Ningde era Mu Xiu yu Lin Feng will urge? The world power battery industry is surging, and the smell of gunpowder is naturally getting stronger and stronger.
Wen 丨 wisdom driving network long gold
The Ningde era, known as the "King of Ning" on the ChiNext board, has recently been in turmoil.
In the face of U.S. sanctions, the storm has not subsided, the market value fell in 3 days to 200 billion market value, NINGDE times against Hive Energy", the lawsuit against Hive Energy was exposed by the media, this case will be heard at the Intermediate People's Court of Ningde City, Fujian Province, on the 23rd of this month.
It was held at the headquarters of the Ningde era.
The cause of this lawsuit is that between 2018 and 2019, nine technical personnel of the CATL era joined Wuxi Tianhong Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd. and Baoding Yixin Consulting Service Co., Ltd. after leaving their jobs, both of which are related parties of Hive Energy.
It is reported that this case has been tried three times in May, August and December 2021, and this lawsuit is the fourth trial.
As the plaintiff, CATL argued that the 9 employees had served as chief engineers, manufacturing engineers and marketing specialists, violated the Confidentiality and Non-Compete Agreement signed with them, and joined the company that had a competitive relationship with CATL when the non-compete period was not completed, so it applied to the local labor and personnel dispute arbitration commission for labor arbitration, and the arbitration commission also made a judgment supporting CATL to claim 1 million yuan in liquidated damages from 5 of the former employees.
Subsequently, the 9 employees also appealed to the local court in Ningde, but the first and second instances ended in defeat.
Yesterday, the intelligent driving network (ID: zhinengqiche) asked Hive Energy about related matters, and the official answer was:
"We have paid attention to the media reports, and the company has been operating legally and compliantly. Our relevant departments are actively preparing to respond to the lawsuit in court, believing that the law will have a fair judgment. ”
The lawsuit has not yet been heard, and more details have not been announced, so how the outcome seems is not important at present, but the two parties to this incident and their backgrounds and current situations are worth our taste.
——01——
Heart-wrenching: Hive Energy
CATL is currently the champion enterprise in the field of global power batteries, with a global market share of 32.6% in 2021, ranking first for five consecutive years.
The data shows that the cumulative output of continental power batteries in 2021 is 219.7GWh, and the installed capacity is 154.5GWh. Among them, CATL ranked first with an loading volume of 80.51GWh, accounting for 52.1% of the market.
According to the development plan, the production capacity target of CATL in 2025 will reach 600GWh.
Compared with the Ningde era, the existing volume of Hive Energy is much smaller, and its global market share in 2021 is 1%, which is only 3% of the size of the Ningde era.
The predecessor of Hive Energy is the power battery division of Great Wall Motors, which began to operate independently in 2018, which is called the "second venture" of Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motors, by industry insiders.
At the beginning of the establishment of the enterprise, Wei Jianjun said:
"Honeycomb Energy will participate in the battery supply of Great Wall Motors and other car companies as an independent enterprise, and obtain more social capital to invest in the shares and grow into an independent battery brand, which is also a link in improving the layout of Great Wall Motors in the field of new energy core components."
In just 5 years, Hive Energy currently has 7 R&D centers and 8 battery bases around the world, and has landed the world's first cobalt-free battery, as well as Dayu batteries and jelly batteries with innovative technologies in terms of safety performance.
In 2021, although the market share of 1% of Hive Energy seems to be not high, its growth rate exceeds 430% year-on-year, and the loading volume enters the top five in China and the top ten in the world, and the development momentum is quite rapid.
According to the official information, Hive Energy has a production capacity of 297GWh under construction, and the production capacity target for 2025 is also 600GWh, which is the same as the Ningde era.
Hive Energy dares to put forward the goal of competing with the leading enterprises in the industry within 4 years, which shows its strength, and it is not a big deal for the Ningde era to regard it as a competitor.
Since February 2021, Hive Energy has completed 5 consecutive rounds of financing. Among them, In late February, Hive Energy obtained 3.5 billion yuan of Series A financing, and a month later, it obtained Series A+ round; in July, Hive Energy obtained 10.28 billion yuan of Series B financing; in December, B+ round of financing was completed; on January 17, 2022, Hailiang Co., Ltd. increased its capital by 322 million yuan, accounting for 0.7%.
So far, the valuation of Honeycomb Energy has reached 46 billion yuan.
Today (February 16), the second phase of the 20GWh power battery project of the Hive Energy Shangrao Base officially started construction in the Shangrao Economic Development Zone. The second phase of the Honeycomb Energy Shangrao Power Battery Project is planned to have a production capacity of 20GWh, and it is expected to achieve SOP in the second half of 2023, so far, together with the 4GWh of the first phase, the total production capacity of the Shangrao base is planned to be 24GWh.
Hive energy grows in jumps.
In January 2022, the Hive Energy Division conducted a listing counseling filing in the Jiangsu Securities Regulatory Bureau, and was originally expected to complete the application for the Sci-Tech Innovation Board in the first half of this year.
At this time, catheter's lawsuit against Hive Energy may affect its IPO process.
However, from the perspective of the Ningde era, domestic related enterprises have risen rapidly, and the market pressure they face can be described as increasing every day.
In addition to Hive Energy, CATL also has legal disputes with two battery companies, China New Venture aviation and Tafir New Energy.
——02——
External troubles outweigh internal troubles
Will Hive Energy grow into a competitor on an equal footing with the CATL era?
Today, it seems that the gap between the two sides is huge, but Hive Energy is backed by the Great Wall Motor Group, and it is very likely to quickly grow into a similar opponent to BYD.
At present, car companies take the initiative to invest in and invest in the power battery industry is a world trend.
The bigger purpose of this lawsuit is to warn the industry of crazy poaching wars.
However, the internal troubles faced by the Ningde era are essentially normal competition, and greater external worries come from outside the country and the emergence of subversive technologies.
These disturbances from outside the country fluctuate around the market value changes in the Ningde era, and there seems to be an irresistible short-selling force. So much so that it had to issue a statement on February 13:
Recently, a series of malicious rumors about the company being sanctioned by the United States, being excluded from the ChiNext weight index, and talking with Tesla have appeared on the network platform, which has caused market misunderstandings and misinterpretations, affecting the reputation of the company, rumors are unfounded, and the nature is bad, ningde times has reported the case to the public security organs on February 12, and will pursue legal responsibility for rumor-mongers according to law.
Fortunately, after a series of efforts, on February 14, the Ningde era rebounded in the stock market, rising 3.68% to close at 508 yuan / share; on February 15, the Ningde era continued to rise by 3.74%, closing at 527 yuan / share, returning to the threshold of 500 yuan, and continued the upward trend today.
This also reflects from one side that the Ningde era, as the number one competitor of all enterprises in the current industry, is facing the troubles, and the so-called "cold in the heights" may be this feeling.
Whether it is cold in the high places or Mu Xiu in the forest wind must be urged, the industry position occupied by the Ningde era today is not only in China with unshakable influence, but also plays an important role in the world, when the world's automobile industry has become a historical trend, as the core industry of the new energy automobile industry, power batteries naturally have a strategic position.
Its chip status is no match.
In the minutes of the investor survey held on February 14 released by CATL last night, Chairman Zeng Yuqun, Secretary of the Board of Directors and Deputy General Manager Jiang Li, and Financial Director Zheng Shu personally answered the questions of many investors.
These investors involved more than 50 investors, including Hillhouse Capital, Hongshang Capital, Tencent Investment, Temasek, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Fund, Warburg Pincus Investment, COSCO SHIPPING, KKR, GIC, Capital Group and so on.
Some investors asked: In the process of battery production in the Ningde era, did the Technology, Materials or Equipment of the United States be used?
The answer of the Ningde era is:
"The company is not directly involved in the battery production process, and the chips on the BMS are partly from the United States and are currently doing localization."
This answer responds in disguise to the rumor that the United States can sanction the Ningde era, which is already preparing for this.
——03——
Disruptive technologies are reaching a tipping point
Recently, an American company called Amprius in the field of power batteries announced that it has produced the first batch of ultra-high energy density lithium batteries, with an energy density of 450Wh/kg, which is the highest energy density battery in the current available battery, 73% higher than the most advanced Tesla Model 3 battery, but the volume is reduced by 37%, which is more subversive than Tesla's 18650 battery.
According to Amprius, the main reason the battery can achieve such a high energy density is that it uses silicon nanowire technology.
Its proprietary Si-Nanowire anode platform achieves a charge rate of 0% to 80% for silicon anode lithium-ion batteries in just six minutes.
Such technologies have been reported in recent years, but what is really disruptive is how long it takes for them to be mass-produced and scaled.
Just like the 4680 batteries and solid-state batteries that have repeatedly jumped the ticket.
But it is also undeniable that these technologies are on the eve of mass production, and the tipping point seems to be not far away.
At present, the world's major economic powers are focusing heavily on power batteries, and the emergence of disruptive technologies is a high probability event.
——04——
Catalpas responds to market anxiety
Below we publish the latest investor relations activity record sheet released by CATL on the evening of February 15.
According to the survey minutes, the investor relations event was held on February 14, and the receptionists of CATL included: Chairman Zeng Yuqun, Secretary of the Board of Directors and Deputy General Manager Jiang Li, and Financial Director Zheng Shu. According to the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, the investor relations activities category is a specific object survey, and the participants include: Hillhouse Capital, Hongshang Capital, Tencent Investment, Temasek, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Fund, Warburg Pincus Investment, COSCO Shipping, KKR, GIC, Capital Group and more than 50 investors.
The following is the content of the above investor research exchange:
1. How does the company's layout and control of upstream lithium resources exist?
A: The company guarantees the supply of lithium resources through long-term cooperation, investment cooperation, recycling, self-mining and other means. Among them, in terms of recycling, the lithium recovery rate has exceeded 90%, and lithium recycling has now played a certain role in supply security; in addition to the previous overseas investment cooperation, the company has also invested in lithium resources in Yichun and other places and mined lithium mines on its own.
2, what is the company's research and development boundary, whether the traditional manufacturing industry has reached the limit, whether to further do electronic control related? Is the future a battery company or a higher idea?
A: The company is the world's leading power battery company, but there is still a lot of room for energy storage and energy conversion in the manufacturing industry. As a scientific and technological innovation company, based on the new energy cause of mankind, the company may be involved in new energy-related and innovative technology-related fields.
3. In the battery production process, is the technology, materials or equipment of the United States used?
A: The company is not directly involved in the battery production process, and the chip part of the BMS originates from the United States and is currently doing localization.
4, CTC program, the company to do an integrated program to customers, will involve the customer chassis design and manufacture of the cake, why would the vehicle manufacturers be willing?
A: The purpose of the company to create cTC solutions is to accelerate the electrification of products with higher cost performance and lower power consumption, stemming from the needs of customers to create the competitiveness of new energy vehicle products, through the professional division of labor between the company and car companies, the respective strengths will be brought into full play to launch competitive products.
5, the general understanding of drying into and testing is one of the core processes of battery manufacturing, drying different batteries time difference is very large, can you use internal resistance detection, control the drying time, to ensure that each drying time is the shortest?
A: The process is designed to achieve performance, such as reliability, safety, etc. The coating drying process is designed to remove the solvent, leaving gaps, and the solvent during the volatilization process causes the binder to be unevenly distributed inside the pole piece, resulting in charge lithium evolution. The company's new technology can solve such problems while achieving a 9-minute fast charge. After the structural design is completed, it is challenging to achieve the corresponding control, and it is really reliable, safe and low cost.
6. Many of the company's customers in the United States are considering going to the United States to build factories? Is it possible?
A: The company interacted with U.S. customers a lot, including both new forces and traditional car companies, and the two sides jointly discussed various possible supply and cooperation options, as well as the possibility of localized production, but the specific situation needs to take into account the impact of factors such as worker training, efficiency, and labor unions on quality and cost.
7. What is the biggest challenge for the company's future development?
A: The company's growth rate, organizational ability and the ability to internationalize people are the biggest challenges. Based on the replicability of the extreme manufacturing system, the company has accumulated 10 major production bases by the end of last year, and in the future, the company intends to strengthen the layout of overseas bases and improve the construction of systems including overseas employee training, and also faces more challenges.
8. How does the company view the expansion of friendly business, especially international competition.
A: The expansion of production does not mean that the expansion of friendly business will increase competition, and products with innovative material systems and structural systems are worthy of competition. The company has always provided customers with the most cost-effective products through material innovation, structural innovation and extreme manufacturing.
9, according to estimates, the company's expansion of ROE or ROIC is very high, in the long run after 2025, can the high ROE or ROIC continue to be maintained?
A: The improvement of ROE and ROIC also depends on technological progress, the technical level of extreme manufacturing high-speed production lines is leading the world, the single-line production capacity is significantly improved, the production efficiency is improved, and the production cost is reduced.
10. The company has a layout in most aspects of the supply chain, some of which are involved in the form of shares, and some of which have not yet been invested. In the future, in companies that do not have shares but have a high market share, will the company participate in the shares or will it be handed over to market competition?
A: The company values long-term and real cooperation partners, regardless of the market is good or bad, can overcome difficulties together, work together for win-win results, and jointly promote the stable and sustainable development of the industry.
11. Energy storage has a high market share in the United States, how to view the risk of changes in the ENERGY storage policy in the United States?
A: The company has discussed with US energy storage customers, customers want to localize the supply, and need to comprehensively consider the factors such as power battery production capacity, customer demand, and production costs.
12, the company's new products will consider building a new supply chain system, such as their own fluorine chemical, what is the specific planning?
A: The new supply chain system construction involved in new products, for materials with high technical content, the company will first develop, produce proofs, and then authorize the technology to suppliers, and the company has the responsibility to apply the best technology to customer products.
13, in the past two years, lithium iron phosphate has lowered the barriers to entry in the industry, and through these batteries, it can also achieve a new energy vehicle product NEDC endurance of 500-700 kilometers, is it possible that many of the company's industry advantages cannot be played?
A: From the perspective of resources, the advantages of different products are different, and the company has made ultra-long-life batteries in the existing system to support business model innovation. In terms of the new system, the sodium-ion battery developed by the company has better low temperature performance, and higher energy density products will explore breakthrough applications in new fields, such as commercial aircraft.
14. One of the key points of investor exchanges and discussions last year was the efficient and low-cost product route, which is quite different from the focus of today's exchanges, how has the company's operation or your attitude changed this year?
A: The promotion of electric vehicles in the early stage needed efficient and low-cost products, but now high-end electric vehicles are also widely welcomed by consumers, and consumer recognition of new energy vehicles has become a trend. To create value for customers and investors, it is inseparable from technological leadership, operational excellence and quality services.
15. How does the company view the largest reachable market In the 100,000-200,000 car market, the future battery chemical system, packaging structure and business model will evolve, such as M3P, cobalt-free, etc.?
A: To be precise, the more difficult to replace the electrification is the 8-12 million price range models, with chocolate battery replacement products supporting the corresponding models, which can make the first purchase cost of new energy vehicles (excluding batteries) lower than that of fuel vehicles, and the speed of power replacement is equal to fuel vehicle refueling, solving the problem of cost performance. The company plans to launch a new product M3P, to be precise, not lithium manganese iron phosphate, but also contains other metal elements, the company calls the ternary of the phosphate system, the cost is lower than the ternary, but still occupies a certain cost of new energy vehicles. We believe that the ultimate solution for models in the 80,000-120,000 yuan range is chocolate power exchange.
16, the company in recent years a lot of export business, overseas income has also soared, combined with the soaring freight rates, a brief introduction to how the company on the export path and logistics providers to choose?
A: The company selects a wide range of partners around the world to comprehensively evaluate various factors such as logistics transfer and inland transportation to reduce comprehensive costs.
17, the company's battery recovery ternary key metal recovery rate can reach 99.3%, can you introduce the recovery of lithium iron phosphate.
A: The reason why the maturity of ternary recovery is higher than that of lithium iron phosphate recovery is that the price of nickel and cobalt metals is high, and the recent increase in the price of lithium iron phosphate has also increased significantly. At present, the company has both ternary and iron lithium waste battery annual recycling technology and production capacity, and the future production capacity will continue to expand. In addition to the cathode, the company has laid out graphite and electrolyte recycling to improve product economy and reduce product carbon emissions.
18. At present, consumers' attention to battery suppliers is not so obvious, but the mileage is associated with car companies. Does the company intend to go from behind the scenes to the front of the stage and let consumers choose the battery brand?
A: The company began to build its own brand from the power exchange, so that consumers can recognize the advantages of products equipped with the company's batteries.
19. At present, the company's global power battery usage accounts for 33% of the market, and the domestic consumption exceeds 50%. What is the long-term market share target?
A: The company's vision is to provide first-class new energy solutions for customers around the world, and the increase in market share brought about by the depth and breadth of customer service is the result and the direction of efforts.
20, lithium shortage for a while and a half will not be able to solve, resource development needs a cycle, copper, aluminum is also rising prices, during this period the company how to deal with? Although the company has some long-term supply, but the entire industry bears the price increase, is there any concern about sales?
A: The short-term cost of raw materials such as lithium carbonate has a certain impact on the company and can be hedged in a variety of ways; copper and aluminum can be greatly reduced through new technologies. The power exchange mode allows consumers to achieve a lower cost of first purchase than fuel vehicles, while enjoying electrification, intelligence and power exchange convenience.
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