Current status of lithium-ion battery energy density
Battery energy density refers to the amount of electrical energy that can be stored in a given space, on average per unit volume. For the same volume or weight, a battery with higher energy density can store more electrical energy, resulting in a longer driving range for electric vehicles. Therefore, battery energy density has a significant impact on the driving range of electric vehicles, and the government has also set certain requirements for the energy density of lithium-ion batteries used in new energy vehicles through subsidies.
In 2017 and 2018, in addition to requirements on driving range, the national new energy vehicle subsidy also set requirements for energy density and energy consumption coefficient. The minimum energy density requirement was only 90Wh/kg in 2017, but it was increased to 105Wh/kg in 2018. Among them, the energy density of battery systems for non-fast charging pure electric buses must be higher than 115Wh/kg, an increase of 27.8%.
In 2018, with the widespread use of ternary lithium-ion batteries with higher energy density, the energy density of lithium batteries for electric vehicles has been greatly improved. Looking at the promotion catalog, the energy density of batteries used in electric vehicles launched in 2018 was generally around 140Wh/kg-170Wh/kg, but the majority were around 140Wh/kg, with very few exceeding 160Wh/kg.
The first batch of promotion catalogs for 2019 has been released. The information shows that the energy density of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles has reached 160Wh/kg in 2019, and it is estimated that models with energy densities exceeding 180Wh/kg will appear in the future.
The biggest benefit of increasing the energy density of lithium-ion batteries in pure electric vehicles is to increase the overall driving range of pure electric vehicles, thereby solving consumers' range anxiety about new energy vehicles. In the future, once the charging infrastructure for new energy vehicles is relatively complete, coupled with the improvement of battery energy density, this will be an important development direction for the new energy vehicle industry.
