Tesla China's large-scale recall, component supplier Sanhua Zhikong responded that it had nothing to do with it

Tesla (TSLA.US) launched China's first large-scale recall in 2022.

A few days ago, Tesla China announced the recall of 26047 domestic Model 3 and Model Y, the reason is that there will be a slight movement when the heat pump electronic expansion valve is positioned, because the software has no correction function, which may cause the valve to be partially opened in the long run, the heat pump compressor stops working, and the heating function in the car fails.

It is reported that the recall may be related to the expansion valve supplier Sanhua Zhikong (002050. SZ) related.

On the evening of February 20, Sanhua Intelligent Control announced that the problem was caused by the interruption of controller communication. As of now, Sanhua Intelligent Control has not received tesla complaints about the quality of the electronic expansion valve itself related to the problem, and the recall has nothing to do with the electronic expansion valve provided by the company.

Red Star Capital Bureau learned that with the further outbreak of demand for new energy vehicles and the continuous and rapid increase in the penetration rate of high-value heat pump air conditioning models, the demand for the thermal management industry has also risen rapidly, bringing huge opportunities to related enterprises.

Tesla China recalled more than 240,000 vehicles in 3 months

The United States has launched an investigation into the "ghost brakes"

Recently, Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Tesla Shanghai") filed a recall plan with the State Administration for Market Regulations in accordance with the requirements of the Regulations on the Administration of the Recall of Defective Automobile Products and the Implementation Measures for the Administration of the Recall of Defective Automobile Products, and will recall some domestically produced Model 3 (12,003 units) and Model Y (14,044 units) electric vehicles produced from December 28, 2020 to January 15, 2022, for a total of 26,047 vehicles.

The electronic expansion valve of the heat pump in some vehicles within the scope of this recall will have a slight movement when positioning, because the software (version 2021.44 to 2021.44.30.6) has no correction function, which may cause the valve to be partially opened in the long run, the heat pump compressor to stop working, and the heating function in the car to fail. In the above state, especially when the temperature outside the car is lower than minus 10 degrees, the windshield defrosting system cannot achieve the defrosting effect stipulated by the relevant national laws and regulations, and the decline of the defrost function adversely affects the driver's field of vision, thereby increasing the possibility of collision risk of the vehicle when driving in cold weather, and there is a safety hazard.

This is the third time since December last year that Tesla has recalled domestic electric vehicles.

On December 3, 2021, Tesla Shanghai recalled 21,599 domesticAlly produced Model Ys, mainly involving knuckle issues.

On December 31, 2021, Tesla Shanghai recalled 144208 domestic Model 3, mainly involving the trunk cover problem; at the same time, Tesla Motors (Beijing) Co., Ltd. recalled 19697 imported Model S electric vehicles, mainly involving the front trunk lock latch problem, recalling 35836 imported Model 3, mainly involving the trunk cover problem.

In addition, according to incomplete statistics from the Red Star Capital Bureau, since late January, Tesla has launched four recalls in the United States, involving more than 1.47 million vehicles.

On Feb. 17, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it had begun an investigation into Tesla's Self-Driving Assist system, involving 416,000 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. Previously, some car owners complained that Tesla's autopilot assistance system had an accidental activation of the brakes, that is, "ghost brakes".

Affected by this, on February 17, Tesla's stock price fell 5.09%, the daily market value evaporated 48.6 billion US dollars (about 307.6 billion yuan), and on February 18, it fell 2.21%, and the current market value is 885.7 billion US dollars.

The penetration rate of new energy vehicles has increased

The thermal management industry welcomes development opportunities

This Tesla large-scale recall, there is news that the problem pointed to the heat pump electronic expansion valve supplier Sanhua Zhikong.

On the evening of February 20, Sanhua Intelligent Holdings announced that Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. had filed some domestic Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicle recall plans with the State Administration for Market Regulation of China. It was confirmed that the problem was caused by an interruption in controller communication, and the vehicle software was unable to close the electronic expansion valve when the heat pump model was running the software (version 2021.44 to 2021.44.30.6) and was interrupted by the controller communication. As of now, the company has not received any quality complaints from Tesla about the electronic expansion valve itself related to the problem, and the recall has nothing to do with the electronic expansion valve provided by the company.

Liu Hao, an analyst in the automotive industry, told Red Star Capital Bureau that the battery generates a lot of heat during the charging and discharging process, and the temperature is too high to reduce the battery life and there is a risk of thermal runaway, which may lead to spontaneous combustion; the temperature is too low to reduce the battery capacity, the charging and discharging efficiency is reduced, and the mileage is shortened. In addition, the performance and life of the new energy vehicle battery pack are determined by the worst single body, and if the temperature difference of the single battery is too large, the performance of the battery pack will be greatly reduced. "The thermal management system is an important component to ensure the continuous and effective work of the battery of new energy vehicles."

Driven by the continuous increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the market space of the thermal management industry has also been continuously improved. Everbright Securities predicts that in 2025, domestic new energy passenger car sales are expected to reach 5.5 million units, corresponding to the thermal management market size of more than 46 billion yuan; in 2025, global new energy passenger car sales are expected to reach 13 million, corresponding to the thermal management market size of more than 100 billion yuan.

Heat pump air conditioning will be the mainstream of the industry

Bring more investment opportunities

The penetration rate of high-value heat pump air conditioning models continues to increase rapidly, which is also an important factor for institutions to be optimistic about the prospects of the thermal management market.

Liu Hao, an analyst in the automotive industry, told Red Star Capital Bureau that based on global environmental protection needs, countries have gradually banned R134a as a refrigerant for automotive air conditioners, and the main alternative refrigerant is R1234yf or carbon dioxide (R744).

Compared with R134a and R1234yf, CO2 is the most environmentally friendly as a refrigerant, completely non-toxic and does not require recycling. Carbon dioxide has a lower boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure than R134a and R1234yf, so it is more efficient in cold weather. In addition, the energy conversion efficiency of heating using heat pumps is higher than that of PTC heating, which can use the saved electrical energy to drive the vehicle and reduce the adverse impact of winter conditions on the mileage.

Sanhua Intelligent Control said in a survey by Anxin Securities and other institutions on February 15 that heat pumps are an inevitable technical path in the context of pure electric vehicles, and this technical path has been determined by mainstream OEMs. Different OEMs have different definitions of thermal management systems and vary in the degree of waste heat utilization, so the design of heat pump systems is also different. The program management of heat pumps is more complicated than that of non-heat pumps, and the corresponding number of valves and pumps will increase, and there is still a lot of room for improvement for the value of bicycles.

CITIC Securities believes that new energy vehicle heat pump air conditioners are gradually replacing PTC air conditioners, but the heat pump air conditioners of ordinary media have poor heating effects in low temperature environments. Carbon dioxide heat pumps not only have a good low temperature heating effect, but also have the advantages of environmental protection and energy saving. With the optional co2 heat pump for Volkswagen's MEB models, it is expected that more car companies will introduce them. CITIC Securities expects that in 2025, new energy vehicles will be equipped with about 4.6 million sets of carbon dioxide heat pumps, corresponding to a market space of about 36 billion yuan. The high operating pressure of carbon dioxide media puts forward higher requirements for parts such as pipelines, bringing a wide range of investment opportunities.

Red Star News reporter Wu Danruo

Edited by Yu Dongmei

(Download Red Star News, there are prizes for the newspaper!) ）