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30 Years of Growth: A Look at the Journey of a Long-Standing Battery Company

Oct 31, 2024

On October 18, Vision Group celebrated its 30th anniversary in Shenzhen, China. During the event, Vision Group's rotating CEO, Eric Tang, sat down with domestic industry media for an exclusive interview.

Amid the global energy transition, China's new energy vehicle industry has outpaced competitors, leading the global market. Meanwhile, batteries, essential for the seamless operation of sectors such as new energy storage, are also experiencing explosive growth. Data shows that in the first three quarters, China’s cumulative production of power and other batteries reached 734.4 GWh, an increase of 37.3% year-on-year; cumulative sales of these batteries totaled 685.7 GWh, up by 42.5%.

“Vision Group's growth reflects not only the rapid development of China’s battery industry but also the strength and innovation of Chinese companies in the global market,” said Vision Group's rotating CEO, Eric Tang, during the interview with the industry media.

 

Vision's Diversified Development Strategy 

1994: Establishment of Vision

Vision Group initially focused on lead-acid batteries, becoming one of China's earliest specialized manufacturers of valve-regulated lead-acid batteries.

Discussing the traditional business line, Eric Tang emphasized that Vision Group remains committed to its lead-acid battery operations, continuously optimizing product performance and enhancing quality and reliability to meet customer demands.

Over the years, Vision Group has established production facilities in Hubei, China, and Vietnam, effectively increasing its lead-acid battery production capacity. The company has also entered overseas markets, establishing branches in Europe and the U.S. Today, Vision Group’s service network covers over 100 countries, enhancing its global competitiveness in the lead-acid battery market.

 

2002: Vision Group Ventured into the Lithium Battery Field

With lithium batteries increasingly recognized for their high energy density, fast charging, and eco-friendly features, Vision Group has made strategic adjustments in its lithium battery operations. “The lithium battery segment has become a primary growth driver for Vision in recent years. The company is working to expand its downstream customer base in lithium batteries. Following its strategic plan, Vision Group will continue to strengthen its lithium-ion battery business, focusing on fast-charging and energy storage segments, to achieve a leading position in these niche markets,” Eric Tang explained.

Vision Group now possesses a full production and service chain for lithium batteries, from cell manufacturing to module assembly, system integration, operation and maintenance. With extensive in-house R&D capabilities, Vision Group’s lithium battery products can provide excellent charging and discharging performance, safety, and long cycle life. They are widely used across telecommunications, energy storage, power, and data center sectors. Vision’s lithium iron phosphate battery development has been selected as a key project under China's Torch Program and has received technology grants from the Shenzhen government.

 

2014: Expanding into Hydrogen Energy

Vision Group's new generation of paper fuel cell stack technology uses advanced carbon fiber molding, which was featured in Nature. Vision is now a company with a full supply chain for hydrogen fuel cells, offering comprehensive solutions from hydrogen production and storage to hydrogen power generation.

According to Eric Tang, Vision Group is at the leading level in hydrogen technology and has a complete product lineup. Its self-developed fuel cell engines, with system power ranging from 30 to 260 kW, are among China’s best-performing models and have been applied in commercial vehicles, construction machinery, and telecom backup power. In addition, Vision Group operates advanced hydrogen energy industrial parks in Wuhan and Shenzhen, with automated production lines capable of producing over 10,000 hydrogen fuel cell stacks and engine systems annually. It is regarded as one of the country’s most advanced hydrogen engine production lines.

The company has formed strategic partnerships with well-known Chinese manufacturers, and its hydrogen products are widely used in urban buses, sanitation vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, and logistics vehicles. More than 500 hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles equipped with Vision’s hydrogen engines are in demonstration operations and are all performing well. Additionally, Vision Group is actively building hydrogen refueling stations. So far, we have invested in facilities in several Chinese cities, including Wuhan, Datong, and Yangquan, to support the rapid growth of the hydrogen industry.

As part of its hydrogen strategy, Eric Tang revealed that by 2025, Vision Group aims to achieve “extremely low hydrogen consumption,reducing the overall system hydrogen consumption of its hydrogen products by 30% to make them more cost-effective.

 

Innovation Drives Our Development

In the 1990s, Japan and the U.S. dominated the lead-acid battery market. In the early 2000s, Japan led advancements in lithium battery technology. By 2010, Japanese and American companies monopolized fuel cell stack technology. Throughout all these times, Vision Group played the role of a groundbreaker, developing domestically produced battery solutions to break through foreign technology barriers.

At the 30th-anniversary celebration, Vision Group showcased several innovative products and technologies, including the HLP Battery, REVO3.0 AI-powered data center backup solution, and hydrogen-lithium integration technology, highlighting its advancements in the battery and new energy fields.

“Vision Group has always regarded technological innovation as the soul of its development,” Eric Tang said. The company has established dedicated research institutions, built a high-quality talent pool, and possesses strong research capabilities. With substantial annual R&D investment, Vision Group has earned prestigious honors, such as "National High-Tech Enterprise," "National Postdoctoral Research Station," and "Top 500 Global New Energy Companies."

As the global energy transition accelerates, Vision Group expanded overseas by establishing production bases, sales offices, and localized supply chains to strengthen its international market presence. We want to convey that Vision Group is ready for a new wave of growth amid the ongoing global energy transformation.