On January 9, at the “2020NIODay” held by Weilai, in addition to the official debut of the ET7, which is known as the “currently most advanced technology integration”, it was also announced that the Weilai ET7 equipped with solid-state batteries will be in the fourth quarter of 2022. On the market, its energy density reaches 360Wh/kg, and with solid-state batteries, the mileage of the Weilai ET7 can reach more than 1,000 kilometers on a single charge.

However, Li Bin, the founder of Weilai, was silent on the supplier of solid-state batteries, saying only that Weilai Automobile has a very close cooperative relationship with solid-state battery suppliers and is definitely the industry’s leading company. Based on Li Bin’s words, the outside world suspects that this solid-state battery supplier is likely to be in the Ningde era.

But no matter who NIO’s solid-state battery supplier is, solid-state batteries are the best solution to many problems in the development of new energy vehicles, and they are also an important development direction in the power battery industry.

A person in the power battery industry believes that solid-state batteries will be the technological commanding heights of the next generation of high-performance power batteries. “The field of solid-state batteries has entered the stage of an’arms race’ with many market participants, including car companies, power battery companies, investment institutions, and scientific research. Institutions and others are playing games in the three aspects of capital, technology, and talent. If they don’t seek change, they will be out of the game.”

ప్రపంచవ్యాప్తంగా పవర్ బ్యాటరీ

The heating and cooling of the power battery industry are inseparable from the new energy automobile industry, and with the gradual recovery of the new energy automobile market, competition in the power battery industry has become increasingly fierce.

It is worth mentioning that the power battery is known as the “heart” of new energy vehicles, accounting for 30% to 40% of the cost of the vehicle. For this reason, the power battery industry was once considered a breakthrough point in the next era of the automotive industry. However, with the cooling of policies and the return of foreign brands, the power battery industry is also facing the same severe challenges as the new energy automobile industry.

The Ningde era was the first to face severe challenges.

On January 13, South Korean market research organization SNEResearch announced relevant data on the global power battery market in 2020. Data show that in 2020, the global installed capacity of power batteries on electric vehicles will reach 137GWh, a year-on-year increase of 17%, of which CATL won the championship for the fourth consecutive year, and the annual installed capacity reached 34GWh, a year-on-year increase of 2%.

For power battery companies, the installed capacity determines their market position. Although the installed capacity of the CATL still maintains an advantage, from the perspective of the increase in global business growth, the installed capacity of the CATL is far lower than the global growth rate. In doubt, Japanese and Korean power battery companies represented by LG Chem, Panasonic, and SKI are rapidly expanding.

కొత్త ఎనర్జీ వెహికల్ సబ్సిడీ విధానం 2013లో అధికారికంగా ప్రవేశపెట్టబడినప్పటి నుండి, కొత్త ఇంధన వాహనాల పరిశ్రమకు దగ్గరి సంబంధం ఉన్న పవర్ బ్యాటరీ పరిశ్రమ ఒకప్పుడు వేగవంతమైన అభివృద్ధికి నాంది పలికింది.

2015 తర్వాత, పరిశ్రమ మరియు సమాచార సాంకేతిక మంత్రిత్వ శాఖ “ఆటోమోటివ్ పవర్ బ్యాటరీ పరిశ్రమ ప్రమాణాలు మరియు ప్రమాణాలు” మరియు “పవర్ బ్యాటరీ తయారీదారుల డైరెక్టరీ” వంటి విధాన పత్రాలను జారీ చేసింది. జపనీస్ మరియు దక్షిణ కొరియా పవర్ బ్యాటరీ కంపెనీలు “బహిష్కరించబడ్డాయి” మరియు దేశీయ పవర్ బ్యాటరీ పరిశ్రమ అభివృద్ధి గరిష్ట స్థాయికి చేరుకుంది.

However, in June 2019, with tightened policies, higher thresholds, and changes in routes, a large number of power battery companies experienced a period of struggle and eventually disappeared. By 2020, the number of domestic power battery companies has been reduced to more than 20.

At the same time, foreign-invested power battery companies have long been ready to move the fat in the Chinese market. Since 2018, Japanese and Korean power battery companies such as Samsung SDI, LG Chem, SKI, etc. have begun to accelerate the “counterattack” of the Chinese market and expand power battery production capacity. Among them, the power battery factories of Samsung SDI and LG Chem have been completed and put into production. The domestic power battery market Presenting the “Three Kingdoms Killing” pattern of China, Japan and South Korea.

The most aggressive is LG Chem. Since the Model 3 series produced by Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory uses LG Chem batteries, it has not only driven the rapid growth of LG Chem, but also blocked the Ningde era. In the first quarter of 2020, LG Chem, which originally ranked third, surpassed the Ningde era in one fell swoop and became the world’s largest power battery company with market share.

At the same time, BYD also launched an offensive.

In March 2020, BYD released blade batteries and began supplying them to third-party car companies. Wang Chuanfu said, “Under the grand strategy of full opening up, the independent split of BYD Battery has been put on the agenda, and it is expected to conduct an IPO around 2022.”

In fact, blade batteries are more about improvements in battery production and processing technology, and no breakthrough innovations in materials and technology. At present, the ternary lithium battery and lithium iron phosphate battery commonly used in electric vehicles are both lithium-ion batteries, and the lithium battery with the highest energy density is 260Wh/kg. The industry generally believes that the energy density of lithium-ion batteries is close to the limit. It is difficult to exceed 300Wh/kg.

సెకండ్ హాఫ్ కార్డ్ గేమ్ మొదలైంది

An undeniable fact is that whoever can break through the technical bottleneck first will be able to seize the opportunity in the second half.

As early as December 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the “New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)”, which included accelerating the R&D and industrialization of solid-state power battery technology as a “New Energy Vehicle Core Technology Research Project”. Promote the solid-state battery to the national strategic level.

In recent years, mainstream automobile companies at home and abroad, such as Toyota, Nissan Renault, GM, BAIC, and SAIC, have begun to step up the R&D and industrialization of solid-state batteries. At the same time, battery companies such as Tsingtao Energy, LG Chem, and Massachusetts Solid Energy Preparations for the construction of solid-state battery factories have also begun, including solid-state battery production lines that have already been put into operation.

సాంప్రదాయ లిథియం బ్యాటరీలతో పోలిస్తే, సాలిడ్-స్టేట్ బ్యాటరీలు అధిక శక్తి సాంద్రత, మెరుగైన భద్రత మరియు చిన్న పరిమాణం వంటి అనేక ప్రయోజనాలను కలిగి ఉంటాయి మరియు పరిశ్రమచే పవర్ బ్యాటరీల అభివృద్ధి దిశగా పరిగణించబడుతుంది.

Unlike lithium batteries that use electrolytes as electrolytes, solid-state battery technology uses solid glass compounds made of lithium and sodium as conductive materials. Since the solid conductive material does not have fluidity, the problem of lithium dendrites is naturally solved, and the intermediate diaphragm and the graphite anode material to ensure stability can be removed, saving a lot of space. In this way, the proportion of electrode materials can be increased as much as possible in the limited space of the battery, thereby increasing the energy density. In theory, solid-state batteries can easily achieve an energy density of more than 300Wh/kg. This time Weilai claims that the solid-state batteries it uses have achieved an ultra-high energy density of 360Wh/kg.

The above-mentioned industry insiders also believe that this battery will be an important step towards the future of electrification. The energy density of solid-state batteries is expected to reach two to three times that of current lithium-ion batteries, and will be lighter, longer life, and safer than current batteries.

Safety has always been a shadow over the power battery industry.

In 2020, my country implemented a total of 199 car recalls, involving 6,682,300 vehicles, of which 31 new energy vehicles were recalled. In the recycling of new energy vehicles, the power battery may have potential safety hazards such as thermal runaway and spontaneous combustion. It is still the recycling of new energy vehicles. main reason. In contrast, the biggest feature of solid electrolytes is that they are not easy to burn, thereby fundamentally improving the safety of new energy vehicles.

Toyota entered the field of solid-state batteries very early. Since 2004, Toyota has been developing all-solid-state batteries and has accumulated first-hand solid-state battery technology. In May 2019, Toyota exhibited samples of its all-solid-state battery that is in the trial production stage. According to Toyota’s plan, it plans to increase the energy density of solid-state batteries to more than twice the energy density of existing lithium batteries by 2025, which is expected to reach 450Wh/kg. By then, electric vehicles equipped with solid-state batteries will have a significant increase in cruising range, which is comparable to current fuel vehicles.

At the same time, BAIC New Energy also announced the completion of the commissioning of the first pure electric prototype vehicle equipped with a solid-state battery system. At the beginning of 2020, BAIC New Energy announced the “2029 Plan”, which includes the construction of a diversified energy system with a “three-in-one” energy drive system of lithium-ion batteries, solid-state batteries, and fuel cells.

For this upcoming fierce battle, the Ningde era has also made a corresponding layout.

In May 2020, Zeng Yuqun, chairman of CATL, revealed that true solid-state batteries need lithium metal as the negative electrode to increase energy density. CATL continues to invest in cutting-edge research and product R&D in solid-state batteries and other technologies.

Obviously, in the field of power batteries, a jamming battle based on solid-state batteries has quietly kicked off, and the technological leadership based on solid-state batteries will become a watershed in the field of power batteries.

సాలిడ్-స్టేట్ బ్యాటరీలు ఇప్పటికీ సంకెళ్లను ఎదుర్కొంటున్నాయి

According to SNEResearchd’s calculations, my country’s solid-state battery market space is expected to reach 3 billion yuan in 2025 and 20 billion yuan in 2030.

భారీ మార్కెట్ స్థలం ఉన్నప్పటికీ, సాలిడ్-స్టేట్ బ్యాటరీలు, సాంకేతికత మరియు ధరను ఎదుర్కొంటున్న రెండు ప్రధాన సమస్యలు ఉన్నాయి. ప్రస్తుతం, ప్రపంచంలోని సాలిడ్-స్టేట్ బ్యాటరీలలో ఘన ఎలక్ట్రోలైట్‌ల కోసం మూడు ప్రధాన మెటీరియల్ సిస్టమ్‌లు ఉన్నాయి, అవి పాలిమర్ ఆల్-సాలిడ్, ఆక్సైడ్ ఆల్-సాలిడ్ మరియు సల్ఫైడ్ ఆల్-సాలిడ్ ఎలక్ట్రోలైట్స్. వెయిలాయ్ పేర్కొన్న ఘన-స్థితి బ్యాటరీ నిజానికి సెమీ-సాలిడ్ బ్యాటరీ, అంటే లిక్విడ్ ఎలక్ట్రోలైట్ మరియు ఆక్సైడ్ సాలిడ్ ఎలక్ట్రోలైట్‌ల మిక్సింగ్.

From the perspective of mass production possibilities, solid-state batteries can indeed solve the current safety issues of liquid batteries. However, because the conductivity of the first two material systems is a theoretical problem rather than a process problem, it still needs a certain amount of R&D investment to solve it. In addition, the “production hazards” of the sulfide system cannot be effectively dealt with temporarily. And the cost problem is bigger.

The road to the industrialization of solid-state batteries is still obstructed frequently. If you want to truly enjoy the energy density bonus of solid-state batteries, you must replace the lithium metal negative electrode system with higher energy density. This can be achieved through the safety of solid-state batteries, and the battery energy density can reach Above 500Wh/kg. But this difficulty is still very great. The research and development of solid-state batteries is still in the laboratory scientific experiment stage, which is far from industrialization.

An example that can be cited is that in March 2020, Nezha Motors released a new model of Nezha U equipped with solid-state batteries. According to Nezha Motors, Nezha U plans to report to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in October last year. 500 sets are produced. However, as of now, 500 Nezha solid-state battery cars are still missing.

However, even if solid-state batteries have mature technology, mass production still needs to solve the cost competition with liquid lithium batteries. Li Bin also said that the difficulty of mass production of solid-state batteries is that the cost is too high, and the cost problem is the commercialization of solid-state battery technology. The biggest challenge.

Essentially, the cruising range and the cost of use (the cost of the entire vehicle and the replacement battery) are still the weak links of electric vehicles, and the success of any new technology must solve these two major problems at the same time. According to calculations, the total cost of a solid-state battery that also uses a graphite negative electrode is 158.8$/kWh, which is 34% higher than the total cost of a liquid battery of 118.7$/kWh.

మొత్తం మీద, సాలిడ్-స్టేట్ బ్యాటరీలు ఇప్పటికీ పరివర్తన దశలో ఉన్నాయి మరియు సాంకేతిక మరియు ధర సమస్యలను తక్షణమే పరిష్కరించాల్సిన అవసరం ఉంది. ఏది ఏమైనప్పటికీ, పవర్ బ్యాటరీ పరిశ్రమ కోసం, సాలిడ్-స్టేట్ బ్యాటరీలు ఆట యొక్క రెండవ భాగంలో ఇప్పటికీ అధిక స్థాయిలో ఉన్నాయి.

A new round of battery technology revolution is coming, and no one wants to fall behind in the second half of the battle.