Major signing! Sinopec × BYD, a trillion-dollar energy replenishment market sees a new landscape

On June 3, Sinopec and BYD signed an Industrial and Capital Cooperation Framework Agreement in Beijing. Centered on the construction of a smart energy ecosystem featuring "10,000 stations gathering energy, refueling and flash charging," the cooperation focuses on charging infrastructure layout, car owner ecosystem operations, and multi-level industrial and capital cooperation across the entire industry chain, accelerating the deep integration and transformation of the energy industry and the automotive transportation sector.

This collaboration builds upon the existing foundation of refined product supply guarantees and joint construction of comprehensive energy stations, expanding the boundaries of cooperation from three major sectors:

First, revitalizing Sinopec's existing station resources to jointly launch, invest in, and operate flash charging stations, and promoting the interconnection of the national charging network;

Second, deeply cultivating the "People, Cars, Life" integrated model, implementing optical storage charging inspection and automotive aftermarket services, data collaboration, and refined user operations;

Third, extending upstream to lay out full industry chain cooperation covering battery raw materials, vehicle oils, marine fuels, energy storage accessories, vehicle consumables, centralized procurement, and digital technologies.

From the perspective of corporate development logic, BYD is relying on its second-generation Blade Battery and high-voltage flash charging technology to implement its "Flash Charging China" strategy, perfecting the new energy vehicle replenishment system; Sinopec possesses a nationwide dense network of oil and gas stations, superimposed with self-developed production capacity for automotive new materials and lithium battery raw materials, possessing the industrial foundation for comprehensive energy implementation. The two parties have complementary resources and are joining hands to lay out a green replenishment system, assisting the industry in low-carbon upgrading.

In recent years, Sinopec has continued to promote the transformation from traditional refining and petrochemicals to the "New Energy + New Materials" dual main line, achieving successive technological mass production breakthroughs in the fields of automotive lightweight materials and key battery raw materials, which has also become the hardcore support for this deep binding cooperation with automakers.

I. Mass production landing of automotive lightweight materials at multiple points; full category materials achieve automotive lightweight weight reduction

Automotive lightweighting is a key path for new energy vehicles to reduce consumption, increase range, and compress manufacturing costs. Industry data shows: a 10% weight reduction in fuel vehicles can save 6%~8% of fuel; for every 10kg weight reduction in new energy vehicles, NEDC range increases by about 2.5km, and battery and vehicle usage loss costs decrease by 20% simultaneously. Relying on the self-developed new material matrix, Sinopec's carbon fiber, modified plastics, nylon, POE, ABS, and other products have successively achieved large-scale supply.

1. High-performance carbon fiber: On June 2, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company conquered the T1000-grade wet-process carbon fiber mass production process, joining the domestic T1000 mass production camp. The products can cover fields such as new energy vehicles, aviation, and rail transit. The weight of this composite material is only 1/4 of steel, and when installed on vehicles, it can achieve a weight reduction of over 30% for whole vehicle parts. It has been used in batches for core components such as car hoods, chassis, hubs, bumpers, and drive shafts. On the industry chain side, Sinopec has laid out multiple carbon material enterprises through project investment and equity participation, while simultaneously linking up with car companies such as NIO and BYD to promote the industrialization of carbon fiber parts. Previously, it also signed with Sisecam to jointly develop composite materials and special polymer products.

2. Modified plastic series

· Sinopec Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Industry (BRICI) long glass fiber reinforced PP material: used for car tailgates, front-end modules, instrument panels, etc., 30% weight reduction compared to metal parts, Qingdao Refining supporting a 4,000 tons/year mass production line;

·  Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical HDPE special material for fuel tanks: creating lightweight plastic fuel tanks, over 20% weight reduction, impact-resistant without sparks, three consecutive years of ten-thousand-ton-level production and sales, supporting mainstream domestic and foreign automakers;

·  Sinopec Shanghai Research Institute halogen-free flame retardant PC/ABS: can replace aluminum alloy for automotive module frames, single piece weight reduction 60%, overall frame weight reduction 20%;

·  Sinopec Hunan Petrochemical Nylon 6 series products: suitable for various engine compartment accessories, replacing metal with 30%~40% weight reduction, existing annual capacity of 40,000 tons;

·  Sinopec Gaoqiao Petrochemical high-end ABS: breaking import dependence on low-gloss categories, supplying in batches to new energy vehicles and high-end electronic components.

3. POE elastomer: It is both a key raw material for photovoltaic encapsulant film and a rigid material for automotive lightweighting. Sinopec Tianjin Petrochemical's first domestic 100,000 tons/year solution-process POE unit has entered the commissioning phase. Superimposed with units under construction in Maoming and Zhenhai, Sinopec's total POE capacity will reach 250,000 tons/year in the future, helping to reduce domestic POE import dependency to 53%.

II. Forward-looking layout of diversified battery materials, binding with leading battery companies to tackle new energy storage

In the lithium battery, sodium battery, and solid-state battery tracks, Sinopec has achieved a tripartite layout of self-developed raw materials + project implementation + giant cooperation:

1. Lithium battery diaphragm raw materials: Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical is the first domestic enterprise to mass-produce HDPE special materials for lithium battery diaphragms, exclusively achieving ten-thousand-ton-level large-scale supply supply domestically;

2. Solid-state battery demonstration implementation: The Suzhou Baiyun Energy Station built a self-developed polymer solid-state battery microgrid project, supporting TOPCon and perovskite new photovoltaic modules. The project's operating data performed well in the first month of operation;

3. Strategic cooperation with leading enterprises: In 2025, two heavy-weight cooperations were successively implemented. In the first quarter, a contract was signed with CATL, planning to jointly build 10,000 battery swap stations, and co-building an industrial ecosystem in multiple dimensions including battery swap networks, zero-carbon microgrids, battery materials, and capital joint ventures. In October of the same year, joining hands with LG Chem to jointly tackle key materials for sodium-ion battery cathodes and anodes, laying out next-generation energy storage technology.

III. Cooperation Outlook

Leveraging full-chain new material production capacity and nationwide station resources, Sinopec has successively implemented strategic cooperation with leading automakers and battery factories such as BYD, CATL, and LG Chem. While relying on the transformation of existing oil stations into flash charging and battery swapping stations to perfect the replenishment network, it is also exporting self-developed automotive and battery new materials, the "Raw material production — Vehicle manufacturing — Terminal replenishment" full industry chain closed loop, accelerating the transformation of the main petrochemical business into a comprehensive new energy service provider.