Lithium battery companies continue to innovate and accelerate development

Nan Cewen, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and dean of the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering of Tsinghua University, said that the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee proposed that innovation should be the core of the overall situation of my country’s modernization construction, and scientific and technological self-reliance should be the strategic support of national development. Accelerate the building of a technological power. "The development of new energy vehicles is a major strategic decision of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. There are frequent favorable policies in the near future. We must actively integrate into this general trend and help the rapid large-scale application of solid-state lithium batteries."

Most current lithium batteries use a rare and expensive metal called cobalt as part of the cathode composition, but mining this material requires a huge environmental price. One of the more environmentally friendly alternatives is called lithium phosphate ion, and a new breakthrough can further improve the environmental performance of this cathode material, once it is used up, it can be restored to its original state, and the energy used is only the current method a small part of.

According to industry insiders, this year is an important year for the transformation and upgrading of the global automobile industry and for accelerating changes. The integration of electrification, intelligence, and sharing has become the theme of today's development of new energy vehicles and power batteries. Driven by favorable factors such as policies and markets, the power battery industry has ushered in a period of development opportunities. Power battery companies should pay attention to technological breakthroughs and disruptive technology innovation.

Since 2020, "cobalt-free" batteries have become a key word in the power battery industry, and industry leaders such as Tesla, BYD (002594) and CATL (300750) have entered. Pan Hua, deputy general manager of GEM (002340) Co., Ltd., said that the cost of the cobalt-free layered cathode material is lower and it shows certain advantages in price-sensitive fields. It is expected to have better applications in electric two-wheelers, energy storage and other fields. prospect. However, the first discharge capacity, cycle performance and rate performance of the cobalt-free layered cathode material need to be improved. There is still a long way to go to replace the NCM or NCA cathode material, which requires technical efforts.

The "cobalt-free" power battery is mainly based on cost considerations. Gao Fei, general manager of the Honeycomb Energy Cell R&D Center, said at the forum that consumers are price-sensitive. To promote the popularization of electric vehicles, cost reduction is a key requirement for the development and popularization of electrification. For the cost reduction of power batteries, raw materials are especially important. important.

The price of cobalt fluctuated sharply in the past ten years. In 2018, the price of cobalt materials rose to 600,000 yuan/ton, which seriously affected the healthy development of the entire industry. Therefore, the development of cobalt-free or less-cobalt technology, or advance storage and lock-in of cobalt prices, is to promote the battery An important guarantee for continued cost reduction.