Tesla, Volkswagen, and Daimler are rushing to seize the market. Why do car companies build their own battery factories?

It is undeniable that new energy vehicles have also become an important direction for the development of today's automobile industry. Data shows that global new energy vehicle sales exceeded 2.2 million units in 2019. With the surge in sales of new energy vehicles, the power battery industry is also expanding rapidly. Now it is showing a trend - more and more car companies are beginning to build their own battery factories.

Car giants are accelerating their layout

When it comes to self-built battery factories, the first thing most people think of is BYD. As the company with the highest sales volume of new energy vehicles in China, it is different from other companies that currently choose to build their own battery factories, because BYD first laid out the battery business and then established the automobile business. At present, BYD has also separated the battery business independently.

In addition to BYD, Tesla, another major seller of electric vehicles, is also developing and producing its own power batteries. Previously, foreign media revealed that Tesla has a secret project called "Roadrunner". The core content of this project is to independently manufacture high-performance batteries with lower costs and better performance. It is reported that in the next May, Tesla will announce the results of its self-developed batteries.

At the same time, traditional car companies have also accelerated their deployment in power batteries. In August 2019, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess said that the Volkswagen Group plans to build its own battery factory in Europe to produce solid-state batteries, and is expected to start mass production between 2024 and 2025. In addition, Daimler also plans to build a power battery factory in Poland, which is already Daimler's ninth battery factory.

In fact, even if not all car companies choose to build their own battery factories, most car companies will take the path of producing their own battery packs. For example, in 2019, the joint ventures established by CATL and SAIC are SAIC Times Power Battery System Co., Ltd. and Times SAIC Power Battery Co., Ltd., which will produce battery packs and cells respectively.

Reduce vehicle costs

The first benefit of why car companies choose to build their own battery factories is cost reduction. At present, the power battery is still the most expensive component in electric vehicles. Taking an entry-level electric vehicle as an example, the pure electric power system even accounts for 70%-80% of the cost of the entire vehicle, of which the power battery accounts for 70%. More than %, this shows the proportion of power battery cost in the total vehicle cost.

On this basis, car companies definitely hope to reduce costs, especially for sales giants like Volkswagen or Toyota. Volkswagen previously stated that by 2025, it will purchase 150 gigawatt hours of power batteries from external sources, with a total purchase amount of up to 50 billion euros, of which power battery suppliers will take at least 20 billion euros of orders. Faced with this set of figures, I believe that no company would not consider building its own battery factory.

It is worth mentioning that after the cost of electric vehicle batteries has been reduced, electric vehicles have also gained the ability to compete with traditional fuel vehicles in terms of price. Previously, a report released by McKinsey showed that if the cost of electric vehicle power batteries can be controlled at US$100/kW, then the manufacturing cost of electric vehicles will be equivalent to that of traditional fuel vehicles. This will also be an important factor for electric vehicles to replace traditional fuel vehicles. Time node.

At the same time, there is a set of data that can show that self-produced batteries can significantly reduce costs. Data at the end of 2018 shows that the cost of lithium batteries produced by Tesla in cooperation with Panasonic was US$111/kWh, that of lithium batteries produced in cooperation with LG was approximately US$148/kWh, and that of lithium batteries produced by CATL The cost is more than $150/kWh. One thing to be clear is that this is still the cost of Tesla's cooperation with Panasonic and LG. This cost will decrease after Tesla develops its own power batteries.

Mastering core technology

In addition, mastering core technology is also considered to be another reason for car companies to build their own battery factories. Just like the slogan of Gree air conditioners, even though it is currently possible to obtain a complete set of technical solutions such as power, battery and energy management from suppliers, mastering core technologies is still the core goal pursued by giants such as Volkswagen and Toyota in the electrification era. .

In fact, not only traditional car companies, but also today's new car-making forces are emphasizing the importance of self-research. For example, He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xpeng Motors, has repeatedly emphasized that independent research and development will be the core engine for Xpeng Motors to create differentiated advantages and go global in the future.

Therefore, there has also been a situation where Evergrande New Energy, a company that is not short of money, has invested in Kanai New Energy and is preparing to produce its own power batteries.

The reason why car companies value the core technology of power batteries so much is because if a car company does not produce power batteries, it needs to disclose the parameters of the three-electric system to suppliers when purchasing. At this time, this company There is no secret about the core technology of the automaker's Sanden. This also explains why the industry believes that power battery packs have a tendency to become the fifth largest process among car companies.

At the same time, when producing electric vehicles, car companies need to make major changes in the design and safety structure of the vehicles, and self-developed power batteries will be beneficial to the research and development process of the entire vehicle. In this regard, Volvo battery product manager Ulrik Persson once said: "Electric vehicles are a new field, but it has become one of the categories of cars, so we believe that having our own battery module is a correct strategic decision."

Ensure supply is not affected

At the same time, self-built battery factories will not affect vehicle production capacity due to battery production capacity. Previously, insufficient battery supply from Panasonic limited the production of Tesla Model 3 and caused a decline in Tesla's financial report data. In this regard, Tesla CEO Musk has not only repeatedly emphasized that battery production capacity is the main factor restricting electric vehicle production capacity, but he is also seeking more power battery suppliers.

Not only that, due to the emergence of the epidemic, LG Chem’s power battery supply was insufficient, which also affected Jaguar I-PACE production capacity, and forced Audi to reduce the production of e-tron models, and The mass production time of the e-tron Sportback version has been postponed. It is not difficult to see from this that once any problems occur in the battery supply chain, the impact on the production of car companies will be huge.

It is worth mentioning that the Secretary-General of the Passenger Car Association also stated in an interview with the media that it should be said that it is an inevitable trend for car companies to build their own factories in the battery field. "Previously, car companies could build their own engine plants and gearbox plants to achieve integrated control. Self-built battery plants will also be of this style in the future, and each vehicle company will have its own core technology foundation." Cui Dongshu further said explained.

In summary, it can be seen that self-built battery factories have the advantages of reducing costs and mastering core technologies. However, it should also be noted that building a self-built battery factory also requires a lot of manpower and material resources. What cannot be ignored is that the current car market and economy are still weak. So this is why, currently, most of the auto giants are choosing to build their own battery factories.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.