Lithium battery field welcomes 30 million new "tuyere" Ningde era ATL accelerated layout

SMM: recently, the energy-saving and new energy vehicle technology roadmap 2.0 has been officially released, and China is moving towards the goal of electrifying the automobile industry in 2035. Although the roadmap will enhance the status of hybrid, but the direction of electrification transformation is irresistible, and the lithium-ion battery-related industry is still hot.

However, the application of lithium-ion batteries is not only in electric vehicles, another "tuyere" is also coming.

The field of light electric vehicles, with nearly 300m units in the market and an average annual output of more than 30 million, is under the guidance of policies to accelerate the technological upgrading from lead-acid batteries to lithium batteries, as a result, the growth rate of lithium batteries in this area is expected to exceed that of electric vehicles.

Industry insiders told Tencent Automobile, "the two battery giants C (Ningde era) and A (ATL) are in the key layout in the field of electric light vehicles, and big moves are expected next year."

The Blue Ocean, which sells 30 million vehicles a year, attracts giants.

In May 2018, the mandatory national standard of "Safety Technical Specification for Electric Bicycle" (GB17761-2018), which is called the new national standard by the industry insiders, was officially issued and enforced on April 15, 2019, a year later.

The standard requires that the frame weight of electric bicycles should be controlled below 39kg, and lithium iron phosphate batteries with lighter weight and higher energy density will become the mainstream choice for electric vehicle enterprises. Based on the requirements of environmental protection, the mainstream lead-acid batteries will also be gradually replaced under the implementation of this standard.

Under the guidance of this policy, domestic Yadi, Emma, Lvyuan and other established giants have launched new GB products one after another. The emerging brands such as Mavericks and No. 9 mainly take lithium battery as the technical route from the beginning of their birth. at the same time, more and more manufacturers also shape their own brand image by launching middle and high-end product lines.

At present, the number of electric bicycles in China has exceeded 300 million. According to the new national standard, more than 250 million of them are over-standard vehicles. Considering that most areas have given a transition period of 2-3 years, which means that more than 80% of electric bicycles need to be upgraded within 2-3 years, and the market prospect is huge.

However, a lithium battery supplier told Tencent that lead-acid batteries account for a higher proportion of batteries in two-wheeled electric cars because of "low cost and short service life, preferred by dealers." However, under the guidance of the policy, he believes that lithium batteries will gradually occupy the mainstream of the market.

"although the new GB policy gives various localities a buffer period of 2-3 years, the degree of relaxation of the policy varies from place to place." That's what he said.

However, according to the data, brands such as Mavericks and other brands such as smart lithium batteries have seen a big increase in sales in the past two years. According to the annual report of Mavericks Electric in 2019, the revenue of Mavericks electric vehicles reached 2.076 billion yuan last year, an increase of 40.5 percent over the same period last year.

It is understood that the lithium battery suppliers of Mavericks electric vehicles are mainly Yiwei batteries, mainly 18650 cylindrical batteries. Its main competitor, the lithium battery supplier of No. 9 electric car, has added ATL, which is mainly carried on its C-series models.

Ningde Times, another battery giant, is also accelerating its layout in this field.

On June 12, Hello, Ningde Times and Alipay jointly announced the establishment of a joint venture to enter the two-wheeled electric car market, with an initial investment of 1 billion yuan. The main purpose of this cooperation is to build a "replacement power station" for electric two-wheelers. Compared with the four-wheeled power exchange facilities, the two-wheeled power exchange facilities have lower construction cost, shorter cycle and faster return on investment.

Industry insiders said that the entry of the two giants Ningde era and ATL means that this market will soon change from a "blue sea" to a "red sea".

Suppliers of two-wheeled electric cars are also "jealous" of cars.

Interestingly, in addition to electric car battery suppliers trying to "market down" into the field of two-wheeled electric vehicles, traditional two-wheeled electric vehicle battery suppliers are also considering "upward exploration".

On October 23, Xingheng Power officially released "Super Lithium S7" battery products, which is Xingheng's seventh generation manganese series multi-component lithium composite technology, which officials said will become the "fourth technical route" of power lithium batteries.

It is understood that Xingheng Power supply is the only battery supplier with manganese series multi-component composite lithium square battery as the main battery supplier, which mainly supplies light electric vehicles and has become a leading enterprise of lithium electricity in domestic light electric vehicles.

By September 2020, the cumulative sales of Xingheng power supply electric vehicle batteries exceeded 70, 000 sets, and the global sales of lithium batteries for light vehicles exceeded 15 million sets, accounting for 60% of the domestic market share of lithium batteries for light vehicles.

In the field of electric vehicles, Xing Heng has been "planning".

It was first assembled to the Passat hybrid car to serve the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008; officially opened up the electric vehicle market in 2014 and reached a cooperation with Dongfeng Xiaokang; and this year, Xingheng Power supply has become the core power supplier of the annual best-selling model SAIC GM Wuling Hongguang MINI EV.

SAIC GM Wuling Hongguang MINI EV is the largest new energy dark horse this year. Data show that in August this year, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV surpassed Model3, which has held the top spot in new energy sales for several months, with sales of 15000 vehicles. In September, Hongguang sold 20150 MINI EV vehicles, nearly twice as much as the Model 3.

Feng Xiao, chairman and president of Xing Heng, said, "it is hoped that Xing Heng can expand from the existing main products of electric two-wheelers to the full range of electric transportation in the future, and also transform from a lithium battery kit provider to a power energy integrated service provider."

However, the person in charge of the Mavericks told Tencent that Xing Heng Power uses square batteries, which is not an easy choice for manufacturers who are used to using cylindrical batteries. "relatively speaking, cylindrical batteries have a higher energy density, while lithium manganate is less stable and has a lower cycle number than lithium iron phosphate, but the cost is lower. Xingheng's scale effect has made its cost the biggest advantage."

From two-wheeled electric cars to electric vehicles, battery suppliers have a greater test of technology and stability, and suppliers like Xing Heng who want to "move up" into the field of power batteries still have a long way to go.

Challenge and pressure coexist, "limelight" is in the limelight in the field of lithium battery.

In the evening of October 27th, Ningde Times released its third quarterly report, showing that in the first three quarters of this year, the company's operating income was 31.522 billion yuan, down 4.06% from the same period last year, and its net profit was 3.357 billion yuan, down 3.10% from the same period last year. Non-net profit was 2.567 billion yuan, down 13.40% from the same period last year.

The Ningde era, the eldest in the field of electric vehicle power batteries, is also facing "great pressure" from suppliers from Japan and South Korea. Ningde era also hopes to find new business growth points to face the increasingly competitive market, light electric vehicles may be a good choice.

It is worth looking forward to, whether in the field of light electric vehicles or new energy vehicles, in the next 2-5 years will usher in an explosive period.

Some research institutions predict that there will be a sales peak in China's light electric vehicle market from 2021 to 2022, about 4500-50 million vehicles per year. Others predict that domestic shipments of small power batteries are expected to reach 48GWh in 2025 with the increasing penetration of lithium batteries in the two-wheeler market and the increase in the share of power tool battery suppliers.

In the field of new energy vehicles, according to the road map, energy-efficient vehicles and new energy vehicles will each account for 50% of sales by 2035. Volkswagen, BMW and other giants have also entered the market, and in addition to the Ningde era, Guoxuan Hi-Tech also plans to achieve annual battery production of 100GWh by 2025.

At the same time, Zhengzheng red lithium battery is also accelerating the elimination of the industry with technological innovation.

Before the new national standard, there were more than 1000 licensed manufacturers in China's electric bicycle market. After the new national standard, by the end of 2019, only more than 700 enterprises have obtained more than 4700 CCC certificates for electric bicycles.

On the one hand, the huge market prospect leads to the accelerated transformation, upgrading and strategic layout of battery enterprises; on the other hand, the new product form and rising cost restrict the investment of small and medium-sized enterprises. Whether it is the "mid-to-high-end" road of traditional lithium power suppliers, or the giants exploring emerging markets, an accelerated reshuffle of the lithium industry is in the limelight.