it has become a trend for car companies to develop their own batteries. what is the next step for "power batteries"?
2024-09-23
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in the wave of energy revolution and automobile industry transformation, power batteries, as the core component of new energy vehicles, are in the spotlight of the industry. at present, the mainstream lithium iron phosphate batteries and ternary lithium batteries on the market are showing their respective advantages; with the continuous innovation of technology, next-generation technologies such as solid-state batteries, lithium-air batteries and hydrogen fuel cells are gradually moving from laboratories to commercialization, indicating that the battery industry will usher in a broader development prospect in the future.
as the world's largest new energy vehicle market, china's installed power battery capacity reached 292.1gwh between january and august 2023, a year-on-year increase of 33.2%, according to the latest data from the china automotive power battery industry innovation alliance. this data not only highlights china's leading position in the global power battery market, but also reflects the activeness of the domestic new energy vehicle market.
in the future, as the global demand for new energy vehicles grows, the technological innovation, market trends and future challenges of power batteries will become the focus of global attention.
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battery technology still needsdual innovation in materials and structure
from the user's perspective, the difference between new energy batteries and traditional batteries lies mainly in energy density. energy density refers to the amount of energy that can be stored in a certain volume or weight. for example, the energy density of the currently popular lithium-ion battery is about 7 times that of the traditional lead-acid battery. in commercial applications, the energy density of lithium-ion batteries can reach 280 wh/kg, which is much higher than that of dry batteries.
"as consumers' expectations for new energy vehicles increase, they want vehicles with long driving range, fast charging, long life and safety. these demands have driven the innovation of battery technology, requiring batteries to have high energy density and fast charging capabilities while ensuring safety," said wang fang, chief scientist of the china automotive technology and research center and chief engineer of the new energy project.
over the past 20 years, battery technology has developed from iron-lithium and ternary materials to the present day, continuously improving energy density to meet consumers' demand for the endurance of new energy vehicles. at the same time, in order to increase charging speed and battery life, the structure and process of batteries are also being continuously optimized.
"in order to improve the specific energy density of batteries, researchers are trying to use high energy density materials such as metallic lithium and silicon-carbon negative electrodes. the use of these materials requires overcoming the limitations of liquid batteries, so the solidification process has become the focus of research." jin yong, an academician of the chinese academy of engineering and a professor at the department of chemical engineering at tsinghua university, said that solid-state batteries, as representatives of the "next generation" battery technology, have also become a research hotspot.
jin yong believes that the innovation of solid-state battery technology needs to find breakthroughs in both material innovation and structural innovation. for example, the battery performance can be optimized by designing a multi-layered negative electrode, including a solid electrolyte layer, a three-dimensional fast-conducting step-by-step lithium deposition, and a skeleton. such a structural design helps solve the problems of uneven solid-solid interface contact and lithium loss, thereby improving the cycle stability and safety of the battery.
on the other hand, solid-state batteries also have challenges in materials, "including preventing the formation of lithium dendrites and improving interface stability. these challenges need to be solved through advances in materials science, such as the development of new solid-state electrolyte materials and improving the contact between electrodes and electrolytes through interface engineering," said jin yong.
according to a research report by huatai securities, the global solid-state battery market is expected to exceed 300 billion yuan by 2030. with the maturity of technology and the reduction of costs, solid-state batteries are expected to occupy an important position in the future energy storage and power supply market.
car companies start developing their own batteries
"power battery technology is like the heart of an electric vehicle, providing the vehicle with a continuous source of 'power' for development. the 'high' or 'low' quality of an electric vehicle is closely related to the power battery technology," said shi jianhua, deputy secretary-general of the china electric vehicle 100 forum.
for car companies, batteries have become a key part of the entire energy replenishment system. in order to cooperate with the launch of ledao l60, the baas solution and battery swap model have entered the public's field of vision, and the county-to-county charging plan has been implemented, from the initial layout of key cities, to the layout along highways and scenic lines, and then to the county-level administrative areas, to achieve full coverage of "point-line-surface", and further encrypt the weilai energy replenishment network.
in recent years, many automakers have also invested a lot of resources in the research and development and innovation of power battery technology. "the next outlet for power batteries is for vehicle manufacturers to make batteries. if vehicle manufacturers do not make batteries, they will not be able to become world-class vehicle manufacturers, because batteries have high profits and account for a high proportion of the cost of the whole vehicle." cui dongshu, secretary general of the automobile market research branch of the china automobile dealers association, said. affected by factors such as rising raw material prices, fluctuations in power battery prices and supply chains have become important factors affecting the new energy vehicle market.
according to incomplete statistics, as of now, more than 10 chinese automakers have started to independently develop battery technology. among these companies, except for a few automakers such as leapmotor and lantu that also purchase battery cells from outside while conducting independent research and development, most automakers such as byd, gac, geely, and great wall have chosen an independent research and development strategy for the entire industry chain.
just recently, geely auto released its latest high-performance battery - geely aegis short blade battery, which adopts ctb configuration and multiple protection designs, including a "sandwich" structure bottom guard plate, which effectively improves the safety level of the battery pack and has passed many rigorous tests including 8-needle puncture and live bullet penetration tests; the battery is designed with a cycle life of 3,500 cycles, which can support the vehicle to travel more than 1 million kilometers, and the energy density is as high as 192wh/kg, providing longer endurance.
jiang yunqi, director of the battery system department of the new energy development center of geely automobile research institute, said that for geely, which started its business in the 1980s until now, "laying the foundation and practicing internal skills" are the blood and genes flowing in geely's bones. how to make consumers feel at ease and make the industry stable from the most basic level of technology is its core demand.
self-developed batteries are a tough road
in fact, it is not easy for automakers to independently develop battery technology.
from the perspective of battery cell development and manufacturing, this requires continuous technology research and development and experience accumulation. at present, car companies that can produce battery cells themselves, such as byd, gac, great wall and geely, have begun to make strategic layouts in the field of battery technology as early as ten years ago. after the independent research and development and production of battery packs, they gradually transitioned to independent research and development and production of battery cells.
commercial applications also face a series of challenges. safety remains the most serious hidden danger in the power battery industry. safety accidents will not only affect the reputation of individual companies, but also undermine consumer confidence in the entire market. in order to cope with this problem, companies need to build a comprehensive safety system in terms of materials, design and monitoring systems.
in addition, battery cost is an important factor hindering market penetration. the cost of power batteries has a crucial impact on the entire vehicle, accounting for almost half of the entire vehicle. although the introduction of new materials and process improvements have helped reduce the production cost of lithium batteries, in order to achieve economic competition with internal combustion engine vehicles, the battery industry still needs to achieve more breakthroughs in large-scale production and supply chain optimization.
it should be pointed out that in the current domestic power battery market, there is an obvious contradiction: low-end product production capacity is in excess, while high-end product production capacity cannot keep up with demand. faced with this situation, if car companies only develop batteries on their own without improving product quality and technical indicators to industry-leading levels, it will be difficult for them to compete only in the low-end market.
source: huanqiu.com
