Frontline | Geely Integrates Battery Business and Establishes Jiyao Tongxing to Promote “Safety Equality” with Blade Batteries

After the merger of Zeekr and Lynk & Co, Geely Group announced another major merger initiative at the Shanghai Auto Show - the integration of the battery business.

36Kr has learned that the battery business under Geely Holding Group has completed strategic integration, and Zhejiang Jiyao Tongxing Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jiyao Tongxing") has been officially established.

The original Golden Brick Battery and Aegis Short Blade Battery have been unified into the Aegis Golden Brick Battery brand, achieving a "powerful combination" of Geely's self - developed and self - produced battery safety system and battery cell products. Aegis represents Geely's ultimate battery safety system, and Golden Brick represents Geely's industry - leading battery cell technology.

Aegis Golden Brick Battery

After the integration, Jiyao Tongxing will leap to become the battery company with the largest short - blade battery production capacity in the industry. It has currently built an intelligent manufacturing network covering six production bases across the country.

After Geely Group Chairman Li Shufu issued the "Taizhou Declaration", integration has become the main theme of Geely Group. In the future, Geely Group will form a strategic layout of "two horizontal and seven vertical" structures.

The two horizontal structures refer to the Zeekr Technology Group that incorporates Zeekr and Lynk & Co. Zeekr aims for high - end development, while Lynk & Co. expands its market breadth. Geometry and Yizhen will be merged into Galaxy, and Radar will be merged into Geely Auto, fully targeting the mass market.

The seven vertical structures involve in - depth collaboration in seven major fields: vehicle architecture, electronic and electrical architecture, intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, electric drive system, power battery, and super hybrid system. This integration of the battery business is one of the seven vertical layouts. Jiyao Tongxing will focus on the lithium iron phosphate short - blade battery route and provide battery products for various brands and models of Geely Group in the future.

At this auto show, 36Kr had a conversation with Zheng Xin, the vice - president and CSO of Geely Holding Group. He explained to us the process of this integration and the future development plan of Jiyao Tongxing.

Comprehensively integrate the battery business to reduce costs and increase efficiency

After the "Taizhou Declaration", the R & D, procurement, etc. of various vehicle sub - brands under Geely Group began to be gradually integrated, and the integration of the battery business has also been in the works.

Zheng Xin introduced that this integration is not simply a brand integration but comprehensively involves all battery - related businesses, talents, production bases, etc. within the group. The form of integration is a full - scale merger, which has been carried out for 3 - 4 months, and the R & D and supply chain systems have been fully integrated.

Jiyao Tongxing will integrate all battery - related assets under Geely, including several battery companies such as Yaoning, Jidian, and Yaoneng. In the future, it may also manage Geely's joint - venture companies with CATL and Geely's joint - venture company with Sunwoda.

"Currently, the management work has been integrated. After the integration, Geely's battery business will have only one main entity." Zheng Xin said.

Jiyao Tongxing's current main battery product is the Golden Brick battery cell, focusing on the lithium iron phosphate route and short - blade form, and will give priority to serving the Zeekr brand. At the same time, Jiyao Tongxing will also apply short - blade batteries to Geely Auto's strategic models, such as the Galaxy E5, to achieve "equality for short - blade batteries". "Currently, in the industry, short - blade batteries are only used in higher - end brands or models, so we put forward the concept of 'equality for short - blade batteries'." Zheng Xin said.

In terms of product planning, Jiyao Tongxing's goal is still to focus on creating popular products. According to Zheng Xin, currently, Jiyao Tongxing's battery cell product planning has no more than ten models, and each single product should have an average production capacity of at least 5GWh. "The overall strategy is to create popular battery cells in niche markets, demonstrating cost competitiveness and performance competitiveness."

Currently, Jiyao Tongxing's short - blade battery production capacity accounts for about 90% of its total power battery production capacity.

As a battery company within Geely Holding Group, Jiyao Tongxing will also give Geely's models greater cost and price advantages. The lower price is due to the advantage of internal supply on the one hand, and on the other hand, Jiyao Tongxing integrates and optimizes the supply chain to reduce costs, improve product quality, and enhance competitiveness.

Zheng Xin gave an example. "We are also moving upstream. For example, in the case of lithium iron phosphate, if we use the ordinary double - firing method to increase production capacity, the cost may increase by two or three thousand, while if we lengthen the furnace when building new production capacity, the cost is only more than one thousand."

Through the integration of the battery business, Geely Holding Group will have battery products with more cost advantages and more standardized battery specifications in the future. This can maximize the scale effect of the manufacturing industry and achieve a virtuous cycle.

Promote safety equality with the Aegis Golden Brick Battery

The "Aegis Golden Brick Battery" brand uses Aegis to represent the safety system, and the battery cells are unified as Golden Brick battery cells, which are divided into super - fast charging version, high - energy - density version, and super - hybrid version. The super - fast charging version is mainly for high - voltage architectures above 800V; the high - energy - density version is mainly for 400V architectures; the super - hybrid version will have both 800V and 400V to meet different market demands.

By integrating the Golden Brick battery cells with the Aegis system, the safety performance has been maximally improved. Zheng Xin said, "Safety is the primary consideration factor. Whether it's a 30,000 - yuan car or a one - million - yuan car, safety is the most important."

In the future, Geely Group will indicate which models use Golden Brick battery cells and which models use the Aegis system. Since Geely also purchases batteries externally, it will also clarify to users which company's battery cells are used in the Aegis system. "Regardless of whose battery cells are used, our system safety is consistent." Zheng Xin said.

At the same time, Jiyao Tongxing's battery specifications will also focus on short - blade batteries, paired with the lithium iron phosphate system, which can balance safety, volume utilization, and cost, and can also achieve what Zheng Xin calls "equality for short - blade batteries" and "equality for safety".

The short - blade battery is also one of the driving forces behind this rapid integration. According to Zheng Xin, three years ago, Yaoning and Jidian decided to jointly develop short - blade batteries and reached a consensus on the technical route and internal management. Therefore, in this merger, the production lines were hardly wasted, and the largest short - blade battery production capacity in the industry was directly formed.

After the merger, Jiyao Tongxing will also continuously improve the energy density, fast - charging ability, and lifespan of short - blade batteries, and launch products with different performances according to market demand to meet the needs of different customers.

In terms of internal supply, Jiyao Tongxing's goal is to increase the supply ratio to 30% in the next two years.

He believes that there are two reasons for achieving a 30% supply ratio. One is the scale issue, which affects costs; the other is the production capacity utilization rate and production line yield, which is even more important.

Zheng Xin introduced that in terms of creating popular products, Jiyao Tongxing has had good practices. For example, in the Yancheng base, one type of battery cell can fully utilize the entire factory, and it is stable in the long run. This not only achieves the optimal cost but also performs well in terms of quality and stability because there is no need to frequently change production lines, and stable delivery can be ensured.

Currently, Jiyao Tongxing is still in the process of adapting to many Geely models, so the subsequent increase in supply will be rapid, but this also depends on Jiyao Tongxing's production capacity ramp - up speed.

Of course, Jiyao Tongxing will not supply 100% of Geely's battery needs in the future. Geely's supply chain strategy has always been open, whether it is batteries in the new - energy era or key components in the fuel - vehicle era.

Zheng Xin said, "Geely will not completely build its own vertical, closed, and integrated parts industry. Jiyao Tongxing will maintain a very healthy cooperation and competition relationship with battery companies including CATL. Moreover, in the future, we will also expand globally and export leading product technology solutions, brands, supply - chain ecosystems, and engineering service capabilities."