It will be ‘the survival of the fittest’ in China’s battery industry, according to lithium battery firm Eve Battery’s chairman Liu Jincheng, with innovation and quality key to that survival.
His comments came after the Shanghai Metal Markets reported that some of the biggest lead-acid firms in China, such as Camel, Tianneng and Chaowei, have adjusted their business models to include lithium-ion batteries in line with the growth in EVs in China.
But Chinese automakers are saying there is still a problem with the lack of consistency and quality of batteries made by Chinese firms.
The Chinese battery web portal Network News Ofweek said that automakers Beiqi (Beijing New Energy Cars), JAC Motors and SAIC were among others complaining that new energy vehicle production was being adversely affected by the lack of battery power supply in the country.
Where global battery makers like LG Chem and Samsung were taking advantage of the lack of supply and setting up factories of their own in China to fill demand, domestic suppliers were still falling way behind in terms of capacity and quality.
Ren Yong, general manager of the Chongqing Changan New Energy Automobile Company, said: “Perhaps the quality of domestic companies’ batteries is getting better, but carmakers still want to use foreign ones. This is because the foreign batteries have a better consistency. This is the key point.”
Tianneng chairman Zhang Tianren said the lithium battery industry would not be made satisfactory simply with state subsidies and an expansion of production capacity.
“Motive batteries are a technology, a highly capital-intensive industry, with a requirement for reliability and consistency,” he said. “R&D, finance and high-level management are indispensable.”
