On March 28th, the promotion meeting for the new energy strategic transformation of Shandong Heavy Industry Weichai Group, themed "New Quality, New Power, Towards Electricity and the Future", was held in Yantai. The first battery product of the Weichai Fudi (Yantai) New Energy Power Industrial Park rolled off the production line, marking the official commissioning of Phase I of the industrial park project. Man Shengang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shandong Province, and Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Shandong Heavy Industry Group, and Zheng Deyan, Deputy Secretary of the Yantai Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Yantai, attended the event.

Man Shengang stated that Shandong Heavy Industry Group is accelerating the strategic transformation of new energy, constructing a new energy industry chain ranging from commercial vehicles, construction machinery, agricultural equipment, industrial forklifts to power systems, demonstrating leading competitive advantages, strong growth momentum, and broad development space. The power batteries of Weichai Fudi fully integrate the leading advantages of the two enterprises, bringing a higher-end, more advanced, and more professional power solution to China's new energy commercial vehicle and construction machinery industries. Shandong Heavy Industry will continue to shoulder the responsibility of being the "chain leader", cooperate with upstream and downstream partners of the industrial chain for coordinated and clustered development, and make new and greater contributions to the high-quality development of Shandong Province's high-end equipment industry.

Zheng Deyan expressed his gratitude to Shandong Heavy Industry Group for its support to Yantai's development. He said that Yantai is deeply implementing the manufacturing industry agglomeration and cultivation project. Led by the Weichai Fudi New Energy Power Industrial Park and other projects, Yantai is accelerating the development of new energy vehicles and power battery industries, building a highland for the agglomeration of new energy vehicle industries in northern China, and actively constructing a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as the backbone. It is hoped that Shandong Heavy Industry Group will increase its industrial layout in Yantai and continuously expand strategic cooperation at a higher level and in a deeper level.

At the event site, leaders such as Man Shengang and Zheng Deyan jointly pressed the start button, and the first power battery product of the industrial park, equipped with the latest technologies of Weichai and Fudi, was officially rolled off the production line, marking the official commissioning of Weichai Fudi batteries and Phase I of the Weichai (Yantai) New Energy Industrial Park. This product was specially designed and developed based on Weichai's in-depth understanding of the commercial vehicle industry. It adopts blade battery technology and has characteristics such as good safety, excellent fast charging ability, high energy density, high environmental adaptability, and long cycle life, which can meet the needs of different transportation distances, regions, and application scenarios.

Shen Jian, Member of the Standing Committee of the Yantai Municipal Party Committee and Deputy Mayor of Yantai, Ma Changhai, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Shandong Heavy Industry Group, and Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman, and General Manager of Weichai Group, and Liu Siyuan, COO of Fudi Battery Company, etc. participated in the event.

The Collaboration of Two Giants to Build a Highland for the New Energy Commercial Vehicle Industry

Shandong Heavy Industry owns leading full-industrial-chain resources of high-end equipment such as commercial vehicles, construction machinery, agricultural equipment, intelligent logistics, and marine transportation equipment. Weichai is an important leader in the global power system. BYD has mastered the core technologies of the entire new energy industry chain and enjoys a global reputation. In 2023, the two sides joined forces and planned to invest in building a highland of an industrial cluster running through the new energy power system.

The project is located in Fushan District, Yantai, covering an area of approximately 1,700 mu. It was officially settled in November 2023 and will be constructed in three phases. The project is divided into two parts. One is the Weichai Fudi Battery Construction Project, which focuses on building a production base for 50GWh power batteries and energy storage system cells and supporting components. It adopts the latest 2.0 equipment and technology developed by Fudi Battery Co., Ltd. to produce the latest model of blade battery cells. Phase I covers an area of 758 mu and plans to build cell production lines for commercial vehicles, off-road vehicles, energy storage, etc., covering four cell production process workshops of sheet making, lamination, assembly, and testing, as well as production supporting facilities such as aluminum casings, NMP rectification areas, and electrolyte storage areas, with an annual cell production capacity of 20GWh. The other is the Weichai (Yantai) New Energy Industrial Park Construction Project, which plans to build a manufacturing base for core components of new energy vehicles such as 50GWh battery PACK. Phase I covers an area of 249 mu and plans to build 4 blade battery PACK lines, with an annual production capacity of 20GWh for battery PACK. Currently, Phase I of the project has been completed and put into operation as scheduled.

Relying on the resource advantages and industrial supporting capabilities of "chain leader" enterprises in the high-end equipment industry chain such as Shandong Heavy Industry and BYD, this project will drive upstream and downstream supporting enterprises of the automobile industry chain to accelerate their gathering in Yantai, strengthen the deep integration of the industrial chain, innovation chain, and value chain, help Shandong Province build a high-end equipment industry cluster, and make positive contributions to the industrialized development of new energy in China.

The Blade Battery Unsheathed: Weichai's Full Range of Power Batteries Lead Industry Demands

At the event site, Weichai's full range of on-road and off-road power batteries were centrally unveiled, covering segmented markets such as heavy trucks, light trucks, and construction machinery. This series of batteries adopts blade battery technology, firmly establishing the foundation of fast charging, high strength, high safety, and long life at the technical level, leading the industry's development.

Among them, Weichai's full range of power batteries for heavy trucks focuses on large power capacity, fast charging, and applicability. The single-pack power of this series of batteries is as high as 100kWh, supporting multi-pack parallel connection technology, and the power can be expanded to 200 to 600kWh, matching the power consumption needs of different transportation distances. With a variety of lightweight designs, under the 400kWh system, the weight of the battery pack is reduced by 110kg compared with similar competing products, greatly improving the vehicle's cruising range and load capacity. In terms of fast charging, this battery supports a maximum continuous charging rate of 1.3C. Compared with the 1C continuous charging performance of competing products, it significantly shortens the charging time.

Weichai's power batteries for light trucks have the advantages of long cruising range, lightweight design, and long life. The single-pack power reaches the industry's top level of 140kWh, which is about 30kg lighter than competing products under the same capacity. It has a high-power fast charging performance of 2C, and it only takes 18 minutes at the fastest to charge the battery from 20% to 80%, eliminating the cruising range anxiety of urban distribution light truck transportation users. In addition, this battery has a system cycle life of up to 4,500 times. Combined with its fast charging characteristics, it significantly improves the economic efficiency of the vehicle's entire life cycle and reduces the overall vehicle operation cost.

Weichai's power batteries for construction machinery have a power coverage of 280-1000kWh, which can meet the power consumption needs of different segmented markets such as loaders, excavators, and mining trucks, and have characteristics such as strong reliability, high attendance rate, and extremely long life. The vibration reliability of this series of batteries can meet 4 times the national standard, and the system failure rate is 20% lower than the industry average level. It has better low-temperature adaptability, with a working temperature range of -35°C to 65°C. The battery system cycle life can be selected as 2,800/4,500 times, with a 60% increase in life, and it supports a vehicle life of more than 20,000 hours, solving customers' concerns about battery life during the entire life cycle of the vehicle.

Towards Electricity and the Future: Weichai's New Energy Achieves a Key Breakthrough

Driven by the global energy transformation and electrification trend, as the core of new energy vehicles, power batteries are experiencing rapid technological innovation iterations. Weichai has been deeply involved in the new energy industry for many years. Based on its in-depth understanding of the application scenarios of commercial vehicles and construction machinery, it has made breakthrough progress in dimensions such as power battery thermal management, intelligent management, and the reliability of the entire life cycle.

Since 2010, Weichai has comprehensively laid out the technical routes of the "three electrics" (battery, motor, and motor controller) in the new energy field, completing the layout of the entire industrial chain and technology chain of various series of products such as power batteries, motors, and motor controllers. The core performance and reliability indicators of the products are leading in the industry and have been mass-applied in markets such as buses, light trucks, heavy trucks, construction machinery, and forklifts.

Now, with the completion and commissioning of Weichai Fudi batteries and Phase I of the Weichai (Yantai) New Energy Industrial Park, Weichai has a large-scale production base covering new energy power systems, motors, motor controllers, and batteries, providing strong support for its new energy strategic transformation. Among them, the Weichai (Yantai) New Energy Industrial Park will further improve the product manufacturing level and profitability by building a leading domestic and world-class lighthouse factory.

Facing the future, Shandong Heavy Industry Group coordinates internal and external resources, builds a highland for the new energy power industry globally, provides global customers with diversified, low-carbon, and efficient new energy power solutions, and helps Shandong Province "take the lead and play a major role" in the green, low-carbon, and high-quality development of the high-end equipment industry. (This article is from the official website of Seetao.com, www.seetao.com. It shall not be reprinted without permission. Otherwise, legal liability will be pursued. If reprinting, please indicate Seetao.com and the original article link.)Editor of the Strategic Column of Seetao.com / Yin Shiqian