ReportingThanks to generous subsidies, China has become the number one market for electric cars, and its champions CATL and BYD dominate the world market.
The red sedan emits that slight whistle characteristic of electric motors. Soon the only audible sound is the roar of the wheels against the cobblestones of the plaza that faces the vast reception building of BYD, the Chinese leader in electric cars, in Shenzhen (Guangdong), in southern China. The driver crushes the accelerator, and the passengers are suddenly pressed against their seats. BYD claims 0-100 km / h acceleration in just 3.9 seconds. The Han series, named after the first Chinese dynasty, “Demonstrates the progress of the industrial prowess of the country”, writes the mark.
But the secret of the Han, whose design is reminiscent of that of the Californian Tesla’s cars, is neither its speed nor its range, it is its price. Thanks to innovative technology, BYD can equip its vehicles with sufficiently efficient batteries, without the use of cobalt, and therefore both cheaper and safer than their competitors. For 550 kilometers of autonomy, it takes 230,000 yuan (32,000 euros). As for the small urban Haitun (“dauphine”), it is sold from 93,000 yuan for 300 kilometers of autonomy.
BYD, NIO, Xpeng: in Tesla’s wake, the Chinese are now well placed in the race for electric vehicles. We know less about the battery manufacturers that equip them. The discreet Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) has yet dethroned the South Korean LG to become world number one in 2020, and the company has become the second market capitalization of China, with 204 billion euros. For its part, BYD, founded in 1995 to equip electronic devices with batteries, now occupies third place in the world and weighs 110 billion euros on the stock market, twice the value of Stellantis. A success that rewards the efforts and billions invested by the Chinese authorities for more than ten years to ensure the development of the industry and the success of its national foals.
” Red carpet “
Today, most manufacturers seek to collaborate with the Chinese: CATL supplies Tesla, Mercedes, BMW, PSA, General Motors and many Chinese manufacturers. BYD, which for a long time was content to produce batteries for its own vehicles, is also starting to forge partnerships with third parties, including Toyota, Ford and the Chinese luxury limousine maker Hongqi. Renault would think about it.
Since 2009, China has made the development of this sector a priority. Faced with endemic pollution, the country has spent billions on subsidies, limited registrations of combustion cars and now imposes quotas for new energy vehicles on producers.
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