Source of this article: Times Finance Author: Yuchen
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With the popularity of the concept of "low-altitude economy", lithium batteries as the power source of its carrier have also ushered in new development opportunities.
In the secondary market, on April 9, the low-altitude economic sector rebounded, and AVIC Heavy Machinery (600765. SH), Zongshen Power (001696.SZ), Guangzhi Technology (300489. SZ) rose more than 5%, the market as a whole showed a recovery, the lithium battery industry chain strengthened across the board, as of the close, Tianci materials (002709. SZ), Shenghua New Materials (603026. SH), Dangsheng Technology (300073.SZ), Rongbai Technology (688005. SH), Penghui Energy (300438. SZ) rose more than 10%.
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Just two days ago, on April 7, EHang (NASDAQ: EH) announced that it had received a license from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for the EH216-S unmanned manned aircraft system. This is the first production license in the global eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) industry, marking that EHang's EH216-S can enter the production stage.
Recreate a new energy source?
It is reported that low-altitude economy is an emerging concept, mainly refers to all economic activities based on low-altitude airspace and dominated by the general aviation industry, involving low-altitude flight, air tourism, regional passenger transport, general aviation services, scientific research and education and many other industries. The related products of the low-altitude economy mainly include unmanned aerial vehicles, eVTOLs, helicopters, traditional fixed-wing aircraft, etc., involving two major scenarios: residential consumption and industrial applications.
On March 27, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for the Innovative Application of General Aviation Equipment (2024-2030)", which requires that by 2027, aviation emergency rescue, logistics and distribution will be applied on a large scale, and urban air traffic will be commercially operated. By 2030, general aviation equipment will be fully integrated into all fields of people's production and life, forming a trillion-level market scale.
"The low-altitude economy requires a large number of low-altitude aircraft, and these aircraft require a large number of lithium batteries as a power source. This will drive a significant increase in the demand for lithium batteries, thereby promoting the development of the lithium battery industry. On April 9, Zhang Xiaorong, president of the Deep Science and Technology Research Institute, told Times Weekly that the low-altitude economy and lithium batteries are closely related, which also means that the lithium battery industry is facing huge opportunities and challenges.
At the same time, Zhang Xiaorong further said that at present, the carriers of the low-altitude economy are mainly drones and air cars, and these new vehicles have very high requirements for lithium batteries. Compared with traditional power batteries, they have higher requirements in terms of energy density, safety, and environmental adaptability. At present, the performance of lithium batteries on the market cannot meet the actual needs of low-altitude flight.
For lithium battery companies, the layout of the low-altitude economic field is not only to capture the opportunities of this emerging market, but also to further consolidate and enhance their market position.
Times Weekly learned that it currently includes CATL (300750. SZ), EVE (300014. SZ), Guoxuan Hi-Tech (002074. SZ), Funeng Technology (688567. SH) and many other leading lithium battery companies have laid out the field of "low-altitude economy".
Specifically, on April 3, CATL said on the interactive platform that the company's condensed matter battery energy density can reach up to 500Wh/kg, and is in the process of cooperative development of civil electric manned aircraft projects, implementing aviation-grade standards and tests to meet aviation-grade safety and quality requirements, and will also launch a vehicle-grade application version of condensed matter batteries.
On April 3, Azure Lithium Core (002245. SZ) said in an investor relations event, "For the low-altitude economy, we have paid attention to the layout of overseas counterparts in eVTOL (vertical lift aircraft) in 2022, and now there are also products under development, which is mainly the company's layout for the future." ”
On April 2, EVE said on the interactive platform that the company has the layout and application of related battery products in low-altitude fields such as flying cars and drones.
At the end of 2023, Gotion Hi-Tech and EHang reached a strategic cooperation to jointly develop power battery solutions for EHang's driverless eVTOL products.
On April 9, Guo Tao, an angel investor and senior artificial intelligence expert, told the Times: "With the development of unmanned driving technology, the demand for high-performance and high-safety lithium batteries will increase significantly. If this market (low-altitude economy) can achieve the expected growth, it may become the second outlet after new energy vehicles. ”
There are already companies that have obtained airworthiness certificates"The barrier to entry in the low-altitude economy is relatively high, because it involves many aspects such as aviation safety, technology research and development, and market supervision. Enterprises need to have strong technical strength and financial support to enter this market. On April 9, Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told Times Weekly that at present, although some leading companies such as EHang have made significant progress and achieved mass production of some products, the mass production of the entire industry is still limited by factors such as technology maturity, market demand and policy environment.
In fact, in the field of eVTOL, EHang is currently at the forefront of the industry. According to public information, EHang was founded in 2014 and listed on NASDAQ in 2019, making it the world's first listed urban air mobility company.
In October 2023, EHang's EH216-S unmanned manned aircraft system successfully obtained the Type Certificate ("TC") issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, becoming the world's first eVTOL aircraft to obtain an airworthiness certificate.
According to EHang's financial report, in 2023, EHang will achieve revenue of 117 million yuan, of which the company will achieve revenue of 56.6 million yuan in the fourth quarter, an increase of 260.9% year-on-year and 97.8% quarter-on-quarter. For the whole year of 2023, EHang delivered a total of 52 EH216 series aircraft, and a total of 23 EH216 series aircraft were delivered in the fourth quarter.
According to EHang's official WeChat, on the evening of March 20, EHang's self-developed unmanned manned aircraft EH216-S was successfully sold in the "Make a Friend" Taobao live broadcast room, creating a precedent for the world's first unmanned manned aircraft online transaction on an e-commerce platform. At present, the EH216-S is already on sale on Taobao at a price of 2.39 million yuan.
Image source: Taobao
According to the Tianfeng Securities Research Report, if EHang obtains the production license (PC) issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China to carry out mass production and delivery, and implements low-altitude tourism business in low-altitude economic demonstration cities such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hefei, EHang's market recognition may be greatly strengthened, and the number of orders and deliveries may usher in a significant increase.
On April 9, Han Tao, a senior civil aviation expert, told Times Weekly that at present, EHang and other companies have made some progress in the field of low-altitude economy, but further technology research and development and policy support are still needed to achieve commercialization. Despite this, the low-altitude economy is still likely to become an emerging industrial sector and bring new growth opportunities to the lithium battery industry.