Recent reports indicate that Inpai Battery Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of GAC GROUP, in collaboration with the National New Energy Storage Innovation Center, has launched its "Boundless Magnanimity" series of 587Ah energy storage battery cells. During the product launch, Xu Junhai, General Manager of Inpai Battery Co., Ltd., revealed that the company's total planned production capacity exceeds 60GWh. An 18GWh mass production line has already been established and is achieving stable deliveries. Notably, Inpai is the only enterprise in China's lithium battery industry to have achieved a Level 4 certification for intelligent manufacturing capability maturity across all sub-domains and criteria, and it has been selected as one of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's first batch of "Excellence-Level Smart Factories."
Amid the vigorous development of the new energy vehicle sector, the importance of batteries as the core power source is self-evident. In recent years, a growing number of automakers have joined the trend of developing their own batteries.
Xu Junhai stated that Inpai is a key supplier for GAC. Besides Inpai, GAC works with seven other battery suppliers, and Inpai competes with them based on its capabilities. In addition to supplying GAC's Trumpchi and Aion brands, Inpai also provides batteries to BAIC. The BAIC Arcfox T1 model already uses Inpai batteries, with more models set to adopt them, and other automakers are also preparing to use Inpai's battery products.
"Demand has actually outstripped supply this year, with the requirements from two major automotive groups already exceeding our production capacity," he commented. The 587Ah energy storage cell was developed to facilitate market expansion. Currently, Inpai's Guangzhou plant is constructing a 6.5GWh energy storage production line, but this is insufficient as many clients have requested capacities exceeding 20GWh. Consequently, Inpai is preparing to develop new production lines to actively enhance its economies of scale.
Regarding Inpai's future positioning and development strategy, Xu Junhai emphasized that as the wholly-owned battery company of GAC GROUP, Inpai will actively empower the group to enhance its product competitiveness. "Our mission is to master the core links of the upstream and downstream supply chain," he said. For power batteries, Inpai will continue to expand its external market to improve risk resilience and increase market share. In energy storage, following the production of the 587Ah cell, the company will develop next-generation products, such as larger-capacity batteries suitable for 4-hour, 6-hour, and 8-hour long-duration energy storage systems. He noted that stacker technology offers advantages in developing large cells, which is a consensus within the industry.
He pointed out that having an automotive group background provides advantages in the energy storage sector. Moving forward, Inpai plans to expand its power battery business while simultaneously increasing energy storage capacity and developing new products. "High-quality energy storage products are still scarce," he said, "and attributes like high safety and high performance can create differentiated competitive advantages."
Commenting on the development trends in the energy storage industry, Xu Junhai believes that with the removal of mandatory energy storage allocation policies, the focus is shifting towards ensuring energy storage systems are utilized, provide value, and are free from failures and safety risks. The industry's future competition will revolve around "value." The potential for energy storage development is significant, with a trend towards larger battery cells to meet the demands of long-duration storage. However, larger cells present greater safety challenges, making safety an increasingly critical focus for future energy storage batteries.
The newly launched "Boundless Magnanimity" series 587Ah energy storage cells include two core products: the Haohan Version (liquid) cell and the Qiankun Version solid-liquid hybrid (semi-solid) cell. The Haohan Version is designed for large-scale energy storage applications, while the Qiankun Version is specifically engineered for "zero-tolerance" safety scenarios such as urban centers, data centers, and chemical industrial parks. Both cell types have passed extreme tests exceeding national standards. The Qiankun Version solid-liquid hybrid cell is the industry's first semi-solid state large energy storage cell. Inpai's under-construction 6.5GWh solid-liquid hybrid battery mass production line will also be the first to achieve large-scale production of semi-solid state energy storage cells.
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