A lithium-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that primarily works by the movement of lithium ions between the positive and negative electrodes.
During charging and discharging, lithium ions move back and forth between the two electrodes, inserting and de-intercalating.
Compared to other battery systems such as lead-acid batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries, lithium-ion batteries have advantages such as high energy density, high operating voltage, low self-discharge, no memory effect, long cycle life, fast charging, light weight, small size, and no pollution.
Since Sony and NEC Moli Energy (Canada) Ltd. commercialized lithium-ion batteries with different cathode materials in the 1990s, lithium-ion batteries have been widely used in consumer electronics, new energy vehicles and energy storage.
After more than 20 years of application and development, and with its large-scale use in new energy vehicles in recent years, lithium-ion batteries have become technologically mature and have a comprehensive industrial support system, driving the cost of new energy vehicles closer to that of gasoline vehicles, thus making them the mainstream power choice for new energy vehicles.
As the most critical core component of new energy vehicles, lithium-ion power batteries directly affect the performance of new energy vehicles, including their driving range, safety, lifespan, charging time, and adaptability to high and low temperatures; at the same time, they directly affect the cost of new energy vehicles, accounting for about 40% of the total vehicle cost.
Breakthroughs in power battery energy density, increased driving range, improved safety performance, extended lifespan, shortened charging time, optimized low-temperature performance, and reduced battery costs are key factors for new energy vehicles to replace traditional fuel vehicles, increase penetration rates, and shift from policy-driven to consumer-driven growth.
Benefiting from the rapid development of the global new energy vehicle industry since 2014, the demand for power batteries has grown rapidly.
Market data shows that global lithium-ion battery shipments reached 188.8 GWh in 2018, with consumer lithium batteries, power batteries, and energy storage lithium batteries accounting for 68.3 GWh, 107.0 GWh, and 13.5 GWh, respectively. In 2018, China's lithium-ion battery shipments reached 102.0 GWh, with consumer lithium batteries, power batteries, and energy storage lithium batteries accounting for 31.8 GWh, 65.0 GWh, and 5.2 GWh, respectively. The share of power batteries has now surpassed that of consumer lithium batteries.
