Electrical Equipment / Components & Telecoms

"Chinese companies come to Europe to build battery factories!" German "Economic Weekly" stated on the 27th that France revealed on the 26th that the Chinese smart battery technology company Envision Power plans to build an electric vehicle battery factory in northern France. This is another Chinese power battery company that has invested and built factories in Europe after CATL, Funeng Technology, and Honeycomb Energy. On the 27th, Zhang Lei, CEO of Envision Technology Group and Executive Chairman of Envision Power’s Board of Directors, confirmed the above news in an interview with "Global Times" reporter, and said that there is a huge demand for power batteries in Europe, and the company has invested in the UK and Germany for many years. .

Why choose France

Agence France-Presse reported on the 26th that Envision Power plans to build an electric car battery factory in Douai, northern France. Bertrand, a French Republican who is running for the chairman of the French Upper France region, confirmed on the 25th that Envision Power plans to invest and build a factory in France. Bertrand said that this investment by Vision Power will initially create at least 1,000 jobs in France, and in the long run it may create 2,500 jobs. Well-known French car manufacturers are also expected to adopt Envision batteries.

Why are you optimistic about the French market? Zhang Lei told reporters that the investment and construction of factories in France mainly value the size of the French economy and France's investment in the green revolution, as well as multi-dimensional considerations such as Sino-French relations. He said that the company is not the first day to come to France today. It has the same investment in the UK, Germany, and Denmark as in France. “We have a deep layout in France for several years”.

In terms of Envision Power, the information provided to the Global Times on the 27th showed that Envision Power is a subsidiary of Envision Technology Group and has established R&D centers in the United States, Germany, Denmark, Singapore, Japan and other countries. In the past five years, the cumulative shipment volume of Envision's power battery ranked fifth in the world. Over 600,000 passenger electric vehicles worldwide have been equipped with Envision Power's high-performance soft pack power batteries.

Europe wants to build its own battery supply chain

Reuters said French President Macron is expected to further confirm this news on the 28th. Although France officially welcomes Chinese investment, France is also promoting the local battery industry. The new group Stellattis, which is merged by Peugeot Citroen and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, is establishing a joint venture with battery manufacturer Saft, ACC, and will also build a battery production plant in northern France.

On the 27th, Zelmer, a director of the German Volkswagen Group, stated that the group plans to abandon the production of internal combustion engine cars in Europe from 2033 to 2035. Volkswagen’s goal is to surpass Tesla around 2025 and become the global leader in electric vehicles. Volkswagen has formulated a plan to establish six battery factories in Europe with its partners by 2030.

According to Bloomberg, Europe is expected to become the “leader” in global electric vehicle sales for the second consecutive year, and an epic upsurge of building a battery supply chain from scratch is unfolding across the European continent. For many years, Europe has handed over its electric vehicle battery business to foreign companies such as China, Japan and South Korea, and now it wants to join in. By 2030, the European continent’s share of global battery production will rise from 7% last year to 31%.

China, Japan and South Korea still dominate the battery market

According to a report from Kyodo News on the 25th, Panasonic has sold all of its shares in Tesla before the end of March this year. However, the battery supply relationship between Panasonic and Tesla's pure electric vehicles remains unchanged. According to reports, due to the rise of Chinese and South Korean manufacturers, Panasonic's monopoly on battery supply has collapsed.

Currently, China, Japan and South Korea dominate the global lithium battery market. According to the latest data released by South Korean electric vehicle-related market research company SNE Research, the Chinese battery company CATL will have a market share of 24.0% in 2020, ranking first in the world. South Korea's LG battery market share is 23.5%, ranking second. The German "Business Daily" reported that China is now the largest production base for electric vehicle batteries, and together with South Korea, which ranks second, it accounts for more than 80% of the global electric vehicle battery production.

Compared with Chinese companies such as CATL, what are the advantages of Vision Power? Zhang Lei said that "the key is to let customers vote with their feet", and revealed that the company's R&D team is currently in-depth discussions with the world's mainstream automakers on technical cooperation, and Tesla is not excluded. He believes that the demand for power batteries in the European market has just begun, and there are many competitors, but Europe is a broad market. "The most important thing is to have the advantages of technology, quality, talents and strategy to truly grasp this. Opportunity".