At the China New Energy Automobile Industry Tri-Fund Engineering Conference hosted by China Science and Technology Investment Management Group Co., Ltd. held on August 3 in Lishan, Hunan Province, Wang Chuanfu, president of BYD Co., Ltd., accepted an exclusive interview with the media. He believes that BYD Qin is a car. The market expectation goes far beyond their estimates, putting great pressure on production capacity; BYD has been developing new batteries and new materials for new battery technologies.

How is BYD arranged in the production capacity of new energy vehicles and can it meet the needs of the market? BYD now uses the lithium iron phosphate technology route. What are the next alternatives?

Wang Chuanfu replied that BYD is now experiencing a bottleneck in its production capacity, because the market's forecast was cautious and did not determine that BYD Qin's car market is so hot. Therefore, the current production capacity is far behind the supply.

Now that BYD Qin has sold more than 6,000 vehicles, it now has a capacity of 1,000 vehicles per month, but the number of orders per month is around 3,000 to 4,000, which is more than 3 to 4 times the capacity. This has led to the BYD Qin market. There is a serious shortage of supplies. This also shows that the turning point of the market for new energy vehicles has arrived. Now BYD is also actively planning to deal with such market conditions, at least early next year to solve the problem of market supply.

When it comes to battery technology, BYD is now in the direction of lithium iron phosphate, and other technologies will be studied in the future. What we are now researching is an improved type under the lithium iron phosphate route called manganese lithium iron phosphate, which is to add manganese to the material. The energy density of this battery has reached the density of the ternary material. In addition, we consider the technical route of the battery and also start from the amount of minerals in the material. Cobalt in ternary materials is a relatively rare metal, and the amount of reserves on Earth is limited, which causes the battery price of this element to fall. And we chose the lithium iron manganese phosphate, these elements are very rich in the earth, there will be no day of depletion, so we consider from the economic point of view, chose this route. Of course, with the continuous development of battery technology, we may also choose other technical routes.


Ideal candidate for graphene or Tesla batteries

Tesla CEO Musk said in an interview with British Automobile Magazine that high-performance batteries are currently being researched and that Tesla Motors will soon be able to drive 805 kilometers, an increase of nearly 70% from the current level. Tesla's innovation in battery technology will trigger the market's attention to improving lithium-ion battery energy density materials. Graphene has high electrical conductivity and good flexibility, and is an ideal candidate for flexible energy storage devices.

Flexible screens, lithium batteries, and supercapacitors are the three most attractive applications for graphene in the short term. (1) The flexible screen will bring revolutionary changes to the consumer electronics field, and the mobile phone and the tablet computer will achieve perfect unity; (2) Graphene can be used as a negative electrode composite material and conductive additive for lithium batteries. The specific capacity of the lithium battery can be from 370mAh/g. Increased to 540mAh/g, while significantly increasing the charge and discharge speed of the battery; (3) After replacing the positive and negative electrodes of the supercapacitor with graphene (formerly graphite), the specific capacitance density and rated voltage can be greatly increased, and the capacitor can be reduced. Effective resistance.

For lithium batteries, the electrode material is a key factor in determining its energy density. At present, the main types of lithium battery anode materials include natural graphite (59%), artificial graphite (30%), mesophase carbon microspheres (8%) and other types (3%), and graphite negative electrode materials still occupy the mainstream. Due to the limitations of the existing technologies, the current mainstream negative electrode materials (such as artificial graphite, mesocarbon microbeads, etc.) cannot significantly increase the energy density of the lithium battery, and the negative electrode material market urgently needs high-efficiency new materials.

According to published data, research and development and application of new negative electrode materials such as graphene have begun to attract attention in the industry. Graphene is a new type of material that is the thinnest of known materials. Because of its low resistivity, the speed of electron migration is extremely fast, the surface area is large and the electrical properties are good. It has been considered by scientists as the ideal electrode material for lithium ion batteries.

Studies have shown that the use of graphene in lithium ion battery anode materials can greatly increase the anode material's capacitance and large rate charge-discharge performance. Graphene can prevent the agglomeration of nano-particles in the composite material, alleviate the volume effect during charge and discharge, and prolong the cycle life of the material. The attachment of particles on the graphene surface can reduce the energy loss of the reaction with the electrolyte during the formation of the SEI film.

In recent years, domestic universities and research institutes have conducted research on graphene materials, and companies have also begun to promote the industrialization of graphene anode materials. In November 2011, Changzhou Sixth Element Materials Technology Co., Ltd. was established to produce graphene for lithium battery anode materials. In April 2012, Dalian Lichang New Material Co., Ltd. built a fully automated graphene negative electrode material production line with an annual capacity of 300 tons. The agency expects that with the rapid advancement of graphene technology, the characteristics of graphene will increase the energy density of lithium batteries and thus solve the problem of the range of electric vehicles.

Lithium battery material route dispute in China, Japan and South Korea ternary material war

After trying more than 300 types of batteries on the market, Tesla decided that the three-cell lithium battery.

The reasons given by Kurt Kelty, Tesla’s battery technology director, are: Greater energy density, better stability, and better consistency; can effectively reduce the cost of the battery system; small size but increased controllability and safety.

As it turns out, Kurt Kelty's choice is absolutely correct.

During the four years that Tesla "transformed" from the first model Roadster to the most popular Model S, the battery composition has dropped by about 44% and will continue to decline.

Models S now has a cruising range of 486 kilometers, a battery capacity of 85kWh (1kWh = 1 degree), and 8142 3.4AH (AH, AH, which is one of the indicators reflecting the battery capacity). Engineers distribute these batteries equally in the form of bricks and tablets, and eventually form an entire battery pack that is placed on the underbody.

On the 7th, Tesla released its financial report for the first quarter of this year. Chief Executive Officer Musk said that Tesla reached an agreement with Panasonic to build a super lithium-ion battery plant costing about $5 billion.

When Tesla Model S speeded up on the highway, the attention of the parties to the three-cell lithium battery also increased by a geometric progression.

Ternary polymer lithium battery

It refers to a lithium battery made of lithium nickel cobalt manganese triple positive electrode material for positive electrode materials. There are many kinds of positive electrode materials for lithium ion batteries, mainly including lithium cobaltate, lithium manganate, lithium nickelate, ternary materials, and lithium iron phosphate. At present, the ternary material battery replaces the previously widely used lithium cobalt oxide battery and is widely used in the field of laptop batteries.

"Apples and Android (smartphones) are good kids because they have to go home on time every day ... charging."

This widely spread segment not only tamed people's serious dependence on electronic products, but more interestingly, it also reflected an epidemic in the scientific and technological world - an anxiety about the small battery capacity and frequent charging times.

When anxiety disorders spread, Tesla appeared and brought a savior: a three-element lithium battery.

Before the “Tornado” raid, discussions on battery and charging issues were continuously enlarged, far beyond the other performance of the Tesla Motors. But soon, when the model S of Tesla's best-known model used a lithium triple battery (ie, a nickel-cobal-aluminum ternary material as a lithium battery for the cathode material), the entire battery industry became clear.

Big and small. This technology applied to electric vehicles has eased the "charge anxiety disorder" from smart phones to wearable devices, and even small electronic products such as charging treasures. Lithium batteries also formally usher in the era of ternary materials.

Cathode material lithium battery heart

Lithium batteries are ubiquitous in our mobile phones, watches, and tablet computers.

This kind of product that is widely used in the contemporary era was originally inspired by Edison. He used metal lithium and manganese dioxide to produce a discharge reaction.

After so many years of technological development and improvement, today, a basic composition of a qualified lithium battery includes a case, a positive electrode material, a negative electrode material, a separator, and an electrolyte. Among them, the cathode material plays a decisive role in the energy density, safety and cycle life of the lithium battery, and accounts for 40% of the cost of the lithium battery, and its technical development has become particularly critical.

At present, the mainstream cathode materials include lithium cobaltate, lithium manganate, lithium iron phosphate, and nickel-cobalt-manganese-manganate ternary materials. In terms of energy density, cost, safety, thermal stability, and cycle life, the performances of the above-mentioned mainstream cathode materials vary, which has also led to the differentiation of the power line cathode materials technology for lithium batteries.

However, cobalt metal is an indispensable material for lithium batteries.

However, cobalt is expensive on the one hand and poisonous on the other. Both Japanese and Korean companies with leading technology and domestic battery manufacturers have been devoting themselves to the "less cobaltization" of batteries in recent years.

Under this trend, nickel-cobalt-manganese-cobalt-manganate ternary materials made of nickel salt, cobalt salt, and manganese salt have been gradually promoted. From the chemical point of view, the ternary material is an over-metal oxide and the battery has a high energy density.

Although the role of cobalt is still indispensable in ternary materials, the mass fraction is usually controlled at about 20%, and the cost is significantly reduced. At the same time, it also has the advantages of lithium cobaltate and lithium nickelate.

With the continuous production of domestic and foreign manufacturers in recent years, the trend of using lithium batteries with ternary materials as cathode materials to replace commercial lithium cobalt oxide has become apparent.

From large electric vehicles to smart phones, wearable devices or charging treasures, this new technology is fully applicable.

Tesla Dazao Sanyuan Material Welcomes Peak

Before Tesla, there was little known about ternary materials.

Until Tesla announced the use of ternary materials as battery cathode materials in its popular model S of high-end sports cars, this technology has gradually become widely accepted. It is now the future direction of development of power batteries.

According to public information, the TE STROIED MODEL S has a cruising range of 486 kilometers, a battery capacity of 85 kWh, and 8,142 3.4AH Panasonic 18650 batteries. Engineers will distribute these batteries equally in the form of bricks and tablets to form an entire battery pack. The battery pack is located on the underbody.

Everything has two sides. Although nickel-cobalt-aluminum has a high energy density, the high-temperature structure of nickel-cobalt-aluminum is unstable, resulting in poor high-temperature safety, and an excessively high pH tends to cause the monomer to flatten and cause danger.

In the end, Tesla solved the safety issue of the ternary lithium battery through an effective power management system, and made the unit cost much lower than other electric models, which is about 416 US dollars/kWh.

Tesla said on the 7th that the company has signed a letter of intent with Japan’s Matsushita to build a super battery plant. The project is expected to start construction next month.

Tesla announced in February this year that in order to meet the demand for mass-produced electric vehicles, it will build a super lithium-ion battery plant costing about US$5 billion, which is expected to meet Tesla's demand for an annual output of 500,000 electric vehicles. The cost per kilowatt will be reduced by more than 30%.

Tesla released its financial report for the first quarter of this year. Chief Executive Officer Musk stated that Tesla and Panasonic signed a letter of intent on the establishment of a super battery plant. The two sides have established a battery production R&D team.

Panasonic is currently Tesla's main battery supplier. According to the agreement signed by both parties in 2011, Panasonic provided Tesla with 640 million automotive-grade lithium-ion batteries in four years. This supply was later increased to 1.8 billion.

Tesla has not yet finalized the final location of the battery plant. Alternatives include Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and California. Musk stated that in order to minimize the risk of delay, Tesla will build battery plants in at least two locations.

Tesla said in its latest financial report that global market demand for Models all-electric vehicles has grown rapidly, and the company will deliver 35,000 vehicles this year. At present, Tesla’s production capacity is nearly 700 units per week and it is expected to increase to 1,000 vehicles per week by the end of this year.

Matsushita invested NT$30 million in Tesla in 2010 and became one of its shareholders. In 2011, the company reached a strategic agreement that will be responsible for Tesla’s battery supply for all vehicles for the next five years.

Battery industry sources told reporters that Tesla and Panasonic's cooperation in the battery of ternary materials, coupled with Tesla's construction of a super battery plant this generous. In the future, the ternary material battery will enter a new development peak.

It is worth noting that, in addition to Tesla MODEL S, there is news that the Chevrolet Volt Volvo car uses a ternary cathode material battery provided by LG Chemical. The battery has a shelf life of 8 years and the trip can reach 160,000 kilometers. In 2011, the Chevrolet Volt started off from General Motors' China headquarters in Jinqiao, Shanghai, and passed through a variety of road conditions. It completed the uninterrupted running of about 248 kilometers of provincial roads, which also proved to some extent the efficient performance of the battery.

“Although the mainstream view of domestic electric car manufacturers (such as BYD) is still insisting on the use of lithium iron phosphate (material manufacturer such as Tianjin Struct Technology) batteries, there are also some battery manufacturers obviously set foot on the pace of Japanese and South Korean companies, focusing Aligned with ternary materials," said a researcher.

It can be predicted that with the popularization of electric vehicles in the future, the demand for ternary materials will surely rise further. Moreover, ternary materials will also take a place in composite battery materials to better balance cost and performance.

Japan and South Korea's leading technology companies are busy catching up

From a global perspective, all parties are constantly promoting the development and production of ternary materials. In this process, the material properties have been greatly improved, and the application fields have been continuously expanded.

In August 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he will use 2.4 billion U.S. dollars to support enterprises in developing the "next generation" battery and electric vehicle plans. Sanyo material battery manufacturers will be subsidized.

In February 2012, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "12th Five-year Development Plan for New Materials Industry," and proposed to increase the production capacity of cathode materials by 45,000 tons/year by 2015. The organization will develop high-efficiency, large-capacity, and long-term development. Life, safety and performance of nickel-cobalt-manganese ternary battery cathode materials.

However, as of now, high-end ternary materials production technology is mainly concentrated in Japanese and Korean companies. Some well-known battery manufacturers have started using ternary materials since 2010.

According to sources, the battery performance of Japan's ternary materials is even closer to that of lithium cobalt oxide batteries. Being able to get Tesla's favor also proved that the ternary materials provided by Japanese manufacturers are of high quality.

From a supply perspective, Nichia Chemical, Korea L&F, and Belgian UMICORE are the world’s leading suppliers of cathode materials for lithium batteries. In 2012, the combined market share of the above three companies was 36%.

Domestic ternary materials production started from around 2005. Up till now, there have been about 10 large-scale enterprises, including many listed companies.

Many companies have maintained long-term cooperation relationships with Japanese and Korean battery companies, and some companies have been licensed by the US 3M company. Overall, these companies still face significant limitations in the field of ternary materials technology manufacturing and application. The product is facing the power battery field, and it is difficult to confront the Japanese and Korean companies.

According to a recent news report, Chinese companies have finally begun to engage in the field of power batteries. Green Resources, a leading company in renewable resources, announced in a recent announcement that the company’s holding subsidiary, Jiangsu Kailik Cobalt Industry Co., Ltd., acquired a total of 52.982 million yuan in cash for the acquisition of Qingmei Chemical Co., Ltd., Nagase Industries Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Xinming International Trade Co., Ltd. Qingmei Tongda lithium has a 59% stake.

The key directions of Qingmei Tongda lithium energy R&D include ternary cathode materials. The company's senior executives had disclosed not long ago that the nickel-cobalt-manganese ternary battery material project was already in progress, and it was optimistic about the application of ternary materials in the field of new energy vehicles.