BYD, a major electronics assembler and manufacturer of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China, made a voluntary announcement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on May 7 to present its vehicle production and sales figures for April. The announcement also noted that the installed capacity of BYD’s power batteries for NEVs and energy storage batteries came to 2.17GWh for April, and the cumulative installed capacity of these batteries from January to April this year reached 7.428GWh.
Looking at the available data from BYD, installations of power batteries for NEVs and energy storage batteries amounted to 1.754GWh in January. Installations then surged in March, hitting 2.149GWh. In April, the installed capacity rose a bit more to 2.17GWh.
Various media outlets have reported that the global energy storage market is now on the cusp of massive growth. As governments around the world promote energy transition and expand the deployment of renewable generation systems, energy storage systems have also become an indispensable part of the power infrastructure. In order to phase out fossil fuels from the electricity market, energy storage systems and renewable generation systems have to work in harmony. With ongoing technological advances and cost reductions, electrochemical energy storage technologies such as lithium-ion batteries are expected to become mainstream in the utility market in the future. At the same time, the market positioning of battery energy storage systems is gradually becoming stronger in many application segments because they are able to offer diverse and mature business models for power producers, transmission system operators, and end-users. The uses of battery energy storage systems include demand response, backup power supply, peak shaving, arbitrage operation, ancillary services, etc.
Turning back to BYD’s performance in the car market for April, the year-to-date NEV production and sales soared by 135.24% YoY and 128.53% YoY respectively. The year-to-date production and sales of new energy passenger vehicles registered huge YoY increases of 139.09% and 132.10% respectively. By powertrain technology, the year-to-date production and sales of battery-electric passenger vehicles rose by 102.42% YoY and 94.87% YoY respectively. The year-to-date and sales of plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles skyrocketed by 319.24% YoY and 315.22% respectively. The monthly sales results were mostly good for other vehicle categories as well, including models with an internal combustion engine.
BYD’s impressive record for April is an indication that the battery market will continue to attract a lot of attention and investments. The demand for traction batteries is anticipated to rise sharply on the back of the rapid growth in NEV sales. BYD’s announcement also suggests that the company will able to increase battery installations in the future. Also, the company have stated via its press releases that it will continue to work with partners in other countries to develop battery-electric commercial vehicles such as electric buses.