Power battery enters the era of high energy density, and 2018 will be the first year of mass production of high nickel 811 material battery

Recently, Dangsheng Technology said that the company has already achieved mass production of high-nickel 811 cathode materials, and its 811 cathode materials are mainly used in new energy vehicle power batteries. At the beginning of 2018, Guoxuan Hi-Tech said that it has developed a ternary 811 material soft-packed battery with an energy density of 302wh/kg. According to the battery China Network, at present, there are also high-nickel 811 materials in Shanshan Energy, Ningbo Jinhe and other enterprises in China, and Tianjin Bamo, Xiamen Tungsten, Tianli Lithium and other high-nickel 811 projects are also steadily advancing.

It is understood that the current domestic enterprises can achieve stable mass production of ternary lithium batteries are still mainly 523 materials, and some power battery companies can mass produce 622 material batteries. The gradual mass production of high-nickel 811 materials also means that China's power battery industry is about to enter the era of high energy density. Industry experts said that 2018 will be the first year of high-nickel 811 material battery production. At present, 811 materials are mainly mass-produced on relatively mature cylindrical batteries, and will be gradually applied to square and soft-pack batteries.

Ningbo Jinhe related person recently revealed: "It is estimated that the national 811 shipments will be 15,000-20000 tons this year, of which Ningbo Jinhe has more than 12,000 tons of capacity released. As the price of cobalt rises, the price of 523 is 23-23.5 million Yuan / ton, 811 price is 26-27 million Yuan / ton, 811 cost more than 523. If the technology is mature, the downstream will switch to 811 as soon as possible."

For a long time, the power battery industry has always had a route of lithium iron phosphate and ternary batteries. With the adjustment of new energy subsidy policies and changes in raw material market prices, the proportion of ternary materials in the market has been increasing. However, BYD, which has been insisting on the lithium iron phosphate route, has lost its position in the ternary route layout. Its domestic power battery champion status has been replaced by the Ningde era, and the strategy of equalizing the weight of lithium iron phosphate and ternary double routes has been adopted. Enterprises have also joined the army of layout ternary batteries.

According to the "Medium and Long-term Development Plan for the Automotive Industry" jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology, it is clear that by 2020, the annual production and sales of new energy vehicles will reach 2 million, and the energy density of power battery cells will reach 300Wh. /kg or more, strive to achieve 350Wh / kg, the system energy density strives to reach 260Wh / kg, the cost is reduced to 1 Yuan / Wh. By 2025, new energy vehicles account for more than 20% of automobile production and sales, and the energy density of power battery systems reaches 350Wh/kg.

As we all know, lithium iron phosphate is currently limited by the material's own performance and technology, and the energy density of the battery cannot meet the requirement of 300Wh/kg in 2020. At present, the energy density of the mainstream ternary 523 material battery on the market can reach 160-200wh/kg, while the ternary 622 material can reach 230wh/kg, but it is difficult to achieve the goal of 2020. Therefore, it is necessary to vigorously develop high-nickel ternary NCM811 and NCA materials in the future.

“Qualification and cost reduction” is the main theme of the development of the power battery industry in recent years. In 2018, the market accelerated the reshuffle, and the phenomenon of industry aggregation further intensified. Due to the imbalance between supply and demand in the market, the prices of raw materials such as cobalt in the upstream have been rising, which has led many companies to accelerate the process of high-nickel and low-cobaltization of ternary materials to reduce production costs. The relevant person in charge of Guoxuan Hi-Tech told Battery China that Guoxuan Hi-Tech will continue to increase the energy density of the battery and the proportion of nickel in the ternary cathode material, thereby reducing the amount of cobalt metal per kWh of battery.

According to estimates, if the company uses 811 cathode materials, the manufacturing cost of its battery can be reduced by 6-8%. The market mature 18650 power battery uses 532 cathode materials, the battery capacity is 2.5AH, and the 811 cathode material capacity can reach 2.75AH. The cost of using 811 cathode materials is 0.39 Yuan/WH, while the cost of unit WH using 532 cathode materials is 0.414 Yuan, and the cost is reduced by 6%. The weight of the cathode material using 811 single cells is reduced by 9%, and the cost of the corresponding separator, electrolyte, copper foil, etc. will also decrease. After comprehensive calculation, if the ternary battery produced by 811 materials, the unit cost will drop by about 7%, and considering the PACK, the cost of the integrated unit WH can be reduced by more than 8%, and the drop is very impressive.

In addition, because the energy density of the 811 material batteries is relatively high, the subsidy amount of the new energy vehicle loaded with the 811 material batteries is also higher than that of the load 622 and 532, so that the comprehensive price of the high nickel battery has a considerable advantage.

According to Ningbo Jinhe and related sources, the current domestic cylindrical 811 material battery has basically solved the technical problem. In 2017, a few cylindrical battery companies in China have been able to apply 811 materials well, and the dosage reaches hundreds of tons. The technology will be more perfect in 2018. In terms of soft packs and large square batteries, the 811 material battery technology may mature in 2019. In terms of market sales, Jianghuai, Zotye, GM Wuling, Yundu, Dongfeng and other vehicle companies, as well as some logistics vehicles have shown great interest in 811 material batteries.

Battery China Network believes that high-nickel 811 material batteries are new technologies, and some aspects of actual manufacturing are still not mature. It is also necessary for battery companies to continuously increase scientific research investment and optimize products and processes. However, the mass production of some high-nickel 811 material batteries in 2018 indicates that China's power battery industry has entered the era of high energy density is not far away.

The page contains the contents of the machine translation.