PART 1 Weekly Index
PART 2 Weekly News
① CATL Plans to Sign Battery Supply Agreement with Tesla
On February 3, 2020, CATL released an announcement on its cooperation with Tesla, stating that CATL will supply lithium-ion power battery products to Tesla.
Currently, CATL and Tesla, Inc. have signed the agreement, while Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. remains to sign.
Within the time limit specified in the agreement, Tesla will purchase lithium-ion power batteries from CATL. The specific purchase situation will be determined according to Tesla’s own needs through order mode. The agreement does not impose mandatory restrictions on Tesla’s purchase quantity, and the final sales amount shall be settled based on the actual purchase order issued by Tesla.
“The effective period of supply is from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022, a duration of two years.”
Comments: Since Tesla announced to build its factory in China, people have been speculating which domestic battery company would collaborate with Tesla. CATL, as the leading company, naturally became the focus of Tesla’s consideration. There have been rumors about the cooperation between the two, and today CATL’s announcement finally confirms this.
However, the announcement does not mention much about the details of their cooperation, with only the vague concept of “lithium-ion power battery” being mentioned.
It is well known that Tesla’s previous vehicle models all use cylindrical batteries, and the Model 3 uses NCA ternary lithium batteries with 2170 size. Currently, CATL mainly produces square NCM ternary lithium batteries. As for what type of battery will be used on the domestic Model 3, one can make a bold guess.
Another message from the announcement is that the supply will start from July 1, 2020, which means the domestic Model 3 produced in Q3 2020 will use CATL’s provided batteries. By then, there will be three brands of domestic Model 3 on the market, using batteries from Panasonic, LG Chem, and CATL respectively.## English Markdown
As LG Chem’s supply becomes more stable and CATL joins the game, there will be fewer and fewer imported Panasonic batteries. The localisation of power batteries is of utmost importance to Tesla Shanghai factory. As the localisation rate increases, costs will further decrease, and the next round of price cuts is just around the corner.
For all friends who are planning to buy a car, the most important thing for sure is the performance difference of the three batteries. This is also our most concerned point. We will try our best to gather the three cars to do a comprehensive test for everyone after CATL batteries are installed.
② General Motors will launch an electric Hummer
On January 31st, 2020, GMC released several promotional videos, and the key information in the video is as follows:
- GMC Hummer EV
- Pure electric
- 1000 horsepower
- Wheel torque of 15582 Nm
- 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) acceleration in 3 seconds
- Officially unveiled on May 20th, 2020
- Mass production starting in early 2021
Comment: From the currently revealed pictures, the front face of the pure electric Hummer EV still continues the design style of the old Hummer, but the power system has changed from a large-displacement engine to pure electric drive.
Although there have been two heavyweight products, the new car-makers Rivian and veteran Tesla’s Cybertruck, before the GMC Hummer EV, the endorsement of General Motors and the known power system parameters of the Hummer EV makes it a competitor.
However, in addition to electrification, what is worth looking forward to is the intelligence of the pure electric Hummer, which is not demonstrated much in the promotional video.
Moreover, two signals can be seen that the GMC Hummer EV is a very important car model for General Motors in 2020.
First, General Motors only advertised the GMC Hummer EV during this year’s Super Bowl (a side note, the Super Bowl is the most popular event in the US, with a 30-second ad price of $5.6 million USD).
Second, General Motors recruited NBA star LeBron James as the spokesperson for GMC Hummer EV.
Because of these two facts, I hope that the GMC Hummer EV can bring us some surprises.
③ Lynk & Co may launch a pure electric sedan with a range of 700 km# Translation
On January 31st, 2020, a netizen exposed spy photos of Lynk & Co’s first electric vehicle with the internal code name DC1E. Based on the PMA electric modular architecture, Geely Automobile positions the PMA architecture as pure electric, high performance, and intelligent interconnection.
There are rumors that the new car may be equipped with a 100 kWh battery pack with a range of up to 700 km. According to the information chart exposed, the new car’s length, width, and height are 4,850 * 1,980 * 1,530 mm, with a wheelbase of 2,999 mm, positioning it as a medium-sized sedan.
In terms of power, there are two versions, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, with acceleration rates of 7.5-8.3 seconds and 4.5-5.0 seconds per 100 km, respectively, with a comprehensive score of 13.8-15.7 kWh.
The earliest estimate for the new car’s release is later this year.
Quick comment: According to Lynk & Co’s pure electric product plan developed based on the PMA architecture in 2017, the first PMA model has a range of 600 km and is positioned as an A+/B-level urban Cross-crossover model. It is planned to be sold in markets such as China, Europe, and the United States.
At present, Lynk’s new energy vehicle models are all plug-in hybrid models based on the CMA architecture. DC1E will become Lynk’s first pure electric vehicle model. If this car can really achieve a range of 700 km as rumored, I believe this car will definitely be a super heavy vehicle of the Geely Group.
As for the price of this car labeled with 700 km, high performance, and intelligent interconnection, feel free to guess in the comment section.
On February 2nd, 2020, on the official APP of Ideal Motor, there were two important messages.
Firstly, affected by the epidemic, users who were expected to receive their vehicles in February and March will have to delay their delivery. Ideal Motors will try to control the delay time within one month. The specific time of postponement will be communicated with everyone before February 15th based on the supply situation after the resumption of work of the supplier.
Secondly, for the few vehicles that have been produced and have not yet been delivered before the Spring Festival, Ideal Motors will start delivering them on February 10th according to the resumption of work arrangements in various regions.Quick Comment: The nationwide postponement of the resumption of work due to the outbreak of the epidemic has had varying degrees of impact on the production of automotive industry component suppliers. More than 10% of the components in the ideal ONE are produced by enterprises in the most affected Hubei region, thus the delivery of ideal ONE will inevitably be delayed.
Although many potential car owners who are about to pick up their vehicles are disappointed in the comments section, they also show their understanding. We also hope that even if some users have already picked up their vehicles, they can avoid going out as much as possible during this special period, and let the epidemic pass as soon as possible so that life can return to normal.
5. Extension of the Validity Period of Some Small Passenger Car Indicators in Beijing
The Beijing Municipal Small Passenger Car Indicator Control and Management Office issued a notice:
In order to avoid the public gathering to handle vehicle registration during the epidemic prevention and control period, if the validity of Beijing’s small passenger car indicators expires between January 24, 2020 and February 29, 2020, it can be extended to March 10, 2020 (inclusive) for handling vehicle purchase tax and registration procedures.
Quick Comment: For friends who have already purchased cars but have not yet had the chance to register them, this brief extension makes time relatively more abundant. As for friends who are about to obtain indicators but have not yet decided what car to buy, they can review our article: “A Guide to Choosing New Energy Vehicles in Beijing in 2020”.
6. Toyota and Panasonic Jointly Established Battery Venture Company
On January 22, 2019, Toyota Motor Corporation and Panasonic Corporation signed a contract to establish a new company for automotive prismatic batteries (strongly suspected that the year is wrong, and it should be 2020).The joint venture is named “TaiStar Energy Solutions Co., Ltd.”, with Toyota investing 51% and Panasonic investing 49%.
The business scope includes the development, manufacturing, and sales of large-capacity/high-output square lithium-ion batteries for vehicles, as well as the development, manufacturing, and sales of solid-state batteries for vehicles.
Quick Comment: It can be seen from the above picture that the number of employees in the new joint venture is 5100, with nearly half of them being Chinese. Although Toyota has always been unoptimistic about pure electric vehicles, insisting on hybrid power and fuel cell technology, with more and more competitors launching pure electric vehicle models in the industry, Toyota has also accelerated its electrification process. The new joint venture not only supplies Toyota, but also provides batteries to all customers.
Written and edited by: Liusan.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.