One-third of Chinese power battery companies have been eliminated

Driven by both policies and markets, China's power battery technology has rapidly increased and some of the indicators have reached the international advanced level. For example, when the power battery cell energy density exceeds 240 watts per kilogram, the cost of the power battery is rapidly declining due to the large-scale production. The battery's monomer has been reduced from 5 yuan per watt-hour in 2012 to the current 1 yuan per watt-hour. about. Lithium battery production equipment automation is also greatly improved, the automated rate of first-line companies has exceeded 65%, which played an important role in protecting product quality.

Statistics show that in 2017 China's shipment of power-type lithium batteries reached 39.1 GWh, accounting for approximately 50% of the total size of the lithium-ion battery industry, of which the shipment of automotive power batteries reached 38GWh, accounting for global automotive power battery shipments. 65.4%, it is expected that with the development of new energy vehicles and energy storage markets, the scale of lithium batteries will be further expanded, and at the same time it will also bring huge demand for lithium, cobalt and other resources. Under this background environment, how to promote the coordination of power batteries and other aspects will directly affect the next step in the development of power batteries and even new energy vehicles.

However, one situation that cannot be ignored is that the global competition for power batteries has become increasingly fierce. Chinese companies have gradually expanded from the domestic market to the international market, and Japanese and Korean companies will also make further efforts in the Chinese market, and China will become the main battlefield for power battery competition. . Chen Qingtai, chairman of the China Electric Vehicles Centennial Association, pointed out that although European and American companies have lost their positions in this round of competition, they are already laying out their plans for the next stage of competition, and they are potential powerful competitors.

"From a corporate perspective, the global power battery market has been dominated by several major companies. In 2017, the top ten companies accounted for 80% of shipments. In the future, the market will further concentrate on leading enterprises, and small-scale low-level power Battery companies will be eliminated in the competition." Related data show that China's power battery support companies have dropped from about 150 in 2015 to about 100 in 2017, and one-third of companies have been eliminated.

At the same time, the power battery industry itself is also faced with many development issues. Overall, there are four main points:

First, the global lithium, cobalt and nickel resources are characterized by oligopoly. Although China's lithium resources are abundant, they have poor endowments and relatively low utilization ratios, while nickel and cobalt resources are scarce and foreign dependence is relatively high. In the long run, there is a risk of resource security.

Second, in recent years, the prices of lithium, cobalt and other upstream materials have risen rapidly, and car companies have shifted their costs because of the subsidy for the purchase of subsidy. This has put double pressure on the heads of battery companies and has caused these companies to feel financial pressure. Large, and some companies have begun to appear difficult business.

3. In the power battery market, there is a phenomenon of tight supply and overcapacity. According to relevant data, the capacity of China's power battery has exceeded 200GWh in 2017, but the overall capacity utilization rate is only 40%. The differentiation between the market's two poles is very obvious. The supply of high-end high-quality production capacity is insufficient, the low-end production capacity is insufficient to order, and production and operation are difficult. There is a structural excess capacity.

Fourth, the technology and system construction of battery recycling has not yet been put in place. At present, the technology for recycling is not yet mature, the acquisition network is not yet complete, the management measures are not sound enough, the support policies are not enough, and the business model and profit model have yet to be explored.

In the face of the above problems, how to promote the healthy and orderly development of the power battery industry has become a topic discussed by the industry. In this regard, Chen Qingtai put forward the following five points with constructive suggestions and considerations.

First, the state should formulate medium and long-term resource plans, use lithium, nickel, and cobalt as strategic resources, strengthen the work of surveying, evaluating, mining, and recycling of resources, strengthen market supervision, guide the rational return of prices, and encourage companies to globally Layout upstream resources to reduce the risk of resources.

Second, we must strictly control the exploitation of resources and battery production projects. In the mining sector, it is necessary to formulate mandatory standards, improve the access threshold of mining enterprises, eliminate large-scale mining, improve the efficiency of resource recovery and environmental protection standards. It is necessary to close those companies that do not meet the standards, increase the overall utilization level of resources, strengthen the technical standards and supervision of the battery industry, and prevent the defection of bad currencies.

Third, speed up the construction of a system for recycling and recycling of batteries. It is necessary to lay out a power battery recycling system from a strategic perspective. Formulate relevant technology, safety and environmental protection standards, encourage the recycling of power batteries to utilize the development of the company, and study the incentive mechanism for the recycling and utilization of power batteries.

Fourth, master core technologies and create core technologies. Chen Qingtai emphasized that "this is the question I want to talk about most. Battery technology is in the process of rapid development. It has become a focus of major national competitiveness. It is both full of opportunities and great challenges. ". The production scale is only a shallow level of competition. Continuously improving its competitive position is the key to mastering core technologies and continuing to create core technologies. Therefore, battery companies must produce a generation, develop a generation, and pre-research a generation to ensure that they always stand in the world. The forefront.

Fifth, we must strengthen the synergy between industry and enterprises. Power battery is a high-tech emerging industry. The innovation and development in this field involves the cooperation and cooperation of many cross-subjects and industries. It is unrealistic for the battery companies to go forward alone, and battery companies should improve their ability to integrate the industry chain. , Through strategic cooperation, alliances, cooperation and joint ventures and other ways to engage in in-depth cooperation with R & D institutions, core materials, vehicle recycling and ladder utilization and other enterprises, to ensure the continuous progress of China's power battery technology, and become increasingly strong international competitiveness To lay the foundation for sustainable development.