Will 2019 be the year of solid-state battery explosion?

Solid-state batteries, as one of the important new technology routes for the next generation, have always been highly anticipated. Recently, Nezha Auto has officially reached a comprehensive and in-depth cooperation with Qingtao Energy to jointly promote the research and development and application of solid-state batteries and accelerate the commercialization of new energy vehicles. This is another new car-making force that has strategically deployed solid-state batteries after Skywell Auto, NIO, and AIWAYS; the commercialization process of new energy vehicles with solid-state batteries is accelerating.

It is noted that Qingtao Energy, which has reached a cooperation with Nezha Auto, is a technology company focusing on the industrial transformation of new energy materials technology. It has currently built an independent intellectual property system for the industrialization of solid-state lithium batteries . As early as November last year, Qingtao Energy's solid-state lithium battery production line with a daily output of 10,000 solid-state batteries was put into production. The battery energy density can reach more than 400Wh/kg. The products will be mainly used in special power supplies, high-end digital and other fields, and are expected to enter the power battery application field in 2020.

It is understood that Qingtao Energy, founded by the team of Academician Nan Cewen of Tsinghua University, is one of the earliest teams in China to carry out research and development of all-solid-state lithium battery technology. The company has applied for nearly 100 patents around the research and development of solid-state lithium batteries. At present, it has overcome a series of problems such as mass production of solid-state electrolyte materials, solid-state electrolyte membrane forming technology, composite positive and negative electrode formulation process, and solid-solid interface between pole pieces and electrolyte membranes, and has successfully realized the industrialization of research and development results such as oxide solid-state electrolyte materials and functional ion conductor ceramic composite diaphragms.

Judging from the market situation, new car-making forces have always been bold in their layout in core technologies such as power batteries. For example, NIO ES6 became the first model equipped with CATL (71.150, 0.30, 0.42%) NCM811 batteries, which have higher energy density and driving range. However, it is difficult to achieve a balance between performance and safety under the existing liquid lithium power battery system, so the exploration of the next generation of power battery technology is imperative.

The industry generally believes that solid-state batteries are the main development trend in the future. The negative electrode of solid-state lithium batteries can use metallic lithium, and the battery energy density is expected to reach 300-400Wh/kg or even higher. It can match high-voltage electrode materials, further improve the mass energy density, and have more advantages in supporting long-distance driving of electric vehicles . Compared with the liquid lithium-ion batteries currently on the market , solid-state batteries use solid electrolytes, which are non-flammable, non-corrosive, non-volatile, and do not have leakage problems.

This year can be said to be the year of the explosion of solid-state battery layout by automakers. Just last month, AIWAYS and ProLogium Technology reached a cooperation agreement. The two parties will jointly develop and apply solid-state batteries as related technologies for vehicle power batteries, and promote the commercialization of power solid-state batteries. In August this year, NIO and ProLogium Technology reached a strategic cooperation. The two parties will jointly build a prototype car using ProLogium MAB solid-state battery pack. In the future, as the prototype car rolls off the production line, the two parties will have a more in-depth discussion on the production cooperation of solid-state battery packs.

Before NIO, Skywell Auto exhibited the ME7 prototype, the first electric car equipped with solid-state batteries in China, in early 2019. Zhang Hailiang, chairman and CEO of Skywell Auto, said that Skywell solid-state batteries will be mass-produced and installed on the market in 2021, and the energy density of the battery cells can exceed 300Wh/kg. By then, Skywell Auto may become the first OEM in China to adopt solid-state batteries, and Skywell ME7 may also become the first new energy vehicle in China to use solid-state batteries as a power source. During the Shanghai Auto Show in April this year, Skywell Auto reached a cooperation with Huineng Technology in the solid-state battery business.

It is reported that ProLogium, which has reached cooperation with the three new car-making forces, actually achieved mass production of solid-state batteries a few years ago, but those products were mainly used in the field of consumer electronics. In the past two years, the company has accelerated its layout in the field of new energy vehicles. The G1 factory built by ProLogium in Taiwan in 2013 is the world's first production line that can realize the production of solid-state lithium battery rolls, and plans to complete the 1GWh expansion by the end of 2019, when its total solid-state battery production capacity will reach 1.5-2GWh.

In addition to reaching an agreement with vehicle manufacturers, ProLogium has also strengthened its cooperation with battery companies. In April 2019, ProLogium and Narada Power (11.340, -0.35, -2.99%) reached a preliminary consensus on the solid-state battery production technology licensing cooperation case. ProLogium licensed the solid-state battery cell production technology with an energy density of about 240Wh/kg to Narada Power, and provided the core equipment and materials required for production. Narada Power will build the first 1GWh scale solid-state battery production line.