Which company has the best battery technology for a 1,000-kilometer range?

A range of 1,000 kilometers is becoming an example of measuring a company's battery technology innovation.

Of course, achieving the above-mentioned battery life is not achieved by stacking batteries, but rather through innovations in battery materials, systems, and other aspects.

Since the beginning of this year, a number of battery companies including CATL, Guoxuan High-tech, and Honeycomb Energy have successively announced battery solutions with a range of 1,000 kilometers. However, each company’s technical route is different, with answers provided from the system level, the battery material level, and also from the cutting-edge technology level.

As for car companies, NIO, Zhiji Auto, GAC Aion and others have successively announced pure electric models with a range of 1,000 kilometers, which also means that related models have begun to gradually move towards mass production. Among them, GAC Aion declared a new model Aion LX in November last year, with a NEDC range of up to 1,008km, using sponge silicon negative electrode battery technology; NIO announced its 1,000-kilometer range model ET7 at the beginning of last year, using semi-solid battery technology, and is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year. In addition, it is reported that HiPhi is also expected to launch an electric model with a range of over 1,000 kilometers this year.

By comprehensively sorting out and comparing the 1,000-kilometer range solutions provided by various companies, we can actually see some development trends in the battery route.

CATL: System-level innovation + material iteration

On June 23, CATL officially released CTP 3.0, the Kirin battery technology, with a global record for system integration, a volume utilization rate of over 72%, and a system energy density of 255Wh/kg. CATL said that models equipped with Kirin batteries can easily achieve a vehicle range of 1,000 kilometers.

In terms of the technical path to achieve a range of 1,000 kilometers, CATL has currently announced that it will significantly improve the group efficiency and volume utilization through innovation in the battery system structure, while also using high-energy density battery cells. Within the original battery pack volume, the total battery capacity will be significantly increased.

In fact, to achieve a system energy density of 255Wh/kg, based on an 80% grouping efficiency, the cell energy density is expected to be around 320Wh/kg. Therefore, the editor speculates that in addition to the innovation of the system itself, CATL's cell itself has also made significant breakthroughs in materials compared to existing indicators in terms of achieving a 1,000-kilometer range solution. According to relevant information, it is expected that new materials such as high nickel and silicon negative electrodes have been applied to Kirin battery products.

According to the plan, CATL's CTP 3.0 Kirin battery will be mass-produced and launched in 2023. Currently, automakers including Ideal Auto, Lotus Auto and Nezha Auto have hinted that they will equip their models with Kirin batteries.

Guoxuan High-tech: Semi-solid-state battery + silicon anode

On May 28, Xu Xingwu, deputy director of the General Institute of Guoxuan High-tech Engineering Research Institute, revealed at the new product launch session of the company's 11th Science and Technology Conference that the semi-solid-state battery developed by Guoxuan with a single cell energy density of up to 360Wh/kg and a system energy density of 260Wh/kg will be installed in vehicles this year, "and it will be announced in the new car catalog released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in the near future."

According to Xu Xingwu, the battery pack of the vehicle equipped with semi-solid batteries has a capacity of 160kWh, a range of up to 1,000km, and a vehicle acceleration time of 0-100km/h of only 3.9s. "The semi-solid battery with an energy density of 360Wh/kg was developed by Guoxuan High-tech through material and process innovation, with a solid electrolyte coated on the surface of the positive electrode material particles, a silicon negative electrode, a new high-safety functional diaphragm and a high-safety liquid electrolyte."

In addition to the 360Wh/kg product that will be mass-produced this year, the company's 400Wh/kg ternary semi-solid-state battery currently has prototype samples in the company's laboratory.

Honeycomb Energy: Sulfur-based all-solid-state

Recently, SVOLT's all-solid-state battery laboratory has developed the first batch of 20Ah sulfur-based all-solid-state prototype batteries in China. The energy density of this series of batteries reaches 350-400Wh/kg, and it has successfully passed the needle puncture, 200℃ hot box and other experiments. Once mass-produced and applied in the future, electric vehicles can achieve a range of more than 1,000 kilometers.

According to information from Honeycomb Energy, Honeycomb is the first company in China to complete the research and development of a 20Ah-class sulfur-based all-solid-state prototype battery cell. Its all-solid-state laboratory adopts a sulfide technology route known in the industry as "hell-level development difficulty", and has deployed in the areas of sulfide electrolyte and thin film preparation technology, electrode and electrolyte membrane contact interface optimization, and sulfide all-solid-state battery preparation capabilities. It currently has independent research and development capabilities such as kilogram-level independent synthesis of solid-state electrolyte materials, continuous preparation of solid-state electrolyte membranes, assembly of all-solid-state soft-pack batteries, and development of new equipment. While accumulating experience, it has also carried out targeted layout of related patents. It has currently applied for 109 patents, including 93 invention patents.

Weilan New Energy: Semi-solid solution

In November last year, it was reported that the semi-solid-state batteries equipped in the NIO ET7 model with a range of more than 1,000 kilometers will be provided by Beijing Weilan New Energy.

It is understood that Weilan New Energy has built a 2GWh large-scale solid-liquid hybrid solid-state power battery production line, which mainly produces 350-360Wh/kg power batteries for new energy vehicles.

It is reported that the hybrid solid-liquid solid-state battery currently mass-produced by Weilan New Energy is not much different from the current liquid battery in terms of positive and negative electrode material system. It is mainly based on a material system such as modified high-nickel ternary, silicon-based negative electrode material plus hybrid solid-liquid-solid electrolyte, ion conductive membrane, etc.

As for car companies, GAC Aion's first 1,000-kilometer range model, Aion LX, uses silicon doping in the negative electrode to make the silicon negative electrode sheet inside the battery as soft and elastic as a sponge, so that the expansion and contraction of silicon during the charging and discharging process is limited and buffered, and it will not break; at the same time, the silicon negative electrode sheet also absorbs water like a sponge, allowing the silicon negative electrode to play the advantage of large capacity and store more energy. The technologies involved include "nano-composite silicon technology", "self-healing adhesive", "gradient composite coating technology", etc. Zhiji Auto has jointly developed the "silicon-doped lithium-supplemented battery cell" technology with CATL. The two parties will share technical patents and work together to complete various rigorous vehicle tests. In the future, it will be the first in the world to apply this battery technology and mass-produce power batteries equipped with this technology.

From the above, we can see that in terms of the 1,000-kilometer range, various companies currently achieve this mainly through materials, processes, system innovation and other dimensions. In terms of new material applications, high nickel/ultra-high nickel, silicon negative electrodes, lithium-sulfur batteries and solid-liquid mixed electrolytes have become key breakthrough directions for battery companies; in terms of system innovation, innovations such as CTP, CTB, and CTC continue to iterate, continuously improving the battery system grouping efficiency and volume utilization, thereby achieving longer range, better performance and higher safety.