The global power battery giants have also begun to roll up.
Going to the United States to build a factory and holding the thigh is becoming the consensus of the power battery giants.
Recently, the market value of more than one trillion Ningde times came out of the big news, planning to build a power battery factory in the United States, the total investment or up to 5 billion US dollars (about 31.8 billion yuan).
Prior to this, LG New Energy, Panasonic, SK Innovation and other giants have also set off a wave of factories in the United States, with a total investment of nearly 20 billion US dollars, and the competitive momentum can be described as very fierce.
The key consideration behind this may be tesla. Judging from the past competition, in the global power battery market competition, the key point of victory or defeat is more determined by Tesla.
The 30 billion big move in the Ningde era
On March 19, according to the US media, the world's largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer - CATL, plans to build a super power battery factory in North America, with a total investment of up to 5 billion US dollars, and the power battery will be prioritized to Tesla and other electric vehicle manufacturers.
According to sources, the super factory to be built in North America by CATL will have a target annual production capacity of up to 80 GWh, and the plant will employ more than 10,000 employees after full operation.
In addition, people familiar with the matter said that in early March 2022, the senior management team of CATL flew to Mexico to participate in the meeting, so the possibility of building a factory in Canada is not ruled out, and the current CATL era may be making trade-offs in all aspects, and the final factory construction address will consider factors such as labor supply, local policies and downstream customers.
As soon as the report was released, it triggered a heated discussion in the market, and some commentators said that the intention of the CATL move was to move the power battery production line closer to American electric vehicle manufacturers such as Tesla to get more orders.
For this report, CATL temporarily refused to respond, including investment plans and site selection evaluation in the United States.
From the perspective of the global electric vehicle competition pattern, the US market is obviously a must for major power battery manufacturers.
At present, the United States not only has Tesla, Rivian and other electric vehicle manufacturers, but also traditional car giants such as General Motors and Ford, which are transforming into electric vehicle tracks. Therefore, the demand for power batteries in the US market is very strong and maintains a high growth rate.
In fact, in February 2022, CATL has released the signal to build a factory in the United States, it said at the media communication meeting that CATL interacted with American customers more, including new forces, but also including traditional car companies, the two sides jointly discussed a variety of possible supply and cooperation programs, as well as the possibility of local 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.
America's conspiracy
As we all know, the power battery is one of the most critical components of electric vehicles, the highest cost ratio, at present, most of the world's power battery production capacity is concentrated in Asia, China accounts for more than 70% of the global battery production capacity, Europe, the United States production capacity is far less than the market demand.
Some people in the US industry chain have warned that the US automotive industry will continue to face a shortage of battery supply until 2025, which is the biggest challenge facing the Biden administration's ambitious electric vehicle plan.
Therefore, the US government began to lobby major electric vehicle manufacturers to give priority to the purchase of power batteries produced in factories built in the United States. At the same time, the US government has also introduced a series of preferential policies to attract major power battery manufacturers to build factories in the United States.
In response, South Korea's SK Innovation, which announced in January, will invest $11.4 billion in partnership with Ford to build three battery plants and one plant to produce F-Series electric pickups in the U.S., with one and two battery plants in Stanton, Tennessee, and Glendale, Kentucky, respectively, with an annual production capacity of 129 GWh when completed.
LG New Energy, the world's second largest supplier of power batteries, is also very determined to build a factory in the United States. In January this year, LG New Energy announced that it and General Motors jointly invested $2.1 billion to build a third battery factory in the United States, with an annual production capacity of 50 GWh; on February 1, GM announced that it would announce the location of LG New Energy and GM's fourth joint venture plant in the first half of this year, with an estimated production capacity of 30 GWh. After all the above plants are put into operation, LG New Energy's annual battery production capacity in North America is expected to reach 200GWh.
Subsequently, Japan's Panasonic Company also decided to expand its production capacity in the United States. On March 4, people familiar with the matter revealed that Panasonic plans to purchase land in the United States, build a large power battery factory, and produce batteries for new electric vehicles for Tesla, which may be used to produce 4680 batteries, and the investment amount of the factory may be as high as billions of dollars.
Obviously, the head players of the global power battery have set off a wave of factory construction in the United States, and the competitive momentum can be described as very fierce. If all the above factories are built and put into operation, the electric production capacity of power batteries in the United States will be very impressive.
Power battery of the jianghu
Many power battery giants have set off a wave of going to the United States, and the key consideration behind it is mainly Tesla.
Judging from the past competition, in the global power battery market competition, the key point of victory or defeat is more determined by Tesla.
Take panasonic, the former power battery overlord, as an example, in 2016, it once occupied 40% of the global power battery market share, precisely because of the deep binding of Tesla. Subsequently, Panasonic's position in Tesla's procurement matrix deteriorated, from the initial sole supplier to gradually being robbed of share by the Ningde era and LG New Energy.
In the end, Panasonic was completely "picked off" by the Ningde era and LG New Energy.
According to SNE Research data, the global power battery installed capacity in 2021 is about 296.8Gwh, an increase of 102.18% year-on-year. Among them, among the TOP10 companies, Chinese power battery companies occupy 6 seats, and the global market share of CATL reached 32.6%, ranking first, up 8 percentage points year-on-year; followed by LG New Energy, with a market share of 20.3%, and Panasonic fell to the third place, with a global market share of 12.2%, down about 6 percentage points year-on-year.
In 2021, Tesla won the world with 936,000 car sales, far surpassing byBYD in second place (total sales of 594,000 units), accounting for 14% of global new energy vehicle sales that year.
Obviously, for power battery manufacturers, maintaining long-term, stable and in-depth cooperation with Tesla with an annual installed capacity of up to 65.8 GWh directly determines the position in the power battery industry.
According to the statistics of foreign media insideevs, 21% of the total power battery produced by the Ningde era is supplied to Tesla, mainly for the Model 3/ Model Y model produced in China, and Tesla is considered to be the largest customer of the Ningde era.
LG New Energy, the world's second largest power battery, also firmly holds Tesla's "thigh", and 19% of the total production capacity in 2021 will be supplied to Tesla, also for Model 3/Model Y models;
Panasonic, in third place, is deeply dependent on Tesla, with 87% of total production going to Tesla in 2021, and even close to 90% in 2020.
Therefore, Tesla has almost become a "key chess piece" and has played a key role in the industrial chain of introducing power batteries.
It is foreseeable that for a long time in the future, the global power battery will still be a pattern of the crowd, who can laugh to the end, it is still unknown.