Power battery module size standardization is critical

Recently, the draft of the "Specifications and Dimensions of Power Battery for Electric Vehicles", which was revised by the National Automobile Standardization Technical Committee, was released publicly. The draft of the power battery is divided into three categories: cylindrical, square and soft. It recommended specifications for the size and size series of the body, module and system (battery box). Among them, there are 2 cylindrical battery cells, 8 square battery cells, 8 soft battery cells, 9 square battery modules, 8 soft battery modules, and 5 standard battery boxes. It is recommended that the battery module use a voltage rating of multiples of 12V.

Formulate the original intention and principle

In the formulation, the person in charge of the Automotive Standardization Technical Committee said: “There are only a few industrialized electrochemical battery systems, but there are still no uniform sizes in terms of specific products, which brings many problems. Increased production and R&D costs of battery manufacturers, which isn’t conducive to large-scale manufacturing, market investment and material technology innovation of battery manufacturers; on the other hand, it increases the research and development costs of battery-integrated enterprises and vehicle companies, and cannot achieve rapid battery cells. Selection, technical accumulation is difficult, weakening the competitiveness of the vehicle products. In addition, the battery size is not uniform, but also increases the difficulty and complexity of battery recycling." In this context, battery manufacturers, System integration companies, vehicle manufacturers, and battery recycling companies all hope to further unify battery specifications. The Automotive Standardization Technical Committee will develop this standard in response to market demand and industry management needs.

The person in charge of the Automobile Standardization Technical Committee said that the battery unit model recommended in this opinion draft is in the “single-type battery with high market share and large sales volume”, according to “market share, matching quantity, specific energy, matching”. Screening of the technical conditions of the vehicle and the development trend of the future vehicle technology; on the recommendation of the module model, based on the size of the single battery, according to the "group rules of battery modules", and communicate with the "battery recycling enterprises" After the recommendation of the size of the system (battery box), it is determined by considering the "space flexibility of the electric commercial vehicle layout, combined with the market share of the electric commercial vehicle".

The head of the Automotive Standardization Technical Committee also said that due to the development of battery technology and the accelerated development of vehicle development, the size of battery products is also changing rapidly. In order to avoid "restricting the development and production of new battery products," the standard will remain. The frequency revised in 1-2 years to adapt to the rapid development of battery technology and vehicle development.

Expert Interpretation: The normalization of modules is an important part, and coding is being drafted.

In the recent seminar on "Electric Vehicle Hot Issues - Power Battery Technology Upgrade and Industry Chain Research" (hereinafter referred to as the Power Battery Seminar), Wang Fang, chief battery expert of China Automotive Technology and Research Center, said that the size of the power battery is small. In the development of the specifications of the power battery, the formulation of the battery module standard is a key link. On the one hand, the requirements for the power battery of the whole vehicle generally extend to the module level; on the other hand, the step utilization of the power battery is more realistic with the module level.

Wang Fang believes that the standard of power battery module specifications needs to "more thinking about how to meet the needs of the vehicle (input) and the reuse of the ladder (output)", considering "what kind of module is on the whole vehicle." It is comfortable to use, and it can "provide convenience for the later use of ladders." In the standardization of the system (battery box), Wang Fang said that the main direction is to make some standardized guidance for the commercial vehicle system.

In addition, Fan Wang g said that considering the requirements of the life cycle of the battery production, sales, use, maintenance, recycling, ladder utilization, regeneration, etc., the current power battery coding system (including modules and batteries) has also been formed. The first draft will be discussed in detail in the first ten days of this year.

Fang Wang concluded that the standardization of China's power battery specifications has been initially established, and it needs to be refined, supplemented and improved according to the development, promotion and application of power batteries.

At the power battery seminar, BYD Co., Ltd. manager Wenfeng Jiang said that because BYD's production automation is very high, “the production of batteries is basically a size and model corresponding to one production line. Once the size and model are changed, the whole process will change from beginning to end." Therefore, BYD is actively moving towards national standards and European standards from the beginning of R&D and production in order to avoid unnecessary costs.

Wenfeng Jiang said that BYD commercial vehicle battery modules have been basically standardized, and can meet the needs of different models through different assembly structures. In the recycling of batteries, BYD's idea is also "recycling battery modules used in energy storage power stations", because "BYD's battery cells are laser welded, once removed, the battery connection cannot be guaranteed."

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