The solid state battery is coming ！ Mass production and loading are ready at any time

On December 8, a source revealed: “As far as I know, the formula and preparation process of BYD’s all-solid-state lithium-metal laminated battery have indeed been developed and are continuing to be optimized. This project also won an internal first prize. “

The news further pointed out that “in the short term, there should be no mass production. BYD does not need to be eye-catching like other car companies, but pursues technologies that can be popularized on a large scale at low cost and products that bring consumers affordable.”

BYD has the largest number of patents for solid-state batteries in China

According to data, BYD has passed relevant experiments internally, and solid-state batteries can be mass-produced and loaded at any time. BYD in lithium top 100 has research and corresponding patent reserves for all battery routes, such as methanol fuel cells. Hydrogen fuel cells, graphene, silicon anodes, lithium metal anodes, core-shell structure anodes, solid state batteries, etc.

At present, BYD already has a large number of low-cost, high-safety blade batteries in stock, and later solid-state batteries with high cost, high safety and high energy density are being developed.

In terms of the number of solid-state battery patents in china, there is a statistic that BYD ranks first with 76 patents.

Ranked second to sixth are Qingtao Energy (63 items), SVOLT (55 items), Weilan New Energy (25 items), CATL (21 items), Yiwei Lithium Energy (9 items) .

OFweek noted that as early as August 2017, BYD had applied for an all-solid-state lithium-ion battery cathode composite material and a solid-state lithium-ion battery invention patent.

In January 2018, BYD stated on the interactive platform that the company is actively promoting the commercialization of solid-state battery projects.

In January 2021, another BYD solid-state lithium battery patent was exposed, the name of the invention is all-solid electrolyte and its composition and electrode, and all-solid-state lithium-ion battery.

On March 2, BYD published a patent for “a solid electrolyte and solid lithium battery”

On March 5, BYD suddenly disclosed two patents related to solid-state batteries, “an electrolyte polymer substrate, solid electrolyte and its preparation method, lithium ion battery”, “a composite solid electrolyte and solid lithium battery”…

The main players in the solid-state battery field include three categories: the first category is independent research and development by car companies, mainly representing companies such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan in Japan; the second category is power battery companies, currently power batteries in China, Japan, South Korea and other countries Leading companies are increasing the research and development of power batteries; the third category is start-up companies, many of which have received investment from well-known multinational companies.

There is a voice that, at present, European, American, Japanese and Korean companies are in a leading position in the research and development of next-generation solid-state batteries, and there is a certain gap between China’s solid-state battery industry and it.

Ouyang Minggao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and vice chairman of the China Electric Vehicles Association of 100, believes that “From a national perspective, Japan attaches the greatest importance to all-solid-state batteries, does the best, and has the largest scale. Japan has a large national plan with a meticulous division of labor. In terms of research and development of all-solid-state batteries, my country is still in the stage of’separate governance’. There is no complete national plan to promote it. In contrast, Japan is five years ahead of China.”

In the international market, since 2021, many multinational companies have mentioned the layout of the battery industry when announcing their electric vehicle development plans, and have formulated solid-state battery business plans to develop related business layouts.

Toyota Motor is one of the first companies to develop solid-state batteries and has the most related technology patents (said to be more than 1,000): Toyota plans to achieve small-scale mass production of all-solid-state batteries in 2025, first to be installed on hybrid vehicles; to In 2030, achieve continuous and stable mass production of all-solid-state batteries.

Nissan plans to launch electric models equipped with original all-solid-state batteries by 2028, and plans to build a pilot plant in Yokohama, Japan in 2024.

As early as 2018, Volkswagen Group invested US$100 million in Quantum Scape, a solid-state battery company in the United States, and started cooperation. In 2020, an additional US$200 million will be invested. The company went public in September 2020, and Volkswagen holds 31.05% of its Class A shares.

BMW Group and Ford Motor Company announced in May 2021 that they would jointly invest US$139 million in solid-state battery start-up Solid Power.

Daimler and Stellattis said in December 2021 that they would make a strategic investment in solid-state battery manufacturer Factorial Energy and start business cooperation with it. However, Daimler, Stellattis and Factorial have not disclosed the financial details of the investment.

In addition to the joint investment in Solid Power with Samsung SDI in 2018, Hyundai Motor also invested in SES, which is closely related to General Motors in 2021…

China car companies do not lag behind in the layout of solid-state batteries

BYD mentioned above is one of the representatives of China enterprises. In fact, the layout of solid-state batteries by china companies does not lag behind that of international car companies. It may be a fact that Japan has deployed solid-state batteries earlier, but in terms of technical strength, it may not be five years ahead.

In terms of China car companies, there are currently very clear arrangements for solid-state batteries, mainly including BYD, NIO, BAIC New Energy, Dongfeng Motor, SAIC, Great Wall Motor and other companies.

In 2019, Weilai Automobile and Huineng held a strategic cooperation agreement signing ceremony in Taoyuan, Taiwan. The two parties will jointly build a prototype car using Huineng MAB solid-state battery packs; in January this year, on Weilai Automobile’s “2020 NIO Day”, Weilai released the first 150kWh solid-state battery, announcing that it can achieve an ultra-high energy density of 360Wh/kg, and the Weilai ET7 sedan equipped with this battery will have a battery life of more than 1,000 kilometers.

BAIC New Energy rolled off a pure electric prototype car equipped with a solid-state battery system in July 2020. This prototype is the first publicly available driving solid-state battery prototype in China.

Dongfeng Technology Center and Ganfeng Lithium Battery formally signed a contract in July 2021. The two parties negotiated on solid-state battery demonstration operation cooperation and signed a solid-state battery E70 model promotion agreement. It is understood that this year, Dongfeng will take the lead in completing the announcement of solid-state battery vehicles and complete vehicle delivery before the Spring Festival.

SAIC has developed strategic cooperation with solid-state battery start-ups such as Quantum Scape, Solid Energy, and Qingtao.

SVOLT, a subsidiary of Great Wall Motors, has also put forward a very specific solid-state battery technology development plan…

Those companies that deploy solid-state batteries

According to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 50 companies in the world developing solid-state batteries. In terms of market demand, it is predicted that by 2030, the global demand for solid-state batteries is expected to reach 500GWh, which is conservatively estimated to form a market size of more than 300 billion RMB.

Representative battery companies include BYD, CATL leading in top 10 solid state battery companies , China Innovation Airlines, Guoxuan High-tech, Ganfeng Lithium, SVOLT, Huineng Technology, Qingtao Energy, Weilan New Energy, LG New Energy, Quantum Scape, etc.

The progress related to solid-state batteries of representative companies is as follows:

BYD: The China’s solid-state battery patent is the first, and it is rumored that the solid-state battery can be mass-produced and loaded at any time.

CATL: In 2016, it will deploy sulfide solid-state battery research and development, and it is said that it is expected to be commercialized after 2030.

China Chuangxin Airlines: It has produced solid-state batteries, and will increase R&D investment in the field of solid-state batteries in the future.

Guoxuan Hi-Tech: In 2017, Guoxuan Hi-Tech announced that it has begun to develop solid-state batteries and solid electrolytes. It is developing next-generation power battery production technology and production equipment in the United States and Japan, and related products will use semi-solid battery technology.

Ganfeng Lithium: In March 2018, Ganfeng Lithium stated that it will carry out extensive testing work on solid-state batteries, and will build the first-generation solid-state lithium battery production line in December 2018; it will complete the sales of 300 million RMB of solid-state lithium batteries in December 2019. And promote the maturation of the second-generation solid-state lithium battery technology, and realize the feasibility study of the third-generation solid-state lithium battery

SVOLT: plans to use solid-state batteries with an energy density of 350-500Wh/Kg in mass-produced vehicles in 2025. At present, breakthroughs have been made in the research and development of semi-solid battery technology, and the “jelly battery” has been launched.

Huineng Technology: At present, Huineng solid-state lithium ceramic batteries have been mass-produced and shipped, and can be used in mobile phone accessories, wearable devices and other fields. At the same time, solid-state batteries for new energy vehicles have also been successfully developed. In 2021, semi-solid batteries will reach 1GWh capacity by 2024. Achieve mass production of all solid-state batteries.

Qingtao Energy: In 2020, a new energy prototype equipped with Qingtao Energy’s solid-state batteries will be successfully rolled off the assembly line at BAIC. At the same time, Qingtao’s first phase of 1GWh solid-state power battery project has been put into production.

Weilan New Energy: Achieve 1GWh production capacity in 2021 and 20GWh in 2026.

LG New Energy: plans to commercialize lithium-sulfur batteries by the end of 2025, and commercialize all solid-state batteries between 2025 and 2027.

Quantum Scape: Received a key investment from the Volkswagen Group, and went public in November 2020 through SPAC, and plans to establish a 1GWh trial production line in 2024.

Solid Power: Received investment from BMW, Ford, etc. to develop all-solid-state batteries for vehicles, which are expected to be installed in 2022…

Summarize

With the help of capital, investment in the field of solid-state batteries continues to be hot internationally.

A few days ago, Xiaomi Group, Huawei Technologies, IDG Capital, Weilai Capital, etc. have jointly invested about 500 million RMB in Weilai battery supplier Weilan New Energy. The valuation of Weilan New Energy in this round of financing reached 5 billion RMB; Huineng Technology also Recently completed a new round of financing with a financing amount of US$326 million (approximately RMB 2.085 billion). Investors include Chunhua Capital, Danfeng Capital and SoftBank China.

SAIC and GAC previously led the investment in the E+ and E++ rounds of solid-state battery company Qingtao Energy respectively.

In general, solid-state batteries have been walking on the vents. Whether for car companies, power battery companies or start-ups, it is a new track full of potential but extremely challenging.

The fast-developing solid-state battery does not have to wait another 5-10 years. Please do not be surprised if it arrives early!