A new key component in the new energy vehicle competition, is it possible for China's new energy vehicles to overtake others?

Just as the engine, gearbox and chassis are the three key components of traditional fuel vehicles, in the new energy vehicle industry, the "three electric" technologies of motors, batteries and electronic controls are also generally referred to as core technologies.

In the field of traditional automobiles, domestically produced cars have a large gap with the international advanced level in terms of technology accumulation in engines and gearboxes. The biggest difference between new energy vehicles and traditional vehicles is that domestic brands can bypass traditional fuel vehicles and technical limitations.

Is there a gap between domestic and foreign new energy vehicle companies? How big is the gap? Is it possible for Chinese new energy vehicles to overtake others? Here we make a simple interpretation.

Power battery industry reaches new peak

Not long ago, foreign media released the 2017 global new energy vehicle sales rankings. The Chinese team performed impressively. While major brands delivered good results, the power battery industry also ushered in a new peak.

Overall, the new energy vehicle battery market in Europe and the United States is still dominated by Japan and South Korea. Chinese battery companies are also actively cooperating with international auto giants in order to open up a broader market.

Since the ranking this time includes the factor of automobile alliance, there are significant changes compared with the past. In the single-brand sales list, BYD ranks first. However, after Mitsubishi joined the Renault-Nissan Alliance, BYD ranked second with a gap of only 5,246 units.

The main models of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance include the Nissan Leaf, e-NV200 and Renault Zoe. The Nissan Leaf ranked fourth in the 2017 global new energy vehicle sales list. It is a very mature model. It previously used AESC batteries, a joint venture between Nissan and NEC. However, AESC was sold to China's Jinshajiang Venture Capital in 2017, and Nissan began looking for new supporting batteries for the Leaf as early as 2015, and LG Chem was frequently mentioned.

Renault Zoe is also a very popular pure electric vehicle, with batteries provided by LG Chem.

BYD, which ranks second, naturally uses its own batteries. As a representative of China's new energy vehicles, BYD has opened up the industrial chain from batteries to complete vehicles. Facing the rapidly changing new energy market, BYD is also trying to transform. In addition to turning to ternary lithium batteries in the passenger car field, battery splitting and export has become a major business of BYD.

BAIC Group has long dominated the sales list of single models with its EC series. BAIC has close cooperation with battery companies such as Guoxuan High-tech and Farasis Energy. On May 28, 2017, BAIC and Guoxuan High-tech signed a large order of 1.875 billion yuan. At the end of December 2017, BAIC and Farasis Energy signed a five-year strategic procurement agreement for 1 million batteries.

Geely Group's ranking in the fourth place is largely due to the efforts of Zhidou D2, and of course Geely's Emgrand EV, Global Eagle and other models. Zhidou mainly uses Boston and Do-Fluoride batteries, while Geely Emgrand EV uses CATL's ternary lithium batteries.

Tesla ranked fifth. Due to production capacity and other reasons, the sales contribution of Tesla Model 3 is not large, and it has not yet completed the problem of mass production ramp-up, so Tesla called Samsung and LG to open up new suppliers.

BMW and Volkswagen, ranked sixth and seventh, have cooperated with Samsung SDI and China's CATL. The cooperation between BMW and CATL has created a battery hegemon, but BMW has a closer cooperation with Samsung SDI in overseas markets. In Volkswagen's comprehensive electrification strategy, Chinese battery companies are also actively participating, such as CATL.

Toyota, which is well known to the public, ranks tenth not because of its weak strength, but because Toyota only has one hybrid model, the Prius Prime. In addition, Toyota has also launched the Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car, but the delivery volume is not high. The early Prius Prime was equipped with nickel-metal hydride batteries, and its upgraded version will also use lithium batteries. Toyota also announced that it will cooperate with Panasonic to develop lithium batteries.

Toyota's hybrid and hydrogen models are leading the industry. In response to the growing pure electric market, Toyota has also begun to compromise and is preparing to release pure electric models in advance. In addition, Toyota is also vigorously developing solid-state battery projects.

The market structure of motor and electronic control is not yet clear

As a substitute for the traditional engine and gearbox functions, the performance of the motor and electronic control system directly determines the main performance indicators of electric vehicles such as climbing, acceleration, and maximum speed.

With the rapid growth of new energy vehicle production and sales, my country's new energy vehicle motor and electronic control installation market has also shown a rapid growth trend. In 2017, my country's new energy vehicle motor and electronic control installation capacity reached 874,200 units, a year-on-year increase of 55.7%. From January to March 2018, the new energy vehicle motor and electronic control installation capacity were both 155,100 units.

At present, the motors used in new energy vehicles are permanent magnet synchronous motors, AC asynchronous motors and other motors. From the perspective of the motor type market structure, permanent magnet synchronous motors are the main ones. In 2017, the installed capacity of permanent magnet synchronous motors in the new energy vehicle field reached 685,100 units, accounting for more than 78%; the installed capacity of AC asynchronous motors was nearly 190,000 units, accounting for 21.4%.

As for specific manufacturers, according to the ranking of motor and electronic control installed capacity from 2017 to March 2018, the top 10 manufacturers have installed more than 20,000 drive motors and more than 10,000 electronic controls. Among them, BYD ranks first in both motor and electronic control installed capacity, with 178,300 and 188,700 units respectively; BAIC New Energy also has more than 100,000 motors and electronic controls installed capacity, with 126,300 motors and electronic controls installed capacity, ranking second. In addition, Anhui Juyi, Jiangling New Energy, UAES, Changan Automobile, etc. have motor and electronic control installed capacity of 30,000 to 40,000 units.

From the perspective of supporting supply in the new energy vehicle motor and electronic control market, BYD, an automobile manufacturer, mainly supplies its motors to two automobile companies: BYD and Beijing Hualin Special Vehicle, while its electronic controls are produced by itself; BAIC New Energy's motors are also mainly supplied to the company, while its electronic controls are provided by Jingjin and Dayang.

New energy vehicle motor and power system providers like Jingjin Electric serve companies including Anyuan Bus, Dandong Huanghai, Dongfeng, Ankai, Great Wall, Geely, GAC, and Bonluka.

Generally speaking, the main participants in the new energy vehicle motor and electronic control market can be roughly divided into two categories. One is the traditional vehicle manufacturers with self-production capabilities or related supply chains, such as BYD, BAIC, Xiamen Golden Dragon, etc.; the second category is suppliers specializing in automotive parts or motor and electronic control products, which can be specifically divided into professional automotive parts suppliers (Bosch, Continental, etc.), professional motor and electronic control manufacturers (Shanghai Electric Drive, Shanghai Dajun, etc.) and traditional motor and inverter manufacturers (Inovance Technology, INVT, etc.).

At present, leading passenger car and coach manufacturers tend to provide their own motors and electronic controls, while third-party companies have obvious advantages in the fields of small and medium-sized buses and special-purpose vehicles, but have a lower penetration rate in the passenger car field.

Since the new energy vehicle motor and electronic control industry was basically launched simultaneously with the domestic electric vehicle market, the relevant industry standards and systems have not yet been formed, vehicle manufacturers and third-party suppliers each occupy an advantageous position, and the market competition landscape has not yet become clear.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.