18650: saving panasonic from the scourge of xiaomi tesla?

Lenovo recalled 110,000 laptops, xiaomi mobile power supply exploded without reason, samsung battery problem finally settled, 6 fires occurred in tesla in one year... Why do these lithium battery accidents all point to the 18650 cell as a culprit? First, a review of these accidents:

Lenovo notebook lithium battery problems: recall more than 110,000

Recently, lenovo (Beijing) co., ltd. submitted a recall report to the general administration of quality supervision, inspection and quarantine (aqsiq), and decided to recall some models sold between October 2010 and April 2011 in mainland China from March 27, 2014. T410; X100e, X201, X201s series) ThinkPad laptop lithium ion battery, involving about 117,732 units.

Reporters learned that the recall of the products involved in the battery in occasional circumstances will occur fault, resulting in overheating of the battery shell, there are safety risks. Lenovo (Beijing) co., ltd. will replace the lithium ion battery for free for the products within the scope of the recall to eliminate safety risks.

SONY issues warning on notebook batteries, lithium battery made by panasonic

SONY has warned consumers to stop using its new VaioFit11A laptop because of concerns that its lithium-ion batteries could overheat and cause fires.

SONY said it has sold about 26, 000 units in 52 countries and territories since launching in February, including 3, 500 units in Japan.

The electronics giant said there were three incidents on March 19, solstice and April 8 in which overheating lithium batteries caused laptops to melt, including one in Japan, one in mainland China and one in Hong Kong, China, but no injuries were reported.

SONY said it may recall the computers in the future, but is now asking consumers to stop using them. In the coming weeks, the company will release more information, including options for repairs, returns or free replacements.

"There is a risk that the batteries could overheat and damage computer components," SONY said in a statement. "we ask consumers to immediately stop using their laptops, unplug them and stop using them."

The Fit11A, which can be used as either a laptop or a desktop, is the latest in SONY's Vaio line, kyodo news reported.

The laptop's lithium-ion battery is made by panasonic of Japan. The latter said it would "fully cooperate" with the SONY investigation.

Millet mobile power source unprovoked explosion 18650 cited

On April 14, weibo user @two bibles Y posted that his xiaomi mobile power supply exploded and caused a small area fire.

The netizen said that its xiaomi mobile power supply had exploded twice without being used. The first was an explosion on a dining table, which was followed by a mobile power cell that flew four metres and set the sofa on fire.

It is reported that the mi mobile power supply USES 18650 batteries. Lithium is one of the most reactive metals in the periodic table, exploding in the presence of oxygen. Mobile power supply in the production, have done the anti-leakage treatment, after years of improvement, in the performance of safety performance has been greatly improved.

In order to prevent short circuit caused by positive and negative contact, a diaphragm paper will be added to the 18650 lithium battery cell to prevent short circuit. When voltage exceed the specified value (charge), the cathode of lithium atom is saturated, the subsequent will lithium metal accumulation in the anode, the lithium metal from the cathode to lithium ion to the direction of the dendritic crystal formation, these crystals will be through the diaphragm paper, the internal structure of damaged cells, causing short circuit, sometimes in short circuit will occur before the explosion. Because the electrolyte material will be cracked during overcharging and produce gas, which will burst the battery shell. Some gas will enter and meet with lithium atoms, resulting in a reaction. If the result is liquid leakage at the battery seal, an explosion accident will be caused in a serious case.

According to the netizen revealed that the mobile power explosion did not charge the operation, it is ruled out the possibility of overcharge, the real cause of the explosion is still unknown.

Samsung clarifies: Galaxy phone battery problem came from Japan

South Korean media have reported that lithium-ion batteries in samsung's Galaxy smartphones are expanding, and Elentec, a maker of batteries for samsung electronics phones, is using materials from Japan, not China.

South Korea's yonhap news agency said the lithium-ion batteries in samsung's Galaxy smartphones were inflated in recent years because of repeated quality problems with batteries made in China, and there was speculation that the batteries may have come from Chinese knockoffs. But an interview with the Associated Press today found that battery maker Elentec buys its battery materials in Japan, not China.

In its quarterly report late last year, Elentec said its main materials are lithium-ion batteries used in mobile phones and other batteries, mainly supplied by companies such as Hitachi and samsung SDI. About 90 per cent, or about won127.4bn (t $3.588bn), was bought from Hitachi of Japan, and about won14bn, or 10 per cent, from other manufacturers such as samsung SDI. Elentec made no mention in the report of the introduction of batteries from mainland China.

In the past, safety incidents involving mobile phone batteries have often been attributed to the use of copycat products from mainland China, the report said. As a result, it has been pointed out that samsung electronics may not have done a good job of quality control in accepting the Elentec supply.

Samsung electronics replaced its GalaxyS3 battery, called Elentec, with a free replacement in November, on the recommendation of South Korea's consumer council. The GalaxyNote's battery expanded again, and samsung decided to offer a free replacement only after the consumer council recommended it again.

The GalaxyS3, GalaxyNote and GalaxyNote2 were released six months apart, meaning samsung didn't even realize the battery was faulty from the same supplier for more than a year, the report said.

Samsung said that the expansion of the battery is a natural phenomenon after long-term use, not the battery itself is a problem. But to make it easier for users to use, the company will replace the Elentec battery free of charge.

Tesla has had six fires in six months

Tesla ModelS has had six fires since October, most of them involving lithium batteries. In January, tesla offered consumers an updated version of its wall adapter and updated charging software. A month later, tesla ModelS caught fire again, and in this latest incident, tesla officials have clarified that the fire was not caused by batteries, charging systems, adapters or power outlets. "Occasional fires are a problem for every car company because no vehicle is completely fireproof, and the average gasoline-burning car is about five to 10 times more likely to catch fire than a tesla," he said.

There have been six fires in six months, two of them after the battery case was punctured by debris on the road as the owner drove by. The national highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA) is currently investigating the safety of the ModelS battery system in the event of such a succession of fires. Regarding the investigation into tesla's electric vehicles, tesla CEO elon musk said he believes the NHTSA investigation will not lead to a model recall.

Review: small 18650 lithium battery, but so much harm, let xiaomi, lenovo tesla people can not prevent, but the 18650 lithium battery is widely used because of its unique performance advantages. Despite the current troubles, lithium battery manufacturers are unable to abandon the business. One of the most typical is panasonic.

Battery to save panasonic tesla or jettison 18650

Panasonic, sharp, SONY focus on the first quarter of fiscal 2014 financial results. Thanks to the tesla effect, panasonic has turned around its lithium battery business, and its determined transformation has helped it avoid the embarrassment that SONY has in the home appliance market.

(Reuters) - the battery saved panasonic

The transformation effect of Japanese electronics giants is different. Recently, panasonic, sharp, SONY focus on the first quarter of fiscal 2014 financial report. Panasonic, which is more determined in its transformation, reported a 39% increase in net profit in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. Sharp expects a 260% increase in net profit for the full year. A resurgent panasonic has confirmed that it will set up a joint venture for a lithium-ion battery factory with tesla. SONY, still in need of help, has decided to delist from the London stock exchange to cut costs.

Panasonic and sharp continue to march on

Panasonic reported first-quarter sales of 185.2 billion yen, up 102 percent from a year earlier. Net profit was y37.9bn, up 35 per cent from a year earlier. Among them, housing, car and other related businesses have achieved sustained and stable growth is the main reason. Panasonic has returned to profit in the last fiscal year, and is still expected to do well in fiscal 2014.

Panasonic's transformation has been uncompromising, with a series of determined measures including job cuts and the divestment of declining businesses, such as plasma panels. Due to the previous divisional system reform and the increase of B2B business, the company's operating system has been strengthened and "the company is shifting to a new system of sales growth and profit expansion". Panasonic, which has found its way back, is also roaring ahead. Earlier this year, panasonic reached a framework agreement with tesla on a future supply of lithium batteries. Panasonic and tesla yesterday agreed to build a gigafactory to produce lithium batteries. Under the deal, panasonic will produce and supply lithium batteries. Panasonic said it would "accelerate expansion across the electric vehicle market".

In the first quarter of fiscal year 2014, the revenue and operating profit both increased. The loss also dropped sharply from 17.9 billion yen in the same period last year to 1.7 billion yen. Sharp expects its net profit for the whole year to reach 30 billion yen, 2.6 times that of last year. Sharp's performance relies heavily on its panel business, which in the past two years has shifted rapidly from the market for large panels, which is stagnating, to the more prosperous market for smaller panels.

SONY is still in the red

SONY, however, is still grimacing. Its first-quarter net profit was 26.8 billion yen ($261 million). SONY is profitable because of the contribution of its playstation 4 and film businesses and the sale of assets. Sales of SONY's games and web services business rose 95.7 percent in the fiscal first quarter from a year earlier, while film and television sales rose 22.6 percent. But the sale of a technology facility in Japan alone contributed almost y15bn to SONY's operating profit for the quarter, more than games and television combined.

As a result, SONY's business has not really recovered. It is expected to remain a loss for the full year. At the same time, SONY has cut its smartphone and TV sales forecasts due to the sluggish market. SONY said it had cut its forecast for full-year smartphone sales to 43m from 50m because of weak demand. It also cut its forecast for TV sales to 15.5m units from 16m. The handset business was once seen as a saviour of SONY's future.

SONY yesterday announced it would delist from the London stock exchange at the end of August in a cost-cutting move that is expected to save it close to $1bn a year in fees. Overall, SONY remains unable to save itself. While SONY is pinning its hopes on the smartphone business, the overall smartphone market has started to move from high growth to steady growth, and SONY's recovery is expected to be far off.

Lithium battery business is key to panasonic's turnaround

Panasonic plans to increase sales of base-station batteries by tens of billions of yen in emerging markets including India by 2015, aiming to "develop base-station batteries into a pillar of the battery business".

In the opinion of ren haoning, a senior researcher of cic consultant, the future growth space and profitability of lithium battery business are widely valued by the industry. Panasonic's investment in lithium battery business is worthy of recognition, and the company is expected to revive with this business.

It is reported that panasonic announced the acquisition of all the shares of sanyo electric as early as December 2008, because it was optimistic that sanyo electric could drive future growth. At the time, sanyo electric controlled about 40 percent of the world's lithium battery market, its lucrative PC and cellphone battery divisions and its leadership of solar-powered televisions were unexplored areas, prompting panasonic to look for acquisitions to expand its footprint.

Wu xianjian, secretary-general of the national consumer electronics channel alliance, said in an interview that jujian and lithium batteries have contributed a lot to panasonic's performance.

According to the first quarter of 2013 financial report released by panasonic, its net profit reached 107.8 billion yen (about 6.728 billion yuan), and panasonic realized a substantial profit. Panasonic also said in the first quarter of the financial results, from the business sector, in solar energy and other domestic construction related environmental system solutions field, lithium battery field, as well as automotive electronic systems under the influence of the operating profit increased.

Or lithium battery capacity

While panasonic's small lithium battery business is considered strong, it faces a tough market in small lithium batteries, where demand for small lithium batteries for laptops has plummeted and Asian competitors are gaining strength.

"The late-moder advantage of Chinese and south Korean enterprises in the field of small lithium batteries has been shown, cost control, technological breakthroughs and other work has achieved outstanding results, and the core competitiveness of the products has directly threatened panasonic's small lithium battery business. However, ren said that panasonic's advantage in the lithium battery field still exists, sales channels, brand influence, after-sales service, technology research and development and other aspects of the advantages will not completely disappear in a short time, the position of the industry giant will exist for a long time.

In addition, ren added that panasonic has obvious advantages in power grid energy storage technology, notebook lithium battery and other fields, and has invested a large scale in the Chinese market in the past two years. If the lithium battery project can release capacity in time, its influence in the Chinese market will be further enhanced.

Review: of course, all efforts are to have a return, let panasonic in lithium battery so desperate, nature is the halo effect of tesla, so panasonic wants to return, is the exclusive tesla.

Panasonic is trying to become tesla's exclusive battery partner

According to overseas media reports, panasonic of Japan said it would follow up tesla's "gigafactory" project and strive to become tesla's exclusive battery manufacturer.

Although panasonic company now is tesla's main partners in the battery, but panasonic's move is too suddenly, because it has been involved in the tesla's very cautious, "gigabit factory" program currently tesla had paid $2 billion (12 billion yuan) for the project, but also need an extra 3 billion dollars (18 billion yuan).

"We don't expect demand to suddenly skyrocket. YoshioIto, panasonic's senior executive director for the automotive business. According to Ito, tesla is currently planning to seek some small investments, and the time frame for its cooperation with panasonic has not been determined. Currently, the two companies are discussing the investment details and long-term project implementation plans.

Panasonic as the main supplier of tesla lithium battery, also face strong competition of samsung, samsung group in the automotive battery industry is also good, but there is no too much pressure, panasonic said even temporarily can't take out the tesla is needed full funding, it will also be working with tesla's sole battery manufacturers.

Review: according to the current panasonic and tesla honeymoon period, other battery manufacturers have been unable to plug in, the future, panasonic should also monopolize tesla? This undoubtedly makes other manufacturers angry and worried, and the cruel fact is that the foreign media is also optimistic about the panasonic exclusive tesla trend.

Foreign media predicted that panasonic will become tesla's only battery partner

Panasonic has agreed to invest in equipment and machinery for a joint venture battery plant with electric car maker tesla, the Wall Street journal reported on July 31. However, panasonic did not disclose key details about the size of its investment in the project. Negotiations between the two sides have been going on for more than five months.

Under the deal announced on Thursday, tesla will provide and manage land, buildings and infrastructure, while panasonic will make and supply lithium batteries. The joint venture could cost as much as $5bn to build

Over the past two years, panasonic has overhauled its television, mobile phone and semiconductor divisions to reverse a $15bn loss.

In the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, panasonic's operating profit rose 28% to 82.29 billion yen. Sales rose 1.5% to 1.85 trillion yen, as a surge in consumer electronics demand that preceded Japan's April GST hike had an impact throughout the quarter. Net income fell 65% to 37.93 billion yen, however, as the company booked a one-time gain from a pension plan change a year earlier.

Panasonic has signed a deal to supply tesla with 2 billion batteries by the end of 2017. However, panasonic's stake in the new joint venture will further expand the alliance as it aims to double car sales in four years. Panasonic is expected to be tesla's only battery partner.

Review: panasonic seized the opportunity of tesla by relying on the lithium battery business, so it didn't fall down because of the collapse of the consumer electronics field, but turned to another broad road. Panasonic has also been praised for its determination to transform itself. But for now panasonic is still too dependent on tesla.

Will tesla abandon 18650 at risk of lithium battery deterioration?

ElonMusk has been hailed as a gifted entrepreneur who surpassed Steve jobs. He founded tesla motors, a global venture focused on pure electric vehicles (EV). Tesla sold more than 20,000 of its model EV sedans in 2013 and plans to expand to more than 35,000 in 2014. The SUV EV "" ModelX" "will also go into production in 2014.

"This is going to lead to a tesla crisis," the hyperbole that has been heard so often lately, is that the fast-growing EV venture business is heading for a crisis. The culprit seems to be the secondary battery, the core component of the EV. Tesla USES a "18650" (18mm in diameter by 65mm in length) cylindrical small lithium battery. The batteries, which are already widely used in consumer products, could cut costs through mass production.

However, tesla's 18650 strategy could also be the trigger for the crisis. The 18650 was originally a specification name used internally by SONY, and its basic structure has remained unchanged for more than 20 years. As one battery technician put it, "the 18650 is always a consumer product battery with a lifespan of a few years."

The main causes of deterioration of lithium batteries are water and heat. Structurally, the 18650 has poor water and heat resistance. Although measures such as the improved Pouch for the encapsulation between the cylinder and the cover plate were adopted, the 18650 water vapour barrier performance "is still less than the Pouch with the composite membrane" (the other battery technician). In terms of heat, the 18650 unit has almost no internal voids, so the heat dissipation is poor. Sure, tesla will take some action, but the bigger the supply, the more likely it is that battery deterioration will lead to major defects and accidents.

As a result of the problem, there have been rumors among battery industry insiders that "tesla may give up its insistence." This means that the battery of its EV will be changed from 18650 units to a large vehicle battery. With peace of mind, safety as the main premise of the car if the accident frequency, will be discredited. Moreover, at present, nissan, mitsubishi and other EV promoters have lost their momentum, and tesla has become the benchmark leading EV industry. The failure of a venture enterprise will have consequences for the entire EV component market. The expectations and responsibilities on tesla's small shoulders are enormous.

Tesla first put the EV on the market in 2008 with a limited launch of 2,500 two-seater Roadster models. Interestingly, few users complained, despite its poor comfort and occasional breakdowns. This is presumably because the buyer is treating the Roadster not as a car, but as an advanced and challenging toy. But it may not be so simple in the future. For the tesla EV aimed at the mass consumer market, consumers will be strict with it as a car. Can tesla eliminate risk? That will depend on the judgment of Mr Musk, who is hailed as a genius.

Bottom line: panasonic's survival in the lithium battery business is due, of course, to tesla's electric car boom. Lithium batteries, however, are not unique to electric cars and have recently been widely criticized. So does this mean another transformation for panasonic?

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