"Byd has its own judgment on the development of the market. In addition to its own needs, with the opening up of battery components, many brands have approached us to discuss, and there is a great room for growth of blade batteries in the future." Li Yunfei, deputy general manager of BYD Auto Sales Co LTD, said in an interview with economic Daily-China Economic Network and other media during a visit to The Fordi Battery Factory in Chongqing recently.

Li Yunfei, deputy general manager of BYD Auto Sales Co

The prospect of blade batteries can be expected to promote the structural reform of the industry

Li yunfei said at the outset that electric vehicles' ownership is getting higher and higher at present. With the gradual improvement of charging piles and other infrastructure, electric vehicles will grow rapidly in the next few years. "We feel it is the right time to introduce blade batteries at this stage, especially since consumer concerns about safety are already on a par with battery life."

In recent years, with the gradual popularization of new energy vehicles, the power battery market competition is increasingly intensified, and enterprises are even in a tit-for-tat state. On March 29, BYD unveiled a razor blade battery with the same range as a ternary lithium battery, and vowed to redefine new safety standards for electric cars.

As a representative enterprise of ternary lithium battery, Zeng Yuqun, chairman of Ningde Times, said publicly that "blade battery is one of the innovative concepts of CTP structure for mass production of Ningde Times in 2016. In addition, Great Wall Motor's Honeycomb Energy released "the world's first cobalt-free battery" in mid-May, and the NEDC has a range of 880 kilometers.

He Kefeng, cell design, cell product manager, Fordi Battery Development Center

, franco di He Kefeng battery development center design batteries, batteries, product manager, according to "the blade of the battery system now is 140 watts per kilogram, later we will improve the quality of the design through the integration of the batteries and the material itself, and further improve the energy density increase space utilization, realize plan from 160 to 170 watts per kilogram, vehicle loading range can reach 700-800 km."

Behind the intensified competition, the power battery enterprises highlight the "ambition" to seize more market share. Data released by the Research Department of Power Battery Application Branch shows that the installed capacity of Power battery in China in 2019 is about 62.2 GWh (gigawatt-hour), with a year-on-year growth of 9.3%. Among them, Ningde Times achieved a score of 31.71 GWh, accounting for more than 50% of the total. Byd followed with 10.76GWh, or 17.3%. The gap has widened since 2017, when BYD was overtaken by Ningde Times. Industry insiders believe that BYD's battery supply has been its own related products, not open to outside car companies, inhibiting its development.

"Over the next few years, our product mix will change and drive the industry structure. This year there may be only Han, and some new models coming on the market next year, as well as major modifications to existing models in the next few years, will all have razor blade batteries. In addition, every electric car brand you can think of is in talks with us, but the progress is fast or slow and the order is first and then." "I believe that from the second half of 2021 to 2022, we will see more models of internationally renowned brands, gradually using BYD's blade batteries," Li said confidently.

BYD-HanEV

In view of this, Fordi power battery will also continue to expand capacity in the next few years. According to reports, Fordi power battery currently has six production bases in Shenzhen, Xi 'an, Qinghai, Chongqing, Changsha and Guiyang. Byd will have a total battery capacity of 40 GWh in 2019, which, combined with capacity already in production and planned for construction, will reach 65 GWh this year. In 2021 and 2022, it will reach 75 GWh and 100 GWh, respectively.

Byd basically all of the assets of the business in the listed company's system, the later may consider a spin-off listing. "As the battery scale increases and further opens up, Fordi battery will attract more strategic partners, but there is no definite timetable," Li said.

Byd will roll out the I series

For all its efforts and success with pure electric cars, BYD isn't abandoning its hybrid route. In Li yunfei's opinion, hybrid vehicles can not change customers' consumption habits as much as possible, which is a good inheritance of fuel vehicles and a link between the past and the future for new energy vehicles. In the next 3-5 years, BYD's hybrid model will still be the main product.

In fact, BYD has long been on a three-legged path, including pure electric, plug-in hybrid and petrol-powered cars, though plug-in hybrids have started to decline in the past two years. Data show that in 2019, BYD sold a total of 451,300 vehicles, down 13.33% year on year, among which 72,200 DM hybrid models were sold, down 41.73% year on year, higher than the overall drop of the brand.

"Objectively speaking, a few years ago, plug-in hybrids of foreign brands did not enter the Chinese market, consumers had less choice, and the life of their own brands was not bad. Once a foreign brand is in the market, people have more choices." In the past two years, the joint venture brands have made great efforts in the hybrid market. For example, the German Volkswagen brand has launched many PHEV models, the Japanese Toyota brand has launched many twin Engine models, and the Korean Hyundai Kia has also launched hybrid models...

"Byd is really not doing a good job in brand building at the moment," Li said bluntly, mainly because the two brands of our fuel car and DM cover more than 40,000 to 300,000 models, with different customer layers, groups and products.

Byd Tang DM

Byd will strengthen the building of the brand, on the one hand to complement the weak points, on the other hand is conducive to technology and product diversity. Li Yunfei said, "We don't want TO see no uniqueness and brand value in the TO C business in 5-10 years, which is a very objective and serious problem. Our short-term goal is that by the end of the year byd's brand will have significantly improved."

Specifically, BYD will call the original DM technical route P series, and plans to launch the fuel-electric hybrid I series in the fourth quarter of this year. The Price of the I-series will be lower than that of the P-Series, but will still be higher than that of the gas-powered car. "I believe that after the release of the I series, customers who have not considered new energy vehicles before will consider whether to buy a fuel car, because the I series can be licensed with new energy, and the vehicle has better performance and lower fuel consumption," Li stressed.

"We are currently working on the technology and products for the I series. When the DM P series and the DM I series go hand in hand, byd should see a significant increase in hybrid models." Li said.