After taking a seat at the table with the R&D staff, Xu Yifan didn't stand on ceremony. He grabbed a clean pair of chopsticks and hurriedly took several bites of food.
Only after eating did he raise the green bottle in his hand toward the battery researchers at the table.
"Come on, guys, let's have one!"
"Cheers!"
Several researchers immediately picked up the bottles beside them. Those who could drink had alcohol; those who couldn't had soft drinks. They all raised their glasses and drank together.
Over the past few months, Xu Yifan and the researchers had gotten very close. They were all in their twenties or thirties and often went out together for late-night snacks and barbecue.
Every now and then, they'd even go for foot baths and massages together!
By now, nobody thought anything of it.
After taking a long swig of beer, Xu Yifan started chatting with everyone again, just like they were catching up over a meal.
"New Year's almost here. Time really flies!"
"In the blink of an eye, you've all been with our company for several months."
"So, as the year comes to a close, is there anything you'd like to say to me?"
Xu Yifan asked with a smile.
The researchers replied cheerfully.
"There's nothing to say. It's all in the beer!" One of them raised his bottle and took a big gulp.
The others also shared their impressions of working at Jiuzhou Automobile Factory over the past few months.
"It's great working at our factory. There's no backstabbing, and no outsiders telling the experts how to do their jobs."
"Mainly because President Xu is just so good to us!"
"Yeah. The only thing that could be better is the lab equipment. Other than that, we can't complain about our lives here."
"That's right! I never expected to earn so much in just a few months!"
"Honestly, I've never heard any of my seniors talk about having a better work and living environment than we do here. President Xu even joins us for drinks, barbecue, and foot baths!"
"The pay is great too. Honestly, I almost feel bad taking such a high salary!"
During the previous round of technical breakthroughs, the researchers had earned over 300,000 yuan each. With their salaries from the past few months added in, they had nearly 400,000 yuan in savings!
And that was in less than half a year. If they earned the same amount over the remaining half, they'd be making a million yuan a year!
That kind of compensation was already on par with the top researchers' annual salaries, especially considering that several of them were still graduate students.
Naturally, they were all very satisfied.
"As long as you're all happy here, that's what matters. I'm sure things will only get better!"
Xu Yifan raised his glass and clinked it with the researchers'.
After taking a sip of beer, he said somewhat awkwardly,
"By the way, I have a small favor to ask about the New Year's holiday."
Guessing they might not get time off, the researchers looked hesitant.
Lu Jingping took a sip of beer and smiled. "Just say it, President Xu. Tell us what you have in mind. I'm sure you won't shortchange us!"
After a brief hesitation, they thought of how considerate President Xu had always been. Reassured, they pressed him for an answer.
"That's right!"
"Just tell us. We're all friends here!"
Sighing, Xu Yifan continued.
"You all know the situation our factory is in right now."
"What I'm trying to say is that things are like a fire under a pot of oil. They look prosperous, but the prosperity is only superficial. It could easily all come crashing down."
"Our factory is about to face a huge crisis!"
"As things stand, our Jiuzhou Mini doesn't have any core technology of its own, and our factory is just a small, obscure operation."
"Right now, Jiuzhou Mini is just a local product from a small fifth-tier city. Apart from the locals, hardly anyone has even heard of it."
"Across the province, let alone the whole country, Jiuzhou is just a tiny local company with no name recognition at all."
The researchers listened quietly as Xu Yifan poured himself another drink and continued.
"Our factory has made it this far for two reasons. First, our product is good value for money. Second, we found an untapped market."
"But the market is too big for a small factory like ours, with limited production capacity and no name recognition, to take it all for ourselves.
"Next year, as our shipments increase, major automakers will definitely take notice of our market.
"If a major car brand decides to compete for it, we won't have a single advantage!
"First, we have no name recognition. If an automobile manufacturer enters this field too, consumers will trust a brand they've heard of more than some company they've never heard of—whether it's a domestic brand or a joint venture.
"That's the first point. Second—
"We have far too few dealerships. Right now, we only have one in this city. How can we compete with major automakers whose 4S dealerships are spread across the country?
"In just a few months, they could put cars similar to our Jiuzhou Mini on display at their dealerships all over the country and start selling them.
"Then the entire untapped market would be swallowed up in no time!"
"Joint ventures might not enter the market, but domestic brands definitely will. Take brands that don't sell many cars each year, like Shuanghuan Automobile, Hafei, and Lifan Auto—even Chery, BYD, and others!"
After hearing Xu Yifan's explanation, the researchers thought it over. It did seem that way. Jiuzhou Automobile Factory was in grave danger!
The researchers at the table couldn't help sighing.
"So our factory really is in danger. I'd always thought things were going well."
"I thought so too. I was even thinking of buying a Jiuzhou Mini and driving it around the city for fun."
"There's a real demand for cars among older people."
"An untapped market is like a huge cake. It didn't matter when nobody knew about it, but now that it's been discovered, competitors are bound to show up."
After the researchers had finished lamenting, Lu Jingping asked, "How do you plan to deal with it, President Xu?"
Since Xu Yifan understood the problem, he must have a solution. They were researchers, not experts in economics or sales!
Xu Yifan tried the chef's braised prawns. They tasted pretty good, and he replied,
"That's where all of you come in. Jiuzhou has to develop core technology of its own!
"We need to give our products an advantage that other products in the same category don't have, with technology that other automakers can't replicate in the short term."
Reaching for the braised carp, Xu Yifan took a big bite of fish and another sip of beer, then continued.
"The three-electric system is the most important part of the new energy vehicles we're making right now.
"The battery, the motor, and the electronic control system.
"LiFePO4 batteries can give a vehicle greater range and deliver higher power for short periods. They also avoid the problem with traditional batteries, which wear out easily and need replacing after about two years.
"The motor is like the engine in a traditional car. It determines how much horsepower the vehicle can produce and what its top speed will be.
"The electronic control system coordinates the power transfer between the battery and the motor. A good system responds quickly, without any delay, so the power is there as soon as you ask for it.
"Why are some cars so nice to drive? To a large extent, it's because they respond quickly. Just tap the accelerator and the power comes right away. It's easy to feel at one with the car and steer it nimbly.
"But with some cars, there's a delay after you press the accelerator, or the power surges and fades unpredictably. It's hard to enjoy driving a car like that!"
He drank, ate, and tried some of the marinated pig's ears too. They were pretty good!
Xu Yifan continued, addressing the researchers, who had stopped eating to listen closely.
"The battery, motor, and electronic control system are the three pieces of the new energy vehicle puzzle.
"Once we put all three pieces together, we can build a new energy vehicle that's every bit as good as a traditional gas-powered car. Take the technology a step further, and we could even surpass ordinary gas-powered cars!
"And the battery is the most important piece of all. If we have an excellent battery,
"it can give us a longer driving range—two hundred kilometers, three hundred kilometers, or even more!
"Then, even if major automakers enter the field too, we'll have what it takes to compete with them!"
Only after Xu Yifan had finished speaking did the researchers finally understand.
"I see!"
"Suddenly, working overtime doesn't seem so bad!"
"So our work is that important! I used to think it was just icing on the cake. I thought ordinary lead-acid batteries would do."
"If Jiuzhou goes under, I don't know where we'd find a job with such good benefits and such a great boss!"
"Of course we should do our part for the company!"
Xu Yifan raised his beer bottle toward everyone and took a sip. "Thank you for understanding!"
"Of course, I'm not an unreasonable person!"
"Here's the plan. I think our battery R&D is already nearing the final stage. We should be able to finish in less than two months, right?"
Xu Yifan turned to Lu Jingping, who was in charge of the entire R&D project.
Lu Jingping thought it over and replied seriously, "That's right. If things go quickly, it might take only about a month."
"Good. Since there's no way for everyone to go home and spend the New Year with their families this time, I'll give each of you a 10,000-yuan bonus. If you need to, you can bring your family or friends here to celebrate.
"On top of that, once this R&D project is complete, I'll give everyone a month of paid leave to make up for missing the chance to go home and celebrate the New Year with your families!"
As soon as he gave them his plan, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
Even without compensation, they would have done what they could to help the factory through this. But who didn't want a break, or to spend time with their family?
This arrangement worked well. They couldn't go home right away, but they could make up for it later. Everyone understood what was urgent and what could wait.
They all raised their glasses and said earnestly,
"We'll give it everything we've got!"
"I knew President Xu wouldn't shortchange us!"
"One week of vacation in exchange for a whole month off—we're the ones coming out ahead!"
"Don't worry, President Xu. As soon as we finish eating, we'll head back to work!"
Xu Yifan raised his beer, which still had about a third left, and gestured to everyone. "Thanks for understanding. I'll finish mine. Drink whatever you like!"
Gulp, gulp—he drained it in one go!
Seeing that, everyone likewise picked up their beer or soft drinks.
And drained them in one go!
After drinking and eating a little more, Xu Yifan turned to Lu Jingping and asked, "Our battery R&D is almost at the final stage, right? If we're going to build a battery factory next, what equipment will we need?"
"A factory?" Lu Jingping asked, surprised.
Xu Yifan answered confidently, "Of course. We'll need all kinds of large-scale equipment and technical staff. I figure it's better to start early than rush to buy everything when we need it. That'll save us a lot of preparation time later!"
"When it comes to building a factory, lithium battery production can generally be divided into three stages: the front-end electrode manufacturing process, the middle-stage battery cell assembly process, and the back-end formation and packaging process.
"The goal of the front-end process is to produce the positive and negative electrode sheets. The main steps are mixing, coating, calendering, slitting, sheet-making, and die cutting.
"The equipment involved mainly includes mixers, coating machines, calenders, slitting machines, sheet-making machines, die-cutting machines, and so on..."
"There are many ways to prepare LiFePO4 cathode materials. Broadly speaking, they can be divided into liquid-phase and solid-phase methods.
"Liquid-phase methods include low-temperature synthesis methods such as the Co-precipitation Method, the Hydrothermal Method, and the sol-gel method.
"Solid-phase methods include the High-Temperature Solid-Phase Sintering Method, the Carbothermal Reduction Method, and the Microwave Sintering Method. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages..."
Lu Jingping outlined the various preparation methods.
In the end, Xu Yifan chose the High-Temperature Solid-Phase Sintering Method.
This method of preparing cathode materials had a simple process, was easy to industrialize, and produced decomposition byproducts that were easy to remove, reducing impurities. Its preparation conditions were easy to control, and the equipment was relatively inexpensive.
Its drawbacks were that the resulting cathode material had large crystals and an uneven phase composition, and the calcination took a long time. The new LiFePO4 batteries produced this way would also suffer some performance degradation compared with those made under laboratory conditions.
After deciding on a general plan for building the battery factory, Xu Yifan asked Lu Jingping to draw up a list of the equipment they were sure they would need and give it to the purchasing department.
With the business talk over, they didn't drink much more. Everyone ate and got ready to head back to work after the meal!
After spending some time eating with the R&D department, Xu Yifan went over to the nearby table, where the other department managers were gathered.
"Cheers!"
Once the New Year's banquet was over, people spent the next week doing whatever they were supposed to—taking time off, covering shifts, or working!
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