At the conference, in addition to discussing the development strategy of power lithium-ion batteries, the National Innovation Center for Power Lithium-ion Batteries was established, dedicated to tackling key technical challenges hindering the development of the power lithium-ion battery industry. On the eve of the explosive growth of new energy vehicles, this innovation center is being given high hopes.
Power lithium-ion batteries face bottlenecks
In 2015, my country's new energy vehicle production exceeded 300,000 units, making it the world's largest new energy vehicle market. It is projected that by 2020, the market share will reach 5 million vehicles, with production reaching 2 million units, creating a demand for over 100 GWh of power lithium-ion batteries. Unfortunately, while the production and sales of new energy vehicles in my country are rapidly expanding, the research and development of power lithium-ion batteries has failed to keep pace, and this has now become a bottleneck restricting the further development of my country's new energy vehicle industry.
Xiong Baiqing, vice president of the Beijing General Research Institute of Nonferrous Metals, told reporters that my country's domestically developed power lithium-ion batteries currently have weak range and are expensive, which greatly affects the popularization of new energy vehicles.
How to solve the challenges of power lithium-ion batteries, which are facing bottlenecks in production and technology?
Taking a 1.5-ton new energy vehicle as an example, if it achieves a range of 400 kilometers on a single charge, under current technology, the battery alone would weigh nearly 600 kilograms, and the battery manufacturing cost would be 150,000 to 200,000 yuan. Adding the price of the vehicle itself, a typical new energy vehicle would cost nearly 400,000 yuan, which is difficult for the average consumer to accept. Currently, this relies on substantial government subsidies, but this is unlikely to be sustainable in the long term.
Therefore, how to reduce battery weight without compromising battery range and lower the price is a test of breakthroughs in battery technology.
It is understood that there are three major bottlenecks in domestic power lithium-ion batteries: first, low specific energy; second, high battery manufacturing cost; and third, insufficient battery system life, with batteries needing to be completely phased out in about 5 to 8 years.
On the other hand, the frequent explosions and fires of electric vehicles have highlighted battery safety issues. Safety is the fundamental guarantee for the future development of new energy vehicles, and power lithium-ion batteries are a key component. Failure to ensure safety and reliability will severely damage consumer confidence and affect the development of the entire industry.
Forming a joint force to achieve a breakthrough
In fact, Japan and South Korea have always been at the forefront of technological research and development in power lithium-ion batteries. "Japan and South Korea are currently about 3 to 5 years ahead of us in terms of technology. While our 300-350 mAh lithium batteries are still in the laboratory stage, Japan and South Korea have already produced engineering samples," said Xiong Baiqing.
How to catch up with them and achieve a leapfrog development is a major challenge facing my country's power lithium-ion battery companies.
"First, we have integrated the resources and strengths of the entire industry to the greatest extent possible. This includes establishing the National Innovation Center for Power Lithium-ion Batteries. In addition to the Power Lithium-ion Battery Innovation Alliance, which has more than ten shareholders, we have also brought together fifty or sixty outstanding universities, research institutes, and companies in China. We have established a good intellectual property sharing mechanism within the alliance to jointly contribute our wisdom and share the research and development results of power lithium-ion batteries over the next five years," said Xiong Baiqing.
One of the biggest weaknesses of my country's power lithium-ion battery manufacturers is their weak R&D capabilities. Companies often operate independently, making it difficult to form a cohesive force. Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, frankly stated: "Overall, the development of my country's power lithium-ion battery industry still faces problems such as small, scattered, and weak companies, insufficient R&D investment, and a lack of long-term growth potential. There is still a gap in overall strength compared to internationally advanced companies, and product technology, industrial innovation capabilities, and market competitiveness all urgently need improvement."
It is understood that there are as many as four or five hundred power lithium-ion battery manufacturers in my country. The industry is highly fragmented and generally weak. There are only about ten companies with a production capacity of 1 million kilowatts of batteries, and even the largest company, BYD, has a market share of less than 15%.
Only by effectively integrating domestic R&D resources can technological breakthroughs be achieved.
With the support of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the Guolian Automotive Power Lithium-ion Battery Research Institute was established in September 2014 to create a domestic R&D center for power lithium-ion batteries. The institute was entirely funded by the company and the research institute itself. At the time of its establishment, nine entities raised 540 million yuan, with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), the MIIT, and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) all providing financial support.
"This creates a very good profit model. Through technology dissemination and technology transfer, we can obtain good returns in the next five years, and these returns can support the research and development of power lithium-ion batteries," Xiong Baiqing said.
According to Gan Yong, former vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of the expert group of the National Manufacturing Innovation Center, the establishment of the Power Lithium-ion Battery Innovation Center is "important for concentrating innovation capabilities and high-end R&D teams to form a synergy and achieve breakthroughs in the core common technologies of power lithium-ion batteries." He explained that in the R&D of power lithium-ion batteries, we must face up to the gap, especially compared with Japan and South Korea, my country's power lithium-ion batteries have a 30% to 40% lower specific energy and a 30% to 40% lower driving range.
