Multiple benefits! Battery giants "fight fiercely" in the commercial vehicle field

According to the data from the China Automobile Association, the domestic sales volume of new energy vehicles in China from January to August this year reached 6.219 million, a year-on-year increase of 33.8%. Among them, the domestic sales volume of new energy passenger vehicles reached 5.916 million, a year-on-year increase of 33.6%, accounting for 45.6% of the total domestic sales volume of passenger vehicles; the domestic sales volume of new energy commercial vehicles reached 303,000, a year-on-year increase of 38.4%, accounting for only 15.1% of the total domestic sales volume of commercial vehicles.

Multiple benefits! Battery giants "fight fiercely" in the commercial vehicle field

In August this year , China's domestic sales of new energy passenger cars reached 949,000 units, accounting for 54.4% of the total domestic sales of passenger cars; domestic sales of new energy commercial vehicles reached 41,000 units, accounting for 20.8% of the domestic sales of commercial vehicles.

In the view of Battery China, compared with new energy passenger cars that have occupied half of the passenger car market in a single month, the current monthly penetration rate of new energy commercial vehicles has just exceeded one-fifth of the commercial vehicle market, and there is huge room for growth.

In this context, the leading power battery companies, including CATL, EVE Energy, Ruipu Lanjun, Lanjun New Energy, Lishen Battery, Guoxuan High-tech, Fudi Battery, and Zhongxinhang, are all increasing their layout in the commercial vehicle market, targeting the new energy commercial vehicle market. With the continuous increase in the penetration rate of new energy commercial vehicles, the curtain of the "fierce battle" in the commercial vehicle power battery market has been quietly opened.

01

Electric commercial vehicles gain momentum at home and abroad

In terms of the market , electric commercial vehicles are currently the main force of new energy commercial vehicles, including electric trucks, electric buses, etc. Not only does the domestic market have great growth potential, but some overseas markets also show a trend of increasing demand, and mainstream car companies are also continuing to increase their investment.

In the domestic new energy commercial vehicle market , many automakers have performed outstandingly. Traditional commercial vehicle giants such as Foton Motor, Dongfeng Motor, FAW Jiefang, and Sinotruk have continued to exert their strength in the new energy field; new forces such as Yuancheng New Energy Commercial Vehicle have risen rapidly in recent years; automakers such as JAC Motors and Jiangling Motors have also demonstrated strong competitiveness in the new energy commercial vehicle track.

In the foreign new energy commercial vehicle market , statistics from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) show that in 2023, the 27 EU member states sold a total of 2,600 zero-emission heavy-duty trucks, accounting for 0.9% of heavy-duty truck sales in the same period, most of which were electric models.

It is also reported that Europe plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from heavy-duty vehicles by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019. As a result, it is expected that electric vehicles in this field will continue to grow rapidly, which will help the European market achieve the above-mentioned carbon reduction goals.

As for car companies , Daimler Trucks recently stated that it plans to sell 30,000 electric trucks by 2030, accounting for half of the company's annual sales in the European market.

The Volvo Group, an international commercial vehicle giant headquartered in Sweden, mainly operates trucks, buses, construction equipment, ships and industrial engines. Its electrification transformation started in the heavy-duty truck field, and then popularized the truck's electrification and intelligent architecture technology to other business areas.

Taking heavy trucks as an example, Volvo Trucks has launched a number of pure electric versions of the FL, FE, FM and FH series. Data shows that the total delivery volume of Volvo Group's all-electric vehicles and machines increased by 128% to 4,996 units in 2023. Volvo revealed that many local logistics companies in Sweden have purchased Volvo Group's trucks, and the demand for pure electric trucks in the market is rising rapidly.

It can be seen from the relevant data that electric commercial vehicles have now become the focus of the layout of mainstream commercial vehicle companies. This also provides a broad new battery application scenario for power battery companies in the fierce competition in the field of electric passenger vehicles.

02

New commercial vehicle battery products are launched one after another

At present, many domestic power battery companies are accelerating their layout in the field of electric commercial vehicles, and new commercial vehicle-specific batteries are being launched one after another.

At the 2024 Hannover International Transport Exhibition (2024 IAA), CATL released the Tianxing battery series products (Tianxing heavy-duty truck version) for the heavy-duty truck market, with a vehicle range of 500km. Among them, the long-life version has a battery life of 15 years or 2.8 million kilometers, and the supercharger version has the ability to charge to 70% in 15 minutes.

In the field of heavy trucks, CATL also launched the Qiji battery swap last year, including the Qiji battery swap block, Qiji battery swap station and Qiji cloud platform.

In addition to its heavy-duty truck batteries, CATL also released the Tianxing Supercharger and Tianxing Long-Endurance batteries for light logistics commercial vehicles, as well as the Tianxing bus battery this year.

Akin Li, executive president of CATL's overseas business, said the company has cooperated with several European manufacturers, including Daimler Trucks, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volvo Cars.

Also at the 2024 IAA exhibition, Ruipu Lanjun released its commercial vehicle battery system "BIG BANK". The system is specially developed for the European market and has flexible and changeable combination solutions to meet the performance requirements of heavy/medium/light trucks in different application scenarios.

It is reported that the battery system has an energy density of over 210Wh/kg. The main 500kWh system can support heavy-duty trucks with a range of over 500km and a maximum range of over 600km. It has 2C fast charging performance and can achieve 10%-80% rapid charging in 18 minutes. It has active safety monitoring function to prevent the spread of thermal runaway and can achieve stable operation at -35℃. It has a cycle life of over 5,000 times and a service life of over 10 years.

In May this year, EVE Energy released its commercial vehicle supercharger battery - open source battery, covering different commercial vehicle models such as heavy trucks and light trucks. According to reports, the battery uses 3C supercharger technology, which can be charged from 20% to 80% in 15 minutes; the cycle life is up to 7,000 times, which is about twice the life of conventional products. EVE Energy said that the commercial vehicle battery business is one of its main businesses of power batteries.

According to the semi-annual report of Yiwei Lithium Energy, its first global cooperative operation model (CLS) project has started construction in Mississippi, the United States, and will build a lithium iron phosphate battery cell factory with an annual production capacity of approximately 21 GWh.

The project is jointly invested by EVE Energy, Daimler Trucks, Paccar and Cummins. The joint venture will obtain the license for the production, manufacturing and sales of battery cells from EVE Energy and pay the licensing fee as agreed. The battery cells it produces will be mainly used in the North American commercial vehicle field.

Guoxuan High-tech has released its latest generation of G-rated battery standard box products for hybrid heavy trucks, which feature 4C supercharging performance, can recharge to 80% of capacity in 12 minutes, and can still operate normally in a -35°C environment.

In addition, China New Aviation has released its commercial vehicle "Zhiyuan" series products, including the Zhiyuan light truck high-capacity battery system and the Zhiyuan heavy truck standard battery system. Among them, the Zhiyuan light truck high-capacity battery system single battery pack covers 100 to 180 degrees of electricity.

In terms of shipment volume, Lanjun New Energy has performed well this year. In the first half of 2024, its commercial vehicle power battery shipments reached 3GWh, ranking first in the new energy heavy-duty truck field in terms of shipment volume.

In fact, behind the active layout of leading enterprises, there are also many favorable policies in the country.

In July this year, the Ministry of Transport and other ministries jointly issued the "Implementation Rules for Subsidies for New Energy City Buses and Power Battery Renewals" , supporting the renewal of urban buses with a vehicle age of 8 years or more and the replacement of power batteries for new energy city buses, with an average subsidy of 60,000 yuan per vehicle.

In the same month, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance issued the "Notice on the Implementation of the Scrapping and Renewal of Old Commercial Trucks" , providing financial subsidies for the scrapping and renewal of old commercial trucks with National III emissions and below.

On August 28, the General Offices of the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the "Notice on Further Improving the Scrapping and Renewal of Old and Used Commercial Trucks" , which is also considered to be the operational details of the July truck replacement policy. Subsequently, the implementation of the replacement policy in various provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions was accelerated.

The "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Accelerating the Comprehensive Green Transformation of Economic and Social Development" also mentioned the promotion of electrification of urban public service vehicles; accelerating the elimination of old transportation vehicles and promoting zero-emission freight.

Industry insiders said that the electric commercial vehicle market is in a rapid development stage, benefiting from technological progress, market demand growth and policy promotion, and has broad application prospects in urban logistics, freight, public transportation and other fields. It should be mentioned that commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles are different in chassis load, driving rate, cruising range, power performance, etc., and there are also large differences in charging terminals and laying charging lines, which poses great challenges to commercial vehicle batteries.

In complex road conditions, how to alleviate the charging anxiety of electric commercial vehicles, extend battery life, and reduce battery weight and cost will be the main manifestation of the competitiveness of power battery companies.