Johnson Controls: Existing Battery Capacity Still Cannot Meet Future Electric Vehicle Development

Gasgoo.com: At present, the rapid development of the new energy automobile industry has led to the development of the lithium battery industry. What do you think of the overall situation of the automotive lithium battery market today? How do you view the current market situation?

Yu Gang: At present, the power lithium battery market should be said to be booming and in full swing. Many companies and investors have entered this market. Overseas companies have entered the Chinese market by means of mergers and acquisitions. Some domestic oil companies and powerful companies such as the State Grid have shown great interest in this market.

In the long run, by 2020, the production and sales of automobiles in the basic year will be 30 million, of which 50% will be self-owned brands, or 15 million, and 20% will be new energy vehicles, that is, 3 million vehicles. After a simple calculation, we can know that the current input of so much battery capacity may still not meet such demand. Therefore, from the perspective of supply and demand in the market, due to the relatively large market capacity, there will not be any problem of excessive competition or overcapacity. This is still a stage of mutual success and win-win, and more needs cooperation between each other. Cultivate this market.

Gasgoo.com: In response to such market conditions, what are Johnson Controls' initiatives in market operations?

Yu Gang: Based on the above situation, we need to develop our partners extensively. I hope everyone can work together to cultivate this market. As the market grows, battery manufacturers can also grow together. I don't think it's too early to talk about orders at this point in time.

Gasgoo.com: What do you think is the advantage of Johnson Controls? What are the specific plans for the future?

Yu Gang: Johnson Controls - SAFT is a joint venture between Johnson Controls and SAFT in 2006. The advantage of Johnson Controls is that it has developed a more mature commercial product. At present, we have already supplied the BMW 7 Series in the European market with battery packs for the hybrid cars of the Daimler-Benz S400 sedan. These cars have already been sold on the market.

In Europe, we also cooperate with other auto companies such as Volkswagen, but there are currently no specific projects that can be publicly released. In North America, we have provided a fully mixed power battery for a car modification plant in North America, and it is currently in the commercial production stage.

From the perspective of future planning, early next year, we will publicly release a Ford pure electric vehicle in the market, and in 2012, the release of Ford's plug-in hybrid vehicles. These are commercial projects. Some have already been put into use, some are in the process of research and development, so from a technical point of view, we are the industry leader.

In Nice, France, we have production bases for batteries and battery packs to provide European customers with lithium battery products. In North America, we won $300 million in government funding for the Obama administration’s new energy policy. At the Holland plant in Michigan, the assembly line for battery packs has been put into production. The production capacity can be designed to meet the production of 100,000 to 150,000 vehicle-mounted battery packs per year. It is also expected that there will be a production plan for the batteries in the future.

At present, all battery packs are produced in North America, and the batteries are imported from Europe. In the future, we will also shift the core production to North American factories, enabling Johnson Controls SAFT to have the entire production capacity of batteries and battery packs.

Johnson Controls has many years of experience in the automotive industry, and the lead-based battery market is the world’s largest. Now, Johnson Controls has entered the field of new energy batteries, continuing its previous experience and accumulation in the automotive industry. In addition, because Johnson Controls owns an automotive electronics division, it provides development support for battery pack battery management systems from the bottom layer to the application layer, providing strong technical advantages for the development of lithium batteries.

Gasgoo.com: What do you think is the direction of the development of the lithium battery market for vehicles in the future?

Yu Gang: In the long run, pure electric vehicles still dominate. From the current point of view, hybrid vehicles are more likely to be commercialized in China in volume production.

In terms of technology, there are still many technical bottlenecks that need to be broken. For example, the energy density technology, the general vehicle battery can only support 150,200 kilometers of travel, if you want to support 300,500 kilometers, then the weight of the battery itself is a burden. From this perspective, the development of battery technology does take a long time indeed. So now we are paying more attention to the development of new technologies, such as the development of lithium air technology. Because the difference between battery and gasoline is still very large, the energy density of the battery is probably 100 to 200, and the energy density of gasoline is five to ten times that of the battery. In addition, charging infrastructure and charging time are all issues that need to be solved. However, in the long run, I believe that as long as technological breakthroughs are made in innovation, these problems will be solved gradually.

I think lithium battery technology may not mature until after 2020. At present, China uses lithium iron phosphate materials. The safety of such materials is relatively reliable, and the circulating power is also good. However, the problem of calendar life is more prominent. Now, Johnson Controls uses NCCA materials in Europe and North America because the NCCA's cycle life, calendar life, and high energy density are all verified and proven. However, there are some concerns about safety, especially NCCA materials and China. The safety standards are not the same. Therefore, NCM materials will be more suitable for the Chinese market in the next ten years. And I think that in the coming period, the application of MMC and lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide may be a good direction.

Gasgoo.com: In the future, as more and more companies enter the market, how does Johnson Controls maintain its competitive advantage?

Yu Gang: I think this advantage is not achieved overnight, but accumulated over many years. Our goal is very clear. Our battery products are only aimed at the automotive industry and are very professional vehicle power batteries. As we all know, Johnson Controls has three directions for self-control. The first is the efficiency of building facilities. It is from the construction point of view and the energy point of view to consider the entire process of site selection, construction, use, and operation. No matter if it is from the building itself or the supporting equipment, it will achieve the effect of energy saving and consumption reduction; the second is the automotive experience; the third is the energy solution, and it is currently focusing on providing vehicle power batteries for new energy vehicles, and we will cooperate with more. To develop this area together to meet the needs of the market.

( Source: Gasgoo.com )