The global lithium battery market is experiencing an unprecedented expansion phase. In fact, projections indicate a growth of around 50% in lithium battery production starting this year.
In this context, the Spanish company NCPower is leading the energy transformation and revolutionizing the lithium battery market worldwide. Not in vain, founded just four years ago, in 2019, the company](__NCP_TOKEN_0__) already produces 1,200 lithium batteries per year for electric vehicles and by 2024 it expects to have a turnover of more than 10 million euros.
We spoke with the CEO and founder, Mario Nicolás.
Mario Nicolás, CEO and founder of NCPower
NCPower, experts in lithium batteries
– How did the idea of starting NCPower come about?
It all started with an internship at the Murcian electric vehicle company Comarth, where with my work I rose to positions of responsibility until reaching the position of production director.
After the disappearance of this company, I joined DFSK] where I continued my career researching lithium] solutions that will improve performance, charging and discharging times; and the safety of batteries installed in electric vehicles. All of this allowed me to direct a comprehensive commercial vehicle electrification project.
That knowledge and experience, together with the passion for electrification, allowed me to embark on my own adventure in 2019. After more than 10 years of experience in the electrification of electric vehicles, a deep knowledge of the lithium battery sector and the different national and international markets that exist, NCPower was born.
Our purpose is to offer innovative and competitive solutions within the lithium battery industry. Having as its main objective to understand the needs of clients and develop energy solutions based on latest generation lithium batteries adapted to each client in a personalized way.
We were always clear that we wanted to be a different company, one that contributed something more to what already existed in the market.
What is NCPower
– What type of customers are NCPower systems aimed at?
We are targeting an industrial B2B client. Our target audience is electric vehicle manufacturers. Specifically, low-intensity light commercial vehicles for the transportation of goods (trucks, vans, etc.) and utility vehicles designed to move over all types of terrain.Our technology is present on three continents and in more than 12 countries around the world such as Portugal, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway and Finland.
– And what technological innovations do these lithium batteries incorporate?
NCPower has developed its own technology for lithium battery management: the NCPower System. A battery management system (BMS) that offers a series of advantages in the performance, productivity and energy savings of the batteries, thereby prolonging their useful life while allowing greater sustainability and energy/economic savings.
On the other hand, NCPower has its own NCPower Data Center. The goal of the data center is to collect and store detailed information on the usage and performance of lithium batteries, while monitoring the health status of the batteries accurately and at any time.
Thanks to our monitoring technology, we can continuously monitor each battery to ensure it is working properly. In addition, BMS technology allows us to anticipate potential risks, damages, needs for greater power and even future optimization of battery performance.
The lithium battery revolution
– The global lithium battery market is experiencing an unprecedented expansion phase. What is it due to? Will this phenomenon pass or will it continue over time?
If there is a rising market, it is lithium batteries. Its growth is amazing. As the energy transition accelerates, countries and consumers alike are increasingly striving to decarbonize and work toward a low-carbon economy. This means the abandonment of fossil fuels towards electrification.
As the trend towards battery technologies in vehicles (passenger and freight) and stationary storage grows significantly, the rise of lithium batteries is greater. This demand projection is in line with a global warming scenario and changes in energy systems.
Electric vehicles will be the most significant contributor to future battery growth, accounting for around 55% of total demand by the end of the decade.
Stationary storage will be the next largest contributor, with projected demand of more than 2.5 TWh in 2030, 29% of the total market.Lithium batteries will dominate the market this decade. According to the latest data published by the International Energy Agency, the percentage of lithium batteries continues to grow compared to traditional lead batteries, this is already a success in terms of sustainability, environmental protection, etc.
The numerous benefits that lithium batteries provide over traditional ones are a clear reason to stay on lithium for a long time: lithium batteries do not require maintenance, allow fast charging, are less heavy, their energy performance is much higher in extreme temperatures, they do not emit gases and have a useful life five times longer than lead-acid batteries.
Lithium batteries, key to the circular economy
The main advantages of safety, durability and capabilities have made them the energy source par excellence to electrify large fleets of vehicles, industrial machinery and as the main source of energy storage.
Batteries are a key piece in the transition to the circular economy. If we take into account that more and more devices and even renewable energy generation depend on them to function, it is essential to develop batteries that are more sustainable, high-performance and safe throughout their entire life cycle.
They must also be able to be reused, remanufactured or recycled. In order to innovate in this regard, the European Commission has launched action packages aimed at modernizing EU legislation on batteries.
The need to abandon fossil fuels is a reality that we all understand. Electric mobility is a response to the climate crisis and, despite the remaining challenges, progress is promising.
Main challenges
– What are the main challenges in the development and manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles?
The batteries of electric vehicles] must be optimized in terms of safety, durability and performance. The trend and advancement of the battery market goes hand in hand with the technology used in manufacturing.
At NCPower, as manufacturers of lithium batteries, we assume the challenges and commitments of continuing to optimize our batteries to respond to the main requirements and demands of our customers: greater safety, reducing their weight, improving their performance, achieving longer-lasting batteries with faster charging times, and highlighting improvements in the manufacturing process as the main component to improve the useful life and sustainability of the batteries.
Sustainable mobility
– How do you see the future of sustainable mobility? Will we arrive on the stipulated dates from Europe or is it not possible?We are witnessing a disruptive transformation in the field of mobility worldwide. On the one hand, we have the massive arrival of new technologies in everything related to mobility, the need to continue on the path of decarbonization of mobility and, finally, a concentration of population in urban and metropolitan areas with very important repercussions in the field of mobility.
In this sense, public administrations must encourage and promote the most sustainable and healthy means and modes of mobility in urban and metropolitan environments, prioritizing active mobility that includes measures to facilitate personal mobility in situations of functional diversity, collective public transport and high-occupancy mobility schemes.
To achieve this, plans such as that of the European Union are essential, which aims to install at least one million charging points for this type of vehicles before 2030.
In terms of automotive development, we are facing a unique opportunity for sustainable mobility. Currently, there is a huge flow of funds (Next Generation, Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, the Electric and Connected Vehicle Plan, among others) that are an excellent opportunity to advance and accelerate the sustainable transformation of the sector.
It is important to reinforce public and private investment to reorient the production model, promoting the green transition, decarbonization, energy efficiency, the deployment of renewable energies, the electrification of the economy, the development of energy storage, the circular economy, nature-based solutions and improving the resilience of all economic sectors.
The objective is to accelerate the transformation of the sector and it will not be easy to meet the dates and agendas set by Europe. It is necessary to decarbonize the transport sector in record time and move towards more sustainable cities with an efficient and low-carbon sustainability model.
The future of NCPower
– What are the forecasts for next year?
Recently, we have achieved certification of the production process and R100.02 approval. We are in the process of patenting our own battery management system (BMS), as well as the NCPower System itself.
We are pleased to have been able to overcome the limits offered by traditional electrification. We already have our sights set on 2024 and the challenges that lie ahead:
- Become a benchmark in the Spanish sector, positioning ourselves as one of the main providers of complete lithium battery solutions.
- The expansion of our production capacity with new facilities.- Expand our staff of professionals specializing in the different business areas and, especially, in the R&D&I departments. Which will allow us to continue increasing our value proposition and our competitive advantage.
- Continue working on the specialization of light commercial vehicles and utility vehicles. And the diversification of our solutions to supply the different industrial energy storage markets.
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The Murcian startup that is revolutionizing the lithium battery market worldwideDownload