Ternary lithium was "suspended" controversy

On the one hand, safety concerns, on the other hand, technical development concerns, the development of ternary lithium battery encountered obstacles

The debate over ternary lithium batteries continues to fester.

On January 24, zhang xiangmu, director general of the equipment industry department of the ministry of industry and information technology, said at the "development and breakthrough of power battery" theme summit of China electric vehicle committee of 100 in 2016 that the risk assessment of three-yuan lithium battery will be carried out. Before the completion of the assessment, the three-yuan lithium battery bus will be suspended to be included in the list of recommended models for the promotion and application of new energy vehicles.

Before this, China's auto industry association deputy secretary-general Xu Yanhua has said, because of ternary lithium batteries in China has just started, for the safety of the electric bus development and validation are not enough, the relevant test standard is not sound, suggested that the miit suspended acceptance use ternary lithium ion battery electric bus into the announcement from vehicle purchase tax declaration of directory.

On the other hand, there are voices of doubt. Opponents believe that electric vehicles need high power and safety, and ternary lithium battery power and high energy density are the general trend of future development. They cannot be completely denied and restrained because of safety risks, and the quality of products should be determined by the market.

The battle for route safety

Of the 22 new energy vehicle fire accidents in China, 20 were caused by lithium iron phosphate batteries, while only two were caused by ternary lithium batteries.

There are also some drawbacks in the "one-size-ze-all" comprehensive suspension, which will delay the development of ternary lithium battery in China.

Should you stop?

At present, the battery technology route of domestic pure electric vehicles is mainly divided into three lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries. Among them, the three lithium batteries in the forefront of public opinion started late in China, but have been rising rapidly in the past two years.

Because of this, the ministry of industry and information technology sudden decision in the industry caused a great controversy.

According to the above statement of the ministry of industry and information technology, the three-yuan lithium battery bus was suspended from the list of recommended models for the promotion and application of new energy vehicles, mainly due to the safety of power batteries. Zhang xiangmu said that although the ternary lithium battery has high energy and good cycle performance, which is an important development direction of lithium battery in the future, but China's ternary material research and development started late, and the safety development and verification for passenger cars is not enough.

"Such a decision is irrational." Yu qingjiao, founder of China battery network, told China business daily that the dispute is essentially a dispute between two lines, and any battery itself has potential risks.

Against "deferred used on commercial vehicles in a ternary material power lithium battery Suggestions", in the discussion of China's battery network in Beijing, hefei, shenzhen, fujian, zhejiang, shandong and other places of the enterprise, according to the on-the-spot investigation and interview to summarize the vast majority of manufacturers and the personage inside course of study thinks, should not be suspended, not one-sided partiality, cannot suspend or change the technical trend and market trend.

However, a market researcher at automotive home told reporters: "ternary lithium batteries are relatively high-end, the technical requirements are complex, domestic companies rush to develop, the product is inevitably uneven." This personage emphasizes at the same time, "one size does not cut" comprehensive abeyance also has malpractice, take a temporary solution does not cure the root cause, still can bungled development of ternary lithium battery in home.

Fang jianhua, managing director and general manager of hefei guoxuan high-tech power energy co LTD, also said the suspension does not mean exclusion. In his view, the safety performance of lithium iron phosphate can meet the safety requirements of the public sector, in the passenger car, the ternary material is worth promoting. Therefore, at the same time of the industrialization of lithium iron phosphate, enterprises should also actively research and development of ternary lithium battery.

Dr. MAO huanyu, chairman of suzhou yuliang battery co., ltd. and a well-known battery expert, made it clear that "the suspension of the use of three-yuan lithium battery in commercial vehicles" is unreasonable and firmly opposed to the "suspension" measures.

The reporter understands, in view of the ternary lithium battery "pause", China's chemical and physical power industry association has been put forward on how to improve the ternary lithium battery safety evaluation and so on, proposed raising power battery safety standards, as soon as possible a new power battery safety evaluation standard, to speed up the three yuan power lithium ion battery in the application of new energy bus.

In the current hot development of new energy electric vehicles, battery life has always been a problem to be solved, and the safety and capacity of batteries have become the focus of the industry. Newspaper reference room/photo

According to the news, the reason why the ternary lithium battery was suspended this time is that the energy density of ternary lithium battery material is high, the temperature of heat runaway is lower than lithium iron phosphate, which is easy to cause fire and has a big safety risk, and it is not suitable for bus industry.

But MAO huanyu wrote that the goal of electric vehicles is to bring convenience and practicality to users, bring development to the industry and realize the national strategy. With such a low energy/mass ratio, in order to ensure the driving range, the lithium iron phosphate can only allow the vehicle to bear a huge weight, especially for commercial vehicles. The vehicle's own weight and load are both heavy, thus putting the horse before the horse. Similarly, if a ternary lithium battery is used, half the weight can be saved, and half of the weight can be taken out to enhance the protection and thermal management of the PACK.

Reporters learned that in recent years, China does have a number of electric bus combustion accidents. According to some data, from 2011 to now, among the 22 fire accidents of new energy vehicles in China, 20 are caused by lithium iron phosphate battery, while only 2 are caused by lithium ternary battery.

"In fact, it is not only lithium three battery, including lithium iron phosphate battery, any battery has potential risks and unsafe. Yu told reporters that the safety of batteries is not limited to the lithium battery material itself, but also depends on the BMS battery management system and other aspects.

This view is Shared by others in the industry: "safety is a system issue, not just the material issue," says hou fei, deputy director of saic's commercial vehicle technology centre. The safety of ternary batteries can also be guaranteed by adopting thermal management schemes such as high safety diaphragm, flame retardant electrolyte and liquid cooling. "The importance of battery PACK and BMS for safety goes well beyond the material itself.

Lian xiaoqiang, party secretary and chairman of jinlong automobile group co., ltd. also believes that the safety of batteries cannot be judged only by battery materials, but also by the control system including packaging system and the strictness of production control, and more attention should be paid to the guarantee of balanced production process.

How does the hand of administration weigh against the hand of the market?

Products should be market-oriented, not excessive administrative intervention, if the market is welcome, technology clearance, the enterprise is willing to do.

The reporter understands, although 3 yuan lithium battery starts late in home, but wait in Japan, Korea already was very mature technology. Compared with other lithium batteries, ternary lithium batteries occupy more than 80% of the global lithium ion battery market due to its advantages of high energy density, small size and light weight.

Today, multinational companies such as BMW and general motors are also using ternary batteries. Until the recent years, ternary lithium battery began to usher in rapid development in China, including geely, baic and some other domestic manufacturers have introduced new energy models using ternary lithium battery.

However, among the pure electric buses produced in China, the mainstream market is still lithium iron phosphate battery, which accounts for about 60% of the market share, and the rest is ternary material power battery, which accounts for about 30% of the market share.

"The products should be market-oriented and should not be subject to excessive administrative intervention. If the products are popular in the market and the technology passes the test, the enterprises are willing to do it." Yu Puritan told reporters so.

Zhang dongming, an auto analyst at bohai securities co., agreed that the government's hand should not be stretched too far. "Safety is certainly the number one consideration for car companies in developing and manufacturing products, whether passenger cars or passenger cars," Mr Zhang said. The primary task of the government is to formulate relevant safety and technical standards and strengthen industry supervision, to prevent the mixing of the industry and the emergence of bad money to drive out the phenomenon of good money. And what kind of technology route of the battery, how to meet the mandatory standard requirements, please let the enterprise weigh and choose.

At present, China has become the most important new energy vehicle market in the world, but problems such as fraudulent subsidies and disputes over battery routes also arise. In the eyes of insiders, the original intention of policy intervention should be to support and guide the healthy development of the industry. But behind the dispute over ternary lithium battery is actually the dispute over two different development routes, which are both competitive and can promote each other. Accordingly, administration and the hand of the market must weigh advantages and disadvantages, lest be unfair, otherwise once overcorrect, hard to avoid has the suspicion that overstep one's authority, the result may be just the opposite to what one wants.

The page contains the contents of the machine translation.