For supercapacitor buses, perhaps many readers have only one vague concept. In the view of Xie Zhaoan, the chairman of Zhongshang Automobile, this is the blue ocean for the development of new energy vehicles in the future. However, the development of super-capacitor buses has now encountered a “bottleneck”. Due to the adjustment of the state subsidy policy, the market share of super-capacitor buses with financial subsidies less than one-third of lithium battery new energy vehicles has fallen sharply. Industry professionals and experts have called for the opportunity for development to be given to the market to let the market decide who has a competitive advantage. In the future, will supercapacitor cars usher in spring?
Due to the different subsidy levels of supercapacitors and lithium battery vehicles in China's policies, the development of supercapacitor vehicles has lagged behind in recent years. With the Ministry of Finance's investigation of super-capacitor buses, the industry believes that the subsidy policy that plagues the development of super-capacitor vehicles is expected to usher in a turning point.
At the end of January 2015, the leaders of the Ministry of Finance and Economics and the relevant leaders of the Hunan Provincial Department of Finance and other relevant leaders visited the supercapacitor workshop of Changsha Guorong New Energy Co., Ltd., and the super capacitor bus and charging station of Hunan Zhongshang Automobile Co., Ltd. The leaders of the Ministry of Finance carefully listened to the requests and opinions of enterprises on the promotion of subsidies for new energy buses.
According to people involved in the survey, the Ministry of Finance's investigation was mainly to understand the development of China's supercapacitors, the level of technology and the application of urban public transport, and also sought advice from enterprises on subsidies for new energy vehicles.
Wang Jian, a professor at Chongqing Jiaotong University and editor-in-chief of the Yearbook of Bus and Bus, said in an interview with the Daily Economic News that the state should consider fairness and efficiency when formulating policies. Whether it is advanced or backward should be determined by the market.
The long-standing dispute over technology In the field of new energy vehicles, the technology battle between supercapacitors and lithium batteries has been around for a long time.
As early as 2010, the super capacitor bus has already appeared at the Shanghai World Expo. However, due to the low energy density, the bus needs to be charged once every stop, which means that every bus stop needs to be rebuilt. In the event of an unexpected situation, too little power also greatly limits the maneuverability of the bus, so there is little promotion after the Expo.
However, with the technological advancement of supercapacitors, supercapacitor buses have begun to usher in new life.
In 2014, at the 6th International Battery Industry Exhibition, Shanghai Aowei Technology Development Co., Ltd. demonstrated a new type of super capacitor, which has an energy density higher than that of ordinary super capacitors by more than 50%, while the power is slightly reduced. It is suitable for being carried on a bus, so that a super-capacitor bus that needs to be frequently charged can run 20 kilometers at a time.
Due to the late start of research and development of supercapacitors in China, foreign countries have imposed strict power restrictions and technical blockade on the supercapacitors exported to China.
In the face of foreign technology blockade, taking Zhongshang Automobile as an example, after 16 years of independent research and development, it successfully developed a complete technical system for super-capacitor to form on-board energy management, high-power fast charge and discharge, motor drive and intelligent control.
Xie Zhaoan, the chairman of Zhongshang Automobile, told the reporter of “Daily Economic News” that the lithium battery can last for about 100 hours and can continue driving for 100~200 kilometers. The super capacitor can be charged for 20 minutes after charging for about 3 minutes, so it is on private cars and long-distance buses. Lithium battery car has the advantage of continuous driving. "On the city bus, 24-hour cycle tractor, the super-capacitor car is ready to go, more flexible. On the other hand, the super-capacitor bus also has low cost and low operating cost. There are many advantages such as puncture without explosion, no need to replace for life, no secondary pollution of biomass raw materials, and no need to build a charging field for land acquisition."
In November 2011, Super Capacitor Bus was approved for inclusion in the catalogue of the new energy vehicle demonstration and promotion model of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (the 28th batch) and began to be promoted in more cities.
In 2013, the Hunan provincial government began to introduce super-capacitor buses. Zhongshang Automobile has been operating the third-generation 12-meter high-capacity super-capacitor pure electric bus in Changsha Economic Development Zone and Changsha County. The daily operating mileage is more than 200 kilometers. The lithium battery pure electric vehicle has a cruising range of more than 100 kilometers, and the energy consumption is 80% of the lithium electric vehicle.
Xie Zhaoan said: "We have 10 supercapacitor cars on a bus line. After running for half a year, the bus company requires all to be replaced with super capacitors, which is unmatched by lithium battery cars."
Different treatment of subsidy policy However, with the introduction of the national subsidy policy, super-capacitor bus has entered the market by vigorous development.
On September 17, 2013, the Ministry of Finance and other four ministries and commissions issued the "Notice on Continued Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles". The subsidy standard for the promotion and application of pure electric buses is 500,000 yuan, and the subsidy for supercapacitor pure electric buses is 150,000 yuan. As the minimum subsidy level, the subsidy is less than one-third of the pure electric bus.
"Daily Economic News" reporter noted that in January 2009, the "Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology on the Pilot Project of Energy Saving and New Energy Vehicle Demonstration and Promotion" did not distinguish between supercapacitor pure electric buses, but implemented a unified subsidy for pure electric buses. standard.
This is equivalent to a paper notice from the four ministries in 2013, which makes the supercapacitor pure electric bus lose the unified subsidy for pure electric buses, that is, the pure electric bus with supercapacitor technology is not treated as a pure electric bus.
On December 30, 2014, the “2016-2020 New Energy Vehicle Promotion and Application Financial Support Policy Program” jointly drafted by the four ministries and commissions was publicized for the public. The draft continued the 2013 plan, in which the pure electric bus was clarified according to the minimum energy consumption. The amount is subsidized by 500,000 yuan/unit, while the super-capacitor pure electric bus that is the same as the pure electric bus still adopts the minimum subsidy standard of 150,000 yuan.
Wang Jian believes that from the ultra-capacitor and lithium battery pure electric vehicles, the different energy-saving electric products are divided into one, two, three, etc., which is contrary to the scientific principle and violates the law of the market.
In the early stage of the development of new energy automobile industry, due to factors such as high investment, high risk, imperfect consumption environment and lack of competitive advantages of products, it is difficult to rely solely on the market to develop and grow. It is an international practice to formulate fiscal policies such as taxation and subsidies.
Based on this, China has formed a set of policy systems to support the development of new energy automobile industry, including subsidies, taxation, government procurement and other measures, covering major aspects such as research and development, consumption, and supporting facilities. The Director of the Economic Development Department of the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Zeng Xiaoan, said at the China Electric Vehicles 100-member Forum recently that “the fiscal policy should be used to guide the pace and accelerate the industrialization of new energy vehicles.”
The supercapacitor industry is just getting started. For the market, whether a new energy vehicle can gain market recognition and occupy the market is partly due to its subsidy price. If the subsidy amount is high, consumers will naturally choose their products. Supercapacitor cars face the problem of market choice.
"When there was no subsidy, some promotion could be carried out. After the subsidy, the sales volume will gradually shrink." Xie Yanan said that before and after 2013, super-capacitor buses are in full swing, and many bus companies hope to purchase super-capacitor cars. Because this can save a lot of cost, but the influence of the four ministries and policies on the supercapacitor market is immediate. "The sales volume has dropped. The Changsha bus line will continue to use supercapacitor cars, but it will not be finished."
According to the current fiscal subsidy policy, state and local subsidies are generally standardized on a one-to-one basis, that is, the central subsidy is 500,000 yuan, the local subsidy is 500,000 yuan, and the super-capacitor bus can only subsidize 300,000 yuan.
"There is another important reason. Because the state has subsidized lithium battery vehicles, this is the direction that the local government supports lithium batteries. As a result, the subsidies for super capacitors are less than 150,000 yuan, which is equivalent to the super capacitor manufacturers. With a cost of 700,000 yuan, it is impossible to compete at all. It is difficult for customers to choose super-capacitor vehicles based on cost considerations. The market share of super-capacitor vehicles has plummeted."
Xie Yu'an believes that domestically, it is necessary to develop new energy vehicles that use various needs, and the policy should promote the innovation of science and technology, and the huge gap in subsidies is not conducive to the development of domestic supercapacitor vehicles.
Wang Jian said that from the European policy formulation, its goal is zero emissions. "If the effect is good, it will compete. The government only needs to set strict standards."
According to the latest statistics released by the Ministry of Finance, as of the end of 2014, more than 80,000 new energy vehicles have been put into operation in China, including 52,000 units sold in 2014, more than three times more than in 2013. These new energy vehicles mainly use lithium batteries. The super capacitor is just getting started.
On the other hand, supercapacitors are beginning to develop rapidly in the world. It is expected that the compound annual growth rate in the next five years is expected to reach 21.3%. Among them, the demand for supercapacitors in the Chinese market reached 2.86 billion yuan, accounting for 12.1% of the global market. At present, only 10% of vehicles with supercapacitors are still dependent on imports.
Tsinghua University's Innovative National Strategy Research Group report believes that if the current financial subsidies, the Chinese supercapacitor pure electric vehicle industry, which has just started, is likely to be hit, losing the important application market of new energy vehicles, China's large capacity and high power. Supercapacitors may also lose the hard-won world lead.
Explanation of terms Supercapacitor is a brand new capacitor based on the interface electric double layer theory proposed by the German physicist Helmholtz. It is an electrochemical component, but it does not undergo a chemical reaction during its energy storage. This energy storage process is reversible, and because of this, supercapacitors can be repeatedly charged and discharged hundreds of thousands of times.
Supercapacitors belong to the third generation of green physical energy storage devices, which can be widely used in various types of vehicles, rail transit, aerospace, shipbuilding, petrochemical, wind energy, solar energy, smart grid, etc., and are large-capacity high-power laser weapons. The important technical support of the national defense military core technology is one of the key technological highlands for international technology and emerging industries.
Expert opinion Shi Dinghua, chairman of the China Renewable Energy Society: Supercapacitors should gain more room for development In the field of new energy vehicles, the technical dispute between supercapacitors and lithium batteries has never subsided. As early as 2010, the super capacitor bus has already appeared at the Shanghai World Expo. However, due to the low energy density, the bus needs to be charged once every stop, which means that every bus stop needs to be rebuilt.
After five years, especially after the frequent occurrence of lithium batteries, the current supercapacitor technology has developed more mature, and its superiority has also received attention. Recently, around the past and present of super capacitors and future application promotion, "Daily Economic News" reporter (hereinafter referred to as NBD) interviewed Shi Dingzhen, chairman of the China Renewable Energy Society.
More potential power source NBD: What is the history and current status of domestic supercapacitors?
Shi Dinghua: Since the reform and opening up, China has begun to study supercapacitors, but the research direction at that time was electronic components, not from the dynamic aspect.
Since the 1990s, some units have applied it to electric vehicles, and the advantages of rapid current discharge have contributed to some power device applications. The domestic application of electric vehicles is mainly in the acceleration of automobiles.
However, due to limited technical level, for example, the capacitance capacity is only tens of thousands of Farahs. After charging the battery, it can only run for several kilometers, and then it needs to be recharged.
In this case, we need to set up a lot of charging devices along the bus. The super capacitors are also charged faster. The passengers can charge the electricity when they get on and off. After that, we also suggest that we can promote the demonstration in a wider range. Later they also conducted a trial run at the 2010 World Expo.
Recently, Zhongshang Automobile in Changsha, Hunan Province has reached a new height in the development of supercapacitors. At present, the capacity of the demonstration application can reach 150,000 Farads. This supercapacitor public vehicle can travel for up to 20 kilometers at a time, and the charging time is only required. It will be recharged in about 3 minutes.
NBD: Is supercapacitor superior to lithium-ion battery?
Shi Dingzhen: The charging speed of the super capacitor is much faster than that of the lithium ion battery. Compared with the lithium ion battery, the safety of the super capacitor is better, there is no problem such as explosion and fire, and it is more suitable for use on a bus. The life of the supercapacitor is also relatively long, and its life and the life of the car can be synchronized. Unlike the current electric car, it takes about three years to replace the battery.
Supercapacitors are more suitable for use in urban public transport vehicles, as well as airport shuttle buses, aircraft tractors, large logistics stations and port container transportation, and large logistics system stations to short transportation vehicles.
Policies should be treated equally NBD: What is the prospect of China's supercapacitors?
Shi Dingzhen: Supercapacitors have now reached the stage of expanding application and industrialization. And we have mastered many core technologies.
The basic raw material used for supercapacitors is activated carbon, which is a biomass material that is also in line with the future direction of development, and is more reliable in terms of manufacturing costs and raw material supply. Its comprehensive benefits are a good direction for urban public vehicles, especially buses.
NBD: At the policy level, does the country support the development of supercapacitors?
Shi Dingzhen: Yes. At present, supercapacitors seem to have been classified as alternatives in policy support. In the draft of a policy drafted by the four ministries, the supercapacitor is regarded as a fast-charging bus, and its subsidy is only 150,000 yuan, and the same The bus subsidy for pure electric lithium-ion batteries is 500,000.
I think that for supercapacitor buses, the same policy support should be adopted for other electric vehicles.
Because all electric vehicles can also be quickly charged, all buses of the same size can replace the traditional energy vehicles. Fast charging and slow charging should not be used as a dividing standard.
There are opinions in the industry that may be more inclined to protect lithium battery electric vehicles. If super capacitor buses enjoy the same subsidy standards as other electric vehicles, they may substitute for the former. It is not appropriate to formulate policies from the perspective of protecting the industry. Innovation and development should be compared. Whoever uses it.
From the perspective of development trajectory, supercapacitors and pure electric vehicles all enjoy consistent policy support. Since 2008, policies have begun to be treated differently. At that time, supercapacitor vehicles were indeed immature, but they have developed to the extent of today. Gain more room for development.
Xu Xiaodong, special researcher of the State Council Counselor's Office: Handing the choice of technical route to the market On a global scale, the new energy vehicle is still a product full of imagination.
Some people predict that the batteries of traditional electric vehicles are outdated, and new cars with supercapacitors as the power system will replace them in the future. The first advantage is that the charging speed is super fast, regardless of the large capacity, as long as the current is sufficient, it can be filled in one or two seconds, which can be described as "second speed" full; secondly, it is resistant to charging, repeated charging hundreds of thousands of times without problems, and the energy is not attenuated.
For the unfamiliar emerging products of supercapacitors, its security and so on have always been questioned. Around the issue of such a super-capacitor car, there will be no major security risks. The "Daily Economic News" reporter (hereinafter referred to as NBD) interviewed Xu Xiaodong, a special researcher at the State Council Counselor's Office.
Security is guaranteed NBD: Can you introduce the basic situation of super capacitor?
Xu Xiaodong: Supercapacitor is used as a means of energy storage. Capacitors are not stored in the same way as ordinary batteries. They are used in circuits first. For example, currents fluctuate. It can be stored a little, and the circuit has fluctuations, which can make it smooth and improve the circuit. Supercapacitors also do this. They are not stored in a chemical reaction like a normal lithium battery. They are placed on both sides by physical phenomena and then stored.
Nowadays, supercapacitors are developing very fast, especially as the capacity is getting larger and larger, and the scope of use is wider and wider. For example, in the city bus, the two stations are not too far apart, usually ranging from a few hundred meters to several kilometers. The charging is also very fast. In less than one minute, it will continue to charge when the next stop is up and down. I first knew that there was an application in Shanghai, and Tianjin heard that it was also used. Tianjin combines capacitors and batteries, adds a little voltage, can be stored for a long time, and has special uses.
Supercapacitor is a very useful technology for charging equipment that often starts and stops. I have suggested to the relevant parties in Beijing that this technology can be used in the subway, because the subway will start in a while, stop at a time, and start very often. Large current, brake when stopping, if the electric brake, where the current goes, if there is a super capacitor, it can be stored, it needs a lot of current when starting, and it can come back from the super capacitor, so Save a lot of energy.
The same principle is in the elevator, starting for a while, stopping for a while, you can also use a large current, brake when you use the electric brake, and use it when starting.
The state should rebuild the subsidy policy. NBD: Is there a barrier to the widespread use of supercapacitors?
Xu Xiaodong: Super capacitors are not too complicated. They are material problems. The principle is not complicated. The larger the area, the larger the capacitance and the greater the stored energy. The current research direction is whether the area can be small and the capacitance is larger.
NBD: What are the advantages and disadvantages of super capacitors and lithium batteries?
Xu Xiaodong: I am more optimistic about super capacitors than lithium batteries. Lithium batteries are heavy after all, and the elements used are more complicated.
The advantages of supercapacitors are as follows: First, its raw materials can meet ecological requirements, such as not using minerals, and there is no pollution during use.
NBD: How should the country support the development of supercapacitors?
Xu Xiaodong: The famous economist Wu Jinglian once said at a meeting that the country should not make too many choices about which technology and route, and should hand it over to the market and research units.
I think that in the support of supercapacitors and lithium batteries, the state's subsidies are necessary. How to subsidize is exquisite. In different links, the effects of different subsidies are different. At present, the subsidy policies for supercapacitors and lithium batteries vary greatly, which is debatable.