Behind the CATL' long-life battery is the power battery operation

On June 8, 2020, Zeng Yuqun, chairman of CATL, said in an interview that CATL is prepared to produce a power battery that can be used for 16 years and has a mileage of 2 million kilometers.

In addition to the CATL, SVOLT Energy Technology, General Motors and Tesla have also stated that they are developing or already have long-term power battery technology exceeding one million kilometers. But in terms of the technology that has been announced so far, the service life of 2 million kilometers declared by CATL is still the longest in the industry.

Zeng Yuqun said: "If someone places an order, we will start production." According to its disclosure, the price behind a long-life battery is a 10% increase in product cost. Some people in the industry believe that a 10% cost increase is within the scope of public acceptance.

In the first quarter of 2020, CATL has just lost the global championship in installed capacity of power batteries. With the help of long-life batteries, the Chinese power battery giant may be able to find a new business growth point.

Behind the research and development of long-life batteries, CATL is trying to expand into a new market and further improve its business layout.

For now, CATL still focuses on the layout of power battery products. From upstream battery metal raw materials and cathode materials, to power batteries, energy storage systems, power battery recycling, and then to power battery charge and swap business, this battery giant has been involved.

Layout of long-life batteries, for the CATL, can not only enhance product competitiveness, but also help its business extend down to the back end of the industry chain.

Different from existing power batteries, long-life batteries still have huge recycling value even after the vehicles are scrapped.

After the emergence of long-life batteries, the power battery recycling business in the CATL is also expected to be separated from the recycling of a single positive electrode material, and in turn, the recycled batteries can be applied to the energy storage market and truly realize the use of battery ladders. In addition, the CATL may have a new industry role.

The long-life battery will accelerate the advent of the battery standardization era, and its gradual application will promote the development of the car-electric separation business model. Under this model, a new business role is expected in the new energy vehicle industry-battery operators.

Will the CATL increase the identity of battery operators in the future? In the car-electric separation mode, this is very likely.

 

After the customer purchases a new energy vehicle, the ownership of the power battery still belongs to the operator, and the customer obtains the right to use the battery by lease. Benefiting from the advantages of long life, the commercial value of power battery rental will continue to be demonstrated. This will help car owners pay less cost. On the other hand, it will also help power battery operators’ income increase and will also help promote batteries. The utilization rate has increased and led to the formation of a new business circle with batteries as the core.

As a linking enterprise, the CATL not only has a large number of car company customer resources, but also has a complete industrial chain in battery recycling. There are huge opportunities for cooperation with car companies and power exchange companies to promote the separation of car and electricity business models.

Under the business model of vehicle-electricity separation, the CATL can lease batteries to users, and through insurance and battery leasing related financial products, to ensure that they continue to earn income throughout the life cycle of the car. In addition, through the deployed power battery recycling business and energy storage system, CATL can deeply tap the remaining value of the eliminated batteries.

Prior to this, CATL cooperated with Hello Travel and Ant Financial to deploy the electric bicycle power battery swap business. Under the vehicle-electricity separation mode, the CATL has a natural layout for the automobile power battery swap business, which can improve the energy network.

For car companies, the separation of car and power battery allows car companies to get rid of power battery restrictions, so that their new energy vehicles have a price advantage. For consumers, the vehicle-electrical separation mode allows them to swap the power supply option without affecting charging, which helps reduce mileage anxiety and solve battery warranty issues.

Power battery operators are still at the theoretical level. On the road from theory to reality, many obstacles and doubts need to be overcome.

In terms of technology itself, the life limit of power batteries is mainly at the level of cell material and cell design. Most companies will improve battery life in two ways: one is to improve the structural design and improve battery stability; the other is to directly introduce new battery materials to improve the initial capacity and the stability of positive and negative materials.

In the early days of the introduction of long-life batteries, power battery operation is impossible. This move will not only increase the cost of the enterprise, but also need to face security risks. Only when long-life batteries form a scale effect can the battery operation business of the CATL appear.

As a leading company in the power battery industry, CATL' customers cover most of the mainstream car companies in the new energy vehicle market and have established in-depth cooperation with some car companies. Thanks to the accumulated resources and technological advantages, the CATL is one of the companies that have the most opportunity to promote the establishment of battery standards. Long-life batteries are an important opportunity.

Early deployment of battery operations will help CATL to establish close cooperation with power exchange stations and vehicle companies; on the other hand, it will also promote the development of its power battery recycling and energy storage system business. Further deepen the use of power batteries in order to dig deeper into the value of batteries. Prior to this, CATL has arranged the charging pile business and E-bike power battery swap business through cooperation.

Founded in 2011, WinAck Battery has always focused on the R&D, production and sales of power battery pack assembly machine and power battery testing equipment. The main business is to provide solutions for the power battery pack assembly production line.