According to statistics from the my country Chemical and Physical Power Sources Industry Association, the total output of various types of lithium-ion batteries in my country in 2016 was 87.3 GWh, an increase of 42% year-on-year. Among them, the output of power lithium-ion batteries reached 33 GWh. The Power Lithium Battery Application Branch of the my country Chemical and Physical Power Sources Industry Association predicts that the market size of 2 million new energy vehicles will be reached by 2020, requiring approximately 130 GWh of power lithium batteries. The power lithium battery industry is developing rapidly and urgently needs national standards to regulate it and prevent disorderly and vicious competition. The standardization of power lithium batteries was one of the important topics at the International Lithium Industry Summit Forum held in Qinghai recently. For power lithium batteries to achieve a safe rise, the standardization issue must be resolved first.
Standards are the universal language of business.
While different organizations and documents may interpret standards in different ways, their importance is universally acknowledged. Liu Fei, chief representative of the ASTM International office in my country, believes that standards are the universal language of business; without standards, transactions cannot be completed.
In recent years, my country has initially established a support system for the development, management, recycling, and standardization of the power lithium battery industry. However, objectively speaking, this system still needs improvement, and many issues require further research. Wang Zidong, director of the Power Lithium Battery Laboratory at the my country North Vehicle Research Institute, stated that standardized production is essential for extending the lifespan of power lithium batteries and enabling their reuse. Wang Zidong has repeatedly emphasized the significance of standardization for the power lithium battery industry, believing that domestic companies have not given it sufficient attention.
According to Pi Yahui, project manager at TÜV Rheinland, safety standards are crucial for lithium-ion batteries. He believes that safety management is a fundamental management measure for all lithium-ion energy storage systems, and all lithium-ion batteries should be equipped with independent electronic protection measures and electroplating protection measures that are resistant to vibration.
Standards system for exporting power lithium batteries
Currently, the more common international standards systems include ISO (International Organization for Standardization), IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission), ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials), and UL (Underwriters Laboratories).
According to Battery my country Network, these standards, in terms of the formulation of safety management standards for power lithium-ion batteries, are roughly divided into four steps: first, to identify what dangers lithium-ion batteries may pose and their root causes; second, to identify failure modes; third, to implement hazard control; and fourth, to set up protective measures for hazard sources to prevent escalation of danger.
Regarding the types of testing, these global standards can be divided into two categories for testing power lithium-ion batteries: one is testing the limits of battery stability, analyzing the nature and intensity of pressures that may cause potential harm to lithium-ion batteries. The second is conducting vibration tests to ensure the safety of power lithium batteries when vehicles are driving on actual roads.
These international testing standards mainly cover external short circuits, abnormal charging, forced charging, squeezing, impact, collision, vibration, heating, low thermal shock, continuous low-speed charging, and fire.
The formulation of standards for power lithium batteries should have a global perspective.
Within my country's power lithium battery system, standards for power cells, power lithium battery modules, and safety protection requirements are mostly formulated by companies or alliances with strong technical capabilities, generally guided by the successful implementation of power lithium battery product technology. However, from a global market perspective, advanced international standards systems, including those of Japan and South Korea, are universal standards rather than specific roadmaps. This underscores the importance of consistent and unified standards, a fundamental requirement for standard development.
Compared to other countries, my country's power lithium battery standards system still needs improvement. Liu Fei believes that my country's power lithium battery standards are mostly product-oriented, limited to the domestic market, and lack a global perspective. He stated that although Japan and South Korea's power lithium battery technology is more advanced than ours, their markets can still be incorporated into our standards system.
Furthermore, a good standard should emphasize product quality, relevance to objectives, and effectiveness in use. It should be user-oriented first, and then market-oriented. More importantly, the composition of the standard-setting committee should be as diverse as possible, including relevant personnel from government, companies, experts, and even competitors, to jointly develop the power lithium battery standard. This is because the core competitiveness of a good standard lies in the people who set it, the team behind it, and the operational mechanism.
The GB standard for power lithium batteries will be enforced.
my country's existing standards system for power lithium batteries is mainly divided into several aspects, including electrical performance, lifespan, safety, interchangeability, recyclability, and key accessories. To improve the product standards system, more standards are currently under review or being developed.
According to Battery my country Network, two standards for the specifications and dimensions of power lithium batteries, and the coding system, are currently under review for approval. Standards for the management system, disassembly, packaging, transportation, secondary use, and material recycling of power lithium batteries are also being developed. Notably, the standards committee is developing the GB standard for power lithium batteries and has established a special research group on vibration and thermal runoff, calling on numerous domestic automakers to participate. It is understood that once this standard is released, it will be enforced by the state.
With the development of my country's new energy vehicle industry, expanding into international markets will be a crucial future direction. The standardization system for power lithium batteries will inevitably include the global market, making standard setting particularly important. Wang Fang, chief expert at the my country Automotive Technology Research Center, told BatteryChina.com that she hopes companies can start from the source of materials, comprehensively considering factors such as the analysis of material safety mechanisms, research on battery safety behavior, and the management and control of battery module and system safety, forming a closed-loop safety design concept, and ensuring the entire system is well-designed from a testing and analysis perspective.
Wang Fang offered two key reminders for power lithium battery companies: First, battery safety is relative. When designing battery systems, companies must understand the safety range of their batteries and strengthen protection for weak points during the design process. Second, they must pay attention to the thermal mechanisms and methods of the battery itself and utilize system integration concepts to make the cells safer.
my country's new energy vehicle industry has moved from the introduction phase to the development phase, and the power lithium battery industry has also experienced rapid growth. However, with Chinese companies expanding into overseas markets and the arrival of a wave of retired power lithium batteries, the further development of power lithium batteries will be hampered by increasingly prominent standardization issues. For power lithium batteries to achieve a safe and sustainable future, the standardization problem must be solved first, establishing a complete, effective, and more rational power lithium battery standard system to allow products to flow freely within this network of standards.
