Even if the price of upstream raw materials such as lithium carbonate and nickel continues to soar, looking at domestic new energy vehicle companies, there is still the strength to compress the price of 7 SUVs at about 150,000, only BYD.
On March 12, BYD launched five new models of the 2022 Song MAX DM-i in one go, with subsidy prices ranging from 145,800 yuan to 172,800 yuan. Moreover, the "priced" Song MAX DM-i performance is also "online".
From the perspective of energy consumption, the oilable and electric Song MAX DM-i 100 km of power loss fuel consumption is only 4.4L, if the city commutes, you can choose a pure electric mode with 0 fuel consumption. From the perspective of kinetic energy, thanks to BYD's leading battery, motor and electric system, it takes only 30 minutes for Song MAX DM-i to charge from 30% to 80%, and it takes only 7.9 seconds to accelerate from 100 kilometers.
It has to be said that as the manufacturing company with the highest market value among Chinese listed companies today, BYD's Song MAX DM-i is worthy of the BYD brand in terms of performance. In terms of price, it is worthy of the trust of consumers.
So, why can BYD's cars have such a high cost performance in the case of the general increase in the prices of various raw materials for new energy vehicles?
First, the price of lithium carbonate soars into the sky, and London nickel becomes "demon nickel"
In 2021, global sales of new energy vehicles increased by 112% year-on-year, with total sales exceeding 6.3 million units. The rapid growth of market demand has caused a serious shortage of raw materials in the upstream.
Lithium carbonate is the key raw material that cannot be bypassed by the two major battery technology routes of new energy vehicles - ternary lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries. Since the beginning of 2021, lithium carbonate, which was originally priced at less than 30,000 yuan / ton, has suddenly entered a sharp rise. In just over a year, the price jumped to 500,000 yuan / ton. In the face of the soaring price of lithium carbonate, the global power battery "one brother" Ningde era has stated to the outside world: lithium carbonate price of more than 470,000 yuan / ton, I will not take orders!
The price of lithium carbonate has not subsided, and the metal nickel that has been "well-behaved" has suddenly transformed into "demon nickel". On March 7 this year, the London Metal Exchange ushered in a historic moment, the London nickel futures intraday price rose more than 88%, the price per ton jumped from the previous $29,000 to $55,000, the next day the highest price broke through the $100,000 mark.
To some extent, the rise in nickel prices is more painful for the majority of new energy vehicle companies than the rise in lithium carbonate prices, of course, this does not include BYD. Why?
Second, why is "demon nickel" a demon?
According to industry insiders, the conventional inventory of nickel in London is dominated by nickel beans, and its inventory accounts for up to 70%, which is the main force of this price increase. The soaring price of nickel in London is also due to part from the tightness of nickel bean stocks.
What is a nickel bean? In simple terms, nickel beans are one of the refined forms of nickel ore. After nickel ore is mined, there are usually two ways to process it:
First, the nickel ore is processed into nickel plates through electrowinning method refining;
Second, it is wet smelting, in the form of atmospheric pressure ammonia immersion or high-pressure acid leaching, etc., the nickel ore is first made into nickel powder, and then a fixed proportion of adhesive is added, and then the nickel pellets processed into spherical nickel pellets are sintered and fixed. This forms nickel beans.
The processing method determines the subsequent use. Due to the good autolysis economy, domestic manufacturers mostly choose to produce nickel sulfate in the form of automatic dissolution of nickel beans. Nickel sulfate is an indispensable key raw material in the cathode material nickel cobalt manganate of ternary lithium batteries.
A simple combing: without nickel sulfate, ternary lithium batteries cannot be made, and ternary lithium batteries are the absolute mainstream of new energy vehicle power batteries, so the price of nickel sulfate will increase, and new energy vehicles will increase in price. According to Morgan Stanley auto industry expert Adam Jonas, this round of soaring nickel prices has increased the manufacturing cost of each new energy vehicle by at least $1,000.
So, why is BYD not affected by "demon nickel"?
Third, why is BYD not affected by "demon nickel"?
Just as the current global smart phone only Android is from, only Apple takes the IOS route, BYD's new energy vehicles also have their own unique power battery route.
BYD's proud "blade battery" does not belong to the ternary lithium architecture in essence, but an innovative and improved version of the lithium iron phosphate battery structure, which does not require nickel and cobalt at all. Therefore, even if the nickel price rises to the sky, BYD will not have any impact.
Unsurprisingly, while the price of raw materials has risen, major new energy vehicle manufacturers have also announced the news of "price adjustment". But the so-called "price adjustment" is to increase the price.
According to the statistics of Red Star Capital Bureau, since entering 2022, the 16 most important brand companies in the field of new energy vehicles have raised the prices of major models, and the price adjustment ranges are large and small. The price adjustment range of domestic manufacturers is mostly maintained within 10,000 yuan. Tesla, as the world's leader in new energy vehicles, has also increased its price the most fiercely, and its rear-wheel drive version of Model Y has increased its price by as much as 21,000 yuan.
Although BYD's Dolphin models and Dynasty series, there has also been a certain increase. This is mainly because the cost of BYD's blade battery is still affected by the price of lithium carbonate. Battery-grade lithium carbonate has been soaring for more than a year, and BYD is not affected at all, and it is obviously impossible.
IV. Conclusion
To paraphrase Wang Chuanfu, "Semiconductors are not made by God", and BYD's cars did not come out of thin air.
However, compared with other car companies affected by the double pressure of lithium carbonate and nickel ore prices, BYD's price increase pressure is much smaller, so it can launch a cost-effective model like Song MAX DM-i.