battery is named "chocolate battery replacement block", using CTP technology in the Ningde era, the energy density of a single power exchange block is 160Wh/kg, the volume energy density is 325Wh/L, and a single battery can provide a range of 200km. CATL stressed that the replacement block can be adapted to 80% of the world's listed models and pure electric platform research and development models that will be listed in the next 3 years.
The express change station has four characteristics: small area, fast circulation, large capacity and full climate. Each standard station only needs three parking spaces, a single block to change power for about 1 minute, the station can store 48 power exchange blocks, to ensure that users always have a full power block can be replaced, no need to wait for a long time. At the same time, the substation can also be provided with versions adapted to the climatic and environmental conditions of different regions.
App undertakes the role of a link between different modules and consumers, providing interconnection and service between people, vehicles, stations and blocks. In the future, more and more functional modules will serve consumers through APP.
Not long ago, south Korean market research institute SNE Research released the first eleven months of 2021 global power battery installed capacity ranking, CATL with 79.8GWh battery installed capacity ranked first, the market share reached 31.8%. It is worth noting that at present, among the world's top 10 power battery manufacturers, a total of 6 Chinese companies have been selected, of which the largest increase is the tenth Sunwoda, an increase of 211.1%; followed by BYD, a significant increase of 192.1%; and then ningde times, Guoxuan hi-tech and Zhongxin Airlines, up 180.1%, 167.4% and 155.2% respectively. Although caterpillar era is in a dominant position in the market, the rapid rise of Chinese companies has also exposed them to greater internal competition.
At the same time, in order to reduce the supply risk, more and more car companies, in addition to choosing to "get goods" from a number of battery suppliers, have decided to build their own battery factories to achieve self-sufficiency. For example, Tesla's current battery suppliers include Panasonic, LG and Ningde Times, Volkswagen's stake in Guoxuan Hi-Tech, Geely's investment of 30 billion yuan to start the power battery project in Ganzhou, etc., and the continuous participation of players in the power battery field has made the competition in this track more intense.
On the other hand, the support of national policies has made the industry begin to pay attention to the development of the power exchange industry. In October 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the Notice on Launching the Pilot Application of the New Energy Vehicle Power Exchange Mode, and decided to start the pilot work of the application of the new energy vehicle power exchange mode. There are 11 cities included in the scope of the pilot, including 8 cities with comprehensive application (Beijing, Nanjing, Wuhan, Sanya, Chongqing, Changchun, Hefei and Jinan), and 3 cities with heavy truck characteristics (Yibin, Tangshan and Baotou).
In the power exchange service, Weilai Automobile, as an earlier layout of the car company, has achieved certain results. In December last year, NIO announced that it had deployed more than 700 substations nationwide and planned to deploy more than 4,000 substations worldwide by 2025.
Under the dual guidance of policy and market, CATL can not only enrich its own business layout, but also accelerate the development of power exchange business through large-scale entry into the power exchange market. Especially for some smaller car companies, it can help them reduce costs and increase sales.