On December 5th, the third exchange meeting of the special project "Technology Upgrading and Industrial Chain Research of Power Lithium Batteries" initiated by the my country Electric Vehicle 100 Forum was held at the Tsinghua Unigroup International Exchange Center. More than 60 guests from universities, research institutes and companies discussed "Design, Process and Equipment of Power Lithium Batteries".
Industry experts agree that power lithium battery technology and equipment companies should pursue a high-end and international development path, formulate roadmaps for large-scale intelligent manufacturing, research manufacturing processes, methods and standards, and guard against the "technological hollowing out" of power lithium battery manufacturing.
Equipment companies need to move towards high-end and international standards.
The rapid development of new energy vehicles has spurred the expansion of lithium battery production, leading to a surge in demand for lithium battery equipment in the second half of 2015. Lithium battery equipment first appeared in Japan and South Korea. In recent years, as the market share of Chinese battery companies has continued to increase, the market share of domestically produced equipment has also risen significantly. Currently, the domestic substitution rate for lithium battery equipment has reached 50%, and it is projected to reach 80% by 2020.
Experts at the meeting stated that significant deficiencies in domestic equipment exist in areas such as batching systems, coating machines, slitting machines, assembly lines, logistics and warehousing systems, production and manufacturing systems, and online monitoring systems.
Ouyang Minggao, executive vice chairman of the my country EV100, believes that the rapid increase in market size necessitates the optimization of material systems and the formulation of manufacturing process requirements based on material characteristics. Furthermore, increasingly stringent requirements are being placed on products by end-users, and the level of automation may still lag behind advanced international levels.
Shen Xi, General Manager of the Energy Storage and Automotive Battery Plant of BYD's Second Business Division, pointed out that the development of power lithium battery equipment should revolve around "four highs" and "two majors." The "four highs" refer to the equipment's high reliability, high precision, high efficiency, and high automation. The "two majors" refer to the fact that equipment development should be based on large-scale production, integrating and optimizing equipment under the premise of mass production capability; secondly, equipment development should be an integration of a large system, organically connecting the entire system to effectively control all aspects of battery production.
The quality of lithium battery cell performance is directly determined by the automation equipment used. Currently, competition between domestic and international equipment manufacturers is mainly focused on cell technology and top-end equipment. Domestic equipment manufacturers have already reached the level of leading Japanese and Korean companies in the mid-to-late stages of the battery production process, and a number of leading domestic companies have emerged, continuously integrating the market and expanding their industrial layout.
Wang Yanqing, chairman of Wuxi Pioneer Technology Co., Ltd., pointed out that for domestically produced equipment, high-end, intelligent and international are the development directions.
Industry experts say that in addition to cultivating leading companies in power lithium batteries, efforts should also be made to cultivate leading companies in production equipment, and to increase support for these leading companies in technological upgrading and R&D innovation. As leading companies, they should expand their coverage across the entire industry chain, engage in mergers and acquisitions, and pursue economies of scale.
The government can provide support in terms of policies and regulations, financing channels, and subsidies through dedicated funds. Companies should increase investment in research and development, pursue internationalization, and quickly learn from the relevant experiences of advanced foreign companies. Of course, this doesn't mean simply copying them; it means adhering to independent research and development, mastering independent intellectual property rights, and using the mid-to-back-end to drive technological progress and improvement in front-end equipment.
Standardization is a prerequisite for realizing intelligent manufacturing of power lithium batteries.
Li Jianjun, director of the lithium battery laboratory at Tsinghua University, believes that batteries in electric vehicles or energy storage systems are now large-scale series and parallel systems, which places higher demands on battery manufacturing processes, technology, and control.
The manufacturing process for lithium-ion batteries is highly complex, involving numerous steps, each of which impacts battery performance. The entire manufacturing process requires environmental control, and production must be more scientific, rational, and standardized to minimize human intervention. Furthermore, employing high-precision and stable equipment allows for rigorous and effective monitoring and control of every stage of battery production, reducing battery variability and thus improving overall battery quality.
Yang Rukun, Chairman of Jiyang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., explained that from a control process perspective, management boils down to four aspects: fixed-point control, foreign object management, appropriate management, and online monitoring. Some new technologies can be introduced, such as solid-state battery manufacturing via sputtering, laser die-cutting, stacked winding, and high-speed assembly technology.
Yang Rukun pointed out that currently, power lithium batteries are produced on a 1MWh production line, which suffers from problems such as low qualified output, poor consistency, poor safety, troublesome maintenance, and high cost. In the future, a single production line will need to produce 1GWh to 5GWh, an increase of 1,000 to 1,000 times. To achieve this goal, in addition to large-scale manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing is an important solution.
Industry experts analyze that our power lithium battery manufacturing is currently in the "basic intelligent" stage, with a pass rate of about 90% across the industry. In the future, we hope to improve the overall pass rate of batteries to over 99% through intelligent manufacturing.
Regarding the path to achieving large-scale intelligent manufacturing, industry experts say that a lot of work needs to be done, from size, output, digitalization, and full-process monitoring to the integration of the manufacturing process, as well as equipment interconnection, interoperability, and interoperability.
The manufacturing of power lithium batteries is developing towards intelligent manufacturing, which can be divided into three main stages. The first stage is to achieve automated factories, where automation of each process reduces labor costs. The second stage is to achieve digital factories, which have comprehensive analytical capabilities, enabling faster and more accurate production decisions. The third stage is to achieve smart factories, which combine existing assets, resources, and infrastructure with digital processes to further optimize operations.
Industry experts generally believe that standardized production is a prerequisite for intelligent manufacturing of power lithium batteries. Yang Xulai, Executive Vice President of Guoxuan High-Tech Engineering Research Institute, pointed out that standardized production of battery cells involves standardization from front-end manufacturing equipment to back-end PACK equipment. Liu Zhen, Deputy General Manager of Fujian Xingyun Electronics Co., Ltd., believes that standardization in the design and processes of battery cells and battery packs is currently a prerequisite for large-scale manufacturing of power lithium batteries. He also stated that many power lithium battery production equipment are not yet standardized, which wastes too much cost and effort for equipment manufacturing companies.
Large-scale manufacturing is the future trend of power lithium battery production.
my country's electric vehicle industry is developing rapidly, leading to an explosive increase in demand for power lithium batteries. The number of electric vehicles in China is projected to reach 5 million by 2020. Liu Zhen stated that without large-scale manufacturing of power lithium battery systems, this demand cannot be met.
Mass production is the direction of production and an important way to reduce costs and improve quality. Its core is automated equipment, process monitoring systems, and production execution systems, including MES systems.
Liu Zhen believes that achieving large-scale manufacturing currently faces numerous challenges, such as the fact that power lithium battery system production is still primarily semi-automated; insufficient collaboration between battery system manufacturers and automation equipment companies; inadequate supply chain cooperation; insufficient design verification of battery modules, with many failing to undergo systematic evaluation and testing; and immature key process designs for battery modules, resulting in insufficient verification and low first-pass yields. Achieving large-scale manufacturing requires collaborative efforts from battery companies, BMS R&D companies, battery pack system companies, equipment companies, and vehicle manufacturers across the supply chain.
Xiao Chengwei, director of the 18th Research Institute of my country Electronics Technology Group Corporation, believes that when it comes to large-scale process equipment, one should look at its degree of automation, including the reliability of the process, production, and equipment, as well as the precision of control.
Furthermore, MES systems are indispensable for all modern manufacturing. The difficulty for equipment companies lies in the fact that almost all equipment is "non-standard." Preliminary communication for building a production line might take six months, followed by another six months of manufacturing, meaning only one line might be built per year. If significant manpower and resources are invested, the costs become very high. If we were to develop the modules ourselves, I could design them for you, license all the patents to you, and you could buy my production line. For example, one company supplies battery cells, another makes PACK or BMS, and I have the modules; we can collaborate to complete the project.
Beware of the "hollowing out" of technology in the manufacture of power lithium batteries.
Chen Qingtai, chairman of the China EV100, analyzed that after entering the 1990s, power lithium batteries developed rapidly, and people saw hope. Therefore, everyone quickly focused their attention on electric vehicles, which in turn promoted extensive research on power lithium batteries. Power lithium batteries have a "positive feedback" process, so progress is relatively fast.
Electric vehicles have risen to the level of a national strategy in my country, and its production and sales volume are among the world's leading. However, many developed countries, including Germany, Europe, and Japan, have recently begun to ramp up their efforts, and are adjusting their strategies. The impact of these countries' major automakers' increased investment on my country's electric vehicle market is worth paying close attention to.
Wang Chiwei, vice president of Jiewei Power, believes that South Korea and Japan are particularly focused on equipment manufacturing, and they have a very thorough understanding of the equipment. The manufacturing process of power lithium batteries also needs this kind of strategic focus and market focus.
Chen Qingtai pointed out that his biggest concern is that while the production and sales of electric vehicles have increased, the industry remains technologically hollow, which is extremely dangerous. From the perspective of new energy vehicles, we must avoid repeating the path taken by gasoline-powered vehicles; the development of electric vehicles must start with solid, proprietary core technologies, avoiding the recurrence of "technological hollowing out." He believes that domestic companies have an opportunity, but this opportunity will likely only last three to five years, because major foreign automakers have sufficient reserves in every possible direction.
Chen Qingtai believes that many people talk about industry focus. Our country needs small giants. You shouldn't be too big in any field, but you should be unmatched by anyone else in that field. That is your competitiveness and that is your hope.
Industry experts generally believe that battery companies and equipment manufacturers should not be preoccupied with production volume, but should instead focus their efforts on core technologies and strive to improve quality. This involves a series of management aspects, including equipment and processes. The key is to master truly core technologies and build core competitiveness, rather than having 300GW or 500GW of production capacity sitting idle; such capacity represents outdated production capacity. my country's industries are in the process of development; if production capacity is ahead of its time, the pre-production phase will inevitably lag behind. The goal is to cultivate globally competitive companies.
"my country's demand for power lithium batteries is unprecedented. We should seize this opportunity and focus our efforts on improving core technologies and product quality, thereby enhancing our core competitiveness," Chen Qingtai emphasized.
