The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chapter 266 Battery Technology

Compared to the headquarters in Shanghai, the Baiyun headquarters is...

It's six stories higher, and the rooftop has a huge rooftop swimming pool.

There is also a huge helipad.

His Sikorsky S-92 helicopter, which he bought for $3200 million, is parked there.

This is the world's most luxurious helicopter, capable of carrying 19 passengers.

For this purpose, he even hired a dedicated pilot from the group.

Even Yang Mi would be astonished by such a luxurious lifestyle.

The top floor is his private space, and outsiders certainly cannot come up without his invitation.

The annual maintenance and operating costs for this rooftop swimming pool and helicopter alone would be at least tens of millions.

This shows how wasteful it was.

His personal office at Baiyun headquarters was also exceptionally large, with a dedicated rest room inside.

The office environment can be described as quite luxurious.

Gao Hu brought Xiao Chun to find him. Seeing that Yang Mi was also there, he first asked Xiao Chun for an autograph.

Yang Mi sat on the rosewood sofa with her legs crossed.

I was a little hungry after swimming for a while.

She wanted to urge Chen Pingsheng to go eat, but she couldn't be bothered with her.

"Old Chen, you didn't come all this way just to see your brother, did you?"

"I don't have that much time."

Chen Pingsheng asked him to sit down, as people in Guangdong enjoy drinking tea and chatting, a habit he himself also shares.

"Besides setting up a short drama shooting center here, the most important thing I did this time was to check on the development of the Dream Realization Fund, and I was also waiting for an important guest."

"Who is it that made you travel all this way here and wait like this?"

"A battery manufacturer was recently found to have fraudulently obtained government subsidies for new energy, and his company is now facing bankruptcy and restructuring."

Insurance fraud involving new energy vehicles has become rampant in the past year or two. The specific method involves manufacturing new energy vehicles and then reselling them to oneself.

Then they received vehicle subsidies from the government.

Then you can just dismantle the car again or dispose of it on the spot.

Just by transferring money from one hand to the other, one can make a net profit.

Gao Hu was surprised, "This is already in trouble, and you still want to cooperate with him? Old Chen, are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"Although their business has run into problems, their battery technology and production capacity are still there."

Chen Pingsheng said, "Don't worry, I have a plan for doing things, and I will definitely not do something blindly. The key is that battery production is the lifeline for new energy, and I must control it."

The three main components of a gasoline-powered car are the chassis, engine, and transmission.

The main reason why China is giving strong support to new energy is that these three areas have been outpaced by foreign countries for a generation.

Various patented technologies are simply unavoidable.

To talk about surpassing is simply wishful thinking.

New energy vehicles are different. Electric vehicles have three main components: battery, motor, and controller.

New energy sources are clearly more inclined towards electronic products.

A brand new track, back to the same starting line; only in this way can we talk about surpassing.

This is also the main reason why China is vigorously developing new energy sources.

It can be said to be a completely new industrial revolution.

If Chen Pingsheng can't even master battery technology, then isn't his new energy business just an assembly plant?
Assemble all the parts together, and then hang a sign that says "Soaring High".

He doesn't think there's much future in doing things this way.

Therefore, even if the risks increase infinitely, he must take control of the battery's lifeline himself.

Gao Hu had no choice but to wait there.

The company Chen Pingsheng was to receive was called Automa, the largest lithium iron phosphate electronics manufacturer in China.

The founder is the former chief technology officer of BYD.

The factory is doing well, right across from BYD.

If you're asking whether Ultraman's battery technology is good or not, then it definitely is.

The key issue is that its production capacity expanded too quickly, while the new energy market environment in recent years has not kept up at all.

The market doesn't need that many battery manufacturers at all.

The penetration rate of new energy vehicles is less than 3% of that of gasoline vehicles.

Two years ago, Ultraman was still frantically expanding its production capacity, mainly because of government subsidies.

Production capacity has increased, but they found that they couldn't absorb the batteries they produced at all.

The government has introduced a series of new regulations for subsidies this year, and to receive subsidies again, one must meet several conditions.

This made his survival extremely difficult.

Chen Pingsheng invited him to dinner, and he took his top-of-the-line helicopter to a farmhouse in the center of a lake island.

The four-bladed rotor whirred and spun in the air.

Countless people below were looking up, wondering which bigwig was leaving get off work.

They even took a helicopter, that's really outrageous.

The farmhouses on the small island in the middle of the lake are quite private.

The island is surrounded by a huge reservoir, and can only be reached by boat or helicopter.

From the outside, there is no visible facility on the island in the middle of the lake.

It was completely blocked by the dense surrounding forest.

Chen Pingsheng parked the helicopter on an open grassy area.

Those who can afford to eat in places like this are either rich or expensive.

It's all either wild game or pure seafood.

If you can think of it, you can eat it here.

Of course, the price is also extremely high.

Even a simple dish of giant salamander costs at least eight thousand.

A single meal like that would cost at least 100,000 to 200,000 yuan.

Chen Pingsheng didn't care at all; he only cared about whether the taste was authentic.

He would absolutely not discuss investing in or acquiring the battery factory first, since it wasn't him who was short of money, but the battery factory.

If this battery factory didn't receive a billion or two in funding, it would have gone bankrupt in at most six months.

The reason Chen Pingsheng was able to choose Automa from so many battery manufacturers was mainly because the marketing department spent three whole months investigating it. Only then did they determine that it was the best acquisition target.

What he lacks most right now is battery technology, which Ultraman happens to have.

The key is that its production capacity is sufficient, and it has more than 8,000 employees.

This is a super-large company; it's just moving too fast.

Before new energy sources have fully taken off, it has already overextended production capacity.

This inevitably led to huge losses, and he always believed that Ultraman should focus on battery research.

They abandoned the idea of ​​working in the new energy sector on their own.

Making batteries the best they can be and becoming an upstream supplier in the industry is much better than manufacturing cars yourself.
"President Chen, Mr. Tong from Jinlan Capital has mentioned you to me several times. This time, we don't need to hide anything. Mr. Tong knows that we are indeed facing difficulties. If you are willing to cooperate, President Chen, now is definitely the best time."

Tong Zhelan also played a part in the reason why the two arranged to meet today.

She's gone abroad again, that's why she can't come over.

Chen Pingsheng closed the menu. People at their level often don't need much skill to talk to each other.

Just be sincere.

After all, anyone who can reach this level is an exceptionally shrewd individual.

Sincerity is the key to successful negotiation.

"Tong Zhelan has indeed told me about the situation of your factory several times. To save your battery factory, you would need to come up with at least 5 billion."

"and…"

Chen Pingsheng paused for a moment and then said, "If we want to cooperate, I hope you can abandon your idea of ​​producing new energy vehicles and focus on battery research and development. To put it bluntly, in the future new energy industry, range will still be the most critical factor, and the lifespan of batteries is the lifeblood of battery manufacturers."

You might find it hard to understand what new energy vehicles are.

Electric vehicles are easy to understand, right? They seem to save money by not needing to refuel, but after riding them for a year or two, the batteries will basically be worn out.

Replacing the battery will cost at least several hundred dollars.

The key factor currently hindering the development of new energy sources is still the issue of battery lifespan.

It's like an ordinary person buying new energy vehicles to save money.

After a few years, the battery completely failed.

If you want to drive it again, you have to replace the whole battery, and the cost of replacing the battery is almost enough to buy a new car.

This isn't about saving fuel; it's clearly a trap.

Without solving this problem, new energy vehicles simply cannot develop.

This is also the main reason why Chen Pingsheng insists on taking control of the largest lithium iron phosphate battery manufacturer in China.

If we want to develop new energy technology companies, we must master core technologies.

Only in this way can we remain invincible in the future.

Of course, the risks are also extremely high.

To acquire such a super battery manufacturer, three to five billion yuan would basically be enough.

But if you want to fully revitalize it...

At least 10 billion yuan needs to be invested in battery research and development.

All these factors combined mean that he will be investing over 30 billion yuan at the outset of this industry.

can not imagine.

"Mr. Chen, you've hit the nail on the head."

Zhang Zhiyao lamented, "In the early years, I led the factory's technicians to develop battery technology, and progress was rapid. In recent years, in order to keep up with the times, we have frantically expanded production capacity, resulting in a situation where we can't consume the battery at all now."

"The idea of ​​producing new energy vehicles myself is mainly because I can't sell batteries. If possible, I would like to go back to my original intention and do battery technology research and development in a down-to-earth manner."

"Unfortunately, nearly 10,000 people in the factory depend on me for their livelihood. If I can't get my money back, it's only a matter of time before the factory goes bankrupt."

He can only be described as a good technical director, definitely not a good operations director.

People who are good at technical work are often bad at marketing.

Both are impressive; see Lei Jun for examples.

Such people are extremely rare.

This is exactly what Chen Pingsheng was thinking.

"Tong Zhelan's estimated price for that factory is 52 billion."

At this point, Chen Pingsheng no longer needed to hide anything; it was about one of the largest lithium iron phosphate battery manufacturers in China.

If he doesn't accept it, there are plenty of people who would.

It all comes down to who offers the better terms.

These factories either go bankrupt or they start operating.

There are only two possible outcomes.

“I am willing to offer 5.5 billion for a full acquisition, and I will also provide 15 billion to be invested in your factory’s battery research and development within three years. You, Mr. Zhang, only need to focus on researching patented technologies in the battery field, and leave the market to me.”

"In addition, you can also get 12% of the original shares."

These conditions left Yang Mi and Gao Hu, who were focused on eating, completely bewildered.

Has Old Chen become this extravagant?
They just invested over 10 billion yuan in Shanghai to build a new energy super factory.

Now, they're turning around and spending 5.5 billion yuan to acquire the largest lithium iron phosphate battery manufacturer in China.

We need to inject another 15 billion into it within three years.

Is this really a commitment to bet everything on the new energy vehicle sector?

Yang Mi kicked Chen Pingsheng with her foot.

Brother, don't be impulsive.

Everyone knows you're rich, but even if you're rich, we wouldn't do things this way.

This is just the investment in the battery factory; what about the motors and control systems?

How much investment is needed to do these two things well?

It can only be said that the new energy sector has truly become a super money-devouring beast within the group.

You can't see its boundaries at all.

Zhang Zhiyao didn't have the contract with him, otherwise he would have signed it immediately.

While cashing out 5.5 billion, they can also get 12% of the original shares.

Crucially, there is also the guarantee of 15 billion yuan in battery technology research and development investment over the next three years.

That's really exaggerated.

Among the current new energy vehicle companies in China, only BYD has invested so much in battery manufacturing.

As for the others, they are far inferior.

(End of this chapter)