After the sales volume entered the explosive stage, the technological revolution of new energy vehicles is developing to a deeper level. At the heart of the technological revolution is a focus on promoting more efficient electrification and higher levels of intelligent networking.
As the heart of new energy vehicles, batteries have naturally become the most concerned "roles". Whether it is a battery manufacturer or an automaker, one of the core tasks now is to do everything possible to create safer, more energy-dense power batteries at a lower cost.
In addition to making a fuss about the raw materials and material states of power batteries (mainly referring to the electrolyte of the battery), its structure and intelligence have also attracted more and more attention from the industry. In September 2020, at the Battery Day held by Tesla, Musk said that in the future, Tesla models will use CTC (Battery Chassis Integration) technology, with integrated die-casting technology, which can save 370 parts, reduce the weight of the body by 10%, and reduce the battery cost per kilowatt-hour by 7%. In addition, giants in various automotive fields such as CATL, BYD, and Bosch have also said that they are increasing the speed of CTC technology research and development.
But what the industry did not expect was that such a difficult technology has been mass-produced by a new domestic head car-making force. Recently, at the zero-run CTC technology conference, Zero-Run announced that it has taken the lead in mass-producing CTC batteries in China, which will first be installed on the fourth zero-run model, Zero-Run C01, and mass-produced at the same time.
So, what is CTC technology? Why are so many industry leaders scrambling to develop CTC technology? Why does zero-run cars become car companies that will land technology?
The rise of CTC technology
Who will be the main ups and downs of the future development of global electric vehicles?
The birth of lithium-ion power batteries dates back to the 1990s. In 1997, Nissan built the World's first electric vehicle, the Prairie Joy EV, to use a cylindrical lithium-ion battery, which travels more than 200 kilometers per charge.
Perhaps it is the Prairie Joy EV that makes everyone see the hope of the rise of electric vehicles, after entering the 21st century, including the internationally famous international enterprises in the material industry, South Korea's LG Chemical, and byd, which was not well-known at the time, domestic car companies such as BYD, which were not well-known at the time, began to develop automotive power batteries.
In 2009, after the successful acquisition of Sanyo Electric by Japanese business giant Panasonic, its position in the global battery industry quickly increased, and it became the sole supplier of power batteries for Tesla for many years to come.
After 2010, as China began to vigorously support the new energy automobile industry, power batteries as core components were highly valued. Domestic battery companies SUCH ASD and NINGDE Times have vigorously invested in research and development with the support of the state. Under the support of the huge domestic market, NINGDE Times and BYD have rapidly grown into leading enterprises in the installed capacity of power batteries in the world. By 2018, the global installed capacity of THE NINGDE era reached 23.54Gwh, and BYD's global installed capacity was 11.6Gwh, which ranked first and third respectively in the global installed capacity that year. In 2021, the global installed capacity of CATL increased to 96.7Gwh, and BYD's global installed capacity increased to 26.3Gwh, ranking first and fourth respectively.
Over the years, the world's battery manufacturers are trying to improve the energy density of power batteries through various ways, but the breakthrough of battery material science is not an overnight achievement, so manufacturers have pinned their hopes on how to improve the performance of battery structure and efficiency through control software based on existing materials.
In 2019, the power battery that represents the 2.0 era: CTP batteries began to appear. Compared with the previous power battery, the CTP battery removes the module and improves the space utilization inside the battery pack, thereby improving the comprehensive performance of the battery. Today, CTP has become the mainstream power battery technology in the world. At this stage, Chinese battery companies have taken the lead in the industry by virtue of their previously accumulated advantages.
Just one year later, in 2020, Tesla announced that future Tesla models will use CTC (Battery Chassis Integration) technology. Other battery factories and car companies have also begun to study CTC technology.
CTC, also known as cell–to-chassis, is a new power battery technology that directly carries the battery cells originally wrapped in battery packs and modules into the car chassis, which can be regarded as the power battery version 3.0.
The mastery of the third-generation battery technology has also become a must for global car companies and battery companies. And because CTC technology in addition to battery technology, in the design, research and development, production to installation, and the vehicle, especially the chassis of the structural design, manufacturing relationship is more close, so after the power battery into the third generation, only have battery technology of The Chinese power battery giants, because they do not have the vehicle design and manufacturing capabilities, in the battery, chassis integrated design, manufacturing will encounter great challenges.
At the same time, if there is no Chinese car company to take over the power battery to CTC technology development baton, then, China's power battery companies and even Chinese electric vehicle companies in recent years to establish the technology and market share advantage, may be Tesla and other foreign brands with strong battery, vehicle technology for a dynasty subverted, China's automotive industry wants to use electric vehicles to achieve the grand goal of foreign car brands "curve overtaking", in Musk's "Tesla to sell 20 million vehicles a year" under the bold words, but also a hint of hidden worries.
What makes many people in the industry "surprised" is that what broke this deadlock was a Chinese electric vehicle brand that has been doing low-key research and development - zero-running cars. Say "accident" because in the Chinese automotive industry, there are deep-rooted "four big and four small" traditional car companies, and then there are "Wei Xiaoli" new forces three strong, and even the current hot, battery and vehicle "double repair" of the domestic electric vehicle brother BYD, as of now has not yet achieved mass production of CTC technology. At the Zero Run Intelligent Power CTC Technology Conference on April 25, Zero Run not only took the lead in releasing mass-produced CTC technology. At the same time, Zhu Jiangming, chairman of Zero Run Technology, also announced that it will be free and open to all CTC technology, which is commendable for its dedication to promoting the common development of the whole industry.
Why Zero Run?
Compared with industry giants such as BYD and Ningde Times, why has zero-run automobile become the first car company in China to land this technology?
First of all, it stems from the entrepreneurial spirit of Zhejiang businessmen who dare to think and dare to do it.
Zhu Jiangming, the founder of Zero Run Technology, was inspired by the integration of smart phone batteries in 2016: since smart phones can integrate batteries to become more thin and light without affecting performance, why can't electric vehicles learn from this idea? At the time, there was no voice in the industry about the technology. However, limited by the technical level of the entire industry at that time, even if the 18650 battery was integrated in the design, it was difficult to achieve the integrated design of the battery body in one step.
Zero runners are not discouraged, first in 2018 in the industry earlier conquered the second generation of CTP large module technology, and then from 2019 began to mobilize batteries, chassis, test verification and process and other multi-way elite generals, after two versions of CTC technology verification program, finally at the end of 2021 CTC can be mass production of the program finalized, and in April 2022 was officially released.
Secondly, it stems from the strong technical foundation accumulated by the self-research institute based on the whole region for a long time.
Since its inception in 2015, Zero Run has always adhered to the establishment of technology, and all core systems and electronic components of intelligent electric vehicles are independently developed, designed and manufactured. Not long ago, zero-running cars revealed their achievements in various technical fields of automobiles in the listing prospectus submitted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. According to the data, in the battery, the most critical component, the zero-run car only has a battery cell for purchase, and others such as modules, battery packs, body integration and integrated design have always been personally down. This is also the fundamental reason why zero-run cars can gain an advantage in the latest generation of battery technology before more professional battery manufacturers.
It is understood that zero-run CTC technology integrates the battery with the car body for design, reduces the number of parts, and simplifies the product design and production process. While improving the space utilization rate and the specific energy of the battery system, the body and battery structure complement each other, so that the battery impact resistance and body torsional stiffness are greatly improved.
In addition to the innovation of CTC technology in hardware, zero-run cars have also empowered it in software algorithms. Zero-run cars said that the company's self-developed AI BMS big data intelligent battery management system has also begun to be applied to the latest models. This technology can be detected online in real time, the cloud can realize battery big data management, and through AI deep learning, realize the full-time active guardianship of the car-side cloud, bringing users a long-life, high-efficiency and high-safety power battery system.
Just as the so-called wine aroma is not afraid of deep alleys, from January to December 2021, the cumulative delivery volume of zero-running cars was 43121 units, up 278.6% year-on-year, and in the first quarter of 2022, the cumulative delivery of zero-running cars was 29664 units, an increase of 410% year-on-year, of which in March, the delivery of zero-running cars successfully exceeded the 10,000-unit mark, reaching 10,059 units. As a result, the new power structure of car manufacturing is changing from "three strong" to "five tigers".
At the historical moment when technology and sales both support the brand upwards, the next blockbuster model C01 of Zero Run is also about to enter the "battlefield", and the blessing of CTC technology has given Zero Run C01 the confidence to become a popular model. CTC technology eliminates the battery superstructure and redundant components, and uses the body structure as the external structure of the battery pack, which not only brings stronger body structure strength to the C01, but also brings greater driving space, stronger handling performance and higher safety.
Write at the end
CTC technology may have limited significance for a car and a company, but it is of great significance to the entire electric vehicle industry. Especially in the face of the era of profound changes in the power battery technology route, CTC technology will promote the development of the domestic and even global new energy vehicle industry. In the future, with the rapid popularization of CTC technology represented by zero running, the global industrial pattern of new energy vehicles is expected to usher in new changes.