Yahoo Finance on 9 June 2020 reported the following:
A Million-Mile Battery From China Could Power Your
Electric Car
Bloomberg Bloomberg News,Bloomberg Mon, Jun 8 5:00 AM GMT+8
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(Bloomberg) -- The Chinese behemoth that makes electric-car batteries for Tesla Inc. and Volkswagen AG developed a power pack that lasts more than a million miles -- an industry landmark and a potential boon for automakers trying to sway drivers to their EV models.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. is ready to produce a battery that lasts 16 years and 2 million kilometers (1.24 million miles), Chairman Zeng Yuqun said in an interview at company headquarters in Ningde, southeastern China. Warranties on batteries currently used in electric cars cover about 150,000 miles or eight years, according to BloombergNEF.
Extending that lifespan is viewed as a key advance because the pack could be reused in a second vehicle. That would lower the expense of owning an electric vehicle, a positive for an industry that’s seeking to recover sales momentum lost to the coronavirus outbreak and the slumping oil prices that made gas guzzlers more competitive.
“If someone places an order, we are ready to produce,” said Zeng, 52, without disclosing if contracts for the long-distance product have been signed. It would cost about 10% more than the batteries now inside EVs, said Zeng, whose company is the world’s largest maker of the batteries.
Anticipating a rapid return to growth for the EV industry, CATL is plowing research-and-development dollars into advances in battery technology. While the coronavirus outbreak will drag down sales throughout this year, EV demand will pick up in early 2021, said Zeng, who founded CATL a decade ago.
Car buyers holding back during the pandemic is creating pent-up demand that will be unleashed starting next year, led by premium models, he said. CATL’s customers include BMW AG and Toyota Motor Corp.
Zeng’s comments strengthen views that electric vehicles are set to weather the economic slowdown caused by the outbreak better than gas guzzlers. Battery-powered cars will swell to 8.1% of all sales next year in China, which accounts for the largest share of global EV sales, and to 5% in Europe, BNEF predicts.
“The pandemic may have a lasting effect throughout 2020, but won’t be a major factor next year,” Zeng said. “We have great confidence for the long run.”
CATL struck a two-year contract in February to supply batteries to Tesla, a major boon for the Chinese company as the U.S. electric-car leader has thus far mainly worked with Japan’s Panasonic Corp. and South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd. The deal followed months of negotiations, with Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk traveling to Shanghai to meet with Zeng.
The CATL batteries are set to go into Model 3 sedans produced at Tesla’s massive new factory near Shanghai, which started deliveries around the beginning of this year. Batteries are the costliest part of an EV, meaning suppliers of those components have a chance to reap a lion’s share of the industry’s profits.
Zeng said he often shares insights with Musk, with the two exchanging text messages about developments in technology and business. CATL is strengthening its relationship with Tesla, with matters such as cobalt-free batteries on their agenda, Zeng said.
“We’re getting along well and he’s a fun guy,” Zeng said of Musk. “He’s talking about cost all day long, and I’m making sure we have the solutions.”
Zeng said Musk also requested his help in obtaining ventilators for coronavirus patients. The U.S. billionaire delivered more than 1,000 of the breathing machines from China to officials in Los Angeles in March.
Shares of CATL have advanced about six-fold in Shenzhen since its initial public offering in 2018, giving the company a market value of about $47 billion. Tesla, by far the most valuable EV maker, has a market capitalization of about $160 billion.
A “trigger point” for electric cars will occur once they overtake gasoline-powered vehicles around 2030-2035, Zeng said. That view is more ambitious than that of researchers such as BNEF, which expects the shift to take place a few years later.
CATL, which is adding a production facility in Germany, is set to make more than 70% of batteries required by BMW, an early customer, Zeng said. CATL also works with Volkswagen’s Audi unit and is cooperating with Porsche, he said.
Zeng didn’t rule out building a plant in the U.S., though he said the company has no specific plans for now.
“Our team has made achievements in competing with our global rivals in overseas markets,” Zeng said.
Translation
來自中國的百萬英里電池可以為您的電動汽車供電
宁德时代新能源科技股份有限公司(CATL)董事長曾玉群在位於中國東南部寧德的公司總部接受採訪時說，他們準備生產可持續16年，200萬公里（124萬英里）的電池。據彭博新能源金融 (BloombergNEF)(BNEF) ，目前電動汽車電池的保修期約為150,000英里或8年。
延長使用壽命被視為關鍵進展，因為該電力裝置可以在另一輛車中重複使用。這將降低擁有電動汽車的費用，這對尋求恢復因冠狀病毒爆發和油價暴跌而失去的銷售勢頭的行業來說是有利的，亦抵消油價暴跌而增加耗油大戶的競爭力。
52歲的曾玉群說： “如果有人下訂單，我們就會準備好進行生產。” 他並未透露是否已簽署遠期產品合同。 曾說，這將比目前電動汽車中的電池貴10％左右。他的公司是全球最大的電池製造商。
阻礙消費者採用電動汽車的因素之一是擔憂電池強度下降以及幾年後必須更換電池。特斯拉去年曾表示，預計將生產能夠運行一百萬英里的電池，而通用汽車公司上個月表示，它已接近新里程碑。他們的距離等於繞轉地球50个圈。
因CATL期望電動汽車行業迅速恢復增長，故此將研發資金投入到電池技術的改進。十年前創立CATL的曾說，雖然冠狀病毒的爆發將拖累今年的銷量，但電動汽車的需求將在2021年初回升。
他說，病毒大流行期間購車活動停滯, 壓抑購車者的需求，這種需求將在明年開始釋放，將由高檔車型帶動。
CATL的客戶包括寶馬公司和豐田汽車公司。
曾的評論強化了一種觀點，即電動汽車將比高油耗的汽車更好地抵禦疫情造成的經濟放緩。彭博新能源金融 (BNEF)預測，明年在中國電動車將佔汽車銷量的8.1％，將是在全球電動汽車銷量中佔比例最大，而在歐洲，這一比例將達到5％。
曾玉群說：“病毒大流行可能會在2020年產生持續的影響，但明年不會成為主要因素。” “從長遠來看，我們充滿信心。”
CATL在2月簽署了一項為期兩年的合同，向特斯拉 (Tesla) 供應電池，對這家中國公司來說是一大福音，因為這美國電動汽車領導者迄今主要與日本的Panasonic Corp.和韓國的LG Chem Ltd.合作。該交易是經過數月的談判，而特斯拉首席執行官埃隆·馬斯克（Elon Musk）曾經前往上海與曾玉群會面。
CATL電池將用於特斯拉在上海附近的大型新工廠生產的Model 3轎車之上，該工廠於今年年初開始交付。電池是電動汽車中最昂貴的部分，這意味著這些組件的供應商有機會獲得整個行業的最大份額利潤。
曾玉群說，他經常與馬斯克分享見解，並通過兩次短信交流有關技術和商業發展。 曾又說，CATL正在加強與特斯拉的關係，將無鈷電池等事項列入其議程。
曾玉群談到馬斯克時說:“我們相處得很好，他是一個有趣的人”, “他整天都在談論成本，我正在確保我們有解決方案。”
曾玉群說，馬斯克還要求他幫助購買冠狀病毒患者用的呼吸機。這位美國億萬富翁今年3月從中國向洛杉磯的官員運送了1000多台呼吸機。
自2018年首次公開募股以來，CATL在深圳的股價上漲了約六倍，使該公司的市值變為約470億美元。特斯拉是迄今為止市值最高的電動汽車製造商，市值約為1600億美元。
曾玉群說，一旦在2030-2035年左右當電動汽車超過汽油動力汽車的時候，就會出現“觸發點”。這種觀點比BNEF等研究人員的野心更大，後者估計這種改變會在更遲幾年後才發生。
曾玉群說，CATL正在德國增加一個生產設施，該公司將生產寶馬70％以上的電池，寶馬是他們的早期客戶。他又說，CATL還與大眾的奧迪部門合作，並與保時捷合作。
曾玉群並不排除在美國建廠的可能性，儘管他說該公司目前沒有具體計劃。
曾玉群說：“在與我們在海外市場的全球競爭對手競爭中,我們的團隊取得了成就。”
So, Tesla is buying
batteries from CATL. They are in cooperation to open up the development of
batteries for EV. It is very likely that in the immediate future China will be the leader in making car batteries.
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