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“Short knife + flying stack is the ultimate state of lithium battery evolution.”

This is the industry assessment made by Yang Hongxin, CEO of Honeycomb Energy, at the Honeycomb Energy Global Partner Summit.

Facts have proven that the market for short-blade batteries is growing continuously. At present, battery companies and OEMs including Sinotruk, Guoxuan High-tech, Geely, and GAC are all planning and expanding the production of short-blade battery products.

From automotive power (including EV, PHEV, extended range, etc.) to fast charging power and energy storage and other subdivided application scenarios, the coverage of the short knife battery is becoming wider and wider. Even under the leadership of Honeycomb Energy, the short knife battery has gone abroad and supplied to overseas markets, and has been recognized by international OEMs.

Based on the long and thin shape of the short blade battery and its demands for safer and higher performance, the technical combination of "short blade + stacking" has become the mainstream standard for the production and manufacturing of the new generation of lithium batteries.

Gaogong Lithium Battery noted that after five years, from launching the industry's first short knife battery, to creating a new short knife category, to the continuous evolution of the "short knife + flying stack" technology, Honeycomb Energy has also changed from a lone pioneer of short knife batteries to a leader in the industry.

Different from the short blade batteries on the market, Honeycomb Energy's original "short blade + flying stack" golden combination can more perfectly balance the dual performance of "high energy density + fast charging". Compared with traditional stacking technology, Honeycomb Energy's thermal composite flying stacking technology has higher stacking efficiency and can more effectively solve the bottleneck of stacking production efficiency.

So far, Honeycomb Energy has launched the second-generation short-blade battery and the third-generation flying stack technology. Among them, the energy density of the second-generation short-blade iron-lithium battery cell reaches 188Wh/kg, and it also takes into account the 2.2C fast charging performance, and the peak can reach more than 3C, which is in the first echelon of the industry; the production speed of the third-generation flying stack technology can reach 0.125 seconds/piece, becoming the industry's technical benchmark.

Thanks to its strong technical strength and excellent product portfolio, Honeycomb Energy has made rapid progress in the power and energy storage markets in recent years. In the first half of 2024, the combined shipments of Honeycomb Energy's power batteries and energy storage batteries will be close to 10GWh, a year-on-year increase of 166%, and revenue will exceed 7 billion, a year-on-year growth of 105%.

It is worth mentioning that Baidu's autonomous driving travel service platform, Luobo Kuaipao, which has seen a sharp increase in market popularity this year, is also equipped with Honeycomb Energy's Short Blade battery.

From the perspective of comprehensive technical, performance and market dimensions, short-blade batteries have become one of the mainstream choices in the market.

[From “pioneer” to “leader”]

Honeycomb Energy is the earliest pioneer of the short knife battery cell, and is also the pathfinder and leader of the short knife battery cell.

As early as 2019, Honeycomb Energy launched the first short knife battery in the industry.

In 2021, Yang Hongxin, chairman of Honeycomb Energy, announced the creation of a new short knife category and the implementation of short knives across the board.

In 2022-2023, Honeycomb Energy will realize the commercialization of the full-domain short knife, and achieve mass production and installation in the passenger car, commercial vehicle and energy storage markets respectively. At that time, Honeycomb Energy also launched the full-domain short knife fast charging strategy, which plans to cover the 2.2C to 6C fields.

In 2024, Honeycomb Energy's second-generation short-blade iron-lithium fast-charging cells have completed large-scale delivery to customers at its two bases in Shangrao and Yancheng, and it is expected to deliver 100,000 sets this year.

In just a few years, Honeycomb Energy has led the popularization of short-blade batteries in the industry, and its technical strength is obvious to all.

Today, the second-generation short knife battery cell brought by Honeycomb Energy has once again set a new technological benchmark for short knife batteries through continuous innovation in materials, structure and process.

At the positive and negative electrode levels, Honeycomb Energy uses the third-generation lithium iron phosphate positive electrode developed independently and has developed a high-performance small-particle graphite negative electrode.

At the diaphragm level, Honeycomb Energy pioneered an asymmetric diaphragm design in China and even in the world, using different adhesives on both sides of the diaphragm, making one side more negative-pole friendly and the other side more positive-pole friendly.

At the electrolyte level, fast-charging cells consume electrolyte at a higher rate than conventional cells. Honeycomb Energy has increased the electrolyte retention by 2% through a special edge sealing design. Combined with the thermal composite process, the fast-charging cells have an excellent cycle life.

In terms of production technology, the current Honeycomb Energy short-blade battery cells are produced by the third-generation battery cell production line, which is also one of the world's widest single-cell wide-width electrodes with a coating width of 1120mm. The electrode roll transportation uses AGV for automatic loading and unloading, which is more efficient and ensures product quality and stability.

[The "advanced" development of the short-blade battery with the support of thermal composite flying stacking technology]

Honeycomb Energy's second-generation short-blade battery has excellent performance in a series of comprehensive performances such as energy density, safety, and volume utilization.

First of all, from the perspective of charging rate, the development of fast charging technology has continuously improved the charging and discharging rate. However, as the charging rate increases, the heat generated by the battery cell increases, and the connectors and structural parts will generate a lot of heat energy. Traditional battery cells often face thermal runaway problems. In contrast, the biggest feature of the short-blade battery cell is that it is thin and has a large heat dissipation area, which can minimize the temperature difference between the inside and the outside, thereby improving safety and consistency.

Secondly, from the perspective of battery cell characteristics, the short blade battery cell is flat on both sides, and can be water-cooled on both sides. Combined with the CTP PACK design, more efficient thermal management can be achieved. Another issue worthy of attention is the breakthrough in the energy density upper limit brought about by the short blade of lithium iron phosphate. Through the short blade + CTP module-free technology, not only can the power space of lithium iron phosphate be broadened, but also the volume utilization rate can be improved, which meets the needs of the downstream market.

So how to further break through the performance bottleneck on this basis? This is also what Honeycomb Energy is thinking about when it comes to the short-blade battery.

In the manufacturing process of battery cells, winding/stacking is a major indicator of the division of technical routes and is also a key link that affects the performance of battery cells.

From the perspective of market requirements, the battery cell capacity requirements are constantly increasing, and the battery cell size is constantly increasing. The advantages of stacking production are gradually being reflected.

Based on the upgrade of lamination technology, Honeycomb Energy has brought a new generation of thermal composite flying lamination technology. Compared with traditional lamination technology, Honeycomb Energy's thermal composite flying lamination technology maximizes lamination efficiency through intelligent production and all-round innovation of technology.

It is understood that Honeycomb Energy's thermal composite flying stacking technology adopts the form of diaphragm coating the negative electrode, and avoids diaphragm wrinkles through complete electrode group hot pressing, eliminating quality risks.

In the hot composite flying stacking process, from rolling to flying cutting, the entire process has been realized in a continuous automation. Honeycomb Energy's hot composite flying stacking technology can stack 8 sheets at a time, and its efficiency and cost are close to or even exceed those of winding technology.

During the stacking process, Honeycomb Energy will conduct 100% defect inspection, size inspection, and alignment inspection on each pole piece. One flying stacking equipment is equipped with more than 60 cameras and more than 10 correction stations.

At present, the size detection yield of Honeycomb Energy's thermal composite flying stack technology has reached about 99.9%, and the defect detection yield has reached about 99.8%.

With the support of thermal composite flying stack technology, Honeycomb Energy has also raised the technical standards of the golden combination of "short knife + flying stack" to a new dimension.

[The golden combination of "short knife + flying stack" leads the dual tracks of power storage]

Combining the advantages of short blade and flying stack technologies, Yang Hongxin, chairman of Honeycomb Energy, believes that creating a "short blade + flying stack" production combination can achieve the best performance of battery cells, thereby opening up market growth in both power and energy storage tracks.