Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

Nanshan Group is taking the route of relying on technology to take orders.

This is the slogan that Cao Yang has been promoting within the company.

Now that the production of cars has started, it is natural to make the products of Xingchen Automobile have technical content.

Otherwise, how do you take the high-end route?

In terms of the background of the brand, no matter how you market it, there is definitely no way to compare it with established car companies such as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and Rolls-Royce.

But technically it can be a breakthrough.

It is not a problem to rely on technology that surpasses peers to create high-performance cars that surpass peers.

Based on this idea, many of the technologies used by Cao Yang on Xingchen 2 and Xingchen 3 are more than ten years ahead of this era.

Although it cannot be said to be black technology, it is definitely amazing enough.

At that time, there is absolutely no problem to use it to run the race or continue to go to Niubei to do laps.

If the W16 engine is developed in the future, then from W12 to W16, the performance of the high-end version will definitely be even better.

So soon, besides dealing with some major matters of the company, he began to devote a lot of time to technology research and development.

"Mr. Cao, at present, the number of internal members of our battery team is good at different things."

"Some people have been researching the batteries used in pure electric vehicles before. If they are allowed to switch to the research and development of FHEV batteries, it is not impossible, but it is a waste of talent, and the other party may not be very happy."

"Some people used to study lithium nickel oxide batteries, but now it will take time to switch to nickel cobalt lithium manganese oxide batteries."

"Electric vehicles are the future direction, but whether it is FHEV, PHEV, or BEV, they should all have their own market in the future."

"It may not be necessary for us to devote all types of R\u0026D talents to FHEV batteries."

Lin Cheng is a professor recruited by Nanshan Group from a university, and now serves as the deputy general manager of Nanshan Battery.

The position of general manager is temporarily vacant.

As a professor from a university, his professional level is still no problem.

However, since several directions were involved in the past, it is natural to hope to be able to make efforts in several fields at the same time.

Otherwise, if the bet is wrong, wouldn't all the efforts be meaningless?

"Professor Lin, your analysis also makes sense."

"We really don't need to be limited to research on FHEV batteries. PHEV and BEV can also be developed simultaneously."

"However, in the short term, our focus must be on FHEV batteries. After all, this is what will be used on the Star III soon."

"As for the battery chemical system, combined with the previous company's research, I think that at this stage, only two types of lithium iron phosphate batteries and nickel-cobalt lithium manganate batteries need to be studied."

"Other lithium cobalt oxide batteries, lithium manganese oxide batteries, and lithium nickel oxide batteries have their own advantages, but the corresponding disadvantages are also very obvious."

"Like lithium cobalt oxide, Sony first applied it commercially, with excellent performance of high specific capacity and low self-discharge."

"But the cost is high, the thermal stability is poor, and at high rate and deep cycle, the battery decays quickly, so it is not suitable for use in electric vehicles."

"Lithium manganese oxide is cheap enough, but it is not inferior to other types in terms of energy density and power density."

If you want someone like Lin Cheng who came out of college to convince you, the best way is to show your professionalism in front of him.

If you make him feel great in the professional field, it will naturally become easier to communicate.

So Cao Yang was going to have a good chat with Lin Cheng about the battery.

"Mr. Cao, everything you said is correct."

"No matter what kind of material the battery is, it actually has its own advantages and disadvantages."

"Like lithium iron phosphate, a new lithium-ion battery electrode material, is characterized by large discharge capacity, low price, non-toxicity, and no environmental pollution."

"At present, countries around the world are competing to realize industrial production, but its low tap density affects the capacity, and it may not be suitable for the needs of electric vehicles."

"Nickel cobalt lithium manganese oxide batteries can effectively increase the cell voltage by increasing the nickel content, thereby obtaining higher energy density."

"And because it contains less cobalt, the cost is only a quarter of that of lithium cobalt oxide and it is more environmentally friendly."

"This material is indeed a research hotspot in the battery field, but it is not without its own problems."

"A basic fact is that as the content of nickel increases, the specific capacity of the ternary cathode material gradually increases, and the energy density of the battery will also increase."

"However, the thermal stability of high-nickel materials in the state of charge is poor, which leads to a decrease in the safety of the battery, which makes battery manufacturers and end product users have concerns about the safety of this battery. Design, power supply and other links to carry out reliable safety design of the system."

"There are various other specific technical issues that have not been fully resolved."

When it comes to professional matters, Lin Cheng is still very enthusiastic.

This is his field of expertise.

He also wanted to take this opportunity to let the boss see his own level.

"You're right, it's true that every type of battery has its own problems."

"At this time, it will test the vision of various enterprises."

"If the future development trend is lithium iron phosphate batteries, but we are concentrating on making lithium cobalt oxide batteries, then there must be no future."

"Conversely, the industry is still uncertain which battery technology is easier to make breakthroughs and become the future development direction."

"And if we can make a successful choice, we will be able to overtake other vehicles in a corner and become an industry-leading battery company."

"Frankly speaking, our research history in battery technology is definitely not comparable to companies such as Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba, nor is it comparable to Korea's LG Chem and SK Innovation."

"Even domestic BYD and some other companies have a longer history in battery research than we do."

"But as long as we choose the right direction, it is not impossible to achieve corner overtaking."

"In the future, nickel-cobalt lithium manganese oxide batteries will be our main high-performance batteries, and lithium iron phosphate batteries will be our main low-cost batteries."

"The combination of the two paths will allow us to quickly become the industry leader."

"Of course, what I'm talking about is within ten years. If we look at it in the long run, research on semi-solid batteries and solid-state batteries will definitely be involved in the future."

"It's just that our Nanshan Battery hasn't even learned how to walk now, so we'll talk about running later."

Cao Yang's attitude is very firm to take the route of lithium iron phosphate and lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide batteries.

This is the path to success that has been proven by history.

Among the four main materials of the battery, the positive electrode material, negative electrode material, electrolyte and separator, the positive electrode material not only accounts for more than 40% of the cost, but also directly determines the energy density of the battery cell.

Because of this, most power batteries are named after the positive electrode material.

Lithium iron phosphate and nickel cobalt lithium manganese oxide batteries are no exception.

Whether it is CATL or BYD in later generations, these two products are the main products.

Of course, everyone's focus is different.

BYD is better at lithium iron phosphate batteries, while CATL is better at nickel-cobalt-manganese batteries.

"The two research directions you mentioned, Mr. Cao, are indeed one of the hot research fields in the industry."

"There are many options for the positive electrode material of the battery. It is obviously unrealistic for us to study all aspects."

"It's not impossible to be able to lock in a target and cultivate this field well."

After all, it was the boss's decision, and Lin Cheng was not so determined to always oppose it.

The most important thing is that what Cao Yang said is not unreasonable.

It's just that Lin Cheng has no way to directly determine the research direction in his mind.

Now that Cao Yang's attitude is so obvious, he naturally no longer struggles.

Of course, he is also involved in this field, and even nickel-cobalt-lithium-manganese-oxide batteries are still relatively good at him.

In the future, I can also play to my own advantages.

"Good steel should be used sharply. Although there are two research and development directions, our Star No. 3 is a sports car, and we must use nickel-cobalt lithium manganese oxide batteries with better performance."

"In this case, the FHEV battery of Nanshan Battery must use nickel-cobalt lithium manganese oxide as the positive electrode material."

"Then the next job is to discuss how to implement this technology on specific parts."

Cao Yang came to "pull the seedlings to encourage growth". Now that the battery used on Xingchen 3 has a development bottleneck, he will naturally "pull the seedlings to encourage growth".

"Mr. Cao, we have already done some industry research in this regard, checked a lot of related papers, and already have some ideas."

"Preliminarily, the square battery cell should be a type that is more suitable for use in hybrid batteries."

"Considering that the hybrid battery does not have a large demand for power, basically a two kilowatt-hour is enough."

"But it has high power requirements, so we plan to use nickel-cobalt lithium manganese oxide batteries with a relatively low nickel content, which can better meet the technical requirements of hybrid batteries."

"However, the corresponding cost will be higher than that of high-nickel batteries."

Lin Cheng began to discuss seriously with Cao Yang based on the previous research.

"The cost of a power battery is definitely higher than that of an energy battery."

"Especially for hybrid batteries, due to the need for rapid charge and discharge in a short period of time, or high-power discharge, the requirements for positive and negative electrode materials and separators are very high."

When Cao Yang said this, Lin Cheng immediately thought of a problem.

"Mr. Cao, we have also had some contact with material suppliers during this period, and I have some ideas that I think need to be discussed in advance."

"Oh? But it doesn't matter!"

Cao Yang really wanted to hear the opinions of people in Lincheng's industry.

"At present, the positive and negative electrode materials of lithium batteries, especially the positive and negative electrode materials, are mainly in the hands of Dongying companies such as Sumitomo Metal, Mitsubishi Chemical, Dongying Chemical, and Mitsui Copper Foil."

"We have no way to completely avoid them in a short time."

"Although there are some related positive and negative electrode material manufacturers in China, they have not yet fully developed and grown, and further support is needed."

"So I think that for some key materials, do we need to consider buying them ourselves or investing in factories to produce them, so that we can grasp the core competitiveness."

"In addition, with the increase in battery production, one day in the future related lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, nickel, cobalt and other metal resources will become relatively scarce."

"The prices of these materials are not particularly expensive now, but maybe the situation will be different when the production of batteries increases in the future."

"So I think it is necessary for Nanshan Investment to come forward and deploy some companies related to lithium mines, nickel mines, and cobalt mines from the early stage?"

When Lin Cheng said this, Cao Yang couldn't help but his eyes lit up.

Being able to raise this question so early shows that Lin Cheng has seriously thought about it.

Cao Yang, who knows the situation of future generations, also knows that what Cao Yang said will happen in the future.

Especially lithium carbonate and other materials related to lithium ore, the price increase is very alarming.

It's hard to imagine that a mineral resource can increase its price by ten times or dozens of times.

Is this an increase in the price of gas for mining minecarts?

Or is the value of the mines lying on the ground really changing so much?

"I will let Nanshan Investment start to consider the layout of mineral resources, but I am not in such a hurry now. When the time is right, I will buy some domestic and foreign minerals."

Cao Yang naturally knows the importance of lithium mines, but he can save a lot of money by waiting until the financial crisis to buy them.

Anyway, the amount of lithium batteries used in cars is very low now, and it will not grow by leaps and bounds in the next few years.

I still have enough time to plan.

As for various materials such as positive and negative electrodes used in batteries, the situation is different.

"As for the anode and cathode materials, some of them can consider producing by themselves, and some can consider investing in some domestic suppliers to support their development."

"Of course, this will not be achieved in a short time."

"At the beginning, it was not impossible to consider purchasing a part from manufacturers such as Sumitomo Metal."

"It is also possible to take this opportunity to inspect manufacturers such as Sumitomo Metal and prepare for our own production in the next step."

Batteries will be a very large industry in the future.

In addition to the familiar battery manufacturers, there are various supporting material manufacturers behind them.

Even the profit margins of these material manufacturers are sometimes higher than those of battery manufacturers.

Naturally, Cao Yang would not completely ignore this matter.

The main reason is that the quality of these materials is also closely related to the performance of the battery.

For example, copper foil, if you make it not thin enough, other things in the battery cell will not change, and the performance will drop a bit.

Likewise, the diaphragm is also very critical.

"The performance of the separator determines the interface structure and internal resistance of the battery, which directly affects the capacity, cycle and safety performance of the battery."

"A separator with excellent performance plays an important role in improving the overall performance of the battery."

"This one, our Nanshan Battery should consider investing in the factory to build it."

Cao Yang also quickly gave his own suggestion.

Along with these proposals, he and Lin Cheng also began to discuss specific battery specifications.

Even the personnel responsible for the research and development of battery equipment from Nanshan Equipment were called together.

Everyone discussed together, step by step, let the FHEV battery used on Xingchen 3 have a development prototype.

For the rest, Cao Yang would naturally come over every now and then to "pull the seedlings and encourage them to grow".

Of course, that's a later story.

Cao Yang is now going to discuss with Nanshan Transmission the development of motors for hybrid models.