Speeding up lithium-ionized electric forklifts in Europe

European electrification is extending from automobiles to forklifts, construction machinery and other fields, thus freeing up space for new lithium-ion batteries. Foreign media reported that Kion Battery Systems (KBS), a lithium-ion battery joint venture established by European industrial forklift manufacturer KIONGROUPAG (Kion Group) and German lithium-ion battery system manufacturer BMZ Group, has begun production of industrial trucks in Karlstein, Germany. Use lithium ion batteries. KION is a large industrial forklift manufacturer in Europe. Its forklift products include 7 brands including Linde, Steier, Fenwick, Baoli, Omo-Steier, and Voltas, which are sold worldwide. The total number of forklifts exceeds 1.5 million. BMZ Group is a global supplier of lithium-ion battery solutions. In 2018, BMZ signed lithium-ion battery procurement agreements with Samsung SDI and my country’s Jiuyi Lithium Energy for approximately RMB 6.1 billion and RMB 1.445 billion respectively. It is reported that KBS was established in 2019. Kion and BMZ will each hold 50% of the joint venture battery company. The lithium-ion batteries produced will be mainly used in KION's industrial forklifts to replace lead-acid batteries. The establishment of the lithium-ion battery joint venture between KION and BMZ is behind the acceleration of global electrification. Other applications including industrial forklifts, construction machinery, heavy-duty trucks and ships are also accelerating the penetration of lithium-ion batteries, thus releasing considerable room for growth in the lithium-ion battery market. The ion battery company provides good development opportunities. The official commissioning of the joint venture battery company KBS also means that BMZ has begun to seize the European electric forklift lithium-ion battery market. In fact, as the most important component of industrial vehicles, driven by multiple factors such as the continued decline in the price of lithium-ion batteries and stricter supervision of the lead-acid industry, the trend of electrification of forklifts has accelerated significantly. GGII data shows that my country's lithium battery forklift output will maintain a compound annual growth rate of more than 40% in the next three years, and its demand for lithium batteries will increase from 1.3GWh in 2017 to 5.4GWh in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 50%. In order to seize the 'cake' of the forklift lithium battery market, Chinese battery companies including CATL, BYD, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, and Weihong Power are also actively deploying.