SVOLT boss warns Chinese battery makers on overseas expansion amid policy uncertainty
Chinese battery makers should exercise greater caution when building factories in Europe and the U.S. due to fast-shifting policy environments, Yang Hongxin, chairman and CEO of Chinese battery startup SVOLT Energy Technology Co. Ltd., warned. Yang told the World Power Battery Conference on Tuesday that regulatory uncertainty and sharply higher operating costs overseas pose major risks to Chinese companies planning global expansion. Yang revealed that BMW once proposed a large battery order contingent on SVOLT building a plant in Germany, but the company eventually walked away. “The cost of building a factory in Germany was simply too high — labor alone is five times more expensive than in China, and total costs would exceed domestic levels by about 50%,” he said.
Changan Auto executive urges caution over all-solid-state battery development
Deng Chenghao, vice president of Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. Ltd. and chairman of its electric-vehicle (EV) brand Deepal, urged caution over the development of all-solid-state batteries, warning that the technology is unlikely to be ready for commercial use before 2030. “There are still many unresolved problems with all-solid-state batteries,” said Deng during the World Power Battery Conference on Tuesday. Deng cautioned that the industry's impatience could backfire, ultimately undermining sustainable, long-term development. His remarks come as a reality check for an EV industry increasingly fixated on solid-state batteries, which promise longer range, better safety and improved performance in cold weather. The technology replaces flammable liquid electrolytes with solid materials, generating buzz among investors and attracting substantial state-backed R&D funding in China.
Maersk-owned ports operator taps Chinese tech for decarbonization
APM Terminals, a Netherlands-headquartered ports operator owned by shipping giant Maersk, is working with CATL and a Sany subsidiary to electrify its global fleet of terminal vehicles, as it ramps up efforts to decarbonize its operations. On the sidelines of the Gateway Gulf Investment Forum held earlier this month in Bahrain, APM Terminals CEO Keith Svendsen told Caixin that his company will put the electric terminal tractors it bought from China’s Sany Marine Heavy Industry into regular operations after using them on a trial basis. The tractors are powered by batteries developed by China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), with which APM Terminals established a strategic partnership in April to jointly promote the low-carbon transformation of the global logistics industry.
CATL works with JD.com, GAC on low-cost EV
Chinese battery giant CATL has partnered with JD.com Inc. and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. Ltd. (GAC) to launch a low-cost electric vehicle (EV) that supports battery-swapping technology. The Aion UT Super went on sale Sunday, with a version that allows buyers to rent the battery costing just 49,900 yuan ($6,900) plus a monthly battery rental fee of 399 yuan. Under the cooperation, JD.com will serve as the online sales platform, GAC Aion will handle vehicle production and delivery, while CATL will provide the battery rental and swapping services, Caixin has learned. CATL, the world’s largest maker of power and energy storage batteries, operates battery-swapping services for commercial and passenger vehicles under the Qiji and Choco-SEB brands, respectively.
China grants conditional approval for Codelco-SQM lithium JV
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has granted conditional approval for a lithium joint venture (JV) between Chile’s state-run copper giant Codelco and local lithium maker SQM, clearing the final antitrust hurdle for a partnership that is key to the South American country’s resource nationalization strategy. In a statement published late Monday, the market regulator announced it had cleared the tie-up with restrictive conditions. The deal, which creates the JV to mine, produce and sell minerals from Chile’s Atacama Salt Flat, had already received approvals from antitrust bodies in Brazil, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the EU. This deal is expected to reshape the global lithium supply chain and affect the profitability of SQM and its second-largest shareholder, China’s Tianqi Lithium Corp.
