GM's three new energy products are launched in the Chinese market

First of all, on the road of “to zero emissions”, electric drive is the only way. Power batteries with excellent performance depend on the core technology of battery systems and battery manufacturing technology. Last week, I went deep into SAIC GM's laboratory and power battery development center to gain an in-depth understanding of Buick VELITE6's power battery technology and production details, and gained a lot sharing with you.

The importance of the power battery system for new energy vehicles is self-evident. Before we can experience the Buick VELITE6 real car for the time being, let us first understand how the plug-in hybrid car Buick VELITE6 power battery is built.

GM currently has three new energy products in the Chinese market, including the Cadillac CT6 plug-in hybrid, the Buick VELITE5 extended-range hybrid and the Baojun E100 pure electric car. The first two dragons have experienced it. As an important part of the Buick brand's "Electrical, Networked, Intelligent, and Shared" strategic layout, the plug-in hybrid car Buick VELITE6 plug-in hybrid car and its sister model VELITE6 pure electric car will also be listed.

Customized compact and lightweight battery pack

The power battery pack of the Buick VELITE6 plug-in hybrid car is tailored around the body structure. The appearance of the battery pack is very obvious. It consists of a top cover and a metal lower cover made of fire-resistant high-strength composite material, which not only greatly improves the rigidity of the battery pack. The strength and durability of the battery pack have also increased. Due to the smaller size, the space in the body will be more abundant.

We all know that the activity of lithium batteries will change due to temperature changes. In order to keep the battery working at the most comfortable working temperature, the power battery of Buick VELITE6 plug-in hybrid car adopts the liquid cooling structure of warm winter and cool summer, and It is a cell-level independent liquid cooling system with a wide operating temperature range of -30°C~55°C and strong adaptability to ambient temperature.

The patented liquid cooling technology enables the battery pack heat dissipation cycle to be accurately distributed to each cell unit for cooling, ensuring that the temperature difference of the entire cell is controlled within 2 °C, which ensures the consistency of the cell.

As the core component to keep the battery system cool in winter and cool in summer, the capillary cooling fins are only 0.2 mm thick. The ingenious cooling fin guide groove is evenly distributed on the battery, and the coolant can flow away from the heat in the flow channel; the coolant can be heated by the coil to warm the battery, ensuring the battery even in extremely cold environments at the most suitable working temperature.

After liquid cooling, the sealing of the battery pack is extremely important. The IP67 waterproof and dustproof seal design is the highest level of its kind, which not only eliminates any dust solids, but also ensures the safe operation of the battery pack when the vehicle is wading.

Buick VELITE6 plug-in hybrid car power battery pack is assembled and produced by SAIC General Motors Power Battery System Development Center. Long Shu has the honor to visit the whole process of manufacturing and to experience the world's leading intelligent battery production line and assembly process.

After assembling the battery module in the field, I experienced the complexity of the battery module, and he felt that automation was imperative. The whole process of loading, assembly, transportation and battery module testing of the batteries and modules of SAIC General Motors Power Battery System Development Center is all done intelligently by robots or robots. The automation rate is 100%, avoiding the mistakes caused by manual operation. Operation and quality are unstable, ensuring consistency and reliability for each battery module product.

In the chip stacking and battery module assembly process, the precision of the robot during the loading/unloading/handling process is within 0.1-0.2mm, which greatly improves the assembly efficiency, accuracy and quality stability of the product. After the assembly process, the pressure control review is also carried out to ensure the stability of the overall quality.

Intelligent tracking of every key part

We can see that each component has a two-digit code. After habitually scanning the code with the mobile phone, the result is a set of consecutive numbers. These numbers are actually the “identity card” of this component; through digital technology. The application not only realizes real-time collection, monitoring and early warning of component data in the assembly process, but also can trace the system accurately through the product information traceability system.

During the assembly process of the battery, three levels of batteries, modules and battery packs need to be separately tested for safety, electrical performance and electrical insulation to ensure the safe production of the battery assembly line and the quality of the manufactured products. The electrical performance test of the battery pack requires infrared thermal imaging detection technology with high thermal sensitivity and -20 ° C ~ +350 ° C ultra-wide temperature range to realize real-time temperature change monitoring in the non-contact full product contour range, ensuring Buick VELITE6 power battery System quality and test safety.

High voltage inter-lock safety protection system

Before the power battery of the Buick VELITE6 plug-in hybrid, it is subject to multiple rigorous tests, including thousands of parts and subsystem test items, and at least 3 independent safety measures for each potential hazard. In order to ensure the safety of the battery system, the system failure rate during the life cycle is less than <10-8/h, which is more than 10 times higher than the industry average.

Through battery system extrusion test, mechanical shock, external fire test, overcharge protection, short circuit protection, durability and waterproof immersion test, and in the environmental compartment with temperature difference range -40 ° C ~ 85 ° C, the simulation is extremely hot, extremely cold, The use of high altitude areas ensures the safety of the battery structure. The power battery system is assembled on the Buick VELITE6 model and has undergone more than 100 system and vehicle testing to ensure the safety of the battery pack during its longer life cycle.

In the event of a collision accident, the high-voltage interlock safety protection system will detect whether the connector of the high-voltage component is loose or the high-voltage line is cut off, and take corresponding measures in time to intelligently cut off the battery relay and output voltage to prevent leakage. Thanks to the high standard safety design, even if the power battery system of the Buick VELITE6 plug-in hybrid vehicle is squeezed, it will not cause the risk of contact of the electrode of the battery core, short circuit of the high voltage line or leakage of the cooling system, effectively preventing secondary accidents. .

To sum up

From a small battery cell to a battery pack and assembled into a complete battery pack, in the advanced automation factory, the number of workers is even less than that of our visitors. Automated production avoids artificially Stabilization factors, production, regardless of efficiency or quality control, have great significance.

Advanced battery factory for step by step towards the road of zero discharge auto makers, is the foundation type, SAIC GM power battery system development center as the second battery assembly of gm's global institutions, the center of the brown Kingston battery assembly plant in the United States, strictly follow the global production processes and technical standards. Mr. Huikang Qian, GM's global executive vice president and president of GM China, said China is critical to achieving the vision of 'zero emissions'.

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