Monthly Archive: March 2023

Beijing, Xi’an latest cities to offer subsidies to encourage residents to buy NEVs

Beijing is offering subsidies of up to RMB 10,000 for residents to purchase NEVs, while Xi’an is offering subsidies of up to RMB 6,000 for NEV purchases and RMB 10,000 for the installation of charging piles.

Beijing, Xi'an latest cities to offer subsidies to encourage residents to buy NEVs-CnEVPost

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

After China’s state-level subsidies for the purchase of new energy vehicles (NEVs) expired at the end of last year, a growing number of cities have begun offering separate subsidies this year to support local economic development.

The Chinese capital city of Beijing released details of its policy to encourage local residents to purchase NEVs, following media reports of the city’s plans without any details last month.

Between March 1 and August 31, Beijing residents who transfer or scrap passenger vehicles they have owned for more than a year and buy NEVs can receive a subsidy of up to 10,000 yuan ($1,450), according to a program jointly released today by several government departments in the city.

The move is aimed at boosting Beijing’s car consumption, optimizing the local vehicle mix and encouraging local residents to replace their passenger cars with NEV, the program reads.

The program refers to passenger vehicles as gasoline, diesel, gas, hybrid or battery-powered small and micro vehicles registered in Beijing for more than one year, and NEVs as purely electric small and micro passenger vehicles, including extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs).

This means that residents who previously owned a passenger car in Beijing — whether it was a traditional internal combustion engine vehicle or NEVs — can receive a subsidy if they purchase a pure electric vehicle or an EREV when replacing their old vehicle. If they purchase a plug-in hybrid, on the other hand, they will not be eligible for the subsidy.

If they previously owned NEVs, they can receive a subsidy of RMB 8,000 even if they have held them for less than 1 year.

Local residents who transfer out of other types of passenger vehicles and purchase NEVs can receive a subsidy of RMB 8,000 if the original vehicle has been owned for 1-6 years. If the old vehicle has been held for more than 6 years, then the subsidy amount is RMB 10,000.

It is worth noting that Beijing implemented a similar policy last year.

On June 26, 2022, Beijing launched a program on encouraging vehicle replacement consumption in order to incentivize residents to purchase NEVs when they replace their vehicles.

The city also offered subsidies of up to RMB 10,000 at the time, and the policy was then valid from June 1 to December 31.

On February 28, Beijing Daily reported that the Beijing city government held a consumer season launch ceremony with tens of thousands of merchants participating in areas including automobiles, restaurants, e-commerce and tourism.

In the auto sector, Beijing will continue last year’s car replacement subsidy policy, details of which will be released in due course, the report said.

In addition to Beijing, Xi’an, a city in northwest China’s Shaanxi province, also released its NEV purchase subsidy program today.

Between March 21 and April 30, consumers who buy a NEV produced by a local carmaker in Xi’an will receive a subsidy of up to RMB 6,000 yuan.

Local consumers who install their own charging facilities by December 31 of this year will receive a subsidy of RMB 10,000.

Prior to Beijing and Xi’an, many other cities, including Shanghai and Hefei in Anhui province, released similar policies earlier this year.

($1 = RMB 6.8722)

Shanghai extends $1,500 subsidy to encourage residents to replace cars with EVs

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Kia EV5 electric SUV concept taps solar panels, swivel seats

Kia EV5 conceptKia just revealed the 2024 EV9 electric SUV in production-ready form, but the automaker on Monday revealed a smaller electric SUV concept. Called the EV5, the concept previews a "production model destined initially for Chinese market later this year," according to Kia. Note the use of the word "initially," which hints that the EV5 is coming to...

Panic selling of lithium carbonate just won’t stop

Lithium carbonate prices continue to decline, leading to a heavy wait-and-see mood among downstream customers, who are reluctant to place large orders.

 

The price of lithium carbonate has dropped by half from five months ago, with panic selling not stopping.

Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices in China fell RMB 12,500 per ton ($1,818 per ton) today, bringing the average price down to RMB 300,000 per ton, according to Mysteel.

Industrial-grade lithium carbonate also fell by RMB 12,500 per ton today, leaving the average price at RMB 260,000 per ton.

Compared to yesterday's average prices, battery grade lithium carbonate and industrial grade lithium carbonate fell by 4 percent and 4.59 percent respectively, the new biggest drop of the year.

The price of battery-grade lithium carbonate has fallen 49 percent compared to RMB 590,000 per ton on November 21 last year, and the drop this year is about 40 percent.

Lithium carbonate is still being sold off at an accelerated pace, a report in local media Yicai today quoted an unnamed industry source as saying.

The continued decline in lithium carbonate prices has led downstream customers to shy away from placing large orders, with a heavy wait-and-see mood, the source said.

On March 20, a company in northwest China's Qinghai province dropped its sell offer for battery-grade lithium carbonate to RMB 280,000 per ton, and some local battery-grade lithium carbonate ex-factory prices dropped to RMB 250,000 per ton, the report noted.

As lithium prices continue to fall in China, some analysts previously said the drop will not last long as imports become more attractive.

Overseas lithium products have seen a significant premium, which could support prices for lithium products in China, said CITIC Securities in a March 7 research note.

Notably, Yicai's report today said there have been withdrawals of lithium carbonate orders in overseas markets, which has further pushed down the price of lithium carbonate.

A month ago, it was reported that was pushing a lithium rebate program to car companies, with some cells to be settled at RMB 200,000 per ton of lithium carbonate.

CATL acknowledged the plan on March 9, but did not mention the base prices.

CATL's lithium sharing plan was not motivated by a price reduction, but rather that the company already owns some mineral resources and does not want to reap windfall profits, the company said.

CATL's proposed price benchmark of RMB 200,000 per ton for lithium carbonate has further lowered market expectations for the price, accelerating the panicked drop in lithium carbonate prices, Yicai's report today quoted several industry sources as saying.

($1= RMB 6.8742)

Lithium prices see biggest drop this year in China as decline accelerates

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CATL has begun mass production of Qilin Battery, report says

Deliveries of 's Zeekr 009 MPV, the world's first vehicle to be powered by the Qilin Battery, are expected to begin in the second quarter.

(Image credit: )

Chinese power battery giant CATL's Qilin Battery has achieved mass production and has a 13 percent higher capacity than 4680 batteries in the same volume, local media outlet The Paper reported today.

As the world's first vehicle to be powered by the Qilin Battery, deliveries of Zeekr's Zeekr 009 MPV are expected to begin in the second quarter, 1-2 months behind the battery's mass production, the report said.

A high percentage of consumers who ordered the Zeekr 009 opted for the version with the Qilin Battery, a Zeekr source said, adding, "This surprised us."

On June 23, 2022, CATL officially unveiled its highly anticipated CTP (cell to pack) 3.0 Qilin Battery, which it said brought battery system integration to a new level.

The Qilin Battery allows volume utilization to exceed 72 percent and energy density to reach 255 Wh/kg, easily allowing vehicles to achieve a range of 1000 km, CATL said at the time.

With the same chemistry system and the same pack size, Qilin Battery delivers 13 percent more power compared to 4680 batteries, achieving an overall improvement in range, fast charging, safety, life, efficiency, and low-temperature performance, according to CATL.

Last August 27, Zeekr and CATL announced that the Zeekr 009 MPV will be the world's first vehicle to carry the Qilin Battery, and the Zeekr 001 will use an ultra-long range version of the Qilin Battery, which will be the world's first production vehicle to carry the 1000-km range Qilin Battery.

In a post on its WeChat account at the time, Zeekr said that deliveries of the Zeekr 009 with the Qilin Battery are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2023, while the Zeekr 001 with the battery will be available in the second quarter of 2023.

"With its 140-kWh battery pack, the Zeekr 009 ME version sets a global record for a mid to large size MPV achieving an all-electric range of 822 kilometers," The Paper quoted Liu Changyan, CATL's executive president of China passenger vehicle business, as saying.

In addition to Zeekr, several other vehicle brands, including , , Lotus and AITO, have previously said they will use CATL's Qilin Battery.

It is worth noting that the Qilin Battery is a CATL innovation in pack structure, not in battery chemistry. This means that both ternary batteries, as well as lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, can use this pack structure.

The Qilin Battery can achieve energy densities of 255Wh/kg with ternary cells and 160Wh/kg with LFP cells, CATL previously said.

CATL's innovation was named the best invention of 2022 by Time magazine in the US, according to information shared by the battery maker on Weibo on December 30 of last year.

CATL unveils Qilin Battery, says it can easily achieve 1,000 km vehicle range

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