Advancing power battery technology: review of Chinese enterprises' breakthroughs in 2021
In the rapid growth of production and sales of new energy vehicles in China, battery manufacturers and new energy vehicle manufacturers pay more attention to the quality of power batteries, because they all know that core components are crucial to gaining greater market share. Therefore, they are committed to innovating battery technology from many aspects, such as chemistry, battery management system, energy density and electrode materials.
It is worth noting that some companies are committed to battery technology innovation for sustainable development, as they are trying to find suitable alternatives to prevent the shortage of lithium resources in the future.
Let's review the innovative technologies and breakthroughs of China's automotive power batteries in 2021.
CATL launches first-generation sodium battery
CATL launched the company's first generation sodium ion battery on July 29, 2021. The company disclosed at the end of 2021 that it had started the deployment of sodium ion battery industrialization, and it is expected that the relevant industrial chain will basically take shape in 2023.
Sodium is similar to lithium in nature and can also be used as a charge carrier between the anode and cathode of the battery. However, compared with lithium ion, sodium ion has larger volume and higher requirements for structural stability and dynamic properties of materials, which leads to the bottleneck of sodium ion battery industrialization.
Through years of research and development, CATL has developed appropriate electrode materials to solve the above problems. In terms of cathode materials, the company said that it had adopted Prussian white materials and redesigned its body structure by rearranging electrons, so as to solve the problem of rapid attenuation of capacity after material circulation. As for anode material, CATL has developed a hard carbon material with unique porous structure, which can realize large-scale storage and rapid movement of sodium ions, and has excellent cycling performance.
CATL's first generation sodium ion battery; Image source: CATL
With regard to the innovation of battery system, CATL has developed the "ab" solution, which mixes sodium ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries in a certain proportion, and integrates them into a battery management system. The purpose is to use the advantages of these two chemicals to combine the excellent low-temperature performance of sodium ion with the higher energy density of lithium-ion battery.
CALB launches One-Stop Bettery technology
CALB, the abbreviation of China Lithium Battery Technology Co., Ltd., announced the launch of one-stop better technology in September last year, which aims to significantly improve the production efficiency of power batteries.
The concept of "better" comes from "better" and "battery", which means "making better and better batteries".
Xie Qiu, general manager of CALB passenger vehicle business, said that based on the requirements of product design and manufacturing with high integration and minimalism, as well as the requirements for high specific energy, high safety and low cost, the company put forward the "one-stop" concept.
By exploring and applying the "one-stop" concept, the integration and manufacturing efficiency of batteries will be greatly improved, because many existing physical bottlenecks about series process and structure composition will be eliminated. Xie Qiu said that in addition, under the guidance of the technical concept, the product will have simpler structure and fewer components, so as to significantly improve the reliability and manufacturing efficiency of the product.
The product adopts "one-stop better" technology and supports a lifetime mileage of 700 kilometers and a ternary mileage of 1000 kilometers. It is expected to be launched in June 2022.
Goal high tech has made breakthroughs in battery energy density and semi-solid battery research and development
In 2021, Gotion High-Tech successfully manufactured ternary lithium batteries with an energy density of up to 300 WH / kg and installed in the whole vehicle, Cai Yi of the company's Engineering Research Institute said in the middle of last year.
Mr. Cai also revealed that go high tech has made a breakthrough in the development of 230wh / kg lithium iron phosphate battery and 110ah semi-solid battery.
Svolt uses cobalt free battery in production mode to develop the second generation short blade LFP battery
Svolt, the power battery manufacturer of Great Wall Motors (GWM), announced last July that it had begun mass production of its patented new nickel manganese (nmx) battery at a factory in Jintan District, Changzhou.
This milestone made swart the first power battery company in the world to realize mass production of cobalt free batteries.
According to SVOLT, the above nmx batteries use nmx cathode materials (75 percent nickel and 25 percent manganese) developed in-house by the company. The large-scale production of cathode materials has been in operation since April 2021.
According to the company, due to the elimination of heavy metal cobalt and the reduction of nickel content, swart's cobalt free nmx battery is not only more sustainable, but also about 5 percent cheaper than traditional NCM batteries.
Great Wall Motors launched "Dayu" battery to improve battery safety
In late June 2021, at the eighth GWM science and technology festival, automobile manufacturers launched the next generation of power batteries, called "Dayu" (or "Dayu"), whose technical patents have been opened to the whole automobile industry free of charge.
GWM displays the technical structure of "Daewoo" battery; Picture Source: GWM
The new battery technology was named after a legendary king who was famous for taming ancient prehistoric floods in China.
In order to prevent fire or explosion, car manufacturers and battery manufacturers usually focus on isolating problem batteries from adjacent batteries. GWM's battery design director Cao Yongqiang said at an event to show the working principle of Daewoo battery last September that GWM engineers have found a new method to make the heat of the faulty battery leave the battery pack as soon as possible, so as to avoid extreme temperature and prevent catastrophic consequences.
GWM revealed that from 2022, it will install batteries using Daewoo technology on its vehicles.
GAC AION launched "magazine" battery technology, ultra-high speed battery technology and sponge silicon anode technology
GAC AION , a special subsidiary of GAC group for new energy vehicles, launched a series of battery innovation technologies last year, including "magazine" battery system safety technology (hereinafter referred to as "magazine battery"), ultra-high speed battery technology and sponge silicon anode battery.
Magazine battery technology; Image source: GAC AION
the magazine battery is designed to enhance power battery safety by virtue of four core technologies, namely, the battery cells capable of ultra-high heat resistance and stability, the battery safety cabin with great heat insulation performance, the ultra-fast cooling system, as well as the fifth-generation battery management system capable of round-the-clock control, said the company. Thanks to those technologies, the battery will be as safe as being placed in a safety cabin shaped like a magazine.
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Tags: batteryLithiumnew energy vehiclescharge