Jiuzhou Automobile Factory, inside the chairman's office.
After Feng Hao told the current problems faced by Hengxin Electronics Factory, all the senior executives of Jiuzhou Auto showed very serious expressions on their faces, and they were no longer as relaxed as before.
Kyushu Automobile President Deng Yingzhuo hesitated and asked Xu Yifan, "Do I need to inform Chen Qianjun about this?"
As the official person who has the most frequent contact with Kyushu Motors, Chen Qianjun has now served as a communication channel between Kyushu Motors and the officials to a certain extent.
When Deng Yingzhuo encounters a problem that is difficult to solve by himself, what he thinks of is asking for help from above.
Next to him, Liu Junhong, the president of Dongfang Electric Power Company, also said: "As for Dongfang Electric Power Company, if there is need, Mr. Xu, just ask, and I can report to the superior power department for support."
Today's Jiuzhou Automobile Factory is no longer that small factory.
If you encounter any crisis, you can ask for assistance. The official may even be more anxious than Kyushu Motors itself. If you want to solve the problem, you will naturally go all out to provide any help you can.
This includes but is not limited to communicating with domestic mining companies to prioritize lithium resources for supplying Jiuzhou Automobile at low prices, negotiating with international companies with rich lithium resources, or seeking breakthroughs with the mining groups behind them, etc.
If Jiuzhou Auto was just an ordinary company, you would experience enthusiastic service from the officials.
But unfortunately, Jiuzhou Automobile Factory itself is a cheating existence!
Facing the scene where everyone seemed slightly nervous, Xu Yifan said with a smile: "Haha, why are everyone so serious? It's just the price increase of raw materials. It's not worth everyone's worries. It's like the sky is falling. Don't worry, it's okay. !”
Everyone could not help but breathe a sigh of relief when they saw that Xu Yifan didn't show any overly worried expressions.
The backbone of Jiuzhou Automobile Factory is Chairman Xu Yifan, who is younger than the company presidents present.
Since the other party didn't show any worried look, and instead comforted everyone cheerfully, everyone could rest assured.
Moreover, everyone in the company is aware of some of the research that has been being done.
Feng Hao thought for a while and said: "If that technology is completed, there will indeed be no need to worry about the rise in international lithium ore prices!"
The rest of the people also came to their senses: "It's just that before this, no one knew the progress of the research and development of that technology or the specific step it had reached."
Liu Junhong was full of expectations: "Mr. Xu, can you tell me what step has been taken?!"
Regarding the technical aspects of Kyushu Technology, Xu Yifan is personally responsible for the progress of several laboratories and more laboratories to come. It is he who best understands the technological research and development progress of Kyushu Motors.
The price of lithium ore raw materials will increase. This situation will definitely come, but I didn't expect it to be so fast!
With the continuous development and growth of Jiuzhou Automobile over the years, the price of raw materials for lithium mines has doubled compared to the beginning.
But there is no way, you have to use it!
Xu Yifan could not have foreseen this problem.
In another world, there was a period when the price of lithium ore rose crazily.
In a short period of time, the price of new energy electric vehicles has collectively increased a lot. Even some car owners who bought new energy electric vehicles before the price increase will be more expensive than the original purchase price when they sell the cars after the raw materials have increased!
Jiuzhou Automobile Factory has already been taking measures to deal with the rise in raw materials.
That’s a sodium-ion battery!
The difference between sodium-ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries.
In the manufacturing process of lithium-ion batteries, the raw material lithium is needed, whether it is lithium iron phosphate battery, ternary lithium battery, or polymer lithium battery, etc.
The reason why these lithium batteries can be made into batteries is because lithium, a metal, has a de-embedded working principle.
During the charging process, lithium ions are detached from the positive electrode and embedded in the negative electrode. The more lithium ions embedded in the negative electrode, the higher the charging capacity. The process is reversed during discharge. The more lithium ions return to the positive electrode, the higher the discharge capacity.
Lithium, sodium, and potassium all belong to the alkali metal elements of Group IA of the periodic table. They have similar physical and chemical properties and can theoretically be used as metal ion carriers for secondary batteries.
Lithium ion has a smaller radius, higher standard potential, and much higher specific capacity than sodium and potassium, so it has been used earlier and more widely in secondary batteries.
The mass of sodium ions is three times greater than that of lithium ions. Compared with lithium batteries, the batteries produced have lower battery capacity, shorter cycle life and other shortcomings, which few people have studied.
Sodium-ion batteries replace lithium, an important material in the original lithium battery, with sodium. The battery principle is basically the same, and it is also based on the de-embedded working principle.
Compared with lithium-ion batteries, using sodium ions to produce batteries naturally has many advantages in addition to the shortcomings of low battery capacity and short cycle life.
The first and most important point is mineral resources. The content of lithium in the earth's crust is only 0.0065%. The cost of producing batteries is high, which limits the large-scale application of lithium-ion batteries to a certain extent.
However, sodium resource reserves are very abundant. The abundance in the earth's crust is 2.64%, which is 440 times that of lithium resources. Moreover, sodium resources are widely distributed and easy to extract, allowing large-scale industrial battery production.
Then sodium-ion batteries have higher safety performance than lithium-ion batteries, better high and low temperature performance, and higher fast charging performance.
Nowadays, Jiuzhou Automobile Factory has the ability to produce sodium-ion batteries. However, compared with the lithium-ion batteries initially developed and mass-produced, the first-generation sodium-ion batteries are always lagging behind in terms of battery capacity and cycle performance. .
However, as Kyushu Automobile's research and development focus has been focusing on sodium-ion batteries, the second generation of sodium-ion batteries is now about to be completed.
Compared with the lithium iron phosphate batteries originally produced by Hengxin Battery Factory, the second-generation sodium-ion batteries are comparable in terms of battery energy density, cycle performance, safety, and high and low temperature resistance, or Better performance.
In terms of production costs of battery factories, they can also be lower and more profitable!
At the same time, in terms of the construction of battery production plants, Jiuzhou Automobile has been preparing for a long time. The sodium-ion battery production plants have been built. The construction of the battery plant can be completed only after the final technical research is completed.
Technically, it could have been completed in a month at most, but now that the battery is in crisis, Xu Yifan naturally won't save that little bit of money.
I will speed up the research and development of sodium ions later. If it is quick, I can complete the technological breakthrough of sodium ion batteries within ten days and officially produce sodium ion batteries in one month!
Facing the expectant looks of many company executives, Xu Yifan did not answer, but gave instructions.
"Feng Hao, next I will give you a purchase list of equipment. Some equipment may need to be ordered or manufactured by yourself. If you don't understand anything in this regard, you can come and ask me at any time. I will send someone who knows the corresponding technology. Materials laboratory personnel, or I can go over and give you guidance in person!”
Although there was something slightly wrong, Feng Hao couldn't help but ask again: "Is the sodium-ion battery completed?!"
Xu Yifan shook his head: "Not yet, but it is already in the final stage. It is expected to be ready in about half a month. I believe Hengxin Battery Factory can still sustain it during this time."
Sodium-ion battery technology is much slower than the initial development of lithium iron phosphate batteries.
There is no way around this. Regarding lithium iron phosphate batteries, there have been many papers and technical routes worth learning from.
As for sodium-ion batteries, although there is not a little bit of research in the world, most of the research is very superficial. There is no paper data and no big boss can be found for help. Everything can only rely on the efforts of the R&D personnel of Kyushu Automobile Factory. , plus Xu Yifan cheats and adds buffs.
In terms of solution speed, it is naturally slower than lithium iron phosphate batteries, which already have many basics.
In addition, although the first-generation sodium-ion battery has been developed, Xu Yifan disliked aspects such as energy density. Compared with the previous lithium iron phosphate battery, there was a certain technical gap, so it was not used.
The second-generation sodium-ion battery is now about to be completed. As one of the people who personally participated in this research and development project, Xu Yifan still knows the power of this battery very well.
Although it does not seem to be particularly powerful, it is equivalent to today's Hengxin lithium iron phosphate battery, with production costs doubled, and at the same time, there is no degradation in performance, and there will be no bottlenecks such as mineral resources. .
Seeing that Hengxin Battery Factory's concerns were easily resolved, the meeting continued and everyone's faces regained their previous relaxed look.
Regarding the technical strength of this company's products, no one has any doubts about whether sodium-ion batteries can take on the important task of succeeding lithium-ion batteries, and whether their performance and safety can reach the level of previous lithium iron phosphate batteries.
The chairman of Jiuzhou Automobile Factory’s investment in technology is obvious to all.
At the same time, many R&D personnel are also very competitive. In addition, they have never had the habit of bragging before, and all product performance is based on facts.
Consumers and everyone in the factory can clearly see it.
As the chairman, Xu Yifan is full of confidence in the sodium-ion battery that is about to be completed, so everyone just needs to wait quietly.
Feng Hao, the president of Hengxin Battery Factory, who was the last to speak, said that after solving the problem of raw materials for battery production, there were no other issues that needed to be reported.
The meeting was basically over here, Xu Yifan said with a smile to everyone.
"In one week, each company has developed very rapidly. I believe that it will maintain such rapid development or even develop faster in the future. Let's keep up the good work!"
"Okay, that's the end of today's meeting. Let's go do whatever you need to do!"
As Xu Yifan announced the end of this brief work report, everyone present stood up.
If you are ready to leave, or if you need to report to Xu Yifan alone, please stay a little longer and report to Xu Yifan.
"Since there is no problem with the battery, I feel more relieved. If we keep up our efforts, sales will reach a new high next month!"
"The sodium-ion battery has been developed for a long time. I don't know what the specific effect will be. Will it improve the existing product line?"
"Compared to the development time of technologies such as engines and Suzaku motors, even the Kyushu Automobile R&D team with unprecedented R&D capabilities has been able to hinder the development of sodium-ion batteries for such a long time. It is worth looking forward to!"
"Sodium-ion batteries with lower production costs. If they are really manufactured, can Dongfang Electric Power Company negotiate with Hengxin Battery Factory on the purchase price of battery packs?!
Production costs have come down, should we also lower prices? Well, forget it, it’s not my money anyway, so let’s not talk about it? ! Just report the matter! As a member of Dongfang Electric Power Company, we can't all stand on the official side! "
Immediately, the office door opened and several presidents filed out.
But at the same time, two secretaries walked in quickly at the door of the chairman's office, targeting Feng Hao and Deng Yingzhuo among the presidents.
In the slightly surprised looks of several presidents, their respective secretaries came to the two of them and reported the latest news received during the meeting.
"President, someone called you just now. The person claimed to be a senior executive of Ford Company and wanted to discuss business with you, mainly about lithium resources. The person also wanted to contact Chairman Xu..."
"The things I want to report are the same as Secretary Chen!"
It turned out that just when Xu Yifan and others were having a meeting, both Jiuzhou Automobile Company and Hengxin Battery Company received a call from a stranger.
As soon as the other party opened his mouth, he was looking for the president of the company, and Xu Yifan, the real boss and chairman of Jiuzhou Automobile Factory behind these subsidiaries!
It's just that Xu Yifan's personal information is basically not available online now, and even his office phone number is confidential. When the other party can't be found, he resorted to the next best thing and contacted the presidents of these companies.
After a slight pause, the two company presidents looked at each other and then returned to Xu Yifan's desk.
Even the remaining company presidents couldn't help but slow down.
Feng Hao: "Mr. Xu, someone came to us just now and said they wanted to discuss something with us. It would be best to find you?!"
Since the secretary's voice was not loud, Xu Yifan didn't know what was going on, so he couldn't help but curiously asked: "What's going on?"
There was a strange look on Feng Hao's face: "It's about lithium resources. The other party seems to want to use the issue of lithium resources to negotiate some conditions with us."
"Negotiate terms, I'm too lazy to deal with them..."
Jiuzhou Automobile is not what the other party imagined. The demand for lithium resources is far from reaching the point where it can affect the company's normal operations and life and death. Naturally, it will not want to negotiate terms and cooperation with such an unknown person. .
"Okay!" Nodding slightly, the two presidents prepared to leave.
But at this moment, a pleasant phone ringing sounded.
The secretary took out the phone and looked at the screen, then glanced at the many big guys around him, and said cautiously: "This is the contact person."
I didn't want to talk to him at first, but the other party was so positive.
Xu Yifan suddenly thought of a good idea and nodded slightly, indicating that the other party could pick up the phone.
The little secretary then connected the phone and said in very fluent English: "Hello, hello, this is the office of the president of Hengxin Battery Company."
"Yes, I have already told the president what you have reported, but the president is not interested in the cooperation you proposed." The little secretary replied according to Xu Yifan's instructions just now.
"The importance of lithium resources? I don't know either!"
"I have explained your matter to the president, and I am sorry..."
On the other end of the phone, the other party seemed unwilling to believe that Jiuzhou Automobile would be so indifferent to the rise in international lithium ore resource prices. This situation was completely beyond their expectations!
At this time, Jiuzhou Automobile Factory should be troubled by the abnormal increase in lithium resources!
Whether it is increasing battery pack prices, limiting car production, or selling at a loss, it is a very difficult decision to make.
For Kyushu Automobile, which has just seen an improvement in sales, any one of these items will destroy the trust of consumers!
At this time, if someone proposes cooperation on lithium resources, it stands to reason that they would be very happy.
Although the CEOs of Kyushu Auto are generally much younger in age, they are not unable to deal with the problems before them.
On the other end of the phone was a small conference room.
In front of a hands-free mobile phone, Quinlan Silva, a middle-aged man with blond hair, and everyone around him looked in disbelief.
Several senior executives from different car companies whispered in disbelief.
"How could you be so indifferent?"
"Could it be that the secretary in the president's office did not report the seriousness of this matter to the president of Kyushu Automobile Factory?"
"Or are there very young CEOs who don't understand the importance of things?!"
"Our identity issue has been mentioned before. It stands to reason that Ford's senior management is trustworthy enough."
"What is Kyushu Auto doing? Aren't they not worried at all if the price of lithium ore has increased two or three times in just a few days?"
"We have paid a lot of money for this plan. They are not afraid that they will not be able to purchase lithium resources that can satisfy the development of Jiuzhou Automobile. Without lithium resources, that country's tram development plan will also slow down. pace!"
(End of chapter)
