The evolution of global power batteries can be seen from the mass production and installation of Honeycomb cobalt-free batteries

Basic innovations and industrial breakthroughs based on electrochemical materials are allowing Chinese companies to occupy a "new heights" in global power battery technology.

On August 29, the 24th Chengdu International Auto Show opened at the China Western International Expo City. Honeycomb Energy was the only battery company participating in the exhibition. At the auto show, the ORA Cherry Cat, the first car equipped with Honeycomb Energy's cobalt-free battery, was also unveiled.

As the first pure electric SUV under the Great Wall Ora brand, one of the most popular highlights of the Cherry Cat model is that it is the first to be equipped with Honeycomb Energy's cobalt-free battery pack system, with a total power of 82.5kWh and a system energy density of 170Wh/kg, supporting a working range of over 600 kilometers.

Compared with high-nickel ternary batteries of the same level, the honeycomb cobalt-free battery cell has a lower cost and a cycle life of more than 3,000 times. It can easily pass the 150°C hot box test and the 140% SOC overcharge test, and has multiple international standard certifications.

The public debut of the ORA Cherry Cat model means that Honeycomb Energy's cobalt-free batteries have entered large-scale mass production and installation, indicating that Honeycomb Energy has surpassed international companies such as Tesla, Panasonic, and LG Chem to become the world's first battery company to truly realize the industrialization of cobalt-free batteries.

Starting with supporting Cherry Cat, the installation of Honeycomb Energy's cobalt-free batteries has begun to accelerate. At present, it has been designated by many domestic automobile customers, and the promotion of international first-tier automobile companies is also proceeding simultaneously.

In terms of cobalt-free battery product planning, Honeycomb Energy has launched a total of 4 products on the H platform and E platform, which can cover all vehicle models from A00 to B+ class, and support a range of 400+ to 800+ kilometers.

The H platform covers two specifications, 115Ah and 155Ah, using a single crystal 4.3V positive electrode, a single cell energy density of 240Wh/kg, a cost 10% lower than 811, and improved safety performance compared to 811. Currently, the 115Ah product has been mass-produced and installed. Based on the H platform, Honeycomb also plans to have an H Plus product with a specification of 157Ah, using a single crystal 4.35V positive electrode, a single cell energy density of 250Wh/kg, a cost 15% lower than 811, and an increase in the fast charging rate to 1.6C. It is expected to achieve SOP in 2023.

The E platform product specification is 115 Ah and uses low-nickel and cobalt-free positive electrode materials. Its cost and safety are close to LFP, while its energy density of 220Wh/kg is more advantageous than LFP. SOP will be achieved in 2023.

In terms of capacity planning, cobalt-free batteries will first be mass-produced at the Maanshan base, and the total capacity planned in the future will exceed 10GWh.

Why Honeycomb Energy?

Cobalt-free batteries are an important direction of the evolution of global power battery technology and are also the focus of mainstream car companies and leading battery companies at this stage. However, the industrial breakthrough from 0 to 1 was first completed by a Chinese startup battery company. The reasons behind this are worth exploring by the industry.

Industry observers believe that Honeycomb Energy’s pioneering achievement in mass production of cobalt-free batteries is closely related to its strategic positioning and corporate genes.

Honeycomb Energy, which was born out of a car company, has clearly identified cobalt-free batteries as its core product strategy since its establishment in 2018, with the aim of solving the real pain points of car companies such as power battery cost, safety, and endurance.

The logic behind this choice is that, from an internal perspective, as an emerging enterprise, Hive is not bound by inherent traditions and is not blindly following them. This means that its innovations in products, manufacturing, processes and other aspects do not have too much business burden and internal resistance. At the same time, the genetic background of the car company allows it to fully formulate product strategies based on customer needs.

From the perspective of external market competition, it is obviously unrealistic for latecomers to continue using the original material system batteries and rely on economies of scale to participate in direct market competition. Only through differentiated innovation in products and technologies can they compete with leading companies in a staggered manner.

Based on the above considerations, Honeycomb Energy chose cobalt-free batteries as its market breakthrough, and concentrated its firepower on systematic innovation in basic materials, battery cell technology, equipment manufacturing, structural design and other aspects of cobalt-free batteries. After several years, it has invested more than 500 million yuan in research and development funds, more than 1,200 R&D personnel, and 120 material and battery cell experts, and finally overcame the industry's difficulties and fully mastered the core cobalt-free technology, thereby quickly establishing its own differentiated competitive advantage in the industry.

Timeline for the industrialization of cobalt-free batteries by Honeycomb Energy

Starting from the most basic material link, Honeycomb Energy has significantly improved the nickel-lithium ion mixing problem and cycle life problem of cobalt-free layered materials through cation doping technology, single crystal technology and nano-network coating, enabling cobalt-free materials to overcome key obstacles and move towards the stage of large-scale application.

Based on this, it began to explore the production of cobalt-free materials, with a total investment of 1.63 billion yuan to build a cobalt-free battery material factory with an annual output of 20,000 tons. In April 2021, the cobalt-free positive electrode materials of Honeycomb Energy's Changzhou factory went into mass production.

In the battery cell process, Honeycomb Energy's cobalt-free batteries chose the square stacking process from the very beginning. Considering the demand trend for standardization, large capacity and large size in automotive-grade power batteries, the square stacking process has the comprehensive advantages of low internal resistance, high energy density, high high-rate discharge capacity, and not easy to deform.

In order to improve the efficiency of the stacking process, Honeycomb Energy has jointly developed more efficient stacking equipment with domestic and foreign equipment companies. Its 3.0 stacking technology can increase the speed to 0.125 seconds per stack, which is comparable to the speed of the winding production process.

In terms of battery product specification selection, Honeycomb has also carried out differentiated designs and innovations. Its battery cells cover the battery cell design based on the 590 module and the L3 thin-film long battery cell based on the matrix PACK design to meet the differentiated needs of different car companies.

In terms of product verification, the cobalt-free battery pack has been carried on the ORA prototype vehicle for road testing since 2020. It has passed a number of vehicle performance tests including water wading experiments, enhanced road tests, vehicle charging and discharging performance, rapid acceleration, deceleration battery performance, and full-vehicle battery pack insulation inspection, with a cumulative test mileage of 800,000 kilometers and excellent test data performance.

It is precisely the full-chain disruptive innovation and R&D investment planned from the very beginning that enabled Honeycomb Energy's cobalt-free battery to be the first in the industry to achieve industrialization from 0 to 1.

At the same time, in parallel with the mass production of cobalt-free batteries, Honeycomb Energy has also demonstrated "Honeycomb speed" in various aspects such as capacity deployment, customer expansion, and financing process. This has enabled it to firmly establish itself in the TOP10 camp in China and begin to stride forward into the international first-tier echelon.

Mass production of cobalt-free batteries shows the evolution of global power batteries

Taking Honeycomb Energy's cobalt-free battery as a window to observe the development of the industry, combined with the latest trends of global automakers and battery companies at this stage, it is not difficult to draw the following conclusions:

First, in the TWh era, getting rid of the shortage of core resources is becoming more urgent, and it has also become the layout direction of global battery companies.

Power batteries have entered a new industrial cycle and are moving into the TWh era. With the large-scale release of production capacity, the shortage of core resources is becoming more and more urgent, especially the shortage of cobalt resources. Whether it is the cobalt-free battery deployed by Honeycomb Energy or the sodium-ion battery launched by CATL, the purpose is to get rid of the shortage of core resources.

The world's cobalt reserves are currently only 7.1 million tons, while China's cobalt reserves are about 80,000 tons, accounting for only about 1% of the world's reserves. In the tide of global electrification, the scarcity of cobalt resources will seriously threaten the supply chain security of electric vehicles. After the mass production of Honeycomb Energy's cobalt-free batteries, more companies will join the cobalt-free battery camp.

The mass production of Honeycomb Energy's cobalt-free batteries will help the global power battery industry, especially the Chinese power battery industry, to get rid of its long-term dependence on cobalt resources and avoid it hindering the large-scale development of new energy vehicles. At the same time, by removing cobalt, it will also help to significantly reduce the cost of power batteries.