Shenzhen Stock Exchange's leading lithium battery companies continue to grow strongly

Data from industry consulting agency Gaogong Industry Research Institute show that global new energy vehicle sales in the first half of 2024 will increase by 16% year-on-year, driving the global power battery installed capacity to about 346.5GWh, a year-on-year increase of 15%. According to SNE Research statistics, in the first half of this year, the installed capacity of electric vehicle power batteries in the global market increased by 22.3% year-on-year. Among them, companies such as CATL, EVE Energy, and Guoxuan High-tech in Shenzhen have shown strong growth momentum. While benefiting from the growth of demand, many lithium battery leaders are actively strengthening their innovation capabilities and continue to play a leading role in benchmarking by continuously leading the high-quality development of the industry with high-level intelligent manufacturing.

As one of the first batch of GEM listed companies, EVE Energy has attached great importance to product R&D investment and the improvement of its own comprehensive R&D strength in recent years. The company said that it is actively doing a good job in the R&D and technical reserves of new products in response to industry development trends.

Specifically, according to last year's annual report, the company's lithium metal secondary batteries have successfully overcome three major technical difficulties. Based on a 10Ah battery cell, it can achieve a maximum of 580Wh/Kg and support 5C output. At the same time, full performance tests can meet the safety requirements of UL1642 and UN38.3; in the field of solid-state batteries, research on polymer solid-state batteries has been carried out, and stable operation at room temperature has been initially achieved; in terms of hydrogen fuel cells, the development of 150kW hydrogen energy battery stacks has been completed, and the volume power density has reached 4.0kW/L. At the same time, the company took the lead in launching the 46 series large cylindrical batteries that are both safe and economical in 2021, and successfully carried out commercialization during the reporting period, achieving mass production and installation. Yiwei Lithium Energy said that the 46 series large cylindrical batteries are an important development direction for the next generation of battery technology. The company will further enhance its position as a leading global supplier through the advanced layout of technology and production capacity.

At the 8th China-South Asia Expo and the 28th China Kunming Import and Export Commodities Fair (hereinafter referred to as "South Expo") held in July, EVE Energy, as a representative enterprise in the new energy field, made a wonderful appearance with its full-scenario lithium battery solution, sharing the company's latest technological achievements and application practices with customers and partners from all over the world, which attracted widespread attention. In terms of power batteries, the company's immersion liquid-cooled battery system is an innovative product developed and designed based on the 46 series large cylindrical batteries.

In the field of energy storage business, EVE Energy also exhibited a new generation of Mr flagship series products at the same time. It is reported that the capacity of Mr. Big battery cell is as high as 628Ah, using the third-generation high-speed stacking technology, and the energy efficiency reaches 96%; Mr. Giant system uses a standard 20-foot cabinet, the energy reaches 5MWh, and the system energy efficiency is as high as 95%. The company is also the first in the industry to launch large iron-lithium battery cells dedicated to energy storage, which effectively solves the multiple challenges of large-scale power stations in management, safety and economy, and meets the trend of the TWh era. Public data shows that EVE Energy has currently achieved the first domestic sales and export volume of lithium primary batteries for eight consecutive years, and the energy storage battery shipments in 2023 ranked third in the world, and the power battery domestic shipments in 2023 ranked among the top five in the country.

As a world-leading new energy innovation technology company, CATL also has core technology advantages and forward-looking research and development layout in the fields of battery materials, battery systems, battery recycling and other industrial chains. The global market share of power batteries and energy storage batteries has remained the first for many years, achieving steady growth in performance. According to statistics from Gaogong Industry Research Institute, the company achieved a market share of 47.1% in the first half of 2024; the total installed capacity of power batteries exceeded 94GWh, with a year-on-year growth rate of more than 43%, higher than the industry average. Based on strong R&D capabilities, the company has continued to launch innovative products in recent years, and its competitive advantages have been continuously consolidated. In the semi-annual report, CATL introduced that the company has successively launched innovative technologies and products such as high-nickel ternary batteries, CTP structures, M3P batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and Shenxing 4C supercharged batteries, and continues to lead the industry in terms of key indicators such as energy density, cycle life, group efficiency, fast charging performance, safety, and cost. The company has also been deeply involved in cutting-edge research and development fields such as solid-state batteries for many years, and was the first to release condensed batteries that can be used in the aviation field and actively promoted the implementation of projects such as integrated intelligent chassis and chocolate battery swap.

In the field of passenger vehicles, CATL released the Shenxing Plus battery based on the Shenxing 4C supercharged battery released last year, and launched a new generation of Kirin high-power batteries with a discharge power of over 1,300KW; in the field of commercial vehicles, the company launched the Tianxing L-Supercharged version, which is the world's first 4C supercharged light commercial vehicle power battery; in the field of energy storage, the company released the world's first 5-year zero-attenuation, single-cell 6.25MWh Tianheng energy storage system, which has a 30% increase in energy density per unit area and a 20% reduction in floor space compared to the previous generation of products, which can further increase the rate of return of energy storage projects.

At the recent performance briefing, the relevant person in charge of CATL also introduced that the overall progress of the integrated intelligent chassis project developed by the company is relatively smooth. Not only domestic car companies, but also many overseas customers are very interested in it. Some projects have been signed and related products will be launched soon.

At the 13th Science and Technology Conference held in May this year, Guoxuan High-tech released three batteries, namely 5C Supercharged G-eng Battery, 4695 Xingchen Ternary Battery, and Jinshi All-solid-state Battery. Adhering to innovation-driven development, Guoxuan High-tech has actively invested in R&D resources and has a number of core technologies in the fields of battery materials, battery technology, and battery testing. In last year's annual report, the company stated that it currently has more than 7,000 R&D technicians, and the UC battery cell has been certified by Volkswagen as the world's first designated and Volkswagen Group battery cell testing laboratory. The independently developed L600 Qichen battery pack system has an energy density of 190Wh/kg. The battery system covers commercial vehicle battery standard boxes, passenger car hybrid battery systems, and the latest two-wheeled vehicles, which can meet the power requirements of various models. Energy storage products cover battery cells, PACKs, battery clusters, and overall solutions for energy storage systems, etc., to meet the needs of various scenarios of centralized power storage, industrial and commercial storage, and household storage.

Huajin Securities said that it is expected that the production schedule of the lithium battery industry is expected to gradually improve, and the overall valuation is already at a historical low, and the industry is expected to usher in a certain valuation repair. After experiencing the recovery of production schedules and profit repairs in the first half of the year, Gaogong Industry Research Institute analyzed that lithium battery companies also showed a strong development momentum in July. After the production schedule and profit repairs in the second quarter, the overall production schedule level remained good. At the same time, in order to prepare for the "golden September and silver October" in the downstream auto market, the lithium battery material field has entered the peak production season. Among them, CATL said that the production schedule and orders in the second half of the year are full, and the capacity utilization rate is expected to increase further.