Category: eV

Li Auto to build charging stations at ‘NIO pace’, report says

is aiming to build about 300 super-fast charging stations this year, and also plans to add 10,000 new charging piles this year, according to local media.

LI.US | 2015.HK

(Image credit: Li Auto)

Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) is starting to build out its charging infrastructure as its first all-electric model is set to be launched this year.

Li Auto's infrastructure build-out will enter the "NIO pace," with the company setting a goal of building about 300 super-fast charging stations within the year, with about 10 already deployed in highway service areas, a 36kr report today said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The move is in preparation for the launch of Li Auto's first all-electric model, which will be an all-electric MPV expected to be released by the end of 2023, and ultra-fast charging will be one of the highlights of the vehicle, according to the report.

Earlier this week, one of Li Auto's under-construction 800 V charging stations was seen at a highway service area in China, sparking widespread discussion in the Chinese community.

All of Li Auto's current models are extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), which are essentially plug-in hybrids. Because these vehicles can be refueled, Li Auto has not started working on charging facilities in the past few years.

By 2025, Li Auto will have built a total of 3,000 supercharging stations, at a total cost of 10 billion yuan ($1.44 billion), Li Xiang, the company's founder, chairman and CEO, said in a media event last week.

For a company with annual revenues in the RMB 100 billion range, these costs are not as high as one might think after being spread out over five years, he said.

Li Auto is very confident about the coverage of supercharging piles along highways because China has been encouraging car companies to build supercharging stations since last year, he said.

The company's supercharging stations will be open to other models built on the 800 V platform, ensuring that each of its peer brands can also charge at a high level of efficiency, according to Li.

In China, NIO (NYSE: NIO) is one of the most aggressive car companies in building charging infrastructure.

NIO announced at NIO Day late last year that the company plans to add 400 new battery swap stations in 2023.

However, on February 21, William Li, NIO's founder, chairman and CEO, said that plan was far from enough and upped it to 1,000 stations.

"We have set a new goal of adding 1,000 new battery swap stations in 2023, for a cumulative total of more than 2,300 stations by the end of 2023," Li said in an article posted to the NIO App last month.

Of the 1,000 new stations, about 400 will be located near highway service areas or highway entrances and exits. The other 600 or so will be deployed in urban areas.

The 36kr report today quotes an NIO employee as saying that in addition to its aggressive battery swap station goal, the company also plans to add 10,000 new charging piles this year.

Those additions include superchargers and destination charging piles, covering both domestic and foreign markets, according to the report.

As of March 10, NIO had 1,321 battery swap stations in China, as well as 2,383 charging stations offering 14,054 charging piles, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.

In addition to Li Auto and NIO, their local counterpart (NYSE: XPEV) is also fast-tracking the construction of energy replenishment facilities.

On August 15, 2022, XPeng showcased its S4 Supercharging technology and announced the completion of its first S4 supercharger in Guangzhou, where it is headquartered.

This S4 fast charging pile has a maximum power of 480 kW, a maximum current of 670 A and a peak charging power of 400 kW, enabling the vehicle to obtain a CLTC range of 210 km in 5 minutes.

Last September 21, XPeng said at the G9 launch that it expects to add more than 500 S4 supercharging stations in 2023 and that the number will exceed 2,000 by 2025.

The reason for these aggressive moves is that there are limited site resources suitable for building such facilities.

Most highway service areas in China don't have much power redundancy, and after considering NIO's battery swap stations and State Grid's charging facilities, there aren't really many suitable site resources left, 36kr quoted an unnamed car company source as saying.

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NIO reveals aggressive plan to add 1,000 swap stations in 2023

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China Feb EV battery installations: Total volume up 36% from Jan, CATL share down slightly

's share in February was essentially unchanged from January, while CALB's share grew significantly.

China's power battery installed base rebounded in February compared to January, though 's share declined slightly and CALB's share increased significantly.

In February, China's power battery installed base was 21.9 GWh, up 60.4 percent year-on-year and up 36.0 percent from January, according to data released today by the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance (CABIA).

CATL's power battery installed base in February was 9.60 GWh, continuing to rank first with a 43.76 percent share, but down from 44.41 percent in January.

BYD installed 7.50 GWh of power batteries in February, ranking second with a 34.19 percent share, essentially unchanged from January's 34.12 percent share.

CALB saw significant market share gains in February, as the company installed 1.62 GWh of power batteries in the month, ranking third with a 7.39 percent share, up 2.46 percentage points from 4.93 percent in January.

Gotion High-tech ranked fourth with an installed base of 0.78 GWh and a 3.58 percent share in February, while Eve Energy ranked fifth with an installed base of 0.71 GWh and a 3.25 percent share.

China's ternary Li-ion battery installed base in February was 6.7 GWh, accounting for 30.6 percent of total installed base, up 15.0 percent year-on-year and up 23.7 percent from January.

The installed base of LFP batteries was 15.2 GWh, accounting for 69.3 percent of the total installed base, up 95.3 percent year-on-year and up 42.2 percent from January.

In the ternary Li-ion battery market, CATL ranked first with 65.53 percent of the total installed base of 4.40 GWh in February.

CALB and LG Energy Solution ranked second and third in the ternary battery market with 10.93 percent and 7.49 percent shares, respectively.

In the LFP battery market, BYD installed 7.50 GWh in February, topping the list with a 49.37 percent share, the second consecutive month it ranked first in this segment.

BYD's power batteries are mainly LFP batteries, which are mainly used in the company's own new energy vehicle (NEV) models.

CATL ranked second in the LFP market with 34.19 percent of the total installed base of 5.20 GWh in February.

CALB and Gotion High-tech ranked third and fourth in the LFP battery market with 5.84 percent and 4.82 percent shares, respectively.

CATL's share in global EV battery market slips in Jan, BYD rises

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China NEV sales at 525,000 units in Feb, up 28.7% from Jan, CAAM data show

In January-February, China's vehicle sales decreased by 15.2 percent year-on-year while NEV sales increased by 20.8 percent year-on-year.

China NEV sales at 525,000 units in Feb, up 28.7% from Jan, CAAM data show-CnEVPost

China saw new energy vehicle (NEV) sales of 525,000 units in February, up 55.9 percent year-on-year and up 28.7 percent from January, according to data released today by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The CAAM figures are wholesale sales by vehicle companies, where NEVs include battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) and fuel cell vehicles.

China generated sales of 376,000 BEVs in February, up 43.9 percent year-on-year. PHEV sales were 149,000 units, up 98.0 percent year-on-year. Sales of fuel cell vehicles were 40 units, down 77.5 percent year-on-year.

China NEV sales at 525,000 units in Feb, up 28.7% from Jan, CAAM data show-CnEVPost

Sales of all vehicles in China were 1.976 million units in February, up 13.5 percent year-on-year and up 19.83 percent from January.

China NEV sales at 525,000 units in Feb, up 28.7% from Jan, CAAM data show-CnEVPost

This means that the penetration rate of NEVs in China by the CAAM figures was 26.6 percent in February, up 1.9 percentage points from 24.7 in January.

China NEV sales at 525,000 units in Feb, up 28.7% from Jan, CAAM data show-CnEVPost

Production of NEVs in China was 552,000 units in January, up 48.8 percent year-on-year and up 29.9 percent from January.

Production of all vehicles in China in January was 2,032,000 units, up 11.9 percent year-on-year and 27.5 percent from January.

It is worth noting that last year, February 1-6 was the New Year's holiday, which caused disruptions to sales and production at that time. This year, that holiday was January 21-27.

Because the Chinese New Year holiday fell in the same month last year and in January this year, and some local governments introduced policies to boost auto consumption last month, China's auto production and sales increased significantly in February, the CAAM said.

In February, 329,000 vehicles were exported from China, up 82.2 percent year-on-year and up 9.4 percent from January.

Among them, exports of NEVs were 87,000 units, up 79.5 percent year-on-year and up 5.3 percent from January.

In January-February, China's vehicle sales were 3.625 million units, down 15.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the CAAM.

NEVs sold 933,000 units in January-February, up 20.8 percent year-on-year, with a market share of 25.7 percent.

In the first two months, sales of models priced at RMB 150,000 ($21,540) to RMB 250,000 and those priced at RMB 350,000 to RMB 500,000 increased year-on-year, while sales of models in other price segments declined.

For conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, sales of models in the price range of RMB 300,000 to RMB 350,000 increased year-on-year in January-February, while sales of models in all other price ranges declined.

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Full CPCA rankings: Top-selling models and automakers in China in Feb

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