How to improve power battery energy density and materials

At present, the energy density of domestic ternary power battery cells is 170-190Wh/kg, and the cruising range of the whole vehicle is 150-200km, which is far lower than the 500-600km cruising range of traditional fuel vehicles. At a time when the supporting facilities such as charging piles are still not perfect, improving the cruising range has become one of the main tasks of developing electric vehicles.

From a professional point of view, there are three main ways to improve the cruising range of electric vehicles:

The first is to increase the battery pack capacity.

The second is to increase the energy density of the battery.

The third is to achieve vehicle weight reduction through structural optimization and other means.

According to the plan of the new energy vehicle pilot project of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the planning of major domestic power battery companies, the energy density of domestic single-power batteries will reach 200Wh/kg by 2020. In comparison, there is more room for increasing the cruising range of electric vehicles by increasing the energy density of the battery.

So where is the way to increase battery energy density?

Power battery materials play a vital role in increasing battery energy density. While clarifying the obvious characteristics of the domestic power battery materials industry, targeted research and development investment and improvement will help to improve the manufacturing level of materials companies.

At present, domestic power battery materials mainly have the following three characteristics:

1. The localization rate has increased significantly

At present, the localization rate of the four key materials for power batteries exceeds 80%, among which the localization rate of the anode and the electrolyte is as high as 98%, the localization rate of the cathode material is over 95%, and the localization rate of the separator exceeds 80%.

The localization rate has increased significantly mainly because:

1) The domestic power battery system has been developed earlier, and the comprehensive performance requirements are relatively low. The domestic material level has been steadily improved in recent years, and the progress in consistency and batch stability has been fast, which can meet the needs of domestic battery companies;

2) Currently, 70% of domestic power batteries are lithium iron phosphate batteries. China began research and development and production of lithium iron phosphate batteries in 2004, and its supporting lithium iron phosphate materials and graphite anode materials are relatively mature; 3) the current price of materials for power batteries is generally low, and the competitiveness of imported materials is not strong.

2. Unbalanced supply and demand, prices have increased substantially, and the expansion of production has started

From September 2014 to the first quarter of 2016, domestic power batteries developed rapidly, with a year-on-year increase of more than 200%. In 2015, China's power battery output value was 38 billion Yuan, a year-on-year increase of 262%. The growth of power batteries has been greatly affected by the country's policy support for the new energy vehicle industry.

The demand for new energy vehicle terminals has increased substantially, while the supply of upstream materials and batteries has been slower, resulting in an imbalance between supply and demand. Since the second half of 2015, many materials in the middle and upper reaches of domestic lithium batteries have been increasing in price, such as lithium carbonate, lithium hexafluorophosphate, copper foil, lithium iron phosphate, and wet diaphragm.

With the substantial increase in material prices, the gross profit margin of materials has also rebounded sharply, which in turn has attracted many companies to actively expand production and new entrants. From January to September 2016, the investment in the four major materials in China exceeded 35 billion Yuan, of which positive electrode materials (including upstream mineral resources) and diaphragms became investment hotspots.

3. The manufacturing level of major materials is uneven, and the industrialization of high-performance materials is progressing slowly.

China has become the world's largest power battery production and demand country, but there are still gaps in domestic power batteries compared with Japan and South Korea, mainly reflected in energy density, product consistency, product stability, and failure rate.

For example, Tesla's main supplier, Panasonic's stable mass-produced 18650 power battery, has a single capacity of 3.1Ah, while the domestic single 18650 battery capacity is dominated by 2.2Ah and 2.4Ah, only a few Can reach 2.6Ah. This is closely related to the mismatch between various domestic materials and the low level of automation of battery equipment. Domestic cathode material manufacturer energy production type NCM622, but subject to the high imitation of high nickel electrolyte, low manufacturing level of battery factory, etc., it is currently not possible to use NCM622 in large quantities.

When will the price increase of this wave material be lowered? Under the low threshold, all enterprises will expand production and build lines. Will there be overcapacity in the material field in 2017? Foreign material companies will make strategic adjustments to China's power battery market and can regain the market occupation rate? Is China's material enterprises mainly based on going global or focusing on the domestic market? Under the high investment, are there new opportunities in the field of lithium materials?

The page contains the contents of the machine translation.