Insufficient production capacity of BYD DM-i vehicle order or over 100000 power "blade battery" affects delivery

There are a lot of red cars. BYD's DM-i model has been selling rapidly since its launch in March, with orders surging. "at present, the order quantity of DM-i has exceeded 100000 vehicles, and Qin PLUS has the largest order quantity." A BYD insider told the Financial Associated Press. However, as the capacity of the power-type "blade battery" used in the DM-i model is climbing, many consumers who have placed orders have to "look at the car and sigh", which leads to dissatisfaction.

"(BYD) is expected to produce 12000 to 13000 DM-i models in May, and June production is expected to hit a high of 20, 000." Shenyin Wanguo's latest research report obviously paid attention to this, and came to the conclusion that "the production capacity in the first half of the year is still unable to meet the order demand."

"the capacity problem of DM-i models can be alleviated by July and August." The person in charge of BYD gave a relatively clear timing.

The delivery time is more than three months.

On March 8th, BYD Qin PLUS DM-i officially listed; March 25th, Song PLUS DM-i listed; on April 19th, Tang DM-i listed. DM-i focuses on ultra-low fuel consumption, and three models with super hybrid technology have become the most important new products of BYD in the first half of this year.

However, nearly a month after Tang DM-i went public, BYD fell into a "happiness worry". "due to the large number of orders and the relatively slow delivery of vehicles, it still takes an average of 3.5 months for new orders to be delivered," BYD said in a note on the delivery of DM-i super hybrid models on May 17.

A reporter from the Financial Associated Press learned during a visit to a number of BYD 4S stores in Beijing that for the delivery cycle of Qin PLUS DM-i, which is the most popular in sales, the answers of the sales staff in each store are different. "depending on what configuration is needed, the fastest delivery time will take about two weeks, and if slow, it will take a month or two." A salesperson told reporters. The survey shows that the longest delivery period of Qin PLUS DM-i is more than three months.

By contrast, the delivery time of Song PLUS DM-i and Tang DM-i is more than three months, and many 4S stores are not even in place to show and test drive.

According to BYD's April production and sales data, only 9082 plug-in hybrid models were produced in April, with a cumulative production of 23947 from January to April. This figure is a far cry from the previously mentioned orders of more than 100000.

"at present, the number of orders for DM-i is at the six-figure level, of which Qin PLUS has the largest number of orders." This has been confirmed by industry insiders close to BYD.

It is understood that at present, some consumers have chosen to cancel their bookings because of the long waiting time for delivery. For long-standing customers, BYD said it would provide some non-monetary support.

In addition, Li Yunfei, general manager of BYD's auto brand and public relations department, also revealed on social media that "the order tracking system is still under improvement and optimization, and there is no problem to launch it before the third quarter."

Battery capacity will be alleviated in July and August.

In June 2020, BYD launched its first medium-and large-sized sedan with a "blade battery". Once it was launched, it also received good feedback on the order. However, also because of the "blade battery" capacity problem, BYD Han once experienced delivery time is too long, a car is difficult to obtain the situation. At that time, Zhao Changjiang, general manager of BYD sales company, apologized to the public on social media.

A year later, the DM-i series, which is also a blockbuster product of BYD, once again "folded" in the capacity of "blade batteries".

"the main reason for the insufficient production capacity of DM-i models is that the power 'blade battery' used in this super hybrid technology is insufficient." Wang Rongjin, partner of Jinbang Capital, pointed out, "compared with the 'blade battery' used in pure electric models, this kind of power 'blade battery' is different in process, so it cannot be produced in a common line."

Shen Yin Wanguo also mentioned in the research report that due to the winding core of the new power "blade battery", which is quite different from the power blade process, the rate of good product climbing is slow and the delivery of DM-i models is affected.

At BYD's 2020 performance meeting, BYD said that mainly due to battery capacity, only 3000 DM-i models were scheduled for March, and the subsequent production capacity will increase rapidly, reaching 6000 in April and 12000 in May. According to the plan, BYD's monthly battery production capacity will meet the demand for 80,000 new energy models by the end of this year.

It is understood that the power type "blade battery" used in DM-i models is mainly produced in BYD Qinghai battery production base. The plant was put into production in June 2018 with an annual production capacity of 24GWh.

"the goal of matching battery capacity is actually not radical. We can see that the single-car power of the DM-i model is not very large, and it only takes a single-digit GWH to achieve the goal." The above-mentioned BYD insider told reporters. "as capacity climbs, battery supply will not become a bottleneck and is expected to be alleviated in July and August."