China and Germany expand NEV cooperation
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E-mail China Daily, June 20, 2016
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A visitor examines how a new-energy car is charged at an auto show in Toronto, Canada, in February. [Photo/Xinhua] |
China and Germany are further expanding their cooperation in battery recycling technologies, to consolidate the new-energy vehicle industrial ecology in the world's largest market.
Both countries are looking to encourage links between research institutes, companies and cities under the framework of the China-Germany Traction Battery Recycling Memorandum, and select model projects together, five years after they entered into a strategic partnership in the electric vehicle sector in June 2011.
"The progressive move is a further extension from the existing bilateral cooperation in NEVs. The two nations are closing the loop in industrial ecology, while NEVs are set to step into a new stage in their product lifecycle," said Zhang Junyi, a partner with Munich-headquartered Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.
Zhang continued: "The business path to recycle and reuse the batteries will be formulated for all the stakeholders as soon as the model projects are operating successfully."
He forecast that the Sino-German model projects would be run continuously for three to five years in China's NEV market, which is now the world's largest after overtaking the United States in 2015.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed NEV production volume surged to about 54,000 units in May, almost double that of the same month last year.
May sales surged 128 percent year-on-year to about 35,000 units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
The traction battery recycling model projects are likely to involve not only battery makers but also car manufacturers that currently produce NEVs in China, for example, Daimler AG and BMW AG, and those that do so in the future. Volkswagen AG is one such automaker that will soon produce NEVs in China, according to Zhang.
German automaker Daimler AG and Chinese technology company BYD Co's joint venture, BYD Daimler New Technology Co, is researching and preparing for the recycling and reuse of batteries and called for immediate joint efforts to prepare for battery recycling.
BYD Daimler introduced its fully electric Denza marque in 2014, and will upgrade the model soon.
Hu Xiaoqing, marketing director of BYD Daimler, said: "All of the NEV makers, bearing long-term development in mind, are going to be responsible for sustainability, but we need to keep a close eye on how things develop."
She issued a reassurance for owners of the company's fully electric model.
"The batteries in Denza last longer than the cars, or at least have an equivalent lifespan, so there's no need for our customers to replace a battery," Hu said.
Hu expressed confidence that for BYD Daimler, battery recycling would only become an issue in the event that a Denza was scrapped, which she said is an unlikely prospect for owners. Further reassurance for the company came from the joint venture's stockholder and supplier BYD Co, which has stated that it can reuse the vehicle's traction battery units in its energy storage power stations to power its own new-energy business.
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