NIO's solid-state battery solution sparks heated debate

According to news, NIO plans to develop solid-state batteries in a few years, which has caused great fluctuations in the secondary market recently.

In fact, regarding NIO's solid-state battery, industry insiders said that NIO's current solid-state battery solution is only a solid-liquid transition technology, and it may not be implemented until a few years later. It will not have any substantial impact on the lithium battery industry chain in the short term.

"Although NIO's automotive battery system is described as a solid-state battery, NIO also said that the battery is actually a semi-solid-state battery and still requires the use of electrolytes and separators. It will take a long time to mass-produce all-solid-state power batteries. The technology is difficult and the cost is high, and the actual market is not large," the person added.

Traditional lithium batteries have positive and negative electrodes at both ends, and electrolytes and diaphragms in the middle. When lithium ions move from the positive electrode to the negative electrode and then to the positive electrode, the battery's charge and discharge process is completed. Solid-state batteries are batteries that use solid electrodes and solid electrolytes. They will reduce or even eliminate the need for electrolyte and diaphragm materials, so the market believes that solid-state batteries will have an impact on electrolyte and diaphragm material manufacturers. The market's previous expectation was that high growth would be maintained in the next few years. Now, high growth in the next few years should be no problem. If this solid-state technology really comes out in a few years, it may still have some impact. As funds withdrew from electrolyte and diaphragm material companies for risk aversion, the stock prices of leading companies in nickel, cobalt and lithium, which are positive and negative electrode materials, were also affected.

All-solid-state batteries have low power density and high energy density, making them ideal batteries for electric vehicles. After being made thinner and lighter, all-solid-state batteries will also have significantly improved flexibility. Therefore, many companies have also started research and technology reserves. Currently, companies with solid-state battery technology reserves in the market include Qingtao Energy, CATL, Ganfeng Lithium, and ProLogium.

Zeng Yuqun, chairman of CATL, once revealed that CATL is continuously conducting cutting-edge research and product development investment in technologies such as solid-state batteries. A true solid-state battery needs to use metallic lithium as the negative electrode to increase the energy density. Currently, automotive-grade solid-state batteries are not as energy dense as lithium-ion batteries.

ProLogium Technology is a R&D and manufacturing company of lithium battery cells. Tianyancha shows that ProLogium Technology uses flexible circuit boards and solid-state electrolytes to make lithium batteries ultra-thin (0.38mm), flexible, and safe. There is no risk of leakage, fire, or explosion, and the design flexibility of new product applications in various fields is increased.