Daily Archive: June 9, 2023

CATL to supply CTP battery pack production line to Thailand’s Arun Plus

and Arun Plus have entered into a CTP partnership agreement to provide the Thai company with a CTP production line and share CTP production technology.

(Image credit: CATL)

Chinese power battery giant CATL has entered into a new agreement with Thailand's Arun Plus, following the signing of a CTP (cell to pack) technology licensing agreement between the two a year ago.

CATL recently entered into a CTP partnership agreement with Arun Plus to provide the Thai company with a CTP production line and share CTP production technology, according to a press release yesterday.

The two parties will work to meet local demand for electric vehicle (EV) production in Thailand and help Thailand become a battery production hub in Southeast Asia, according to the release.

Arun Plus, the EV subsidiary of Thai state energy group PTT, has well-established energy infrastructure in Thailand.

In November 2022, Arun Plus established an EV manufacturing subsidiary to capitalize on the growing demand for electric vehicles in Thailand and Southeast Asia.

The latest partnership will help enhance Arun Plus' EV production capacity and drive the building of a power battery ecosystem in Thailand and Southeast Asia, CATL said.

It is also an important step in CATL's efforts to improve its global footprint and will help the company explore diverse partnership models in markets including Southeast Asia to accelerate the global electrification and clean energy transition, the power battery giant said.

On May 13, 2022, CATL announced that it had signed a strategic partnership memorandum with Arun Plus, licensing the latter to use CTP technology.

Arun Plus and CATL will supply battery products to Horizon Plus, a joint venture between Arun Plus and Foxconn that plans to produce EVs in Thailand in 2024, and other EV brands, according to last year's press release.

CTP is a technology that integrates cells into battery packs without modules, increasing the system energy density of packs, simplifying manufacturing processes and saving costs, CATL previously said.

On October 27, 2021, CATL announced an agreement with Hyundai Mobis, the parts division of Hyundai Motor, to license its CTP technology.

CATL will support Hyundai Mobis in the supply of CTP-related battery products in South Korea and globally, it said at the time.

Thailand in talks with CATL over potential battery plant

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China NEV sales up 12.74% MoM to 717,000 in May, CAAM data show

China's auto industry still needs to further recover and expand demand, and the release of consumption potential needs to be accelerated, the CAAM said.

China NEV sales up 12.74% MoM to 717,000 in May, CAAM data show-CnEVPost

China's new energy vehicle (NEV) sales in May were 717,000 units, up 60.2 percent year-on-year and up 12.74 percent from April, according to data released today by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The CAAM released data on wholesale sales by automakers, where NEVs include battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) and fuel cell vehicles.

China sold 522,000 BEVs in May, up 50.43 percent year-on-year and up 10.83 percent from April.

China NEV sales up 12.74% MoM to 717,000 in May, CAAM data show-CnEVPost

PHEV sales were 194,000 units in May, up 94.4 percent year-on-year. Sales of fuel cell vehicles were 400 units, up 310.7 percent year-on-year.

All vehicle sales in China were 2,382,000 in May, up 27.9 percent year-on-year and up 10.3 percent from April.

China NEV sales up 12.74% MoM to 717,000 in May, CAAM data show-CnEVPost

This means that China's NEVs had a penetration rate of 30.1 percent in May, up from 29.5 percent in April.

China NEV sales up 12.74% MoM to 717,000 in May, CAAM data show-CnEVPost

Production of NEVs in China was 713,000 units in May, up 53 percent year-on-year and 11.4 percent from 640,000 units in April.

Production of all vehicles in China was 2.333 million units in May, up 21.1 percent year-on-year and up 9.4 percent from May.

Both auto production and sales in China saw year-on-year growth in May, with NEVs continuing their rapid growth, the CAAM said.

However, the auto industry is still operating under great pressure, and the profitability of industry enterprises is at a low level, the CAAM noted.

From the current perspective, China's auto industry still needs to further recover and expand demand, and the release of consumption potential needs to be accelerated to drive steady growth in the industry, the CAAM said.

In May, 389,000 vehicles were exported from China, up 58.7 percent year-on-year and up 3.4 percent from April.

Among them, exports of NEVs were 108,000 units, up 150 percent year-on-year and up 7.9 percent from April.

In January-May, China's auto sales were 10.617 million units, an increase of 11.1 percent from the same period last year.

NEVs sold 2.94 million units in January-May, up 46.8 percent year-on-year, with a market share of 27.7 percent.

China contributes 56% of global EV sales in Q1, Counterpoint says

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NIO offers new options for ET5, ES7 and new ES8

ET5 and ES7 add gold exterior option, ET5, ES7 and new ES8 all add front wiper defrost feature.

(Image credit: )

NIO (NYSE: NIO) today began offering more options for three models in an attempt to increase their appeal.

Both the ET5 sedan and ES7 SUV are adding a gold exterior option effective immediately, with the option both priced at RMB 10,000 ($1,400), according to an article posted today by the NIO App.

ET5, ES7 and the new ES8 all have a new front wiper defrost function, all priced at RMB 1,000.

In cold weather, the front wiper defrost feature helps the wipers return to normal operation more quickly to clear snow and maintain clear visibility, the article said.

Vehicles with the optional front wiper defrost feature will receive an OTA update to get the software that works with it.

NIO has also updated the ET5 with optional wheel and tire combinations. The 19-inch five-spoke wheels are standard on the model, while other options are available for a fee ranging from RMB 3,500 to RMB 9,500.

The NIO ET5 was launched on NIO Day 2021 in December 2021, with the first delivery on September 30, 2022.

NIO ES7 was launched on June 15, 2022, with the first delivery on August 28, 2022.

The new ES8 was launched on NIO Day 2022, December 24, 2022, with deliveries to begin later this month.

NIO will report first-quarter earnings later today and hold an analyst call afterward.

The company delivered 31,041 vehicles in the first quarter, slightly above the lower end of its guidance range of 31,000 to 33,000 vehicles.

($1 = RMB 7.1248)

NIO to launch 'brand new NIO models' in Europe on Jun 15

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XPeng surges in HK as investors seem to like G6’s pre-sale price

's stock traded in Hong Kong continues to rally after the announcement of the G6's pre-sale price, currently up about 5 percent.

XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) shares traded in Hong Kong rallied quickly after pre-sales of the new SUV G6 began, suggesting investors may be bullish on the pricing.

At press time, XPeng was up 5.03 percent to HK$34.45 in Hong Kong.

XPeng's local peer (NYSE: NIO) is now down about 0.08 percent in Hong Kong, while (NASDAQ: LI) is up 0.8 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index is up 0.58 percent.

XPeng opened up more than 2 percent in Hong Kong, but then fell quickly, giving back all of its gains at about 10:20 am.

The company announced at 10:16 am today that the G6 was up for pre-sale, with a starting pre-sale price of 225,000 yuan ($31,610). Its stock price continued to move higher after that.

The pre-sale starting price for the XPeng G6 is RMB 38,900 less than its direct competitor, the Model Y, and RMB 84,900 less than the RMB 309,900 starting price for XPeng's flagship SUV, the G9.

It is important to note that the pre-sale price is not the final price and XPeng may provide new pricing based on consumer feedback when the G6 is officially launched.

G6 show cars are already available at XPeng stores, and the model will be officially launched on June 29, with deliveries starting in July, the company said.

Analysts believe the G6 will be critical for XPeng as the company continues to face weak sales and financial performance.

"With margins and cash burn looking materially worse following 1Q earnings, we believe management may be making its last stand with the G6," Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu's team said in a May 30 research note.

The team's previous view assumed XPeng could see stable natural margin improvement from the sharp drop in battery input prices, but those savings were mostly offset by incremental promotional activity and a poor mix.

" Therefore, the importance of the upcoming G6 has become even GREATER," the team wrote.

Weak delivery performance over the past year has dampened XPeng shares, and they are down about 11 percent year to date.

XPeng begins pre-sales of G6 with starting price significantly lower than Tesla Model Y

($1 = RMB 7.1187)

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Analysts list 2 major issues Tesla must address before bringing FSD to China

While the overall trend is for FSD to enter China, there are still two major issues before it becomes a reality -- data collection eligibility and supercomputing centers, according to CITIC Securities.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

A Chinese official's remarks a month ago sparked much anticipation for to bring FSD (Full Self-Driving) to China.

However, Tesla still has a lot of work to do if it makes this a reality. A team of local analysts shared their views in a new research note.

The trend of Tesla FSD entering China is becoming clearer, which is expected to accelerate the progress of intelligence in local electric vehicles (EVs), said a team of CITIC Securities analyst Lian Yixi in a research note today.

While the overall trend is for FSD to enter China, it is still two major issues away from becoming a reality -- data collection eligibility and supercomputing centers, according to the team.

Under China's current regulations, high-precision map mapping can only be conducted by qualified entities, and only 19 currently hold the qualification, the team noted.

Moreover, the compilation of electronic maps for navigation is currently open only to local companies, and the transmission of mapping data outside of China must also be approved in advance, the team said.

Map data is highly sensitive and related to national security, and exactly how Tesla should obtain the qualification is still unknown, the team said.

Viable options for Tesla include forming a joint venture with a Chinese company or moving the process forward in Shanghai on a pilot basis, but it would be difficult for it to roll out the effort on a large scale any time soon, according to the team.

In addition to map-related qualifications, Tesla would need to build a supercomputing center in China.

The pure vision route for autonomous driving relies more on massive data collection and model training for image processing, so Tesla built Dojo, a supercomputing center in the US, and developed its own D1 chip to improve the training efficiency of FSD, CITIC Securities noted.

And in China, even if Tesla obtains the data acquisition qualification, the probability is that it can only train the model locally in China and the data may not be allowed to be transmitted back to the US, the team said.

This means that to achieve the same training efficiency as in the US, Tesla would need to establish a supercomputing center in China similar to Dojo, which would require a certain development cycle and cost, according to the team.

Despite these two major issues, CITIC Securities believes that if Tesla succeeds in bringing FSD to China, it will benefit the overall intelligence of China's EVs, helping to strengthen consumer education, expand the market, and accelerate the process of letting the best win out.

The entry of FSD into China is likely to significantly strengthen consumers' awareness of the intelligence of cars and develop their daily needs and habits for smart driving, which is expected to allow the market to expand significantly in China, the team said.

It is also important to note that if Tesla introduces the highly profitable FSD to China, it has the potential to further reduce the prices of its vehicles and could launch a lower-priced Model 2/Q, with pricing likely in the RMB 150,000 ($21,070) to RMB 200,000 range, according to the team.

If such a scenario emerges, cost pressures on local low- and mid-range models would be further exacerbated, when obtaining a low-priced but qualified smart driving software from a third-party supplier could become a mainstream option for car companies with weaker R&D capabilities, the team said.

($1 = RMB 7.1213)

Shanghai official hints at support for Tesla's FSD rollout in China

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Hertz Needs To Tell Consumers More About Driving A Tesla

A milestone in the electric vehicle revolution, toward the end of 2021, Hertz announced it was ordering 100,000 Teslas. That took true leadership from Hertz, and it’s something EV enthusiasts were long waiting to see happen (generally speaking). Aside from the fact that electric vehicles are cheaper to operate (and the more one drives in […]
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