80% of the core components of China's electric vehicle batteries actually rely on imports

The gradual replacement of traditional gasoline vehicles by new energy vehicles in the future has become the consensus of all countries for the development of the automotive industry. Power batteries, which are the core components, are even more favored by companies and investors. However, at present, the core components of China's power batteries still rely heavily on imports, and the R&D of core technologies is lagging behind that of developed countries.
Experts have suggested that we must break the boundaries of R&D between enterprises, rely on large companies, establish scientific research teams, and strive to develop core technologies.

Power battery core components still rely heavily on imports

"At present, more than 80% of the core components of China's new energy vehicle power battery must rely on imports." Zhang Xiaoji, executive vice president of the China Federation of Machinery Industry and president of the China Automotive Engineering Society, said recently.
Zhang Xiaolu said that the current electric vehicle is the main body of the development of new energy vehicles in China, and the key technologies of electric vehicles include batteries, motors and electronic control. The battery is the most important part. In these aspects, China is still in research and development, and it has not reached the stage of industrialization. It is regrettable that at present, more than 80% of the cathodes and battery separators of the core components of our power batteries need to be imported.
For 80% of this data, there are also industry insiders that do not recognize. Wu Zemin, director of the Dongfeng Motor New Energy Office, said in an interview with the reporter of the Economic Information Daily: “80% of the figures are exaggerated. According to my understanding, it is about 30%. Our country’s current theoretical research level in the field of electric vehicles It has reached or is at the leading level, but the hardware facilities can not keep up. Designing the same parts, we can not produce, can only rely on imports, which is difficult to solve at once."
"In fact, the domestic battery cathode material imports did not reach 80%, while the battery separator is more than 80%." Li Shengmao, senior adviser of China Investment Consulting in an interview with the "Economic Information Daily" reporter said.
Industry insiders pointed out that at present, not only parts and materials required for motors and batteries are imported, but also the basic hardware, chips, high-speed CAN gateways, and signal processing and amplification components of the controllers are imported; electric accessories have no mature products. , And the cost is high, also depends on imports.
Dong Jianping, deputy secretary-general of the Automobile Industry Association, told the Economic Information Daily that at present, China's research on new energy vehicles, especially the study of several key core technologies, is far from enough. Our researchers sometimes have the psychology of deceiving themselves and feel that our new energy vehicles are not worse than Others, and even better. But did not see that our key core technology is people's.

Realize the breakthrough of power battery technology is imminent

The high import rate of the core components of power batteries sounded a warning to China's development of new energy vehicles. Behind the high import rate is the gap that cannot be ignored between China's core R&D and the world's advanced level.
According to Li Shengmao, the root cause of the problem of high import rates of core components is that there is still a certain gap between the overall level of domestic industrial manufacturing and developed countries, because the production of key components of power batteries is related to the production stability and production accuracy of related equipment. Very high demands, but most of the domestic companies' production lines can not be fully automated and high-precision production. At present, the biggest problem in the production of power battery cathode materials and separators by domestic companies is poor product quality, and there is still a large gap between mass production capacity and advanced companies in the United States, Japan, and Other countries.
At present, electric vehicles are divided into pure electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles from the development direction, and the automotive industry in China is in a trend of keeping pace with the three fields. Hybrid vehicles are currently the best transition product, but pure power battery vehicles are the future development direction, and their core technologies are breakthroughs in battery technology. Insiders pointed out that in a sense, the competition between the future car manufacturers is mainly the competition of power battery performance. Whoever masters the leading technology of power battery and industrializes it, who will take the initiative in the future car market.
Dong Yang, executive vice president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, revealed at the second session of the third session of the China Machinery Industry Federation that the country has basically mastered the matching and integrated design of the whole vehicle power system for pure electric vehicles, and the vehicle control technology. The dynamics and energy consumption of prototype vehicles are equivalent to those of foreign countries. However, according to the findings of a large number of studies conducted by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, there is still a “comprehensive” gap in the research and development of new energy vehicles in China compared to the world’s advanced level.
Dong Yang pointed out that China’s development of basic materials and basic components for new energy vehicles, including batteries and motors, has a wide gap with the world’s advanced level. For example: China has abundant rare earth material resources, but permanent magnet materials have to be imported; new energy vehicles have very high requirements for motor efficiency, but ultra-thin silicon steel sheets for high-efficiency motors cannot be produced; our country has abundant lithium resources. However, the high level of iron phosphate powder necessary for the production of batteries has to be imported, resulting in a significant increase in the import price of the product in recent years. This is only part of our many gaps in the level of R&D of new energy vehicles.
Li Shengmao told the reporter of the "Economic Information Daily" that China has its own unique advantages in developing electric vehicles. At present, China's proven reserves of lithium resources ranks second in the world, and lithium resources are an essential mineral resource for the development of electric vehicle industry.
"At present, the biggest bottleneck in the development of the domestic power battery industry is that the cost of manufacturing batteries is too high to convert advanced technologies into commercial products. This has greatly affected the sound development of the industry." Li Shengmao said that with the domestic lithium battery industry With the development, the mining and purification technology of the upstream lithium mineral products needs to be improved. In addition, foreign related companies have entered the domestic market one after another, and some have also formed strategic alliances with domestic vehicle companies, which has brought greater competitive pressure on domestic power battery manufacturers.
Insiders pointed out that the core of competition for new energy vehicles is technology, while the battery power is the highest technical threshold, but also the most concentrated part of the profits, so the most urgent is to achieve a breakthrough in power battery technology.

It is imperative to establish a national power battery industry alliance

Chen Quanshi, director of the Electric Vehicles Branch of the China Engineering Society, emphasized that through demonstration operations, the company will continue to expand its scale, and promote the adoption of large-scale applications to further promote power battery technology, reduce battery costs, and improve relevant technical standards.
Chen Quanshi believes that nowadays, most of China's power battery companies have independently researched and developed, and their funding is limited. There is a lack of exchanges and cooperation among enterprises, and it is difficult for the technology to advance further. In addition, a large number of power battery investment projects have started across the country, which may trigger a new wave of repeated construction. There is no need to establish a national power battery industry alliance in the industry, improve investment direction and channels, and promote China by promoting the development of common technologies. Power battery industrialization is on the right track as soon as possible.
Jia Xinguang, an automotive analyst, also stated that there is a lack of cooperation between companies that develop power battery projects in the country, and there are redundant constructions. The investment direction of the entire industry should be improved as soon as possible, and the key technologies should be jointly promoted to promote the development of the entire battery industry.