Category: China

Lithium producer Ganfeng says it has started mass production of 1st gen solid-state battery

Ganfeng said its first-generation solid-state battery can reach an energy density of 260 Wh/kg, with a production line capable of producing 4 GWh per year.

(Image credit: Ganfeng Lithium)

China's Ganfeng Lithium -- the world's largest lithium producer by market capitalization -- said it has begun mass production of its first-generation solid-state battery, after announcing the new technology in late 2021.

Ganfeng revealed the progress in a May 19 investor conference meeting minutes, saying its first-generation solid-state batteries can reach an energy density of 260 Wh/kg and that the production line is designed to have an annual capacity of 4 GWh.

Production of the solid-state battery is currently undergoing capacity creep, with application scenarios including power batteries and energy storage, according to the minutes.

Ganfeng's second-generation hybrid solid-state lithium battery uses lithium metal as the anode and can reach an energy density of 400 Wh/kg, the company said.

The safety performance of the second-generation solid-state battery meets automotive requirements, and the cycling performance of the sample battery has met the requirements of car companies, Ganfeng said.

Ganfeng unveiled its first-generation solid-state battery, a hybrid solid-state and liquid lithium-ion battery, on December 10, 2021.

The battery has an oxide electrolyte and uses graphite for the anode. It has a diaphragm, but unlike conventional diaphragms, it uses a solid electrolyte diaphragm.

Ganfeng did not announce the energy density of the first-generation solid-state battery at the time, but said the second-generation solid-state battery had an energy density of more than 360 Wh/kg.

The company's latest announcement means that it has made new progress in the development of the second-generation solid-state battery over the past year and a half, allowing for a further increase in energy density.

Current mainstream lithium-ion battery cells have an energy density of just over 200 Wh/kg, and 's (NYSE: NIO) 150 kWh semi-solid-state battery, expected to be available within months, is 360 Wh/kg.

On April 19, unveiled its new battery technology, Condensed Battery, which claims an energy density of up to 500 Wh/kg for a single cell.

The Condensed Battery will be available for use in electric vehicles and will have mass production capability within this year, said Wu Kai, CATL's chief scientist at the time.

CATL unveils Condensed Battery for electric aircrafts and EVs

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NIO applies for GPT-related trademarks in China

With ChatGPT becoming a hot topic around the world, many Chinese tech giants have announced their progress in the field.  |  US | NIO HK | NIO SG

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

NIO (NYSE: NIO) is filing for several GPT-related trademarks in China, possibly in preparation for making its virtual voice assistant NOMI smarter.

The Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker filed five GPT-related trademark applications on May 15, and their classifications involve communication services, scientific instruments, construction, and social services.

These trademarks include a NIO GPT, two NOMI GPTs, and two Knowme GPTs.

GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), essentially solves for the probability of the next word occurring, sampling and generating a word from a probability distribution with each call.

With ChatGPT becoming a hot topic around the world, many Chinese tech giants have announced their progress in this field.

Auto, the car-making arm of Baidu, announced on February 14 that it will leverage Baidu's ChatGPT-like product ERNIE Bot to create a large-model AI interaction experience for smart car scenarios, thereby supporting natural communication for its robocars.

Great Wall Motor-backed Chinese startup Haomo.AI Technology officially launched DriveGPT on April 11, saying it is the first generative large model for autonomous driving that will reshape the technological path to automotive intelligence.

Earlier this month, NIO's local counterpart (NASDAQ: LI) filed a trademark application for MindGPT in China.

In 2017, NIO released the first-generation ES8, and its in-car voice assistant NOMI was announced at the time.

NOMI is derived from the harmonic sound of Know Me in English. If you have seen the science fiction movie "Her", NOMI is the NIO version of "Her".

NOMI is the voice assistant in the car, but NIO seems to expect more from it than that, letting it occupy the most central position in the front of the cockpit.

What is NOMI? Here's everything you need to know

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BYD 2023 Han DM series sedan gets 13,695 orders in 72 hours of launch

On May 18, launched the facelifts of the plug-in hybrid versions of its flagship Han sedan at reduced prices compared to the 2022 variants.  |  BYDDY.US | BYD HK

(Image credit: BYD)

BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY) has updated the order data for the 2023 Han DM series to show that the sedan's facelifts have received a good reception after launch.

Orders for the 2023 Han DM-i and Han DM-p models reached 13,695 units 72 hours after launch, BYD announced Sunday on Weibo.

On May 18, BYD officially made the facelifts of its flagship sedan BYD Han's plug-in hybrid versions, the Han DM-i Champion Edition and Han DM-p Warrior Edition, available in China.

The 2023 Han DM-i is available in six versions with starting prices of RMB 189,800 ($27,033), RMB 199,800, RMB 209,800, RMB 219,800, RMB 239,800 and RMB 249,800 respectively.

The 2023 Han DM-p is available in only one version, starting at RMB 289,800.

This means that the starting price of the 2023 Han DM-i is reduced by RMB 28,000 and the Han DM-p is reduced by RMB 32,000 compared to the 2022 model.

Of the 13,695 units ordered, the average sales price is more than RMB 241,000, BYD said Sunday.

Consumers who chose the 200 km battery range version accounted for 37.8 percent of consumers, and the percentage of female consumers was 37.2 percent BYD said.

On May 19, the second day of the 2023 Han's launch, BYD said the model received 8,051 orders on launch day.

Many BYD models are offered in both pure electric and plug-in hybrid versions, with the latter likely to include a DM-i version that focuses more on fuel economy, and a DM-p version that focuses more on performance.

On March 16, BYD made the 2023 Han EV available for a starting price of RMB 209,800, down from RMB 219,800 for the model's 2022 version.

The BYD Han has a length, width and height of 4,975 mm, 1,910 mm and 1,495 mm, respectively, and a wheelbase of 2,920 mm.

The entry version of the Han DM-i can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.9 seconds and the Han DM-p in 3.7 seconds.

The Han DM-i has two options for pure electric range, with NEDC ranges of 121 km and 200 km. The model has a combined range of 1,260 km on full fuel and full charge.

The BYD Han family sold 14,329 units in April, up 6.77 percent year-on-year and up 5.75 percent from March.

BYD aims to sell at least 3 million vehicles this year and strives to reach 3.6 million, the company's chairman and president Wang Chuanfu said at an investor conference on March 29.

($1 = RMB 7.0209)

BYD launches facelifts of Han sedan's hybrid variants with lower prices

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China EV transition: Shanghai fuel car license plate auction participants hit 99-month low

Shanghai, home to 's China factory and 's global headquarters, has seen NEV penetration reach about 50 percent.

To observe China's electric vehicle (EV) transition, Shanghai, home to Tesla's China factory and NIO's global headquarters, is a must-watch city, and something interesting is happening.

In the monthly auction for fuel car license plates, 113,722 people participated in the auction in May, down 6,492 from the previous month, according to the information posted Saturday by the Shanghai government on its official WeChat account.

The number of participants was at a new low since February 2015, or a 99-month low, data compiled by CnEVPost showed.

The number of available license plates in May was 13,214, implying a winning rate of 11.6 percent.

The auction had the lowest winning price of RMB 92,400 ($13,170) and an average price of RMB 92,547, an increase of RMB 135 from RMB 92,412 the previous month.

Shanghai usually holds license plate auctions for fuel cars on the third Saturday morning of each month, with the local government announcing the results in the afternoon.

The event is one of the most watched locally until EVs are accepted by residents, as winning the auction is so difficult that many may have to try for two or three years before they succeed in winning the bid.

In 2022 and before, Shanghai was offering free license plates to consumers who purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) as well as battery electric vehicles (BEVs) to encourage the growth of the NEV industry.

Starting in January 2023, PHEVs are treated the same as conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEs), and consumers will need to obtain license plates through the bidding process in order to register such vehicles in the city.

Shanghai's license plate auctions date back to the 1990s, and the event is currently organized by the Shanghai International Commodity Auction Co Ltd (SICA).

Those wishing to participate in the auction need to first submit an application to the SICA and only after qualifying are approved can they participate in the monthly auctions.

Data from the SICA obtained by CnEVPost dating back to January 2010 show that the number of participants in this month's Shanghai license plate auction is at a record low since February 2015, when the number was 103,224.

This comes as NEV penetration has continued to rise in Shanghai over the past few years, with about half of the cars registered in the city now being NEVs.

In April, all vehicle sales in Shanghai were 45,897 units, of which NEVs contributed 22,243, or 48.46 percent, according to data released earlier this month by the Shanghai Economic Information Center.

The earliest available data for that sales volume is January 2021, when 74,555 vehicles were sold in Shanghai, of which NEVs contributed 23,000, or 30.85 percent, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.

Shanghai, home to about 25 million people, is the location of Tesla's China factory, which currently has an annual capacity of more than 1 million units, making it the largest factory in the world for the US EV maker.

Tesla Shanghai plant produced 727,000 units in 2022, up 49.7 percent from a year earlier, with an industrial output of RMB 183.9 billion, which represents 23 percent of Shanghai's auto manufacturing output, a local official said earlier this month.

Shanghai is also home to NIO's global headquarters, and the Chinese EV company's delivery center in the city's Jiading Nanxiang is its largest in the world.

In 2021, NIO has the No. 1 market share of 23 percent of all fuel and electric SUVs in Shanghai priced at more than 350,000 yuan, William Li, the company's founder, chairman and CEO, said during a March 25, 2022 earnings call.

($1 = RMB 7.0167)

Data table: Shanghai monthly fuel car license plate auction results

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NIO’s new ES6 show cars available in nearly 300 stores in China

The new ES6 show cars became available at nearly 300 stores in 92 cities as of May 20.

(Image credit: NIO)

NIO (NYSE: NIO) has made the new ES6 show cars available in most of its stores in China, just days before the model's official launch.

The new ES6 became available in nearly 300 NIO stores in 92 cities on May 20, the electric vehicle company announced yesterday.

Those cities include both first-tier Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and smaller cities, including Zhoushan, Handan and Nanning.

NIO's showrooms include the flagship NIO Houses as well as smaller NIO Spaces, and as of April 30 they numbered 110 and 270 in China, respectively, according to data it released on May 1.

The company has four NIO Houses as well as six NIO Spaces in Europe.

NIO will hold the launch of the new ES6 on May 24 starting at 7:00 pm Beijing time (7:00 am US Eastern time on May 24), and viewers will be able to watch a live video stream on channels including the NIO App, NIO.com, and NIO Weibo.

Test drives of the new ES6 will be available on May 24, and its delivery will begin on May 25, according to information previously announced by NIO.

This will be NIO's fastest model from official launch to delivery, as its local peers, including (NASDAQ: LI), have proven that efficient delivery is critical to success in the highly competitive Chinese EV market.

NIO launched the first-generation ES6 in December 2018 and began delivering the model in China in June 2019.

Available data for 2022 show that from January to August, 32,877 ES6 units were delivered, contributing 46 percent of NIO's total deliveries of 71,556 units for the period.

The wait for the new ES6 by potential consumers may be one of the major reasons for NIO's low deliveries in the past few months.

NIO delivered 6,658 vehicles in April, which was up 31.22 percent from 5,074 in the same month last year, but down 35.85 percent from 10,378 in March.

In April, most deliveries were attributed to the ET5 and ES7, while NIO has been upgrading its product from NT 1.0 to NT2.0, it said on May 1.

NIO pins high hopes on new ES6 with unprecedented delivery efficiency and marketing campaign

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