Companies in the GBA｜Always dancing in tailwinds, will EVE Energy win again?

南方财经全媒体记者 杨雨莱 广州报道

Cars switching from gas-powered to electricity-driven engines are nothing new these days, but have you ever seen such swap in a ship?Not too long ago, the first cargo ship in China switched from gasoline to electricity. The vessel, known as the “YueTong Zhujiang 001,” completed its trial voyage. This ship is also the first container vessel with an electricity engine in the Greater Bay Area.

The battery on the “YueTong Zhujiang 001” is from a company also located in the Greater Bay Area named EVE Energy, also known as the supermarket of lithium batteries.

Founded in 2001, EVE Energy started its business with lithium batteries. By 2023, its lithium battery ranked first in terms of global market share, with sales and trade volume staying in the top nationwide for seven years in a row. In 2009, EVE Energy became listed on Shenzhen’s tech-heavy ChiNext board, joining the first batch of tech firms on China’s NASDAQ-type exchange.

Managing to secure one tailwind towards growth is fortunate enough. But EVE Energy’s development path would soon be described as dancing all over the tailwinds. Amid the sale boom of the TWS Bluetooth, thanks to its “golden-pea-like” battery, EVE Energy successfully found itself inside Samsung’s supply chain. By seizing the opportunity for ETC construction, EVE Energy quickly occupied a market share of over 70%. And by stepping into the electronic cigarette market pre-emptively, EVE Energy became famous after acquiring shares from McQuay.

When it comes to the power battery market, which technological specialties should EVE Energy choose for its products? Should it be like CATL, to bet on ternary batteries with higher energy density? Or to follow BYD and focus on the safer lithium ferric phosphate battery model？EVE Energy’s final decision is that it wants both.

Currently,the power storage batteries produced by EVE Energycover a wide range of various products with the technological specialties of ternaryelements and lithium ferric phosphate.These products see wide application in multiple areas.Well-known autocompanies like BMW, Daimler,JaguarRover andXiaopeng,And power storage-related companies, including StateGrid, China Mobile, and China Towerare all EVE Energy’s clients.

In recent years, EVE Energy has invested much in research and development. Maintaining a two-digit growth rate of R&D expenditure for many years. Now, EVE Energy’s R&D expenditure rate has surpassed even that of CATL.

In the past, the tools you needed to produce batteries were calipers, multimeters and a pair of dexterous hands. But now, inside EVE Energy’s automated and intelligent production lines, with the cooperation among mechanic arms, AGV robots, and RGV shuttles, batteries are produced one row after another without pause.

Besides output value, battery technology has also made leaps in terms of productivity. Recently, EVE Energy managed to make a major breakthrough by extending the service life of its lithium batteries from just 3 years to more than 10 years. It also widened the battery service temperature range from the standard -20℃ - 60℃, to -40℃ - 125℃. Driven by its innovation capability, EVE Energy has already applied for more than 6,300 national patents so far.

With the support of its batteries, EVE Energy has ushered in a “Golden Era.” From 2015 to 2022, EVE Energy’s revenue increased from just over one billion yuan to more than 36.3 billion yuan. In 2021 and 2022 alone, it achieved a growth rate of over 100%.

However, revenue increases don’t guarantee stock price surges. In recent years, upstream lithium carbonate has witnessed unforeseen price volatilities, and automobile enterprises downstream show weak demand. EVE Energy endured hardships from both ends due to its midstream position in the lithium battery industry chain. Its stock price fell more than 70% from its peak.

The Matthew Effect is also prominent in the current power battery industry. Tier 1 enterprises still maintain the high ground. In the Global Power Battery Installation Amount 2023 rankings, the top three enterprises occupied over 60% of the market share. EVE Energy, placing ninth in the list has a market share of just 2.1%. However, therein lies a bright side. Compared with the average year-to-year growth rate of 41.8%, EVE Energy has experienced a promising year-to-year growth rate of 131.9%, becoming one of the fastest growing enterprises in the top 10.

From consumer electronics, electroniccigarettes,to the modern power battery,some have dubbed EVE Energy a “lucky dog” who encountered favorable tailwinds on several occasions.But others also say EVE Energy earned its place because of its due diligence.In a “winner takes it all” mentality that is prevalent in the power battery industry,willEVE Energy be the one to have the last laugh?

出 品：南财国际传播中心 21新媒体中心 创意互动中心

策划统筹：于晓娜 丁青云

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