There are two energy supply modes for new energy vehicles: charging piles and battery swapping stations.

Charging piles are used to directly charge and replenish energy for new energy vehicles, while battery swapping is used to store and charge a large number of batteries at centralized charging stations, and to directly replace the batteries of electric vehicles at battery distribution stations.

With the increasing number of new energy vehicles in my country, the charging-based power replenishment method is increasingly unable to meet the market application requirements. Because the slow charging time of most car models is about 8 hours, and the battery swapping mode that can complete the battery swapping in a few minutes has great advantages, it has been mentioned as an effective way to replenish energy and is highly anticipated.

In the application of the battery swap mode of new energy vehicles, the battery swap connector is the only electrical interface of the battery pack, which needs to provide mixed connections of high voltage, low voltage, communication and grounding at the same time. During the rapid battery swap process, there are errors in the coordination between the battery and the whole vehicle, and the battery swap connector needs to have floating compensation capabilities. In addition, because the frequency of battery replacement is high, the battery swap connector also needs to meet the requirements of high life and low maintenance cost.

Number and proportion of battery swap stations of major battery swap operators in 2021

The battery swap connector is expected to become the industry standard. On the one hand, the penetration rate of electric vehicles in the battery swap mode is increasing. On the other hand, for electric vehicle manufacturers that do not use the battery swap mode, the battery swap solution will achieve vehicle-battery separation, which is conducive to the subsequent battery upgrade, maintenance and recycling. In the future, after a large number of electric vehicle batteries are eliminated, they are expected to enter the energy storage field for secondary use, and establishing a unified connector interface standard will become the focus of the industry.

From the perspective of the car manufacturer's plan, there will be more and more models that will launch non-energy replenishment battery swap solutions next year, which is expected to become the industry standard in the future. From the current industry application situation, the battery swap connector passenger car single vehicle value range is 500-1200 yuan, and the commercial vehicle single vehicle value is between 2500-3000 yuan. The popularization of the battery swap solution will greatly increase the overall market size of electric vehicle connectors.

The electrification of new energy vehicles is developing rapidly, and the requirements for its internal electrical connection components are gradually increasing. Compared with traditional fuel vehicles, electric vehicles often have higher voltage and current platforms.

As the "blood vessels" of new energy vehicles, high-voltage connectors are one of the more core components in the automotive high-voltage system. They are mainly used in DC, water heating PTC chargers, air heating PTC, DC charging ports, power motors, high-voltage wiring harnesses, maintenance switches, inverters, power batteries, high-voltage boxes, electric air conditioners, AC charging ports, etc.

The sales growth of new energy vehicles in my country has driven the continuous increase in the volume of high-voltage connectors.

The material cost and performance indicators such as shielding and flame retardant requirements of high-voltage connectors are higher than those of traditional low-voltage connectors. Therefore, the value of connectors used by new energy vehicles is much higher than that of low-voltage connectors. The value range of connectors used by pure electric passenger vehicles is about 3,000 yuan, and the value range of connectors used by pure electric commercial vehicles is about 8,000 yuan. According to the sales forecast of 5.5 million new energy vehicles in 2022, the market size of on-board high-voltage connectors will exceed 16 billion yuan this year.

New Energy Vehicle Connector Application Distribution

In order to improve the efficiency of energy replenishment, high-power fast charging has become the research and development focus of various car companies. Compared with the 400V architecture, switching to the 800V architecture can reduce the charging time by half. At present, Xiaopeng Motors, GAC Aion, Geely Zeekr, Ideal Auto, BAIC Arcfox and other car companies have already deployed 800V fast charging technology, which will be mass-produced in 2022.

The increase from 400V to 800V puts higher requirements on the reliability, volume and electrical performance of the connector, and its mechanical performance, electrical performance and environmental performance will continue to improve. After the boost, the high-voltage connector will be re-selected to add a high-power fast charging interface and a 400V to 800V conversion interface, driving the value of the high-voltage connector per vehicle to increase.

According to the "Intelligent Connected Vehicle Technology Roadmap 2.0", by 2025, domestically produced L2 and L3 autonomous driving intelligent connected vehicles will account for 50% of total vehicle sales; by 2030, domestically produced L2 and L3 autonomous driving intelligent connected vehicles will account for 70% of sales, and L4 autonomous driving models will account for 20%.

According to data from Gaogong Intelligent Automobile Research Institute, the number of domestic new cars equipped with forward ADAS (advanced driver assistance system) insured in 2021 was 8.0789 million, a year-on-year increase of 29.51%. Among them, the number of new L2 ADAS-equipped cars insured was 3.9562 million, a year-on-year increase of 77.65%, and the number of L2+ ADAS new cars insured throughout the year has also shown a rapid upward trend.

The proportion of each level of ADAS in my country's passenger cars from 2020 to 2025

The intelligent driving system needs to interconnect ultrasonic radar, millimeter wave radar, camera, lidar, gateway, VCU, antenna, GPS, 5G communication, etc. With the rapid increase in the penetration rate of high-level ADAS, the use of vehicle sensors has increased, the data transmission requirements have increased accordingly, and the use of intelligent network connectors has also increased. Based on the value of a single vehicle intelligent network connector with L1 and below functions of 200 yuan and a single vehicle intelligent network connector with L2 and above functions of 800 yuan, it is estimated that the market size of my country's vehicle-mounted intelligent network connectors will exceed 6 billion yuan in 2022.

Due to inconvenient transportation, the automobile industry usually cooperates with local parts factories. Compared with consumer electronics, the cluster effect is more significant. China is the world's largest new energy vehicle producer and new car consumer market. The rapid rise of independent brands in the new energy vehicle field is Local connector manufacturers provide development opportunities.

From the perspective of supply chain stability, local manufacturers are more secure in supplying goods, and the delivery cycle is usually 2-4 weeks. However, due to the epidemic, the delivery cycle of overseas manufacturers in the past two years has been extended from 6-12 weeks to 20 weeks. -30 weeks. At the same time, complex international economic and political situations such as the Sino-US trade dispute and the country’s policy guidance of “internal economic circulation” have led more and more car companies to seek local supply chains to ensure stable supply and accelerate domestic substitution.

Technological progress and product iterations are following changes in end market demand. The automotive connector market is also changing with the booming consumption trend of new energy vehicles in China. With the localization of new energy vehicle brands in China, China's automotive connector market is also changing. The connector market will also usher in explosive growth and is expected to achieve overtaking in the high-end connector market.