Tesla's anode-free battery is coming. This domestic company is currently in trial production, which may not be good for anode equipment manufacturers

Following the recent news that Tesla's 4680 tab-free battery has been put into production, domestic manufacturers have also made substantial progress in this field. Cailian reporter recently learned from Penghui Energy that the company's tab-free production line is currently in the trial production and debugging stage, and the 40135 tab-free battery is expected to be put into production at the end of September. The company's chairman Peru Hongli revealed that "many customers are interested in the company's full tab products, and the order intentions are mainly in the fields of energy storage, low-speed electric vehicles and two-wheeled vehicles."

It is worth noting that several research reports from institutions believe that tab-free batteries are essentially full tabs. As the number of tabs increases, the number of tab die-cutting and tab laser welding equipment used for tab processing increases. However, according to the reporter's multi-party research, tab-free batteries do not require traditional tabs, and their production basically does not require tab cutting equipment, so the launch of tab-free batteries is not good for tab equipment manufacturers.

The anode-free battery is expected to be put into production at the end of September

According to industry sources, Tesla's previously released 4680 tab-free battery has been put into production at Tesla's factory. Previously, Tesla said that the energy density of the 4680 tab-free battery cells has increased by 5 times, the vehicle's cruising range has increased by 16%, and the power has increased by 6 times compared to tab-free batteries.

Penghui Energy has also long been planning for tab-free batteries. Reporters learned that the company plans to expand its large cylindrical production capacity of 1GWh in Henan, and is expected to start production at the end of September this year. The company's large cylindrical 40135 battery adopts a tab-free structure, lithium iron phosphate low-temperature superconducting and full-cycle dynamic balancing technology, and has the characteristics of super power, super long battery life, and wide temperature range.

Regarding the difference between Penghui Energy's anode-free battery and Tesla's, Lu Hongli said that the company's 40135 anode-free battery is basically similar to Tesla's anode-free battery in structure, but the size and electrochemical system are different. At the same time, based on the company's business considerations, the downstream application areas and customer groups are different.

According to him, the current order intentions for 40135 tab-free batteries are mainly in the fields of energy storage, low-speed electric vehicles and two-wheeled vehicles. Since the production cost of large cylindrical batteries can be lower than other types of two-wheeled vehicle batteries on the market, they are more competitive. As for the gross profit, it is necessary to consider the order price after business negotiations with customers.

Penghui Energy's main business is the research and development, production and sales of lithium-ion batteries, primary batteries (lithium iron batteries, lithium manganese batteries, etc.), and nickel-hydrogen batteries. The main downstream application areas are consumer digital, new energy vehicles, light power and energy storage.

In terms of capacity expansion, in addition to the above-mentioned large cylindrical battery capacity, the company's square aluminum shell battery capacity is planned to be 5GWh this year. The Henan and Changzhou bases will expand production by 2GWh each, and the Zhuhai base will expand production by 1GWh. Among them, Changzhou’s 1GWh capacity production line has entered the mass production stage, and another 4GWh capacity production line is expected to be put into production in the second half of the year.

Basically no tab cutting equipment is required

The launch of tab-free batteries is highly anticipated by the market due to the higher energy density of the single cell, which can effectively increase the battery life. A previous research report pointed out that tab-free batteries are essentially full-tab batteries, which solve the problems of high resistance and easy heating of tabs with few tabs to cope with fast charging and discharging. As the number of tabs increases, the number of tab die-cutting and tab laser welding equipment used for tab processing will also increase accordingly.

However, according to Cailianshe reporters' extensive research, this is not the case.

According to Lu Hongli, the tab-free structure is relatively simpler than ordinary cylindrical batteries. Tab-free is understood as full tabs, but the production process basically does not require tab cutting equipment. Compared with bipolar tab batteries, tab-free batteries do not require traditional tabs.

"The battery is divided into positive and negative electrodes. The tabs are metal conductors that lead the positive and negative electrodes out of the battery cell. In fact, a tab-free battery is a battery without a motor interface and a Tab. Its core design concept is to directly connect the positive and negative current collectors with the cover/shell, thereby exponentially increasing the current conduction area and shortening the current conduction distance, thereby greatly reducing the internal resistance of the battery." An industry insider analyzed.

Regarding this process, a lithium battery equipment person said, "There should be no special requirements for pole ear welding, and there will be no special equipment. The substrate supplier can solve the problem by processing the substrate and fine-tuning the front and middle equipment of the battery cell." But he also pointed out, "There are not many such production lines now, and it is hard to say what it will look like in the end."

It is worth noting that another leading lithium battery equipment manufacturer also emphasized that lasers are not only used for cutting tabs, but are also widely used for welding internal cells, including module welding and battery cell forming, which has not affected orders. In addition, lithium battery equipment manufacturers currently have full orders, and orders are still in accordance with previous process requirements.