2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 677 Jinshidai G12 Project
"Luzhou is colder and drier than Ningbo in December."

After spending a few days in Luzhou, Gu Qingqing brought Tan Jinyue to play over the weekend, ostensibly to pick up Tan Jincheng and take him home.

The pregnant woman seemed to be acting differently; she would never have done something like this before.

"It is a bit cold, since it's a bit northerly. You and Jinyue both need to be careful to keep warm."

Two months into her pregnancy, Gu Qingqing was not showing yet, and her movements were no different from ordinary people. It was hard to tell anything, but if you got close, you could feel it; pregnant women have a special scent.

You can also notice the differences in blood circulation and skin upon close inspection.

"There doesn't seem to be much to do in Luzhou. How about I take Jinyue to the mall?"

"Let's go to the mall then, and see what new winter items they have, and buy some to take back with us."

There really isn't much to do in Luzhou. There's even a joke online that the most fun place in Luzhou is the train station, where you can buy a train ticket and head south to Huangshan.

Tan Jinyue was very happy. Since starting kindergarten, she has rarely had the opportunity to leave Ningbo outside of winter and summer vacations, and she has to report to the school before she leaves.

"Let's go to the mall, I want to play on the slide."

"Let's go to the parking lot; by the way, why did you transfer so much money to buy 10 villas in Luzhou? Are they for employee bonuses?"

Tan Jincheng paid this money out of his own pocket. Jinxin Times was already losing money, so there was no reason for them to pay this amount. Besides, it didn't align with the business objectives. Cooperation between companies should be at a relatively equal level.

"No, it's for BMW's engineers. It might not be enough. We'll have to buy another batch later."

"Such a large-scale operation! Is a contract for the purchase of hundreds of battery sets really necessary?"

"Haha, as for BMW, if we can produce these battery components according to their standards, then our R&D capabilities in ternary lithium batteries will be among the best in the world."

Gu Qingqing's intelligence kicked in at this moment: "Your thinking is definitely not that simple. The company has dormitories, and the conditions are quite good. Is it really necessary to go to such lengths to build a villa?"

"Haha, it's not that simple, but we'll take it one step at a time."

"You're not trying to poach someone again, are you?"

If you didn't know he was her bedmate, just thinking about Tan Jincheng's past would make Gu Qingqing think that it was most likely related to this. Solving technical problems is not something that can be done in a day or two. Over time, these engineers might stay at Jinxin because of their long-term cooperation.

"Hehe, don't tell anyone. Anyway, BMW isn't short of talent. Losing a few engineers won't be a big problem."

When Gu Qingqing realized she had guessed correctly, she was speechless. What kind of person was he? He was already thinking about poaching the other party's employees before even starting a business. He still couldn't shake his old habits.

Currently, Panasonic, LG, and BYD are the leading companies in the international power battery field. It's hard to find another BYD for BMW. In order to reduce costs, BMW still wants to localize more components.

Wei Lan also talked to Tan Jincheng. Before they found Jinxin Times, they had actually bought a batch of power battery components from a state-owned enterprise, but the quality was not good.

BMW had limited options when it came to lithium batteries, as the existing suppliers were not technically competent and had to be replaced.

It was by chance that the huge sales of Yuechi A1 brought Weilai Auto and Tan Jincheng into his view. At that time, Tan Jincheng kept saying in front of the media that Weilai Auto would enter the field of new energy vehicles.

The little-known Jinshidai thus came into BMW's view.

Although relatively unknown and a newcomer in the power battery field, Wei Lan discovered that this company actually has some capabilities in the consumer battery sector, producing mobile phone batteries, MP3 players, power banks, and two-wheeled electric vehicles.

In addition, Wei Lan also discovered that this company had actually cooperated with Dongfeng a long time ago and had accumulated some experience in the field of commercial vehicle batteries. Recently, she also heard from Tan Jincheng that their Weilai Automobile has already started to manufacture electric buses.

Moreover, the fact that the other party was heading towards ternary lithium instead of lithium iron phosphate was a pleasant surprise for Wei Lan.

Having a foundation is always better than having none, even if it's not much.

After a week of negotiations, the two sides have reached a pretty good understanding of the specific details of the cooperation. Jinxin Times will carry out research and development and manufacturing public relations in accordance with BMW's requirements, with Lu Ruifeng, the general manager of Jinxin Times' R&D department and also a senior engineer at the Institute of Physics, personally leading the project.

BMW also dispatched a team of 12 experts, led by a senior engineer, to help Jinshidai overcome technical challenges.

The two parties worked together with the ultimate goal of producing power batteries that meet BMW's technical standards.

Jinshidai named this project "Project G12". The name was conceived by Tan Jincheng. G is the first letter of Jinshidai. As for 12, Tan Jincheng meant that in 2012, Jinshidai would have a place in the domestic power battery industry.

"Why invest in ternary lithium batteries, which have a higher capacity? Of course, it's because of their range. I started out making electric vehicles, so I know all too well the pain of running out of power halfway through the journey."

When asked why he set Jinshidai's R&D goals on ternary lithium batteries, Tan Jincheng gave the following answer.

However, compared to most people, Tan Jincheng's knowledge accumulated in his previous life was practically a bug. In terms of policy, new energy vehicles have been established as the major direction for the future starting this year.

This year marks the beginning of a clear direction. The policy of providing substantial subsidies to car companies started in 2012. At that time, there were countless car companies in the market that were taking advantage of subsidies, and news of various subsidy frauds emerged one after another.

Car companies of all sizes went to extremes in their pursuit of subsidies, creating a chaotic scene. To be honest, during the period when subsidies were available, the development of the entire vehicle industry was very limited, and major car companies were not actually manufacturing cars at all.

However, it must be said that during this period, domestic power battery technology made extraordinary progress. While car companies were busy with personnel changes, power battery companies were quietly developing their technology.

Similar to the subsidies for vehicle manufacturers, the government provides substantial subsidies to battery companies. These subsidies are then used by automakers to invest in technological research and development, effectively leveraging the government's policies to drive technological advancement.

However, Tan Jincheng knew that the policy subsidies for battery companies were calculated based on driving range, and the stronger the driving range, the stronger the subsidy.

Ternary lithium battery manufacturers are undoubtedly the biggest beneficiaries!
This is the key reason why Mr. Tan set his R&D target on ternary lithium batteries. With the investment money and the ability to generate his own revenue, he can survive these three years and have a bright future ahead.

As for the large project that Luzhou wanted to participate in, and the idea of ​​introducing Weilai Automobile, after Tan Jincheng explained Weilai Automobile's future plans to his direct superiors, there has been no further news for the time being.

However, Yu also replied to Tan Jincheng that if there was nothing particularly important, he could stay in Luzhou for a few more days, and the Luzhou municipal government might discuss cooperation intentions with him.

According to the new energy vehicle production access qualification announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on June 17 this year, the access rules for new energy vehicles are more stringent than before. To obtain the new energy vehicle production qualification, dozens of conditions, large and small, must be met.

Huanghai Automobile currently does not actually have the qualifications to produce new energy vehicles, so even if it did, it would not be able to sell them.

One of the most important requirements for new energy vehicle market access is that automakers must have the capability to produce chassis themselves. Currently, the modifications made to Huanghai Auto are mainly focused on this aspect.

However, these apparent conditions are not the real conditions; there are more other obstacles. According to Tan Jincheng's prediction, once chaos ensues among new energy vehicle companies, the entry qualifications will inevitably be tightened.

The conditions for Weilai Automobile to obtain production qualifications can be met through modifications, but the conditions for obtaining them behind the scenes require the cooperation of the local government. Without someone's endorsement, even if Tan Jincheng seems to have some background, it is not certain that he can obtain production qualifications.

Judging from the feedback, the Luzhou government wants to play a role in this, but their purpose is certainly not selfless, and they haven't mentioned any conditions yet.

Speaking of which, Zhongtai was really great. Somehow, they managed to get a new energy vehicle license in 2008, before the standards were even released.

At that time, Wei Lai also wanted to do it, but unfortunately, Wei Lai didn't even have his own car, and a series of mergers and acquisitions were underway, so he simply didn't have the ability or energy.

We were a step too late.

How many more days are you going to stay in Luzhou?

"I don't know the specifics yet. Let's wait for news from Luzhou. Why don't you stay?"

Gu Qingqing pointed to little Tan Jinyue, who was playing on the slide: "What about Jinyue?"

Gu Qingqing, who is pregnant, seems a bit clingy. Tan Jincheng said she would stay for a few more days, so she came by herself. Now she wants to go back together.

Tan Jincheng suggested that she stay, and she now regretted using little Tan Jinyue as an excuse to bring her along.

"Why don't you stay too? I'll call my parents and her teacher. If that doesn't work, I'll ask my parents to come and visit for a few days, or maybe they can take Jinyue back to their hometown for a visit."

Kindergarten is just so-so, it's not a big deal if you don't go for a few days.

"Really?"

"Of course it's true, hehe, that's a good idea. Anyway, Mom and Dad don't have anything to do over there, so it's good for them to go back to their hometown to relax. We can also have some time alone together."

During the few days of waiting, Tan Jincheng didn't have much to do. He mainly looked at Jinxin's financial report and visited a few universities. Luzhou University of Technology had a deep cooperation with Weilai Automobile, but Tan Jincheng hadn't visited them yet. Zhang Yong was the one who made the contact.

(End of this chapter)