Apr W4｜Green Energy News Highlight：Tesla removes old roadblocks in China, but a new shadow looms over the U.S.

Last week's whirlwind visit to China by Tesla CEO Elon Musk opened up a viable path for Tesla's FSD deployment in the country. Almost the same week he returned home, he announced that he was laying off the company's supercharging station development team, a move that will likely have a long-term impact on the pace of EV adoption in the U.S. Musk's trip to Beijing cleared the assisted driving hurdle, and Tesla's official website for China changed the status of the FSD technology from "launching later" to "launching soon. Musk then announced that by 2024, it will invest $10 billion in developing self-driving AI training and inference. Musk added that it would be difficult for the industry to compete with Tesla without the same level of spending, and that it was laying off its entire supercharging and new product team, with about 500 people being disbanded. Musk noted that Tesla still plans to develop its network of superchargers, but that some of the new stations would be slowed down, and that it would be focusing more on the expansion of its existing stations in the future. Tesla's superchargers are the largest public fast-charging network in the U.S., and will be open to more than a dozen U.S. car manufacturers by 2023. Now that Tesla is laying off employees, the U.S. market is beginning to worry about whether the layoffs will affect consumers' willingness to buy electric vehicles. Will it affect the quality of charging station repairs?

 

Wisdom Pool Perspective: The past month has been a roller coaster ride of highs and lows for Tesla shareholders. Tesla's share price first fell to a one-year low after the continuation of sluggish sales at the beginning of the year and news of the company laying off 10% employees. However, after the release of the financial report, the hopeful early announcement of low-priced models and the imminent cap on products with AI underpinnings such as Autonomous Driving (FSD) and Robotaxi drove a wave of rapid upward movement in the 35% until last week's wave of layoffs of 500 employees, which temporarily put an end to the recovery of the stock. Last week, a wave of 500 layoffs temporarily put an end to the stock's recovery. Considering that from the second quarter of 2023, Ford, GM, EV point, etc., from car makers to charging station operators, have indicated that they will join Tesla's NACS charging specification. At that time, everyone thought that in the development of electric vehicles, Tesla was not only the standard for cars, but also the biggest winner of the charging network in the future. After all, according to the past trend, it was already a consensus that the company with the unified specification often became the leader of the field, which is why the layoffs came as a surprise to the outside world. Considering that Tesla's charging network hasn't contributed much to revenue over the past few years (around $4 billion in 2023), and is unlikely to become a major source of revenue in the next three years, it's clear that the cost of expanding new charging stations won't be recouped as quickly as it could have been. If we go back and look at the FSD subscription price reduction and the FSD China opening program, we can see that Tesla is now making a big change to its once-existing technology, which is now being used in China. It can be seen that Tesla is starting to make some choices on several major development goals (AI, charging network, humanoid robot, battery, energy storage, autonomous driving), except for AI, autonomous driving and humanoid robot, which are considered as essential items (or algorithms/ or information collection) in the AI field, Tesla is focusing on suspending some of the items that cannot be recuperated in the short term. We can estimate that Tesla's Q2 2024 sales should be even worse than expected, forcing Elon Musk to adjust the company's tempo towards a quick revenue boost.

Apr W3｜Green Energy News Highlight: Tsai Ing-wen: Taiwan's Wind Power Leads Asia-Pacific with More Than 300 Wind Turbines by Year-End

The largest offshore wind farm in the Asia-Pacific region, the Greater Changhua Southeast and Southwest Stage 1 Offshore Wind Farm, held its completion and merger ceremony on the 25th, with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen delivering a speech at the ceremony. Since 2016, Taiwan has successfully constructed 296 offshore wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 2.37 GW. Tsai said that the number of wind turbines is expected to exceed 300 by the end of this year, putting Taiwan at the top of the global offshore wind industry. Tsai mentioned that after eight years of hard work, the "energy transition" has turned from a policy goal into a reality. She emphasized that Taiwan not only has the largest wind farm in Asia, but has also established its own offshore wind power supply chain. Enterprises such as Taiwan's Xingda Haiji and Century Steel already have the capacity to produce underwater foundations, while Oriental Wind Energy has organized Taiwan's largest marine engineering fleet, including Asia's largest marine engineering ship, the "Huanhai Jade", which has already begun work off Changhua. Behind Taiwan's energy transformation is the Taiwanese people's acceptance and challenge of new things, as well as their pursuit of sustainable development. Tsai praised the commitment of Woxu and many domestic and foreign developers, and thanked financial and academic institutions as well as local suppliers for their joint efforts. She also recognized the hard work of the Ministry of Economic Affairs team led by Senior Minister Shen Rongjin and Minister Wang Meihua, including the Energy Department and the PDA, over the past eight years.

 

Ji-Pu's point of view: After the end of the epidemic, Taiwan's industry has been actively promoting the development of offshore wind energy, and has completed the installation of 296 wind turbines so far. At this stage, Taiwan not only owns the largest wind farm in Asia, but also has made some achievements on the way of nationalization. This not only enhances Taiwan's competitiveness in the global green energy market, but also contributes to economic growth and technological innovation. Even so, we are still lagging behind in the completion of 5.6GW of power generation capacity by the end of 2025, and we need to continue to work hard to accelerate the proportion of energy independence.

Apr W2｜Green Energy News Highlight：Japan-US-Philippines summit to build supply chain for nuclear power, semiconductors

On April 12, Taipei time, the leaders of Japan, the United States and the Philippines held a trilateral meeting at the White House. It was agreed that a supply chain less dependent on China would be established, especially in the key supplies of energy and semiconductors. The joint statement expressed deep concern over China's "dangerous and aggressive behavior" in the South China Sea. To strengthen the stability of the semiconductor supply chain, the three countries plan to train professionals in related fields. This includes supporting Filipino students to receive high-quality education and training at major universities in Japan and the United States. Considering the demand for nickel in pure electric vehicles (EVs), the three countries will also work together to establish a stable supply chain of mineral resources covering the Philippines and other countries. The three countries will also cooperate to develop human resources with skills related to civil nuclear energy. NuScale Power, a U.S.-based startup in which Japan's IHI and Nichicon Holdings have investments, plans to build a next-generation "Small Module Nuclear Reactor (SMR)" nuclear power plant in the Philippines.

Wisdom: Geopolitics affects the economy and has been one of the main axes of the East Pacific in the past few years. As China has a leading edge in green energy (including electric vehicles) production capacity and technology, the U.S. is attempting to blockade the country in various aspects in order to meet the needs of the U.S. Considering the relatively low demand for electric vehicles, it would be less expensive to invest in the related fields in advance in such a situation, and in terms of mini-nuclear plants, the fourth-generation SMR system has already entered the mass-production cycle. In terms of small nuclear power plants, the fourth-generation SMR system has already entered the mass production cycle, so combining Japanese capital to build small nuclear power plants in the Philippines will help U.S. companies seek new markets, but whether the relevant Philippine power grid infrastructure can be coordinated needs to be further evaluated and become a hidden concern.

Apr W1｜Green Energy News Highlight：Tesla plans to launch its new Robotaxi this August

Tesla plans to unveil its all-new Robotaxi this August, marking another important advancement in the company's efforts to bring self-driving cars to market. The new steering wheel and pedal-less Tesla will go on sale globally on August 8, the company's CEO Elon Musk said in a post on the X platform. Musk mentioned that Tesla has been aggressively upgrading its self-driving technology in the face of slowing car sales growth and pressure from its price-cutting strategy. He has previously announced plans to begin production of the rental car in 2024. As the launch of Robotaxi draws closer, Tesla is stepping up its efforts to promote its self-driving software and has asked employees to invite customers for test drives to demonstrate the company's assisted driving technology, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal last month.

Wisdom: In the past six months, when the demand for electric vehicles was questioned by various parties, Tesla, as a representative of Tesla, has welcomed a wave of corrections, and has recently put forward a number of programs (e.g., FSD price cuts, Rototaxi, etc.) in an attempt to reverse the situation in the face of internal and external problems. Since most of Tesla's revenue still comes from the car manufacturing industry, if it cannot maintain the growth momentum in this industry as in previous years, it is feared that it will have to continue to suffer from the market's revision of expectations for the car manufacturing business until the revenue of other businesses comes up.

Mar W3｜Green Energy News Highlight：Demand for electric vehicles is slowing down, and lithium prices have fallen more than 80% in the past year!

As the global demand for electric vehicles enters an adjustment phase, lithium mines, which have attracted attention from various countries in the past few years, have also been affected; as of the beginning of 2024, the international lithium price had fallen to RMB94,000 per metric ton, and although it later recovered to an average of around RMB100,000, compared to RMB600,000 by the end of 2022, it has fallen by more than 831 TP3T.
Taiwan Green Energy Association (TGEA) Chairman, Mr. T.A. Lee, said, "In the past 22 years, lithium battery manufacturers all over the world have been expanding like crazy, including Mainland China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and even Europe and North America, so this wave of material market has been speculated up. But with the past two years, especially this year, especially obvious, the overall demand for electric vehicles, no matter you can consider that is based on geopolitical factors, or the overall corporate factors, or interest rate factors, the overall sales of electric vehicles in fact, is down, leading to its own use in a large number of lithium carbonate for the power battery industry, its demand for lithium has fallen very much.

 

Viewpoint: We know that it is difficult to reduce the cost of EVs, which is the source of this wave of declining consumer demand, and the high price of the battery system has always been the most important role in the cost of EVs, accounting for 40~50%. Under this wave of lithium price correction, the current lithium iron phosphate battery is at 480 RMB/kWh, which is about 43% lower than that at the end of 2022, and it can be estimated that the overall EV manufacturing cost has dropped about 17~18% compared with that at the end of 2022. It can be estimated that the overall EV manufacturing cost has dropped by about 17~18% compared to the end of 2022 in the material part; considering the difference in the mass production ability of various factories, coupled with the current average price of mid-range models, EVs are about 10~20,000USD (40%) more expensive than fuel vehicles, therefore, to even out the price gap with fuel vehicles, in addition to the expectation of a continuous drop in battery prices, the battery material should be replaced and cheaper battery materials should be used. Therefore, in order to level the price gap with fuel cars, besides expecting the price of batteries to continue to fall, changing the battery material, using cheaper batteries, or reducing the amount of batteries used and pairing them with a smaller chassis may be a solution.

Mar W2｜Green Energy News Highlight: Building a Local Hydrogen Ecosystem CNPC and Sinosteel Lead Hydrogen Energy Positioning Wave

As countries around the world strive to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, not only has the U.S. announced the establishment of seven hydrogen centers at a cost of $7 billion, and the European Union announced the establishment of a European Hydrogen Bank, but neighboring China, Japan, and Korea have also made frequent moves to accelerate their hydrogen investments, and our own country has begun to attract the attention of local industry players. Due to the large amount of investment in the hydrogen industry, not only do we need to rely on policy subsidies to support the hydrogen industry in the initial stage, but we also need large state-owned enterprises such as China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China National Steel Corporation (Sinosteel) to invest in the local hydrogen ecosystem, in order to drive private investment, and Taiwanese companies such as ZTE are also taking advantage of the opportunity to seize a position in the hydrogen war.

 

Chi-Pu's viewpoint: Compared to green energy industries such as solar and offshore wind, Taiwan's hydrogen infrastructure is still at a nascent stage. If we want to achieve the target of 9~12% by 2050, we need to take a three-pronged approach from the policy, industry, and market application areas. Currently, the government's policy on the planning of hydrogen mixing (ammonia mixing) for thermal hybrid power generation is still in the early stage of evaluation, and it needs to be continued to implement in order to cool down the infrastructure and industry to have the opportunity to build and develop; in addition, the cost of the hydrogen refueling station is still in the high point ($100 million), which is relatively difficult to make a profit. In addition, since the cost of hydrogen refueling stations is still at a relatively unprofitable high (starting at $100 million), it is very difficult to promote the use of hydrogen-powered vehicles. The first phase of implementation should be targeted at commercial buses, with hydrogen refueling stations set up at transit stations to ensure high utilization. This should be coupled with more favorable subsidies for energy storage systems, so as to increase the incentives for enterprises to produce fixed energy storage systems.

 

Mar W1｜Green Energy News Highlight：Apple electric car calls it quits after 10 years of research and development

Recently, it has been rumored that Apple has canceled its investment in the 10-year electric car project and will shift part of its resources to the AI field to focus on the development of AI. The outside world analyzes that Apple has no longer regarded the $100,000 self-driving car as the goal of future development, and will instead focus on the integration of artificial intelligence and the iPhone, and will also concentrate its resources on the development of the Vision Pro headset. According to Bloomberg, Chief Operating Officer Williams and Vice President of Electric Vehicle Development Linch told the 2,000-strong Special Projects Group (SPG) at a meeting that they would end the electric vehicle program and offer employees the chance to change roles within the company, but some employees have already been told that they will be laid off.

 

Chi-Pu's point of view: In the past year or so, the low price strategy of Chinese car makers, coupled with the difficulty of making profits from EVs, has surfaced. In this down cycle, when the novelty of EVs is fading away from the consumers, a number of traditional car makers, such as Ford, General Motors, Fuchs, BMW, Mecedes, and others, have all adjusted their strategies to be conservative in their approach towards EVs, while Toyota, which is not enthusiastic about EVs, is singing a sad song about the development of EVs. Toyota has been lukewarm on EVs, while Toyota has been singing a sad song about EV development. It is clear that at a time when neither technology nor cost can catch up with China's carmakers, it is simpler to shift strategy to save money than to aggressively research and develop to close the gap. Apple has not yet had a prototype car in the automotive field, and it is rumored that it has spent more than a billion dollars in the past, and how much more money it will spend in the future is still difficult to estimate, and in the electric car market, where the average price is already lower than 50,000 U.S. dollars, I'm afraid it will be difficult to make money with hardware in the future, and it is not surprising that the company will cancel its investment directly.

Feb W3｜Green Energy News Highlight：Yuenning implements the Ministry of Economic Affairs' 700kg hydrogen fueling station project.

In response to the government's "2050 Net Zero Emission Pathway" and "12 Key Energy Strategies", Yuanning has been actively promoting the development and application of hydrogen energy. 2023, the company has completed the development of the 350kg plant hydrogen supply equipment and started the construction of a 700kg hydrogen refueling station, and has already overcome the bottleneck of hydrogen cooling by utilizing the patented technology of "Vacuum Welding Bond (Vacuum Molecular Diffusion Welding)" and obtained the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) certification. We have also obtained the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) certification. The company is a leader in the development and application of hydrogen energy equipment. The Company has made significant achievements in the hydrogen energy field since 2015, successfully developing an integrated hydrogen production, compression, storage and hydrogen refueling system that utilizes high purity hydrogen and advanced compression technology to significantly increase hydrogen refueling efficiency. Mr. T.A. Fung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company, pointed out that compared to large-scale hydrogen refueling stations in Japan, Yuanning's technology is not only cost-effective, but also competitive in terms of compression and purification of special gases, which contributes significantly to the promotion of Taiwan's energy-saving and carbon reduction goals.

 

Chi-Pu's point of view: Although the Hydrogen Promotion Group, planned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), has been planning for the production, transportation, storage, and application of hydrogen since 2022, and aims to achieve a power generation ratio of 9~12% by 2050, Taiwan's hydrogen industry has only been in the research and development of hydrogen and testing of the related components, and has not yet reached maturity in all areas. Therefore, a lot of resources are needed to build the infrastructure and cultivate the related talents. Hydrogen refueling stations have always been an issue that cannot be avoided in the promotion of hydrogen vehicles. Since large-scale hydrogen refueling stations can cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and the subsequent operation of the station is subject to high hydrogen prices, the choice of a prudent strategy for the deployment of the infrastructure will be a key factor in the smooth promotion of hydrogen energy.

 

Jan W5｜Green Energy News Highlight：Tesla downbeat on this year, warns of 'significant decline' in sales growth, Taiwan chain dusty

Tesla released its Q4 2023 financial report on 1/24. Earnings per share was $0.71, revenue increased by 3.5 % to $25.17B, gross profit further declined to 17.6%, the three major indicators were not as good as analysts expected, closing down 12% after the meeting, and the cumulative decline in January amounted to 23%. Tesla attributed the reason to the price cuts, R&D expenditures, and higher costs brought by the mass production of the Cybertruck. Tesla blamed price cuts, R&D expenditures and higher costs from the Cybertruck mass production.

Mask emphasized that the decline in margins stems from the high interest rate environment. If rates come down quickly, I think margins will be good; if they don't, margins won't be good," he said on a conference call. "It's not that people don't want to buy [Tesla's cars], they just 'can't afford' to buy them in a high interest rate environment."

In addition, our market share is surprisingly low in certain regions, such as Japan, where Tesla should have at least the same market share as other non-Japanese carmakers, but currently does not. In terms of future guidance, Tesla rarely provided a specific delivery target for this year in the report, saying that 2024 will be a year of slow growth and that it expects to miss its long-term target of 50% growth. Tesla also warned that the growth rate may be lower than 2023 before the launch of new models.

Jippo's point of view: Tesla will face different challenges in each of the three major markets in 2024, but the only similarity is that each challenge is not easy to solve. In China, in addition to the economic problems that have brought about weak consumption, Tesla will have to face the encirclement of a large number of Chinese car manufacturers, and Tesla will gradually lose its competitive edge under the siege of Biati, FAW, Chery, and other Chinese electric car brands. In the European market, the weak economy is expected to bring about a reduction in welfare benefits, and it is expected that subsidies for EV purchases will be gradually reduced by 2024. It is currently rumored that Germany will completely eliminate subsidies for EVs in the new year, which will undoubtedly cast a shadow on Tesla's sales. Back to the U.S. market, in addition to the consumer impact brought about by the high interest rate environment mentioned by Mask, since the main Model 3 cannot get the $7,500 subsidy because of the use of Chinese-made batteries, it is tantamount to a price hike for consumers. Until this issue is resolved, it is expected to affect Model 3 sales by 50,000 to 80,000 units for the whole year.

Jan W3｜Green Energy News Highlight：Beating Tesla but losing 25% of its share price, EV leader BYD's two major headwinds

BYD, which overtook Tesla to become the world's electric vehicle sales leader in the fourth quarter of 2023, has seen its share price drop by more than 26%, seemingly signaling that investors are no longer optimistic that its price-cutting strategy will continue to drive up profitability in the face of fierce market competition in the future. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the impact of the price-cutting strategy from the end of 2022, BYD's cheapest models sell for less than 100,000 yuan, much lower than Tesla. This ultimately resulted in a gross margin of 14%, but in the face of fierce competition, the market's focus has shifted from traditional hardware technology to autonomous driving and in-vehicle software features. Although BYD has hardcore technologies such as batteries and range, its lack of development in the areas of smart connected cars and autonomous driving technology could put it in a weak position in the medium to long term.

Tesla and some other Chinese EV brands, such as Ideal and Xiaopeng, have gained traction by offering advanced software features and reinforcing their brand image. Overall, BYD is leading the market in terms of sales volume, but its "hard over soft" strategy, low gross margins and relative lag in smart car technology have left it out in the capital market, where it is facing the challenge of changing market trends.

 

 

Viewpoint: Under the trend of oligarchy in electric vehicles, it is difficult for BYD to be challenged in the short term because of its current cost advantage. However, in the long term, BYD will continue to maintain its competitiveness after each vehicle manufacturer has the ability to produce mass quantities of vehicles, and in addition to the cost, the differentiation of product identification must be made by technology and consumer experience. Although BYD has recently stopped using software features as its main focus to strengthen its brand image, it is estimated that it will continue to dominate the EV market in the future, given that it is currently leading the industry in terms of vehicle manufacturing level, and will still have sufficient resources and market for adjustments in the event of a change in strategy.

Dec W4｜Taiwan Electric: 112/12/31 Wind and Solar Power Penetration Rate Reaches 35.45%, a New High

On the last day of 2023, renewable energy stole the show. According to Tepco, at noon on December 31, the share of wind and solar power reached a record high of 35.45%, meaning that one out of every three kilowatts of electricity came from renewable energy. Green energy not only plays a key role in the electricity supply, but also helps to reduce emissions by allowing water storage units to store energy during the day and reducing the load on thermal power generation. The power of renewable energy optimizes the pattern of power dispatch during air-pollution seasons.

Chi-Pu's point of view: In the past few years, under the policy and subsidy injection, both in offshore wind power and solar power are gradually seeing results, with solar power accumulating up to 12.2GW, and offshore wind power reaching 2.2GW. With the offshore wind power learning curve reaching a breakthrough point, Taiwan's green power will play an even more important role in the future, and help Taiwan enterprises to meet the demands of the international ESG.

Dec W3｜Carbon trading totals over $800,000 on day one

The Taiwan Carbon Exchange was officially established on August 7 this year, and the first carbon trading was successfully completed on 12/22. A total of 27 financial holding companies participated in the transaction, and the total trading volume reached 88,520 tons, and the transaction amount was about 800,000 U.S. dollars with an average of about 10 U.S. dollars per ton of carbon rights. Lin Hsiu-ming, Chairman of the Taiwan Stock Exchange, pointed out that the result of the first transaction of voluntary license reduction exceeded that of the first transaction in Singapore, which was more than 10,000 tons. Lin also mentioned that the establishment of the international carbon trading platform aims to internally help Taiwan's industries adapt to the international supply chain, realize carbon neutrality of products and international requirements such as ESG, and provide SMEs with a convenient way to acquire carbon rights, eliminating the need to go overseas to open an account.

Ji-Pu's viewpoint: The establishment of the carbon exchange symbolizes the official entry of carbon pricing in Taiwan in 2024. Promoting the advancement of carbon reduction technology is an important project that must be carried out by enterprises in order to achieve sustainable development in the future, but in the past, due to the cost issue, many enterprises were reluctant to face it. After the major product manufacturers began to require carbon emissions, the supply chain had to respond, coupled with the introduction of the carbon pricing mechanism, Taiwan enterprises will make a choice between carbon rights expenditure and carbon reduction costs, in accordance with the profitability of the enterprise to carry out. As the price of carbon rights gradually increases, the cost of carbon reduction technology will be surpassed by the cost of carbon rights in the long run, which will drive Taiwan's industries to move forward toward active carbon reduction and make systematic contributions to static zero carbon emissions in 2050.

Dec W1｜Green Energy News Highlights：COP28 Observations Climate Damage Fund Established, But Still Insufficiently Strong

The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) was held in Dubai on November 30th, and on the first day, it was rumored that more than 200 countries attending the conference agreed to activate the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) in order to support countries that have been harmed by climate change. In addition to the Loss and Damage Fund, another important issue is that in order to control climate warming, several advanced countries such as the United States, Europe, and Japan have endorsed the important role of nuclear energy in the fight against climate change, and called for the increase of nuclear power generation by 2050 to triple the 2020 level.

Wisdom: The COP28 will be held in Dubai, a country that relies on the oil dividend to rise, and even more ironically, the current president is the CEO of Abu Dhabi Oil Company. Although the meeting continued to present the future plans of each country, if we look back to 2015 after the Paris agreement to this year, except for the epidemic during the CO2 emissions had a brief decline, the rest of the year emissions are still on the rise (2023 is expected to increase by 1.51 TP3T compared to 2022). Coincidentally, as COP28 proceeds, the largest iceberg in history (over 4,000 square kilometers) is preparing to break away from the Antarctic, seemingly signaling that there is still a lot of progress to be made in our efforts to stop climate change.

 

Nov W5｜Green Energy News Highlight：Auto winter blows upstream, Korea's battery industry starts layoffs and investment cutbacks in the U.S.

The high interest rate environment in the U.S. continues to bring about weak consumer demand for commodities, and pessimistic forecasts of declining EV sales are gradually filtering through to the related supply chain. The battery industry, which accounts for the largest share of EV costs, is the first to bear the brunt. LG ES announced in November that it would cut 170 jobs, while another battery major, SK On, announced that it would begin production cuts. As SK On has already announced 1,000 layoffs in September 2023, the cuts are expected to directly affect the EV production capacity of its major partner, Ford Motor.

Ji-Pu's viewpoint: In the past year, due to the encouragement of the IRA Act, most of the battery manufacturers entered into the U.S. in the form of joint venture with the U.S. automobile manufacturers for co-development, in order to get the $7,500 purchase subsidy. This battery plant production reduction can be seen as U.S. car makers feel pessimistic about the future sales of electric vehicles, so slow down the investment in the field of electric vehicles. Since China has maintained a certain degree of leadership in the competition for EV market share, the slowdown of the U.S. automakers at this time is mainly due to the high interest rates on the high cost of EVs consumer lock-in. However, looking back at past history, high interest rates are ultimately a phase in the boom cycle, and a slowdown in R&D investment in EVs at this point in time will certainly put them at a competitive disadvantage when interest rates drop in the future.

Nov W3｜Green Energy News Highlight: 270th turbine completed, cumulative installed capacity of offshore wind exceeds 2.1GW

According to the latest news from the Energy Department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), despite facing the rough seas of the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan's offshore wind power still continues to go against the wind, and as of the beginning of November 2023 has successfully installed the 270th offshore wind turbine, with a cumulative generating capacity of 2.1GW.

The Energy Department pointed out that the efficiency of wind power generation was remarkable in the fall, with wind power generation reaching about 869 million kWh in October. Especially in October, the highest instantaneous power generation exceeded 1.5 million kilowatts for 22 consecutive days, and the average output reached 1.03 million kilowatts, which is equivalent to the installed capacity of two Taichung power plant units. In addition, not only did we push ahead with our work during the summer wind farm construction period to ensure stable power generation from the four wind farms, but many of our green energy teams also closely monitored the progress of the wind power projects and worked hard to ensure the smooth integration of power from the wind farms into the grid when the weather permitted. Looking ahead, the Energy Department said the government and the private sector will continue to work together to push the offshore wind power installation target to 5.6GW by 2025, realizing the policy objective of energy transformation.

Viewpoint: Although the number of offshore wind turbines exceeding 270 and the power generation capacity exceeding 2GW are regarded as major milestones in the promotion of green energy development, on the other hand, the recent rumors about the declining investment enthusiasm of foreign vendors are a layer of hidden worries for offshore wind power. Taiwan's development of offshore wind power is currently facing obstacles, including high costs, stringent conditions for nationalization, blocked development by credit ratings, lack of a reasonable guarantee mechanism for surplus power, insufficient flexibility in corporate purchasing and allocation, and lack of interruption guarantee mechanisms. Government support is needed to ensure a healthy investment environment in China.

Nov W2｜Green Energy News Highlight：Electric vehicle growth slowing down? BYD's pure electric sales will soon overtake the car.

Following Tesla's sharp decline in gross profit in the current quarter, Panasonic also released its third quarter financial report last week. 2023 April~September Panasonic's net profit surged by 169% to a record high of 288 billion yen, and operating income also increased by 29% to 192.8 billion dollars, however, operating income for the whole year was revised downward to 400 billion yen (2.7 billion dollars), lower than analysts' estimate of 414 billion yen. However, the full-year operating income was revised downward to 4,000 billion yen (2.7 billion U.S. dollars), which was lower than the analysts' estimate of 414 billion yen. It was also mentioned that although the IRA bill has stimulated the purchase of electric vehicles in the U.S., the bill has also led consumers to target electric vehicles priced below US$80,000, which indirectly affects Panasonic's profitability. In addition, Panasonic also announced that it will adjust its future production capacity downward to cope with the decline in demand. At the end of September, Panasonic adjusted its production of automotive batteries by 60% compared to the previous quarter and announced that it will not return to full capacity in the near future, which echoes the view that the sales of EVs are slowing down recently and indirectly confirms Tesla's view that the high interest rate has a long-lasting impact on the sales of EVs.

And on the other side of the ocean, BYD recently announced that in October sales for the first time exceeded 300,000 units a month, of which 160,000 units of pure electric car station, in the past an average of 150,000 units of pure electric car sales, 2023 is expected to tie Tesla sales of 1.8 million targets, is expected to 2024 pure electric car leader will be replaced.

 

Jippo's Take: As EVs continue to be predicted to grow at a slower pace in recent times, Tesla's supply chain has revised its expectations for the future in a way that confirms the argument. In retrospect, the wave of EV sales will peak in 2022 due to the net-zero carbon emissions trend, the introduction of new technologies, and the economic development dividend. However, with increased visibility on the roads and continued attention in 2023, the perception of "buying an EV is fashionable" is slowly disappearing. In addition, under the environment of high interest rates, the consideration of EVs is gradually shifting from faith to pragmatism, which ultimately leads to a gradual slowdown in the sales of EVs, whose average price is US$15,000~20,000 higher than that of fuel cars; instead of saying that EV growth is slowing down, it would be more accurate to say that the number of flat EVs and their models do not have enough to support the growth of the EV market. BYD ($30,000 average price) and Telsa Model 3 and Model Y ($30,000~$50,000 average price) are still growing, which is the best proof. Therefore, in the next 1~2 years, the growth rate of EVs will depend on whether the price gap between EVs and fuel cars will be closed quickly.

Oct W3｜Green Energy News Highlight：Tesla reports warning signs for electric vehicles

Last week at Tesla's third-quarter earnings conference, Elon Musk said that the economic situation was the main reason why Tesla's revenue and profitability did not meet expectations in two key indicators, and predicted that the Cyber Truck, although it will start delivering in the fourth quarter of 2023, will have to wait until the end of 2024 to contribute to the company's revenue, Tesla's stock price fell by more than 15% in a week. 15%. Musk pointed out at the meeting that Tesla had adjusted its expectations for future results due to rising interest rates in the US, which had increased the cost of loans and the monthly expenses of consumers, which had limited their ability to buy new cars.

 

Wisdom Pu point of view: Tesla sales on the price cuts to grab market share strategy, the average price cuts for all models in the past year has reached 10,000 U.S. dollars, while the same period the average into only 2,500 U.S. dollars, the cost optimization can not catch up with the extent of the price cuts, the impact is that the gross profit margin in 2023 continued to decline from 19.3% to 17.5%, it is worthwhile to pay attention to the lower than 20% Gross margin is a phenomenon not seen in 2019. In the short term, as long as Tesla continues to maintain this sales strategy, gross margins will only continue to dip. However, in the medium to long term, as Tesla continues to deliver as much capacity as it opens, as long as EV penetration continues to increase, Tesla will still be able to maintain delivery growth of more than 50% per year. In addition, Tesla's main source of revenue comes from the U.S., accounting for 49.8%, so in the future, if the U.S. stops cutting interest rates and the economy returns to the right track, Tesla will be able to maintain its annual delivery growth of more than 50%. As long as the price-cutting strategy is suspended, Tesla will be able to optimize its cost by taking advantage of its market share and technology, and will soon see a reversal in both revenue and profit margins.

 

Oct W1｜Green Energy News Highlight：European Union shows goodwill to mainland China's electric vehicles

For several weeks now, the European Union has been rumored to be conducting a counter-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles in order to assess the need to raise import tariffs. However, there seems to be a divergence of voices within the EU. EU officials have recently moderated their stance, with EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, who is currently visiting China, stating on the 23rd that: the EU has no intention of decoupling from China, but when openness is abused, it must protect itself, but it will not impose tariffs on China in the short term. On the other hand, France has changed its incentives for electric car purchases to restrict Chinese-made electric cars.

 

Chip's point of view: Since countries within the European Union have different degrees of connection with the Chinese market, the implementation of tariffs rashly will likely have a direct impact on the three major German car makers by China's commercial retaliation; therefore, it is predicted that in the short term, China's market share of electric vehicles in the European market will continue to go up.

Sep W4｜Green Energy News Highlight：Honghai Expands U.S. Manufacturing of Electric Vehicle Batteries

In recent years, the development of electric vehicles has accelerated, and the layout of its key components has become a major strategy. An American company pointed out that Hon Hai's battery cell production plant in Kaohsiung will start mass production next year as scheduled, with an estimated capacity of 1GWh, mainly for the electric bus market. The company invested by Hon Hai plays an important role in providing battery cells. In addition, Hon Hai has set up a Battery Management System (BMS) production line at its plant in Ohio, U.S.A., which further strengthens the layout of its components.

Ji-Pu's point of view: In recent years, Hon Hai and its subsidiaries have been launching EV-related products, from batteries, EV design, electronic control to MIH platforms, demonstrating their ambitions for the EV market. However, there has been no news about the most important customer side in the past few years. In the environment where China is leading in all aspects of EVs and European and American manufacturers are catching up, Hon Hai is stepping up its pace to enter branded factories in order to develop.

Sep W3｜Green Energy News Highlight：European Union announces investigation into China's EV subsidies

The European Union (EU) announced on 9/13 that it will launch an investigation into Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), in response to their record-high market share in Europe, to find out whether Chinese carmakers have gained a competitive advantage over European brands due to government subsidies. Speaking in Strasbourg, France, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, "Europe is open to competition, but it is against bottom-feeding competition, and we must protect ourselves against unfair competition.

Ji-Pu's viewpoint: Looking back at the past history, the EU government has always had a good reputation of being fair and strict in the field of anti-monopoly and fair trade. However, the investigation of Chinese car makers this time, whether it can find the unfair competition brought by subsidies is a question, even if it really find and remove the subsidies. Even if the subsidies are found and removed, the fact that China is still ahead of China in vehicle manufacturing technology is still difficult to reverse in the short term. If we don't follow the example of the U.S. and use our policies to directly block Chinese car makers, I'm afraid that in the next few years, traditional European car makers will face a serious challenge to their market share in electric vehicles.

Sep W1｜Green Energy News Highlight：How strong is China's electric car? A shocking photo reveals the truth, Europeans are crying.

China's strong position in electric vehicles was revealed at the recently concluded Munich Motor Show, where Chinese automakers occupied more than 40% of the exhibition hall in what is said to be Europe's largest exhibition space, and Chinese brands can be seen from electric vehicle brands, battery systems to electric vehicle parts, and they have made a strong presence. Among them, BYD and SAIC MG even displayed a series of EVs to show their dominant position in the field.

 

Wisdom: It is an undisputed fact that China leads the world in electric vehicles. While other markets are still in the growth stage, China's domestic market has already entered a white-hot price war in advance. According to the estimation of Automobility, China's annual EV production capacity has reached 10 million units per year, which is far more than the domestic market demand. With the development of oversupply, apart from price competition, it has become inevitable to go to other markets to digest the production capacity. Since the IRA bill proposed by the U.S. last year serves as a barrier that Chinese brands can't easily break through, the European market, which is a more open market, and the Southeast Asian market, which is not subject to large-scale government control, will become the main destinations for Chinese EVs in the next few years.

 

Aug W4｜Green Energy News Highlight: BYD surpasses Tesla to become the electric vehicle leader, overseas layout is the focus for the future.

Since 2022, BYD's electric vehicle sales have clearly surpassed Tesla's to become the leader in the electric vehicle industry. This year, BYD's sales will reach 3 million units, further widening the gap with Tesla. BYD's high market share is mainly due to the breadth of its product line, which covers the low-end, mid-range and high-end markets, as well as the launch of strong models in each market segment against major competing brands.

Viewpoint: In terms of market strategy, due to the U.S. policy ban on China's EVs, BYD has made it clear that it will move towards Europe and Southeast Asia in the future. In Europe, due to labor costs and some legal issues, coupled with the fact that the European Union is also considering preventing dumping of China's EVs with legal decrees, the company expects that it will be sold in the form of exports in the short term. As for Southeast Asia, BYD has already set up a plant in Thailand in 2022, and has successfully taken the lead in EV sales in Thailand this year (SAIC is the second). If there is no change in the EV market policy in the whole Southeast Asian market, it seems that the Chinese car maker will be able to duplicate the experience of defeating the car makers of other countries in China, and once again take the share of the market in this region.

Aug W3｜Green Energy News Highlight：Futa, Wada win Japan's big EV deal

Taiwan successfully entered the international electric vehicle market. We have developed the core power system for electric vehicles, led by Takeda Electric, and have successfully entered the supply chain of electric vehicles in Japan by joining hands with large enterprises such as Daido Steel, Sinosteel, and Ta Ya. Among them, Mazda and other famous brands have taken the lead in selecting electric vehicle power systems made in Taiwan and will start shipping them this quarter. Mazda has selected Taiwan's EV powertrain for its latest model, the MX30 R-EV extended-range EV. In addition to Mazda, there are also some well-known European and American car makers and another Japanese car maker who are in the process of negotiating with Taiwanese manufacturers.

Mr. Zhang Jinfeng, Chairman of Fountain Set, said that the annual production capacity of Fountain Set's EV parts and components can reach 2 million sets, of which the annual production capacity of the power system is about 40,000 sets. In the future, with the increase of orders, the maximum production capacity will be gradually expanded to 200,000 sets.

Viewpoint: In the past, Taiwan enterprises in the fuel vehicle industry were less likely to enter the Tier 1 suppliers, so although they had good products in many areas, it was difficult for them to enter the automotive front-end market. After entering the era of electric vehicles, the successful cases in the field of electric vehicles in the past two years, including Richfield, Delta, Quanta, Shihlin Electric and other manufacturers, will allow Taiwan's advantage in automotive modules (systems) to be utilized, and this time, Richfield has joined hands with its partners to enter the supply chain of Mazda, which is also another example.

Aug W2｜Green Energy News Highlight：Taiwan Welcomes New Hydrogen Economy, Hydrogen Concept Seed Teams Up

After technology giants such as Google, Microsoft, and Apple announced their participation in RE100, the related supply chains are gradually adopting green certificates or using clean energy directly in order to comply with the requirements. Unimicron recently announced a $4 billion investment in the construction of a fixed-fuel power generation system, and the CEO of Bloom Energy, a partner supplier, personally attended the launch ceremony, bringing the once-hot topic of hydrogen energy to the center stage once again last year, and giving Taiwan-based companies in the hydrogen application industry chain a chance to be recognized by the market.

Wisdom Park's view: Hydrogen is a key player in Taiwan's move towards net-zero carbon emissions, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA)'s "Taiwan 2050 Net-Zero Transformation" announced in April this year has set the share of hydrogen power generation in 2050 at 9~12%. Currently, Taiwan's hydrogen energy is still in its infancy, with a share of power generation of less than 1%, but it is already commercially available in the supply chain and in the application of the technology, with manufacturers offering products ranging from raw materials, fuel cells and components to complete battery systems. From raw materials, fuel cell components, to complete battery systems, there are manufacturers that can provide corresponding products, and the development is in its infancy.

 

Aug W1｜Green Energy News Highlight：Tesla's financial report: Tough times for Musk after expanding EV market

The latest data released by China Federation of Passenger Cars (CFPC) on 8/3 shows that Tesla delivered 64,285 units in China in a single month (including the export volume of Shanghai Super Factory), YoY 125%, MoM -31.4%, although the annualized growth is still progressing. However, compared with other EVs such as BYD, which sold more than 260,000 units in July, Tesla no longer has an absolute advantage, and Tesla is facing huge competitive pressure in the Chinese market. Foreign media analyzed that there are two major reasons for Tesla's sales decline in China. The first reason is that Tesla's model has never been updated in the past 6 years. Although Tesla's new models are not slow compared to other international brands, the latest Tesla Model Y has been released four years ago if other Chinese car makers have launched new models one after another to grab the market in the past few years. Secondly, the rise of new local Chinese EVs, including leading brands such as BYD, Xiaopeng, Ideal, and Weilai, which not only continue to release new vehicles every year, but are also more active in introducing new technologies, such as autonomous driving and newer smart cabins, which makes consumers more inclined to buy more technologically advanced EVs when viewing and choosing from amongst them.

 

China's EV market has accumulated advantages over the past few years, putting it well ahead of Europe and North America in terms of technology and capacity maturity. Not only are the big players able to build and sell EVs, but more importantly, their R&D capacity allows them to keep releasing new EVs. The observed situation in 2023 is that while Chinese brands continue to compete in their own markets, some are already looking beyond their borders. As it is clear that the U.S. will continue to boycott China's EV industry, and Europe is rumored to start restricting Chinese car makers from dumping EVs in the European Union, it is speculated that Southeast Asia will be the next destination for China's EVs to capture the market.

Jul W4｜Green Energy News Highlight：Tesla's financial report: Tough times for Musk after expanding EV market

Tesla's most recent financial report reported increased sales and revenue, however gross margins fell to 18%, well below the 25% reported in the same period last year.Columnist Jonathan Guilford points out that Tesla, after pushing for innovative products in the electric vehicle market, is now helping its competitors grow to expand their market size. But this strategy may have intensified competition, and for Tesla, the days of smooth sailing may be coming to an end.

 

Wisdom: Tesla will still be one of the leaders in the EV market in 2023, and one of only two profitable EV manufacturers in the world (BYD is the other). While other car makers are still struggling to design and produce EVs, Tesla has been able to compete on price while ensuring profitability. While this price-cutting strategy may have a short-term impact on gross margins, considering the size of the overall EV market is growing, Tesla's overall profit and cash flow will continue to grow as long as it maintains its market share.

Jul W3｜Green Energy News Highlight: Audi in talks to buy China EV platform

In the face of intense competition in the electric vehicle market, Fuchs' luxury brand Audi has been left with no new electric vehicles to sell, and Automobilwoche Nachrichten reports that Audi is currently in talks with Chinese EV makers about importing its EV platform as a solution. Anonymous sources say that Audi is in talks to take over the EV platform of SAIC subsidiary IM Motors. Discussions are believed to be deepening with IM Motors, a premium electric vehicle brand owned by SAIC, which has investors such as Alibaba and other industry giants, and which will begin delivering its first L7 sedan in June 2022, according to the company, which has not commented on the matter.

Jippo's view: Under the pressure of China's EV manufacturers leading in terms of production capacity and speed of new car launches, traditional car manufacturers' ability to build cars will be seriously challenged in the next few years. Though carmakers have announced over the past year that they will continue to invest more money in R&D for EVs, it is doubtful that the industry will have enough R&D capacity to support the demand for new vehicle design given the large differences in industrial structure, vehicle manufacturing process and design concepts between EVs and traditional vehicles, and it is speculated that outsourcing of R&D to design firms will be a hidden business opportunity in the future.

Jul W2｜Green Energy News Highlight: NACS to Unify North American Charging Pile Market

After North American automotive giants Ford and GM announced that they would adopt Tesla's charging specification, the North American Charging Standard (NACS), Tesla has almost assured its absolute dominance in the North American market. Now that luxury car brands Volvo and Mercedes Benz are following suit, will Tesla be able to break the regional charging interface divide? It looks like the balance of the market may be shifting.

Wisdom: It is expected that NACS will become the standard specification in North America in the next two years. Undoubtedly, Tesla will be the main beneficiary of this charging station interface alliance. According to Morgan Stanley's report, if NACS can unify the North American market and reach a penetration rate of 30% for EVs, and Tesla's supercharging grid share reaches 80%, Tesla's grid will be worth hundreds of billions by 2030. For other EV manufacturers, the benefit of joining NACS is that they no longer need to worry about driving around without being able to find a charging station. However, from a long-term perspective, and with Tesla's future use of the supercharger network to gain a monopoly and provide differentiated services, this could give other car makers a competitive disadvantage.

Jul W1｜Green Energy News Highlight：China's electric cars are rising, Japan's cars are alarmed, 5 years of humble learning will determine the winner.

China's rapid rise has caused a huge threat in many of the world's major traditional car-making countries. Japanese automakers say the progress of Chinese brands has exceeded their expectations, making them feel at risk. According to the Nikkei News, Nissan's president, Makoto Uchida, said after a visit to China, "China's local brands have progressed beyond our expectations, making us feel a sense of crisis. He also cited significant improvements in the basic performance of Chinese cars, such as driving, cornering and parking. "The steering is very responsive, and there's no drifting around corners. The traditional notion that 'Chinese cars are just like that' is no longer valid." These developments show the progress and competitiveness of Chinese car brands, and pose a challenge to traditional car makers. Japanese automakers realize that they must accelerate the pace of innovation and technological learning in order to compete with China's automotive industry. This will be the key to success in the next five years.

Jippo's point of view: In the past, Japanese automobiles used to be one of the world's benchmarks in this field. Toyota, Nissan, and other Japanese car makers were at the forefront of both pricing and environmentally friendly carbon emission research and development, and in particular, Toyota, the leader of the Japanese automobile industry, has led the way in the U.S. and even the world market for the past 15 years with the outstanding performance of its Hybrid engine. But the success of the hybrid engine has made Japanese car makers more conservative than Tesla and other start-ups in the development of electric power, and the rise of electric cars in China is now being seen in the domestic market without the pressure of Japanese electric cars to quickly accumulate market share, and eventually BYD and SAIC and other winners to stand out. Japan is already lagging behind by some distance, and I am afraid that if we try to catch up with the current technology, we will encounter a lot of obstacles. From the materials science, which is the advantage of Japan in the past, we can focus on the existing pain points of EV batteries to develop revolutionary new batteries, which will help us regain the market say.

Jun W5｜Green Energy News Highlight：Ford receives $9.2 billion loan from U.S. government to build battery plant to fight China's electric vehicles

The U.S. government announced a $9.2 billion loan to Ford Motor to build three battery plants. This is the largest loan to an automaker since the financial crisis, and is designed to combat competition from Chinese electric vehicles. The move is the latest step in the U.S.-China rivalry over electric vehicles. The U.S. Department of Energy announced a $9.2 billion (NT$285.3 billion) loan to BlueOval SK, a joint venture between Ford and South Korean battery maker SK On. The funds will be used to build three battery plants to advance the development of Ford's electric vehicles and expand manufacturing capacity in the United States.

BlueOval SK, which was formed last year, will build two battery plants in Kentucky and one in Tennessee to boost electric vehicle manufacturing. The program is expected to create 5,000 jobs in the two states, and the battery plants will employ 7,500 people when they are up and running. The battery plants are scheduled to begin production in 2025. According to the carbon reduction goals announced by President Joe Biden's administration, half of all cars sold in the U.S. must be zero-emission by 2030. The U.S. government is also promoting clean energy through the Inflation Reduction Act, and has announced more than 100 electric vehicle and battery production programs totaling $200 billion in investment.

 

Jippo's view: The United States is actively promoting the decoupling of various technologies from China in the future is now in progress, but in the past few years China's promotion of the green energy industry, whether in the field of solar cells, electric vehicle technology, electric vehicle batteries and other areas has achieved great results, so if you hastily cut off the link between the technological field and China, whether it will hinder its own development or cooperate with the siege of the other countries in Asia. China will become a successful model, and the success of the development of electric vehicles in the next two years will be a key case to determine whether the strategy of de-Chinaization can go on.

Jun W4｜Green Energy News Highlight: Korea's Energy Export Conflicts Worsen as Solar Power Rises

Business Korea reports that as solar energy penetration increases, Korea's power generation stability is in doubt, requiring the government to formulate a solution. Due to the increase in sunshine and the increase in the penetration rate of solar panels, as of the end of Q1 this year, the amount of solar power generation in Korea is four times that of five years ago, with the share of power generation reaching 30%, and the problem of unstable renewable energy power generation supply is also gradually emerging with the increase in the share; the uncontrollable power generation efficiency makes the power output of renewable energy sources such as solar power fluctuate according to weather conditions, which leads to more challenges in the estimation and control of power production. The difficulty in controlling the efficiency of power generation makes solar and other renewable energy output fluctuate according to weather conditions, which leads to more challenges in power production forecasting and power generation control, and a more proactive policy is needed for the deployment of power control systems (PMS) and energy storage systems (ESS) in the power grid in the future.

 

Ji-Pu's point of view: The development of renewable energy has been recognized by the world as a necessary path. In this path, Korea is similar to Taiwan in terms of its supply chain, industrial structure, and popularity of national education rate. And in the promotion of green energy and the road faster than us, so the Taiwan government and manufacturers can learn from Korea, reference to the problems they encountered and proposed solutions, the successful policy into account, in order to reduce the risk of going down the wrong road.

 

Jun W3｜Green Energy News Highlight: 3 major U.S. EV manufacturers form supercharger alliance

Following Ford's lead, General Motors has announced that it has entered into a cooperative agreement with Tesla. According to the agreement, GM will adopt the charging plug standard used by Tesla in North America, and GM EV owners will also be able to use Tesla's supercharger network. The news means that the three major EV brands in the North American market have agreed on charging hardware standards, and more than three-fifths of all EVs in North America will use the same charging system standards in the future.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Tesla CEO Steve Musk announced the partnership in a Twitter Spaces event. Investors were positive about the alliance, with GM shares rising nearly 31 TP3T and Tesla shares jumping nearly 101 TP3T after the bell on Thursday, making the partnership significant for the top three U.S. electric vehicle makers in terms of both business and public policy.

 

Tesla is undoubtedly the biggest winner of the alliance. According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy, Tesla superchargers account for about 60% of all fast charging stations in North America, and with Ford and GM joining the alliance, Tesla's superchargers will be able to increase their own charging station utilization rate under the conditions of their competitors actively seizing the market. For GM and Ford, the advantage of the alliance is that they don't need to worry about the lack of infrastructure to hinder the promotion of electric vehicles; however, on the contrary, they need to face the fact that after drivers get used to Tesla's charging stations, they will be able to painlessly switch to a rival brand when they replace their cars. If Tesla provides some extra benefits to its own drivers, it may cause a competitive disadvantage in the long run.
More broadly, the alliance will put pressure on other automakers and independent charging network providers that have adopted the CCS (public charging station standard). For those manufacturers that already have factories in the U.S. producing CCS charging equipment, a shift in the U.S. market to Tesla's standards could put them in a difficult position.

 

Jun W2｜Green Energy News Highlight：Global EV sales jump 28% in Q1

While AI news has been dominating the news lately, sales of electric vehicles are also growing rapidly. According to a report by TrendForce, the global sales of new energy vehicles reached 2.656 million in the first quarter of this year, with an annual growth rate of 28%. Among them, the sales of pure electric vehicles (BEVs) amounted to 1.942 million units, with an annual growth rate of 26%, while the sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) amounted to 711,000 units, with an annual growth rate as high as 34%. Based on this rate, it is estimated that the annual sales in 2023 will reach more than 13.8 million units.

Jippo's point of view: The rise of electric vehicles has become obvious, and various vehicle manufacturers have begun to enter a period of price cuts to compete for market share, with the Chinese market being the most competitive, and according to the current trend, small and medium-sized electric vehicle manufacturers will begin to encounter operational difficulties in the future due to the cost of building vehicles. In addition, except for Volkswagen, foreign car makers in China have gradually withdrawn from the competition. If the competition among brands in the Chinese market is over in the future, it is expected that the surviving Chinese brands will use the same model to shake up the EV market of the state-owned enterprises.

 

Jun W1｜Green Energy News Highlight：Hyundai, LGES to build U.S. EV battery plant in joint venture

Hyundai Motor of Korea (Hyundai Motor) and LG Energy Solutions (LGES) to establish a joint venture, the 26th at the headquarters of LGES Seoul held a signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding, the two sides will be investing 4.3 billion U.S. dollars in the U.S. to build an electric vehicle battery plant, and to seek to qualify for U.S. tax credits. Under the agreement, the two companies will establish a joint venture specializing in the production of batteries for electric vehicles, with each company holding a 50% stake. The joint venture will invest a total of 5.7 trillion won (US$4.3 billion) in North America over the next six years, and currently plans to invest about US$1.1 billion in an EV battery plant.

Wisdom: At present, Japan, Korea and even China are rumored to carry out joint ventures with U.S. companies to increase their own products in the U.S. EV market share, Taiwan battery-related manufacturers have not yet news about the U.S. EV supply chain, which is worth the attention of various enterprises.

May W4｜Green Energy News Highlight：South Korea's top three battery makers' orders soar as U.S. subsidizes EVs

"LG New Energy, Samsung SDI, and SK on, three major battery manufacturers, have outstanding orders of $749 billion by the end of this year, according to recently released information. According to recently released information, the three companies by the end of 2022, the outstanding orders have accumulated to about 749 billion U.S. dollars. Among them, LG New Energy's profits have doubled. According to an analysis by brokerage firm Korea Investment & Securities, about 80 percent of U.S. EV makers that qualify for tax credits use batteries produced by the three Korean makers. Recently, Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solutions formed a joint venture to invest $4.3 billion in an EV battery plant in the U.S. in order to qualify for U.S. tax credits. Under the agreement, the joint venture will focus on the production of EV batteries, with each party holding a 50% stake. Over the next six years, the company will invest a total of $4.3 billion in North America, of which $1.1 billion will be used to build an EV battery plant.

Ji-Pu's point of view: In the process of dual-tracking their EV production lines, Korean companies have communicated with the U.S. through the government in the hope of delaying the start of the implementation of the final test on the one hand, and decisively laid out their U.S. production lines on the other hand, and have achieved good results in just three quarters, which is worthy of Taiwan's manufacturers' reference. Taiwan's ICT industry should be more active in investing in the U.S. market in order to catch up with the growth of the U.S. EV market, which will exceed 30% annually in the next few years.

May W3｜Green Energy News Highlight: TSMC Sweeps 74% of Green Energy Certificates Last Year

In recent years, Taiwan's green power supply has been almost monopolized by TSMC. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Standards and Inspection of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), the number of green power certificates sold for the year 2022 is 926,000, of which TSMC accounted for 74%. Although slightly lower than before, the total for the five-year period is still as high as 90%.

The Bureau of Tender Inspection (BSI) explained that this phenomenon has changed mainly because other large enterprises have also started to actively purchase green electricity, coupled with the "green bazaar" promoted by the Government, which has led to more transactions. However, for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which also need to reduce carbon emissions, the supply of green electricity is still very difficult.

The National Renewable Energy Certificate Center (NREC) began issuing green power certificates in 2017 and by 2022, 2.15 million certificates had been issued, representing a supply of 2.15 billion kWh of green power. Of these, 1.9 million were traded out, while the remaining 250,000 were mostly obtained from self-built green power plants and not traded.

Of the 962,000 green power certificates sold last year, TSMC purchased 714,000, accounting for a share of 74%. Although this percentage is down from the past when TSMC alone accounted for 98%, other companies can still only share the remaining quarter.

 

Ji-Pu's view: Although TSMC's share of the green power market has declined, some small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still finding it difficult to obtain sufficient green power supply. Although the government has opened the "Renewable Energy Green Bazaar" and some large enterprises have already joined the green power market, SMEs are still in a difficult situation in the green power market, as their demand far exceeds the current supply in the market, and more policy support and guidance from the government is needed so that the green power supply can be more widely dispersed to every enterprise and individual who needs it. In retrospect, however, the development of green energy in Taiwan will thrive in the coming years, led by demand-driven growth.

May W2｜Green Energy News Highlights：U.S.A.S. Senate votes to overturn solar tariff exemption for 4 Southeast Asian nations, Biden estimates veto power

The U.S. Senate has supported the elimination of the tariff exemption for solar panels in four Southeast Asian countries. The proposal will be sent further to the Office of the President, but is expected to be vetoed by President Biden. The proposal had previously passed the House of Representatives by a majority of 221 to 202, while the Senate voted 56 to 41 in favor of the resolution. Nine of the Democratic members voted with the Republicans in favor of eliminating the tariff exemption for solar panels from four Southeast Asian countries. Those in favor of eliminating the exemption argued that the White House's policy would hurt the U.S. solar industry and help Chinese competitors. According to a Commerce Department investigation last year, many Chinese manufacturers avoided U.S. tariffs on Chinese solar goods by moving their products to Southeast Asian countries for assembly. The results of this investigation could result in imports of solar panels from Southeast Asian countries being subject to anti-avoidance duties accumulated since the U.S. initiated its preliminary investigation, which could be as high as a rate of 2,541 TP3T.

 

Wisdom: The past strategy of Chinese manufacturers to avoid U.S. tariffs by using Southeast Asia as a springboard has clearly hurt the U.S. strategy of de-Chinaization, but if the tariff exemption for Southeast Asian countries is not lifted, it may make it difficult to push up the installation rate in the United States. This issue highlights the complexity of balancing the protection of domestic industries with international trade relations in a globalized economy. This is an issue that future policymakers and regulators will need to carefully consider and address.

May W1｜Green Energy News：Failure of car makers to prepare for war? Electric car warring states era is scheduled to be a "big reshuffle".

The global new energy economy is rapidly emerging, and electric vehicles are one of the mainstays, leading to major changes in the global automotive manufacturing industry. However, Delta's (2308) chairman, Mr. Hai Yingjun, recently pointed out in a speech that the era of competition for EVs is just beginning, and even if car makers have already laid out their plans early, they may still face a major reshuffle. Experts are of the view that EV manufacturers are springing up and rapidly expanding the market, and that even if some of them have made early preparations, they may not be able to gain much of an advantage in the fierce competition. Hai Yingjun further pointed out that he recently attended the Shanghai Auto Show and realized that the market has expanded beyond his expectations. He originally expected more than 100 new energy vehicle manufacturers to exhibit at the show, but there were as many as 583. With competitors actively entering the market, he declared that the era of competition for EVs is coming.

 

Jippo's point of view: In the coming era of electric vehicles, there will be hundreds of automotive parts suppliers competing simultaneously from upstream to downstream in terms of technology, market share, and price. As the EV market becomes more and more competitive, price wars have already emerged, and how suppliers can strike a balance in this new era of low gross margins will be the key to victory.

Apr W4｜Green Energy News Highlight：Taiwan to set up carbon trading platform

President Tsai Ing-wen announced on the 19th that carbon finance will be a key tool for the future energy supply chain and diversification goals, and instructed the National Development Fund (NDF), the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK), and the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to discuss the establishment of a carbon trading platform to meet the international goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. NDF officials said that the two main considerations for the establishment of a carbon exchange are to lead the supply chain of domestic SMEs to do ESG, and to strengthen cooperation with the international community through the establishment of a carbon exchange.

Ji-Pu's point of view: From the carbon fee that has been discussed for a long time in early 2023 to the "Taiwan Carbon Trading Platform" that has recently surfaced on the scene, all of them expect to utilize carbon credits as a means to converge with the international community to achieve the goal of net-zero carbon emissions, and on the other hand, to increase the competitiveness of Taiwan's supply chain in the international arena by using carbon offsets. However, as Taiwan is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in addition to putting the law and the platform on the table, the government is expected to strengthen the counseling of carbon inventory and carbon auditing, so as to avoid the confusion of having regulations on the market that nobody knows how to comply with.

 

Apr W3｜Green Energy News Highlight: U.S. Green Power Overtook Coal for the First Time Last Year

According to the U.S. Energy Department, only 201 TP3T of the nation's electricity was generated by coal last year, which is lower than the 231 TP3T in 2021 and well below the 2007 peak when coal-fired generation accounted for 501 TP3T of capacity. In contrast, electricity supply from wind and solar grows from 121 TP3T in 2021 to 141 TP3T in 2022, a record that is expected to continue to reach new highs in the coming years. When hydro, biomass, and geothermal energy are included, the total contribution of renewable energy is expected to reach 211 TP3 T. The U.S. Department of Energy predicts that as renewable energy and energy storage technologies continue to evolve over the next few decades, they will become the dominant source of electricity supply, with the majority of older coal-fired power plants being decommissioned. Unless carbon capture technology matures quickly and becomes a more practical option, coal-fired power generation will fade into insignificance.

Jipo's view: In 2022, the U.S. will surpass the coal industry for the first time in terms of green power generation, and across the Pacific Ocean, China is also investing heavily in energy generation, which shows how much the world's top two carbon-emitting countries are investing in the green energy industry. However, it is not difficult to find that there are many unstable factors in the tug-of-war between the U.S. and China. For example, the U.S. deliberately banned solar panels from China, and the Chinese government, by virtue of its own market share advantage, wants to impose export controls on lithium batteries and polycrystalline silicon products and prohibit price-cutting competition, which may ultimately result in harming the goal of netting carbon emissions by 2050, and the growth YoY of the nationwide installation of solar panels will fall in 2022, which is the second highest in the world. The best example of this is that the growth of solar panel installations in the United States in 2022 will drop by 23%, eventually forcing the U.S. government to lift the ban at the beginning of 2023.

Apr W2｜Green Energy News Highlight：Hydrogen energy industry is about to explode! Zhao Tianlin: Improvement of Laws and Policies

Hydrogen as a green energy has received much attention in recent years, and Taiwan is planning to establish hydrogen filling stations and launch hydrogen-powered vehicles this year. However, in order to accelerate the development of the hydrogen industry, legislator Chiu Tien-Lin has invited more than 40 cross-party committee members to form the Taiwan Parliamentary Hydrogen and Clean Energy Promotion Council, which will work together to promote the development of hydrogen energy in Taiwan. With more than 40 cross-party members cosigning in support of the proposal, we hope to accelerate the process of deliberations and promotion of hydrogen energy related laws and regulations, hydrogen refueling stations, hydrogen transportation equipment, and related subsidies through the proposal of this facilitation council," said Tien-Lin Chiu.

Ji-Pu's viewpoint: Since 2021, hydrogen energy has been in the news as a strategy and bill has been introduced in various countries, and Taiwan is not far behind. In the third quarter of 2022, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) will release the "Taiwan Hydrogen 2050 Technology Blueprint," which will put hydrogen energy in the news gradually. Due to the large amount of infrastructure required for hydrogen energy, a large amount of capital and technology will need to be invested in the early stages to facilitate the development of the industry. Taiwan's hydrogen energy development should follow the recommendations of the ITRI's blueprint, starting from the application of hydrogen energy and gradually introducing storage and electricity-to-gas technologies; with the gradual increase in the market share of hydrogen energy, it will then be introduced to different modes of transportation in phases to optimize the logistics. In addition, in order to ensure a stable source of hydrogen, apart from increasing the share of green energy to increase the source of green hydrogen, it is also necessary to sign cooperation agreements with international hydrogen-producing countries to stabilize the domestic hydrogen market.

Mar W4｜Green Energy News Highlight：Hung Hai's Foxconn's vision of car manufacturing still eludes us, says foreign media

Bloomberg, under the title of "Foxconn Finds EVs Are Harder to Build Than iPhones", reported that Foxconn is currently facing two reasons, including "vehicle recalls" and "partner issues" of Lordstown, Fsker, IndiEV, etc., making the dream of manufacturing EVs still difficult to realize. Foxconn's dream of manufacturing electric vehicles is still not realized.
In January 2023 Losdstown asked Foxconn to suspend production of the electric pickup Endurance due to cost considerations, and two weeks later it was reported that at least one owner had reported losing power while riding in cold weather, prompting the company to recall all Endurance pickups in February. Ron Harbour, an independent industry manufacturing consultant, said, "It takes people who are well versed in mass production. It can be done, but I haven't seen the EV startups prove it yet. I'd say it's a long shot."
In addition, Hon Hai's other startup partners are also facing problems such as production costs and lack of capital.
The company is in talks with Los Angeles-based Fisker and Hon Hai to produce an electric car called the Pear for less than $30,000; sources close to the matter say Fisker has said it expects Hon Hai to build the car on its behalf, but the two companies are still negotiating on the cost. IndiEV, a startup that signed a partnership with Hon Hai in September 2022, has also been revealed to have bank deposits below $220,000. IndiEV is now looking to go public through a reverse merger, and if it doesn't do so by July, it's at risk of going out of business.
Whether or not the two challenges that Hon Hai is currently encountering in the production of electric vehicles can be solved through internal integration will be the key to its success in the electric vehicle field in the future.

Ji-Pu's point of view: Compared to consumer electronics products, automotive production is a world away from talent, design, supply chain and mass production. Whether or not Hon Hai can utilize its own strong resources as a back-up to solve the problem, the answer should be yes, but time is not on the side of this international OEM, because the growth potential of the electric car market is a well-known fact, including Fuchs, Daimler and other traditional automobile manufacturers have invested a lot of money to enter the research and development stage, and has already established a firm foothold in the electric car manufacturers, such as Tesla and BYD, are also doing their best to expand their production capacity. If the production problem cannot be solved, the market will not be able to grow as fast as it should. If the production problem cannot be solved, after the market share and supply chain are taken away, it will be even more difficult to pursue the EV market as a chaser. In addition, as a leading consumer electronics product design foundry, how to convince the automobile manufacturers to cooperate with them is another major challenge, the traditional development of 7~10 incubation of the launch of a new car, so their own IP confidentiality is often placed on the first priority, although Hon Hai hopes to enter the field of electric vehicles with the concept of rapid design, rapid production, shared chassis, but these three elements in persuading at least the large manufacturers Produced by the electric car will not lose the brand's own style, but become a burden, and the past experience of Hon Hai consumer electronics products in the development of IP confidentiality this point has become a weakness of this international OEM. Whether the two challenges can be solved in the next two years will become the key to whether the dream of Hung Hai car can be realized, and the focus is not only to solve the problem, but more importantly, time.

 

Mar W3｜Land car market chaos as fuel cars follow price cuts

China's economic growth this year will be driven by consumption, and automobile consumption is one of the most important aspects. Recently, Hubei United Dongfeng Automobile launched a maximum subsidy of up to RMB 90,000 has been extended to all parts of the country, many local and fuel car companies have also joined the price war, Geely Automobile also announced on the 13th of the large subsidies and up to 30,000 yuan of subsidies to reduce the price of the measures.
Since March, car subsidy activities have been frequently launched around the world, the "first car" since the first day to the people of Jilin Province to launch up to 37,000 yuan subsidy. And Dongfeng Motor has joined hands with Hubei Province to offer what it calls "the strongest" car purchase offer in history, with a subsidy of up to 90,000 yuan.
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Continental Passenger Federation, said the promotions are mainly for the replacement of National VI emission standard models and clearing up the stock. Due to the limited stock of old cars, these promotions should be temporary. However, the relevant activities have already achieved publicity effects, and is expected to cause other provinces and cities and car companies to follow suit, thereby promoting the sales of other vehicle models. However, in the new car market across the board price cuts, the prospects of the second-hand car industry is clouded. 58 Tongcheng CEO and deputy to the National People's Congress, Yao Jinbo in the "two sessions" suggested that we still need to tap into the second-hand car market to promote automobile consumption. The focus is to allow the smooth flow of second-hand cars, and long-term determination of second-hand car dealerships according to the sales amount of 0.5% reduced value-added tax policy. He also suggested adopting technological means to enhance the efficiency of used car registration and tax payment, and to realize functions such as online transfer.

Wisdom: After BYD announced the launch of its flagship electric car model priced at RMB 200,000, China's auto sales have entered a white-hot stage, and many fuel car makers have started to follow up with price cuts, including Geely and Dongfeng, both of which are launching purchase subsidies one after the other to boost gas purchasing. In addition, data from the Federation of Industry Associations (FIA) shows that the retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles has reached a high of more than 30% since September last year, and although there was a sharp decline in December last year and January this year, it rebounded strongly to more than 31% in February, which is mainly due to the wave of price cuts for new energy vehicles, which prompted fuel vehicles to follow suit with substantial discounts. Overall, the frequent auto subsidy campaigns across the mainland are aimed at clearing inventories and stimulating tip fees. Although fuel vehicles have become the focus of promotions for the time being, the trend for electric vehicles will remain on track to continue to capture the penetration rate.

Mar W2｜Green Energy News Highlight：EU to start trade talks Friday on key minerals, EV subsidies

3/10 President Joe Biden and European Commission Chairman Vladimir Von der Leyen will push ahead with plans for a trade agreement on key minerals. In addition to discussing how to reduce reliance on Chinese minerals, the agreement will also focus on resolving the dispute over subsidies for electric vehicles. According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. and Europe plan to announce on Friday that they will begin negotiations on the terms of the agreement, but U.S. officials said a formal announcement would have to wait until after they confer with Congress.

The U.S.-European bilateral agreement is the first step in the creation of a minerals and raw materials purchasing club between the two countries, aimed at resolving disputes over U.S. subsidies for electric vehicles while keeping China out of the clean energy supply chain. Under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act passed last year, one of the conditions of the tax incentives for U.S.-made electric vehicles is that a certain percentage of the key raw materials for the battery parts of the vehicles must come from the U.S. or from countries with which the U.S. has signed free trade agreements. This condition has triggered strong reactions from allies including South Korea, Japan and the European Union. According to people familiar with the matter, the U.S. is preparing to reach an agreement with the European Union that focuses on environmental and labor standards for the production of key minerals, which is rumored to be an executive agreement and therefore does not require congressional approval. While the agreement would not be able to suppress tariffs like traditional free trade agreements, the Biden administration believes it would allow the EU to qualify for subsidies on the source of the minerals. Sources indicate that the agreement between the EU, Japan and the United Kingdom is the first step in the creation of a minerals buying club for the seven industrialized nations, and that the G7 members will then reach out to mineral-rich countries, such as those in Africa, Asia or Latin America, to reach agreements with them.

 

Jiji Pu's view: In the past two years, the US has imposed sanctions and curbs on China in the area of science and technology in an attempt to slow down China's takeoff in various areas, including the suppression of key technologies of China's science and technology enterprises, and the prevention of China's development in the areas of artificial intelligence, chip manufacturing, etc. by means of policies and actions. These actions may hinder China's technological development and economic growth to some extent, but they also mean that China's technological advances have caused the U.S. to feel compelled to take action. In the foreseeable future, it is believed that the U.S. will continue to coordinate with East Asia in order to block China. How Taiwan balances between the two powers will be a test of the vision and determination of those in power.

Related News:

U.S., Europe kick off trade talks Friday on key minerals, EV subsidies

 

Mar W1｜Green Energy News Highlight：EU bans fuel cars, Germany leads the way

According to a number of foreign news reports, a number of major European countries, including Germany and Italy, have successively put forward plans to oppose the European Union's ban on the sale of vehicles with internal combustion engines. The European Commission's goal is to combat climate change through electric vehicles, but some in the automotive industry oppose the proposal and advocate the inclusion of synthetic fuels in the proposal in order to achieve carbon reduction goals while reducing costs. In addition to Germany and Italy, Poland and Bulgaria do not currently support a fuel-vehicle ban; these countries are investing heavily in the development of synthetic fuels for their automotive industries. As the production process of electric vehicles is not as complex as that of internal combustion engine vehicles, the transition to electric vehicles will threaten a large number of jobs, Germany and the car manufacturers said that the domestic automotive industry's contribution to the economy accounted for 12%, if the unsupported conditions of the venture into the sale of fuel-efficient vehicles will be a heavy impact on employment; it is expected to prevent the European Union this week and next week's meeting formally approved the proposal for a ban on the sale of vehicles with internal combustion engines in 2035.

 

Jippo's point of view: After Toyota's current president, Toyota's Akio Toyoda (expected to step down on 4/1), opposed to electric vehicles, European traditional car makers are finally beginning to rebound, not because of support for fossil fuels, but because they are worried that the impact on the industry will be too great; in fact, this issue not only reflects the fact that the automotive industry has become an important part of the overall economy over the past 100 years, but also leaks out the differences in the supply chain of electric vehicles and fuel cars, and the many needs of the technology direction and R&D talents. In fact, this issue not only reflects the fact that the automotive industry has become an important part of the overall economy over the past 100 years, but also reveals the differences between electric vehicles and fuel vehicles in terms of supply chain, technological direction, and R&D talent; with the trend of electric vehicle sales penetration rapidly encroaching on fuel vehicles, the extent of the impact on the future will depend on the direction of the government and its policies; while it is clear that electric vehicles are growing, it is still open to discussion whether the ban on the sale of fuel vehicles needs to be set for a certain period of time, or whether it should be gradually phased out from the downstream market in the wave.

Related News:

EU Bans Fuel Vehicle Sales, Germany Leads Opposition

 

Feb W3｜Green Energy News Highlight：China and U.S. 'check and balance' each other, China to scrutinize Nindeis and Ford's EV battery program

At a time when US-China relations continue to be tense, rumors that China intends to conduct a review of the cooperation case between US auto maker Ford and NindeShi show that the geopolitical conflict has brought tension to the current situation. According to a source familiar with the matter, the results of the investigation will be handed over to the highest level of the leadership, but the content and the final resolution have not yet been released. The main content of this cooperation case is that Ningde Times to provide iron phosphate related technology, Ford Motor to provide battery capacity and materials in the United States to produce electric vehicle batteries, the cooperation amount of 3.5 billion U.S. dollars.

Wisdom: Ford is currently experiencing a lack of production capacity in its EV promotion, and if it fails to introduce relevant technology it will lose its own brand's competitiveness in the North American EV market. It seems that the Chinese government is using its review of the Ningde Times investment to gain room for negotiation with the US government, so whether or not this rumor will come true, and if so how much of an impact it will have on the future is something that needs to be watched for the future. China has been investing aggressively in the green energy industry over the past few years, and is now in a dominant position in the solar industry, EV market share, and EV battery industry. If this ban on both Chinese and US companies goes into effect and forces the US to the negotiating table, I believe we'll be seeing a lot more news about green energy investments or exports being scrutinized by China in the future.

Related News:

The U.S. and China are "neck deep in each other's business"? China to scrutinize NindeShi and Ford's EV battery program.

 

Feb W2｜Green Energy News Highlight：Ford to collaborate with China's New Energy Technology to produce EV batteries in Michigan, US

Ford plans to invest $3.5 billion in a joint venture with Chinese battery maker CATL to build an iron phosphate battery plant in the Marshall, Michigan, area of the U.S. to increase the share of electric vehicle batteries made in the U.S. and create more than 2,500 local jobs, Reuters News said. Ford is expected to make the announcement next week, according to Reuters. The plant, located about 100 miles (161 kilometers) west of Detroit, is expected to boost the production of EV batteries within the United States. Ford will own the plant and surrounding infrastructure, and will arrange for employees to move into the plant, with a Chinese new energy technology company providing the technology to make the batteries. Ford said it will utilize the technology of China's NindeShi to produce EV batteries within the U.S., while minimizing the tax implications of using batteries produced outside the U.S. The company said it will use the technology of China's NindeShi to produce EV batteries within the U.S.

Wisdom Pu point of view: Ford plans to invest $50 billion in electric vehicle research and development before 2026, the carmaker is currently facing the biggest problem of insufficient production capacity and design capacity, the announcement of cooperation with NindeShi is to solve the problem of insufficient material for the batteries, and in order to avoid conflict between their own electric vehicles and the IRA Act, resulting in the impossibility of obtaining a subsidy for the purchase of new vehicles, so the battery assembly with the original special emphasis on the battery will be manufactured in the United States by Ford, the role of technology provider to participate in the investment. Ford in the U.S. production, Ningde Times to provide the role of technology to participate in the investment, I believe that this model in the future will be the car manufacturers and companies from China to obtain the way of cooperation.

Related News:

Ford to partner with China's New Energy Technology, expects to produce EV batteries in Michigan, US

Feb W1｜Green Energy News Highlight：Ford Electric Vehicle Price Cut to Challenge Tesla

With Tesla announcing a price cut in the first month of 2023, Ford announced a price cut a few days ago, and North American electric vehicles have officially entered the warring states period. Ford sold about 65,000 EVs in 2022, occupying the second place in the market, but there is still a gap compared to Tesla's 520,000 sales; Wall Street analysts and investors mostly recognize Tesla's price reduction strategy, although it may affect some profits, but it can boost demand and sales, and it is expected that Tesla will use it to put pressure on rivals, forcing other car makers to follow suit and reduce prices. Ford's price cut is a case in point. Marin Gjaja, Ford's chief electric vehicle account executive, said of the price cuts: "The price cuts mean the company won't be able to make a profit on all Mach-E models, but in order to meet its 2023 Mach-E sales target of 130,000 vehicles and remain competitive in the marketplace, Ford will need to do something about this.

 

Wisdom: Compared to the 6 million EVs sold in China last year, only 850,000 EVs were sold in North America. With the Biden administration continuing to promote EVs with its policies, the future sales of EVs in the U.S. will continue to heat up. Ford is following Tesla's footsteps in price cuts, which on the surface seems to increase its own market share, but considering Tesla's cost advantage, in the short term, it will be difficult for other EV manufacturers to make money in the EV field if they follow through with the price cuts. How long this price war lasts will not only depend on Ford's ambitions for market share, but also on mass production of EVs and optimization of costs in the medium to long term.

 

Jan W4｜Green Energy News Highlight：Reason for stepping down? Toyota seems to be hindered by the development of electric vehicles.

In two years of record sales of electric vehicles, Toyota, once a major player in the automotive industry, has not been able to make a mark in this area. After two years of holding back, the board of directors finally made a decision, Toyota Group (Toyota) officially announced on Thursday (26), the current president of Toyota Akio Toyoda will step down on April 1, and will be replaced by Lexus President Tsuneji Sato, foreign media speculated that the main reason for this is because Toyota Akio Toyoda over the past few years on the promotion of the community's electric vehicles have always maintained a hesitant attitude, which ultimately caused the past The world's largest automobile brand has not been able to seize the lead in the electric vehicle market.

 

Ji-Pu Viewpoint:Over the past few years, major automakers and new EV manufacturers have been investing in R&D resources, which has created a huge gap in EV parts production capacity. Whether it's in chips, batteries, electronic control and motor equipment, or even charging piles, the next few years will be in a state of oversupply; Toyota's change in strategy to fully invest in EV R&D at this time, whether it will have a sufficient supply chain to help it gain market share will be a hidden concern. What's more, since the R&D cycle for EVs is only about one and a half to two years, which is much shorter than that for traditional fuel vehicles, whether Toyota has enough R&D potential to meet the market demand for cutting-edge EV technology under such a tight schedule will be another major challenge for the brand in terms of design and innovation.

Source: CleanTechnica

Related News:

Reason for stepping down revealed? Toyota seems to be hindered by the development of electric vehicles.

 

 

Jan W3｜Green Energy News Highlight: Continental Electric Vehicle's market share in Europe in 2030 is approaching 20%

With the development of China's electric vehicle industry chain mature car manufacturers are all stepping up production capacity to seize the domestic market at the same time also followed the first major brand BYD will look to the European market. According to the statistics of Inovev, in 2019, China sold 19,000 units of electric vehicles to Europe, and by 2022, it has grown more than ten times to 190,000 units, accounting for a market share of nearly 8.6% (Europe). Since the European electric car is still in the higher price of luxury brands (ex: BMW, Mercesdes, etc. ....), the mainstream, if Fuchs and other European electric cars. As European EVs are still dominated by more expensive luxury brands (ex: BMW, Mercesdes, etc. ), if Fuchs and other European national brands do not promote their products fast enough, it will give China's EVs a chance to further push their market share to 20% in five years.

 

Ji-Pu Viewpoint:Since the overall strategy of the U.S. electric vehicle industry has been clearly targeting China's production chain since 2022, Chinese brands can instead focus on the European region with a clear promotional strategy, and it remains to be seen in the next two years whether European electric vehicle brands can keep up with the speed of the response. In addition, because most of the battery and vehicle assembly lines, which account for the largest share of the cost of EVs, are concentrated in China, it will bring a huge cost advantage to the EVs exported from China to Europe, and it will be difficult for the European car makers to keep up with the prices of the Chinese brands in the short term, which will ultimately help the Chinese car makers to eat up the low and medium-priced (30,000-50,000 euros) market in Europe.

Source: Inovev; Collated by Ji-Pu Industrial Trend Research Institute 2023/1

 

Related News:

Land Electric Vehicle 2030 in Europe's market share close to 20%

 

Jan W2｜Green Energy News Highlight: Continental Electric Vehicle (CEV) market share in Europe in 2030 approaches 20%

CES 2023 will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA from 1/5 to 1/8. Unlike last year, when only some countries were open and the scale of the show was limited, CES 2023 is unprecedentedly popular. From the configuration of the show floor, it can be seen that electric vehicles and the potential maturity of L3 self-driving technology have become the focus of the show floor, including Fuchs, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo and other traditional automobile manufacturers have moved their electric vehicles to the show floor to display, and consumer electronics manufacturers SONY and NVIDIA also focus on the electric generation to release the relevant products or new vehicles.

Ji-Pu Viewpoint: Now that the development of electric vehicles has become a reality, in addition to launching new models of electric vehicles, all car manufacturers have begun to upgrade the functions of their vehicles in order to gain the favor of consumers. In our opinion, the entertainment experience, automated driving, and long driving range emphasized by EVs this time are all optimized and introduced based on existing mature products, both in software and hardware. It is clear that even EVs are forced to pursue pragmatism and expect to see short-term results in a downturn in the 2023 economy, compared to the past when concept cars were shown in the future. What's more, the peripheral products for EVs such as chargers, mobile power, high-density batteries, etc. that we saw at the show were not designed to address the journey concerns, and it can be imagined that under this year's upward trend in EV market, it will be a huge challenge for the power support measures; and we all know that the demand brings business opportunities, as Mercedes-Benz announced that it will be launching a new Mercedes-Benz brand in cooperation with MN8 Energy, Charge Point and MN8 Energy. Mercedes-Benz's announcement at the show that it will launch a Mercedes-Benz branded charging network in partnership with MN8 Energy and Charge Point can be seen as a strategic investment to address this huge gap, and if other charging manufacturers can see the demand and invest accurately, they will be able to follow the upswing in EV sales and soar high into the wind.

 

Source: CES major automobile manufacturers; organized by Chipotle Industry Trend Research Institute 2023/1

Related News:

CES 2023-Electric Vehicles, Self-Driving Technology in Focus, Companies Compete

 

Jan W1｜Green Energy News Highlight: Three possible reshuffling effects of the rise of electric vehicles

 

In recent years, although there are supporters and valid reasons for promoting and worrying about the development of electric vehicles, in terms of energy conversion efficiency and the current investment in the market, there is no doubt about the certainty of its continued growth in the future, and as the trend of automobile electrification is coming like a tidal wave, there are at least three changes that need to be faced by the related industries that are standing in the midst of the storm (as shown in the table below).

 

Wisdom: Looking back at the past history, Apple first released the iPhone in 2007, which redefined the cell phone, and mobile communication manufacturers began to undergo a major reshuffle, Nokia, Blackberry, Panasonic and other internationally renowned brands have been replaced by Samsung, Huawei, and OPPO, which are now familiar with the smartphone manufacturers.

Back to the present, in the past few years when Tesla redefined the automobile, do you and I also feel a similar illusion? Of course, the price factor makes the process of automobile electrification much milder and slower than that of cell phone smartphones, so it won't go through a bloodbath in two to three years; traditional automobile manufacturers still have breathing space to cope with the invasion of electric car brands. However, for the fuel vehicle parts that cannot be used in the EV era, how to adjust the production lines, machines, and manpower from the top to the bottom of the enterprise will definitely be a problem in the next two to three years. If this is not handled properly, it is feared that the strange scene of a few happy companies and a few sad companies when smartphones were just starting out will return. In addition, the increase in the market share of electric vehicles has brought about a rapid increase in the demand for electricity and infrastructure, which corresponds to the question of whether or not the pace of green energy promotion in various countries is sufficient. How will the 2050 carbon neutrality target be met in the face of record-high electricity demand? I am afraid that this will be a key issue that needs to be reviewed annually in the coming years.

 

Source: Yahoo Motors; Reproduced by Chi-Pu Industrial Trend Research Institute 2023/1

Related News:

Three Possible Shuffling Effects of the Rise of Electric Vehicles? Brands, parts, and fuel change a lot!

 

Dec W4｜Green Energy News Highlight：Taiwan Electric Vehicle Chain Enters Japanese Market

 

In the upcoming 2023, Toyota, a major Japanese automobile manufacturer, is rumored to revise its strategy for electric vehicles, shifting from a wait-and-see approach to an active layout. Taiwan's supply chain has taken the lead in this wave of news to seek opportunities to enter the Japanese market, including IKKA-KY (Daiichi Kasei), Mitsubishi Group (Precision), Li-Qing, and Wei-Sheng, and other manufacturers have recently begun shipping, and it is expected that they will gain the market share of the Japanese automobile manufacturers in the next few years.

 

Chi-Pu's view: 2023 electric vehicle market demand continues to heat up, the supply chain trend in the international political situation from globalization to regionalization, Taiwan manufacturers in the Japanese car makers from fuel vehicles to electric vehicles in the process of early deployment, in the short term with the help of regional advantages should be able to gain access to the opportunity to enter the market. However, the medium- and long-term layout still needs to be coordinated with the vehicle manufacturers' strategies, and the brand manufacturers have already gained access to the U.S. and European markets with their production capacity in the target markets.

 

Source: United News Network; Reproduced by Chipu Industrial Trend Research Institute.

Related News:

Taiwan's Electric Vehicle Chain Enters the Japanese Market｜United Press｜12/12