(Yicai Global) July 20 -- Citic Securities, China’s biggest brokerage, has taken apart a Tesla Model 3 to get a better look at the future trends and possible development directions of the auto industry.

Citic Securities dismantled a standard range Tesla Model 3 costing CNY280,000 (USD41,525) to investigate its domain controller unit, battery, engine, electronic control system, thermal management system, and bodywork, according to the 94-page research report the Beijing-based brokerage published on July 18.

Because there has been a closer integration of technologies into the auto industry in recent years, Citic Securities hoped to reveal Tesla’s vision of smart and electric vehicles as a leading EV maker, as well as the future development trend of the sector, it said in the report.

Citic Securities taking apart the Tesla motor and the subsequent report on it shows that electric and smart vehicles have set the course of the auto industry, according to insiders.

Citic Securities is not the only Chinese broker to have pulled apart vehicles in order to study the new energy vehicle sector. Haitong International Securities issued an 87-page research paper last month on a BYD model worth about CNY100,000.

From the energy angle, the future of cars is lithium and hydrogen fuel batteries, an industry insider told Yicai Global, adding that lithium power packs will be the major direction in the next three to five years. Hydrogen fuel cells need at least five years to achieve mass production due to limitations in technical reliability and economic efficiency, the source noted.

Smart vehicles are also a trend of the auto industry, and the level of intelligence has become an important factor for buyers, the person said. But its true potential is yet to be seen as further progress depends on the technology maturing enough to ensure safety, he added.

First-half retail sales of NEVs in China soared 122 percent from a year earlier to 2.2 million units, per statistics from the China Passenger Car Association. BYD ranked first with 634,000, while Tesla was third with 198,000.

Investors are also paying close attention to Tesla’s suppliers, including battery behemoth Contemporary Amperex Technology, vehicle-mounted map provider Navinfo, and battery materials supplier Ningbo Shanshan.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione