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High-Nickel",144.45,149.67,-3.49,26.69,49.06,[498,499,500,502,504,506,508,510,512,514,516,518],{"date":198,"value":492},{"date":200,"value":493},{"date":203,"value":501},157.37,{"date":206,"value":503},160,{"date":209,"value":505},149.53,{"date":212,"value":507},141.97,{"date":215,"value":509},136.99,{"date":218,"value":511},129.81,{"date":221,"value":513},114.02,{"date":224,"value":515},109.17,{"date":227,"value":517},109.02,{"date":255,"value":519},99.44,{"publishedDate":198,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":521,"today":522,"last":523,"percentageChange":524,"yearToDate":525,"yearOnYear":526,"oneYearIndexTrend":527,"url":377,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"LFP",229.17,218.34,4.96,49.35,83.44,[528,529,530,532,534,536,538,540,542,544,546,548],{"date":198,"value":522},{"date":200,"value":523},{"date":203,"value":531},239.1,{"date":206,"value":533},258.32,{"date":209,"value":535},239.37,{"date":212,"value":537},213.01,{"date":215,"value":539},204.49,{"date":218,"value":541},218.06,{"date":221,"value":543},153.45,{"date":224,"value":545},134.02,{"date":227,"value":547},118.22,{"date":255,"value":549},111.93,{"id":551,"uuid":552,"name":553,"slug":554,"full_slug":555,"content":556,"relatedArticles":889,"relatedVideos":890},114851930082440,"851bebbb-2c0e-42d0-9838-de73c00fceb3","China’s EV Unicorns","chinas-ev-unicorns","article/chinas-ev-unicorns",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":563,"content":573,"excerpt":865,"featured":50,"reporter":866,"_editable":870,"component":871,"seo_title":553,"categories":872,"visibility":882,"author_company":49,"featured_image":883,"seo_description":865,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":887,"formattedArticleDate":888},"fabcdd4a-bbc2-4a12-a705-a0639bb3044c","2018-08-13 00:00",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562},"china","China",[564],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":567},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":568,"image":569,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":570},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":574,"content":575},"doc",[576,590,595,600,605,612,617,624,629,636,641,646,653,662,667,672,677,684,691,696,701,706,713,718,725,730,737,742,749,754,759,764,769,774,783,786,791,796,801,806,811,816,821,826,833,838,843,848,853,860],{"type":577,"attrs":578,"content":579},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[580,583,588],{"text":581,"type":582},"In the last issue of the Benchmark Mineral Intelligence quarterly review we looked at the Californian electric vehicle (EV) start-ups in our feature ","text",{"text":584,"type":582,"marks":585},"The New Detroit",[586],{"type":587},"italic",{"text":589,"type":582},". Silicon Valley might boast a plethora of start-up companies but the news coming out of China’s EV scene over the past year shows that not only can it match the USA with its volume of EV tech start-ups but many have reached unicorn status – start-ups valued over $1 billion dollars.",{"type":577,"attrs":591,"content":592},{"textAlign":49},[593],{"text":594,"type":582},"In this article we explore the Chinese EV start-ups that have enjoyed a recent flood of capital investment and the reasons behind this.",{"type":577,"attrs":596,"content":597},{"textAlign":49},[598],{"text":599,"type":582},"2018 has seen many Chinese EV start-ups go through successful rounds of capital funding, which has pushed a number of these businesses over the $1 billion valuation mark. The profile of these companies outside of China is sometimes limited, but the Chinese EV market is the biggest in the world. Those of us outside of China should pay attention.",{"type":577,"attrs":601,"content":602},{"textAlign":49},[603],{"text":604,"type":582},"We start by looking at some of the major EV start-ups for before exploring the reasons why these companies are seeing these investment flows.",{"type":577,"attrs":606,"content":607},{"textAlign":49},[608,610],{"text":609,"type":582},"WM Motor Technology",{"text":611,"type":582},"\nWM Motor Technology Co Ltd was founded in 2015 and has raised enough funding since inception of over US$2billion. It produced its first EVs last year which recently started selling in China. Their first car to market was the Weltmeister EX5 SUV, which is reported to be selling for between RMB 149,000 and 220,000.",{"type":577,"attrs":613,"content":614},{"textAlign":49},[615],{"text":616,"type":582},"There are no firm details of battery specifications or capacity yet but it has been reported that their SUV will have a range of 600km, but this is difficult to verify. Production of the EX5 is underway in Wenzhou, in eastern China and the company aims to have demand of 100,000 in 3-4 years.",{"type":577,"attrs":618,"content":619},{"textAlign":49},[620,622],{"text":621,"type":582},"BAIC GROUP",{"text":623,"type":582},"\nIn Q1 of 2018 the state-backed Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Ltd (BAIC Group) announced that it would be listing its EV subsidiary – BAIC BJEV on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. This will make the BAIC BJEV the first state-owned EV manufacturer to be listed in China.",{"type":577,"attrs":625,"content":626},{"textAlign":49},[627],{"text":628,"type":582},"In 2017 it sold over 100,000 EVs and the company claimed its share of the Chinese EV market increased to an estimated 23 per cent. According to a security filing placed for the deal, in the first 10 months of 2017 BJEV had a revenue of RMB7.38 billion (US$1.15 billion), and a profit of RMB39.24 million (US$6.13 million).",{"type":577,"attrs":630,"content":631},{"textAlign":49},[632,634],{"text":633,"type":582},"Byton",{"text":635,"type":582},"\nByton is another Chinese EV unicorn that has started to gather attention. The company – founded in 2016 as Future Mobility Corp – has hired former BMW, Tesla and Nissan executives.",{"type":577,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639],{"text":640,"type":582},"In June-2018 the company announced that it had raised another US$500 million in funding and also opened its international headquarters in Nanjing, China. At the start of the year BYTON introduced its first drivable concept car, which is a premium SUV priced at upwards of US$45,000. The car will be manufactured in its Nanjing plant and should be available in China in late 2019 and the US and Europe in 2020.",{"type":577,"attrs":642,"content":643},{"textAlign":49},[644],{"text":645,"type":582},"Byton announced that the production car will have two models available. The first will have a range of 400 km with a 71 kWh lithium ion battery pack and the second will use a 95 kWh battery providing a range of 520km.",{"type":577,"attrs":647,"content":648},{"textAlign":49},[649,651],{"text":650,"type":582},"Xiaopeng Motors",{"text":652,"type":582},"\nJack Ma is one of China’s richest men and owns the Alibaba Group, which is one of China’s biggest companies. It seems both company and entrepreneur see a future in EVs. In April of this year Alibaba led a round of funding for Xiaopeng Motors.",{"type":577,"attrs":654,"content":655},{"textAlign":49},[656],{"type":657,"attrs":658},"image",{"id":49,"alt":659,"src":660,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":661},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/4cc28bc233/bm-xpeng-g3.png",{},{"type":577,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665],{"text":666,"type":582},"The XPENG G3 is Xiaopeng Motors first production car. Credit: Xiaopeng Motors",{"type":577,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":582},"This year Xiaopeng expects to raise $2.7 billion dollars in additional funding to grow the business. The firm us looking to expand to 3,000 employees from today’s level of 700. The XPENG G3 will be their first production car and is rumoured to be inspired by Tesla’s Model S. It uses the same 18650 battery cell format and Samsung’s lithium ion cells.",{"type":577,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"textAlign":49},[675],{"text":676,"type":582},"The battery provides approximately 186 miles of range but there are scant details of battery size currently available. It is expected that the G3 will be available on the Chinese market towards the end of the year. The company also has an international footprint with R&D sites in Japan and the U.S.",{"type":577,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680,682],{"text":681,"type":582},"NIO",{"text":683,"type":582},"\nNIO, formerly NextEV, is a Shanghai startup but its US headquarters are in Silicon Valley. It was reported in Q1 2018 that NIO was considering a US IPO that should raise between $1 and $2 billion.",{"type":577,"attrs":685,"content":686},{"textAlign":49},[687],{"type":657,"attrs":688},{"id":49,"alt":659,"src":689,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":690},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/cd0187292f/bm-2018-03-2-exterior-front-3-4-es8.jpg",{},{"type":577,"attrs":692,"content":693},{"textAlign":49},[694],{"text":695,"type":582},"NIO’s ES8, a 7-seater SUV which is launching exclusively in China.Credit: NIO",{"type":577,"attrs":697,"content":698},{"textAlign":49},[699],{"text":700,"type":582},"NIO has two cars in production: the ES8, a 7-seater SUV exclusive to the Chinese market and the EP9, which is a two-seater sports car. The ES8 was launched in Q4 2017 and will have a base price of RMB 448,000. There is also the option for customers to make use of a battery rental plan, which lessens the upfront costs by providing a discount of RMB 100,000 on the car’s price.",{"type":577,"attrs":702,"content":703},{"textAlign":49},[704],{"text":705,"type":582},"The ES8 will be made to order through the company’s own app and it has been reported that NIO expects to deliver 30,000 units in 2018.The battery capacity is 70 kWh, which is liquid-cooled and uses VDA square cell batteries.",{"type":577,"attrs":707,"content":708},{"textAlign":49},[709,711],{"text":710,"type":582},"CHJ Automotive",{"text":712,"type":582},"\nCHJ Automotive is another Chinese EV startup to have received considerable capital funding this year. It recently announced that it had raised USD $473 million, which was led by Matrix Partners China – a firm ultimately backed by state-owned steel company Shougang Group.",{"type":577,"attrs":714,"content":715},{"textAlign":49},[716],{"text":717,"type":582},"Since the company was founded in 2015 it has raised approximately USD $908 million. They recently announced a joint venture deal with Didi Chuxing, China’s largest ride-hailing company, where they will work on smart EVs.",{"type":577,"attrs":719,"content":720},{"textAlign":49},[721,723],{"text":722,"type":582},"Youxia Motors",{"text":724,"type":582},"\nAnother company to boast impressive funding figures this year is Youxia Motors. The EV maker is based in Shanghai and raised nearly USD $800 million in the latest round of funding, which comfortably puts the company in the unicorn start-up range.",{"type":577,"attrs":726,"content":727},{"textAlign":49},[728],{"text":729,"type":582},"Its production vehicle – the YOUXIA X – offers three different battery capacities of 40kWh, 60 kWh and 85 kWh, up to a range of 460 kilometres. The company also announced the construction of a factory in Huzhou with expectations that it will produce 200,000 vehicles annually.",{"type":577,"attrs":731,"content":732},{"textAlign":49},[733,735],{"text":734,"type":582},"Singulato",{"text":736,"type":582},"\nFinally, Singulato Motors was founded in 2014 and has gone through three rounds of funding. The latest funding round raised the company approximately USD $475 million. Not only has the EV start-up securing funding from investors to expand its business, it is now promising to make invest approximately USD $2.4billion in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou over the next five years.",{"type":577,"attrs":738,"content":739},{"textAlign":49},[740],{"text":741,"type":582},"The partnership with the city’s government will lead to the establishment of a research and development centre, which is expected to employ between 2,000 and 3,000 researchers. The company and local government have also reportedly agreed to establish a USD $1.6 billion investment fund focusing on industries related to EVs, which will include battery developers.",{"type":743,"attrs":744,"content":746},"heading",{"level":745,"textAlign":49},6,[747],{"text":748,"type":582},"China’s EV scene is booming",{"type":577,"attrs":750,"content":751},{"textAlign":49},[752],{"text":753,"type":582},"China’s EV start-ups have garnered a lot of attention along with impressive funding figures but it’s only a small part of the burgeoning Chinese EV industry. Existing manufacturers, BYD for example, are also pumping investments into the industry.",{"type":577,"attrs":755,"content":756},{"textAlign":49},[757],{"text":758,"type":582},"The sheer volume of capital being invested into Chinese adoption puts the rest of the world to shame, and illustrates how China is way ahead the rest of the world in EV production. It’s also important to note that many of these Chinese EV start-ups that have attracted large funding do not even have cars in production yet.",{"type":577,"attrs":760,"content":761},{"textAlign":49},[762],{"text":763,"type":582},"In the first half of 2018 China produced 413,200 NEVs, which was up 95% on the same period for 2017. The Chinese auto market is massive, over 28 million were sold in China last year. This figure is expected to increase to over 35 million by 2025. In contrast, the USA only produced 17 million over the same period.",{"type":577,"attrs":765,"content":766},{"textAlign":49},[767],{"text":768,"type":582},"The Chinese auto market is the biggest in the world. Considering the size of the market it is understandable that so much investment is flooding into China’s start-ups. But the Chinese government has played a prominent role in this. This has been achieved by offering generous incentives to manufacturing companies but also by providing consumers with subsidies on the vehicles themselves. The state support could be prompting the flood of capital investment into China’s EV start-ups.",{"type":577,"attrs":770,"content":771},{"textAlign":49},[772],{"text":773,"type":582},"Central government subsidies have ranged from RMB 20,000 to RMB 44,000 per vehicle but local governments have also added their own subsidies. Forbes reported that in 2017 China’s central and local governments spent $7.7 billion on EV subsidies.",{"type":577,"attrs":775,"content":776},{"textAlign":49},[777,779,781],{"text":778,"type":582},"It’s hard to deny that the government has played a vital role in growing the EV industry",{"text":780,"type":582},"\nin China. These subsidies are not isolated and there are many other incentive schemes implemented at a country-wide and local level. In a number of China’s largest cities tight controls are enforced which limit the number of cars on the roads – effectively a lottery system for distributing license plates.However, EVs are exempt from this costly and",{"text":782,"type":582},"\narbitrary process.",{"type":577,"attrs":784,"content":785},{"textAlign":49},[],{"type":577,"attrs":787,"content":788},{"textAlign":49},[789],{"text":790,"type":582},"China’s New Energy Vehicle (NEV) policy was inspired by California’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV). This financial incentive system will use ‘new energy credits’ and also impose targets on car manufacturers to increase EV production. Manufacturers will receive new energy credits for meeting EV production requirements. Failure to do so may result in a fine or require the manufacturer to purchase new energy credits from other car makers. The number of credits awarded will depend on a variety of factors including range, energy efficiency and the power of fuel cells used.",{"type":577,"attrs":792,"content":793},{"textAlign":49},[794],{"text":795,"type":582},"Compared to subsidies of the past, this puts the onus on manufacturers – more of the stick than carrot approach. To continue this growth in EV production, Chinese companies have begun securing additional lithium supply globally, with deals developing in Africa, Australia and Canada.",{"type":577,"attrs":797,"content":798},{"textAlign":49},[799],{"text":800,"type":582},"Tianqi lithium were looking to purchase a 32% stake in Chile’s SQM, although for now a complaint has been filed with regulators which could scupper the sale. Not only has China been securing raw materials globally but as of 2017 it already boasted 60% of the world’s 134.8 GWh megafactory capacity according to Benchmark estimates. We expect China’s share of capacity to decline to 53.8% in 2028, but at that point capacity is expected to hit 998.5 GWh so it will have massively increased capacity.",{"type":577,"attrs":802,"content":803},{"textAlign":49},[804],{"text":805,"type":582},"China has just announced that it will launch a pilot EV recycling scheme in 17 cities and regions as part of its EV push. With expectations that the demand for battery raw materials will exceed supply, China is attempting to increase its hold on these critical minerals – in particular lithium – in order to meet its bold EV output targets.",{"type":743,"attrs":807,"content":808},{"level":745,"textAlign":49},[809],{"text":810,"type":582},"Scrapping of foreign ownership limits",{"type":577,"attrs":812,"content":813},{"textAlign":49},[814],{"text":815,"type":582},"A major factor in the rise of China’s EV unicorns can be attributed to China’s historical limit of ownership on foreign auto manufacturers. These barriers have meant that in the past non-Chinese automakers could not establish their own company in China, having to agree joint-ventures with local companies to access the Chinese market. This has kept some of the well-known EV manufacturers from producing in China, the most obvious of which is Tesla.",{"type":577,"attrs":817,"content":818},{"textAlign":49},[819],{"text":820,"type":582},"However, this could soon change. This year China announced that it will remove the foreign ownership limits on businesses producing EVs and plug-in hybrids. The loosening of these rules will increase competition for China’s EV start-ups and domestic producers in general.",{"type":577,"attrs":822,"content":823},{"textAlign":49},[824],{"text":825,"type":582},"For example, at the start of July Elon Musk agreed a deal with Chinese authorities to open a new EV factory in Shanghai. Tesla is aiming to be producing its first EVs within two years of beginning construction on the plant, with 500,000 units produced two to three years after that.",{"type":577,"attrs":827,"content":828},{"textAlign":49},[829],{"type":657,"attrs":830},{"id":49,"alt":659,"src":831,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":832},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/bf52a96103/bm-27388736405-ce8c9a40ec-k.jpg",{},{"type":577,"attrs":834,"content":835},{"textAlign":49},[836],{"text":837,"type":582},"Elon Musk has agreed a landmark deal to build a Tesla factory in Shanghai",{"type":577,"attrs":839,"content":840},{"textAlign":49},[841],{"text":842,"type":582},"Speaking at a meeting of US governors last year, Musk said that “sometimes people are under the impression that China is either dragging their feet or somehow behind the U.S. in terms of sustainable energy promotion, but they are by far the most aggressive on Earth. It’s crazy.” Tesla now have the opportunity to establish themselves in a market that Musk has been desperate to take advantage of.",{"type":577,"attrs":844,"content":845},{"textAlign":49},[846],{"text":847,"type":582},"Tesla will have government support in achieving its targets, as in a statement the local government said that “the Shanghai municipal government will fully support the construction of the Tesla factory.”",{"type":577,"attrs":849,"content":850},{"textAlign":49},[851],{"text":852,"type":582},"After a period of significant funding for China’s EV start-ups, these developments may be of concern to the domestic Chinese EV producers, as the market becomes more competitive. Capital has been flowing into China’s Behind China’s headline EV production figures is the combination of policies, subsidies, incentives and regulation, but also raw materials and battery factories which are driving EV growth.",{"type":577,"attrs":854,"content":855},{"textAlign":49},[856,858],{"text":857,"type":582},"This environment makes investing in Chinese EV start-ups a lucrative",{"text":859,"type":582},"\nproposition. The Chinese government is fostering its EV industry and can take credit for the progress the country has made. Chinese EV start-ups companies have been among the beneficiaries of this over the past few years and particularly in the first half of 2018. Many are yet to have cars in production, which makes the levels of funding even more impressive.",{"type":577,"attrs":861,"content":862},{"textAlign":49},[863],{"text":864,"type":582},"These businesses are in a strong position to grow even further but will face competition from existing domestic manufacturers and foreign companies that are now being welcomed into China.","In the last issue of the Benchmark Mineral Intelligence quarterly review we looked at the Californian electric vehicle (EV) start-ups in our feature The New Detroit. Silicon Valley might boast a plethora of start-up companies but the news coming out of China’s EV scene over the past year shows that not only can it match […]",[867],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":868},{"job_title":568,"image":869,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},{"filename":570},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"fabcdd4a-bbc2-4a12-a705-a0639bb3044c\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[873,876,879],{"slug":874,"name":875},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":877,"name":878},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":880,"name":881},"ev","EV","private",{"id":49,"alt":659,"name":659,"focus":659,"title":659,"source":659,"filename":884,"copyright":659,"fieldtype":885,"meta_data":886,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/7d4ac62024/bm-screen-shot-2018-08-09-at-115927.png","asset",{"alt":659,"title":659,"source":659,"copyright":659},"Aug 13, 2018","13th August 2018",[],[],1792773943993]