Will large cylindrical batteries explode? The competition for the new battlefield of power batteries has begun

A few days ago, Jinyang Co., Ltd.’s investor interactive platform responded that the company will begin supplying 46 series battery precision structural parts to BYD in small batches in the second half of this year.

This also confirms that BYD’s 46 series large cylindrical batteries are really coming soon.

Source: New Travel

Battery technology is one of the core technologies of new energy vehicles. In terms of form, it can be divided into square batteries, cylindrical batteries and soft pack batteries. Each of the three types of batteries has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Led by BYD, most new energy vehicles on the market use square batteries. Luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Audi mostly use soft-pack batteries, while Tesla has always been a fan of cylindrical batteries.

Tesla initially used Panasonic 1865 cylindrical batteries, followed by 2170 batteries. It was not until 2020 that the 4680 cylindrical battery was officially launched. The numbers here refer to the cell diameter and height. The smaller the size of the battery, the lower the energy density, and the greater the number of batteries required for a vehicle. This will make the assembly of the battery pack more difficult and increase the cost.

According to Tesla's calculations, 46mm diameter is the optimal size for cylindrical batteries to increase the vehicle's cruising range while also effectively controlling costs. Compared with the 2170 battery, the 4680 battery capacity is increased by 5 times, the battery life is increased by 16%, and the charge and discharge power is increased by 6 times. Compared with the energy density of BYD's blade battery of about 150Wh/kg, the energy density of the 4680 battery reaches 215wh/kg.

Another significant advantage of the 4680 is that its structure allows it to withstand higher voltages. It only takes 15 minutes to charge to 70% of the battery on a 400V platform. If it is 800V, it will be faster. It can be called a natural "overcharge". Battery".

Tesla has been hyping up cylindrical batteries for a long time. At the beginning of this year, they announced that they had made a major breakthrough in research and development in this field, which could reduce costs by more than 50%, instantly attracting the attention of the industry. With BAK Battery investing 13 billion yuan to build a 30GWh large cylindrical battery production line and an international R&D center in Changzhou, and NIO reaching cooperation with the Hefei government, preparing to put into production self-developed large cylindrical batteries, more and more Car companies and battery manufacturers are accelerating the deployment of large cylindrical batteries. In July this year, BYD began to recruit relevant equipment suppliers and officially entered this track.

Previous institutional analysis pointed out that the global cylindrical battery market size will reach 134.939 billion yuan in 2022, and will reach 558.208 billion yuan by 2028. Another analysis of the Chinese market shows that my country's new energy cylindrical battery market will be 746 million yuan in 2021, rising to 1.15 billion yuan in 2022, with a growth rate of 54.05%. It is expected to rise to 21.45 billion yuan in 2027, gradually surpassing square batteries. , and 2024 will be the first year of the explosion of large cylindrical batteries.

Currently, in addition to Tesla, many domestic and foreign car companies such as BMW, Volvo, Stellantis, General Motors, Dongfeng Lantu, JAC, and NIO are using or will soon use large cylindrical batteries.

The BMW Group, in particular, is also independently developing a new generation of cylindrical batteries. Foreign media reported that BMW plans to use cylindrical batteries in its new generation of electric vehicles launched in 2025. Compared with 4680, its products have higher nickel content and lower cobalt content to ensure a more environmentally friendly solution.

In terms of performance, the battery design can increase energy capacity by 20%, thereby increasing cruising range by 30%, and cost can be reduced by 50% compared to its current level.

Data shows that as of October 2023, the global production capacity of large cylindrical batteries has exceeded 450GWh. However, compared with mass production abroad, China is still in the stage of small batch shipments and sample delivery.

At the Munich Auto Show, Yiwei Lithium Energy released the 46 series large cylindrical lightweight battery pack for the first time. In the first half of this year, the company completed the production of 1 million 46 series large cylindrical batteries, solving the problem of mass production producibility. question. As of November this year, its cylindrical lithium iron phosphate batteries have achieved a total of approximately 88GWh of customer intended demand in the next five years, and its ternary large cylindrical batteries have achieved approximately 486GWh.

However, from the international market, the leading companies in cylindrical batteries are still dominated by Japan and South Korea. The combined market share of Japan's Panasonic, South Korea's LGES and Samsung SDI in the cylindrical battery market will increase from 48.9% in 2021 to 59.7% in 2022. And as more and more Chinese companies fail, the real competition may have just begun.