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an yufei interviewed the company/photo provided by zhai chao/drawing the map

securities times reporter an yufei

on the road of lithium battery evolution, all-solid-state batteries are the ultimate goal. recently, many battery companies have released all-solid-state battery products, pressing the "accelerator" for the industrialization of all-solid-state batteries: on august 28, penghui energy released the first generation of all-solid-state batteries; on the same day, zhongxinhang released an all-solid-state battery named "boundless", which is planned to achieve small-scale vehicle installation verification in 2027; catl said that the company's all-solid-state batteries are expected to achieve small-scale production in 2027...

citic securities research report estimates that global solid-state battery shipment demand will reach 643gwh in 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 133% from 2024 to 2030, and a total market space of 1.2 trillion yuan. the industrialization of solid-state batteries has slowly begun.

what is the development status of solid-state batteries in china? what are the "dangerous passes" that are difficult to overcome on the journey from liquid to semi-solid and then to all-solid-state batteries? securities times reporters visited several solid-state battery industry chain manufacturers to seek answers.

solid-state batteries

industrialization "curtain unveiled"

a bottle of inconspicuous white powder contains the "huge energy" of lithium batteries from liquid to solid. this is the all-solid-state electrolyte that gac aion showed to the securities times reporter. walking into the lobby exhibition hall of gac aion in panyu district, guangzhou, the reporter saw the powdered highly environmentally adaptable composite solid electrolyte packed in glass bottles, as well as the lithium metal all-solid-state batteries and lithium-free negative electrode all-solid-state batteries produced with it.

according to gac aion staff, the development of all-solid-state batteries produced with solid-state electrolytes is "as difficult as climbing mount everest". it can achieve high safety performance and an ultra-high energy density of 400wh/kg, allowing the car's range to exceed 1,000 kilometers. gac aion plans to complete the development of all-solid-state batteries in 2026 and will first be installed on the haobo model.

according to statistics from qidian research institute, chinese solid-state battery industry chain companies are mainly concentrated in the pearl river delta and the yangtze river delta. from the pearl river delta to the yangtze river delta, from midstream battery companies to lithium battery equipment manufacturers, the reporter came to the pioneer intelligent factory in wuxi, jiangsu. precise and large lithium battery equipment is manufactured here. pioneer intelligent has completed the technical research and development of all-solid-state electrode preparation, all-solid-state electrolyte membrane preparation equipment to all-solid-state battery complete line solutions.

wang yanqing, chairman of lead intelligent, told the securities times: "all-solid-state batteries are close to the 'commercial stage' in terms of technical maturity, but because they have not yet achieved large-scale mass production, the cost-effectiveness is relatively low and they are still in the market exploration and verification stage. now that high-end players have stopped waiting and are actively engaged in the market development and construction of all-solid-state batteries, the industry is expected to usher in a period of rapid development opportunities."

at present, semi-solid, quasi-solid and all-solid batteries are collectively referred to as solid-state batteries. recently, penghui energy and zhongxinhang have released all-solid-state battery products, and the commercialization process of semi-solid-state batteries is faster. models such as lantu zhuiguang and zhiji l6 have already realized the installation of semi-solid-state batteries, and the curtain has been opened for the industrialization of solid-state batteries.

according to the "2024 solid-state battery development white paper" released by qidian research institute, by the end of august 2024, there will be more than 250 chinese solid-state battery industry chain companies (excluding equipment companies), including 100 battery cell companies and 50 solid-state electrolyte companies. at present, the (semi-) solid-state battery production capacity and planning announced by various companies have exceeded 400gwh, and the development of solid-state batteries will accelerate in the next few years.

battery industry chain

will "turn the world upside down"

at present, the four key materials of lithium batteries are positive electrode materials, negative electrode materials, separators and electrolytes, and each material link involves a large number of industrial chain companies.

the reason why all-solid-state batteries have higher safety and energy density than liquid batteries is that they use non-flammable solid electrolytes instead of electrolytes and diaphragms, which can be compatible with positive and negative electrode materials with higher specific capacities. this means that in the process of liquid batteries moving towards solid-state batteries, the battery industry chain will undergo "earth-shaking" changes, and diaphragm and electrolyte companies will bear the brunt.

"in terms of manufacturing, if the all-solid-state battery adopts a wet process, the general equipment for liquid lithium batteries cannot be used. if the dry process is adopted, two-thirds of the current liquid lithium battery equipment cannot be used. therefore, it is necessary to redesign the processes and equipment to match the production of all-solid-state batteries, such as dry electrode preparation technology," said wu yulong, research director of qidian research institute.

professor zhang yongzhu of central south university said that semi-solid and all-solid production requires modification and adjustment of the current production line, which takes some time. in the new energy industry, liquid battery production lines have invested tens of trillions of yuan, and companies must first recover the investment in traditional liquid batteries before developing semi-solid and all-solid products. in the next 3 to 5 years, equipment manufacturers, software manufacturers, and chip manufacturers need to spare time to industrialize semi-solid and all-solid products to reduce costs.

on the road to mass production

there are still “dangerous passes”

qidian research institute predicts that global solid-state batteries will accelerate their development in the next two years. 2025 to 2030 will be the introduction period for semi-solid-state batteries and quasi-solid-state batteries, and 2030 to 2035 will be the introduction period for all-solid-state batteries. although many automakers have already achieved the "installation" of semi-solid-state batteries, the development of the solid-state battery industry still faces multiple difficulties in terms of technology, route, materials, and cost.

from a technical point of view, the main problem to be solved is the "solid-solid interface". in solid electrolytes, the interface contact between the electrode and the electrolyte changes from solid-liquid contact to solid-solid contact, with a small contact area, resulting in a higher interface resistance. this leads to problems such as poor cycle life and poor fast charging performance of solid-state batteries. "how to solve the interface problems in solid-state batteries has become the key to whether solid-state batteries can be applied on a large scale. how to balance conductivity, reduce side reactions, and reduce impedance is still the direction that the industry is currently tackling." wu yulong said.

from the perspective of materials, solid-state battery systems use high-performance positive and negative electrode materials, which often involve high-priced rare metals, and the cost of raw materials is much higher than that of liquid batteries. "the electrode materials and electrolytes required for solid-state batteries are mostly high-tech new materials. in addition, the industrial chain is not yet perfect, some raw materials have not been mass-produced, and the overall industrial chain cost is relatively high, which has also restricted the development of the market to a certain extent." wang yanqing told reporters.

in terms of price, data provided by qidian research institute to reporters show that the semi-solid-state batteries sold by a solid-state battery company to car companies are priced at more than 2 yuan/wh, and the quasi-solid-state batteries sold by an emerging solid-state battery company to an aircraft company are priced at more than 7 yuan/wh. during the same period, the price of liquid automotive ternary batteries was 0.5 yuan to 0.6 yuan/wh, and the price of lithium iron phosphate batteries was 0.3 yuan to 0.45 yuan/wh. it can be seen that the price of solid-state batteries is currently several times that of liquid batteries. reducing costs will become a key hurdle that needs to be overcome before solid-state batteries can be commercialized on a large scale.

however, as the energy density of liquid lithium batteries is close to the safety limit, the development of solid-state batteries must overcome many obstacles. wang yanqing believes: "with the improvement of production technology and the advancement of large-scale production, the cost of all-solid-state batteries will gradually decrease, and eventually they will have market competitiveness that can compete with semi-solid-state batteries and even traditional liquid batteries."