Semiconductors help power everything from your phone to your car. Here’s what to know about the major supply chain problem.
There are chips in nearly everything electric you own, from your phone to your computer to your car. There are even chips in items you wouldn’t expect, such as your washing machine, electric toothbrush, and refrigerator. But these tiny parts that power so much of our lives are now in critically short supply.
“Right now we have a global supply chain in crisis,” says Patrick Penfield, a professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University. “We’ve just never ever seen anything of this magnitude impact us before.”
Hyundai Motor and LG Chem have announced they will build a battery plant for EVs in Indonesia. The investment of $1.1 billion will be shared equally. The plant will mass produce batteries in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest reserves of nickel, and supply them to Hyundai Motor and Kia’s complete vehicle plants around the world. The new plant will be established on a 330,000 square meter site in an industrial park in the Karawang region, about 65 kilometers southeast of central Jakarta. Construction will begin by the end of this year and mass production will begin in 2024.
The plant will have an annual production capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours, enough to supply batteries for 150,000 EVs. Hyundai and Kia have a plan to launch a total of 23 new EV models in the next five years. In order to expand the range to include sedans, SUVs, and the Genesis luxury brand, stable procurement of batteries, a key component, has been an issue. The company’s first joint venture plant will lead to a long-term shift to EVs.
Automaker VinFast is partnering with China’s Gotion High-Tech to research and produce batteries for electric vehicles as part of its vision to become a global brand.
According to a statement released by Vingroup, VinFast’s parent company, the two companies are planning to build Vietnam’s first lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery plant. LFP is an iron-based battery that does not rely on rare raw materials such as cobalt or nickel. That makes LFP batteries much cheaper, although they have lower energy density than nickel-based chemistries.
According to Vingroup, Gotion is the leading manufacturer of LFP batteries in China, with eight research and development centers worldwide and 10 manufacturing facilities in China. Thai Thi Thanh Hai, vice chairman of Vingroup, said the partnership is key to VinFast’s ability to achieve supply chain autonomy.
According to Abimaq, the total machine segment, that includes Construction Equipment, Agricultural Equipment, Power Gen-Sets, Industrial Equipment and others, grew 20% in 2021 and should grow more than 4% in 2022. When breaking down by subsegment, ABIMAQ see the segments impacted by infrastructure growing around 15% and the segments impacted by Agriculture growing pushed by the harvest growth.
PSR Analysis: The just released projections are in line with the fourth quarter projections we did for 2022. Our Agricultural Equipment forecast is more conservative than that released by ABIMAQ due to risk factors we see impacting this segment. Indeed, we are already seeing negative news at the harvest due to weather conditions as we are reporting in this PowerTALK Edition. PSR
Fabio Ferraresi is Director Business Development South America, for Power Systems Research
Competition in the development of EVs is fierce, and the momentum for their introduction is growing in Southeast Asia. While Chinese and Korean manufacturers are aggressively entering the market, Japanese manufacturers, which hold an 80% share of the new car market, have not made any significant moves.
Although the COVID-19 disaster has brought the market to a standstill, Southeast Asia, with a population of 660 million and a rising middle class, will continue to be a promising growth market.
A proactive EV strategy is required to protect the current market dominance. In Indonesia and Thailand, the two largest markets in the region, Japanese cars have a 90% share of the market. However, it is only the Chinese and South Koreans who are providing the buzz about EVs.
In Indonesia, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. will begin producing EVs in March at its completed vehicle plant that recently went into operation. For the time being, it will rely on imports for key components, but it is building a plant for mass production of onboard batteries in collaboration with LG Group, another Korean electronics giant.
In Thailand, China’s SAIC Motor Group and Great Wall Motor have already started selling EVs. The latter plans to start mass production of EVs in 2023 at a plant it acquired from GM in the US. Compared to China and South Korea, which are trying to secure a scale of production with an eye to exports, Japan is generally cautious, with Toyota and Mitsubishi considering local production of EVs in Thailand starting in 2023.
KAMAZ said it is installing new 6-cylinder engines working on methane gas and having 720 HP on its trucks. Switching to NG fuel is one of the main trends of the Russian automotive giant. It builds Inline 6 and V8 engines
Inline 6 cylinders engine will be made in several versions but the 720 hp will be available in the top model only. For the economy segment, the OEM will offer a 450 hp engine; the price of this model will be significantly cheaper. Read The Article
PSR Analysis: A few years ago, KAMAZ started developing new 6-cylinder inline engines in co-operation with Liebherr. The R&D now is program successfully expanding into a new stage, developing a new range of HHP NG-powered engines. PSR
Maxim Sakov is Market Consultant – Russia Operations, for Power Systems Research
Power Systems Research (PSR) projects the global outdoor power equipment market to grow from $34.01 billion in 2021 to $48.91 billion by 2028, a CAGR of 5.34% over the forecast period. The outdoor power equipment market includes consumer and commercial lawn mowers, chain saws, leaf blowers, and other motorized equipment used in the upkeep of lawn and gardens.
Global trends.North America is expected to dominate the market because of the growth of commercial and residential lawns and parks. The market in North America stood at $13.7 billion in 2021 and is expected to gain a huge portion of the global market share.
In Europe, continued automation in the lawn mower segment will increase demand for automated residential lawn mowers.
Here’s What Container Ships Could Look Like by 2050
With pressure from regulators to decarbonize international shipping, companies big and small are racing to identify green alternatives to the gas-guzzling container ships that account for an estimated 3% of global greenhouse emissions.
Many of the ideas floating around today leverage some form of high-tech sail, a futuristic take on the wind-powered voyages that have transported goods for as long as global trade has existed.
Many factors need to be considered when designing a wind-powered cargo ship, including safety, functionality, crew comfort, and most importantly, speed.
PSR Analysis: Marine transport is a significant contributor to global carbon emissions (see article “EV shipping is set to blow internal combustion engines out of the water” in the September issue of PowerTALK), so any movement to reduce the emissions is positive, and if it happens to reduce the fuel costs for marine transportation at the same time, there is a substantial saving to be made. A real win-win situation. Further information about these can also be found here. PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Leadat Power Systems Research
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) now requires shippers that transport a large volume of freight to set a target of using 5% electric light-duty trucks by FY2030, which includes EVs and fuel cell vehicles (CVs), but not hybrids.
They will also be required to submit periodic reports on their progress toward this target. If the efforts are significantly inadequate, the committee can make recommendations to shippers and publicly announce the names of the companies involved.
Of the 800 major manufacturers, retailers, and other companies with large annual transportation volumes, those that are also involved in their own transportation or those that request exclusive transportation from a specific company are eligible for the program.
PSR Analysis: The fact that hybrids are not included in this goal effectively means that the next-generation development of light-duty trucks has been narrowed down to BEVs or FCVs. However, FCVs still lack hydrogen stations, and the construction cost of hydrogen stations is higher than that of EV charging stations, so the shift to EVs will be promoted first. Light-duty trucks are numerous and can be said to be the artery of domestic logistics. With about seven years to go until 2030, the number of vehicles that will be replaced by EVs will increase every year. PSR
Akihiro Komuro is Research Analyst, Far East and Southeast Asia, for Power Systems Research
In the August 2022 issue of PowerTALK, we reported that Tesla had deployed cube lounges at Supercharger stations with automated coffee, food, and even a swimming pool. Well, the Subway sandwich folks want to get in on the act, too.
Subway is teaming up with Miami-based GenZ EV Solutions to provide an “EV charging oasis” of the future so you can eat while your EV charges. Starting in 2023, “Subway EV charging oasis” parks with multiple spots, picnic tables, Wi-Fi, restrooms, green space, and playgrounds will be installed at select locations. As part of the plan, new or freshly remodeled stores will get small-format, fast EV charging stations.
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