Text/Peach Lee
On April 25, Zero-Run Auto released a new power battery packaging technology in the form of online live broadcast, that is, CTC (Cell to Chassis) technology, also known as battery chassis integration technology, popularly speaking, that is, the original independent power battery and body are assembled together, making the integrated structure of battery and body more obvious. Similarly, CTP (Cell to Pack), which is what we often call moduleless technology.
For a long time, the biggest problem of electric vehicles is endurance, under the current technology, in order to improve the endurance of the battery, the best way is to stack more cells under the same volume, by increasing the number of cells to achieve the purpose of increasing the capacity and endurance of the battery. Therefore, whether it is CTP or CTC technology, in essence, it is to save more space and improve the energy density of the battery, and the extra space can be used to stack more batteries and can also be used to expand the space in the car.
Although the purpose of both is the same, they are still different in some specific aspects. Let's take A comparison between CTP and CTP to see what makes them different.
At the beginning of the production of new energy vehicles, traditional battery technology needs to go through the process of battery cell - PACK - module - battery pack - loading, that is, the battery cell is first formed into a module, and then the module is made into a battery pack, and finally combined with the car. However, the disadvantages of this are obvious, that is, the module occupies a certain volume, thereby squeezing the space of the battery cell, limiting its number, and also incurring a certain cost.
In order to reduce the cost of the car and increase the endurance, the car company battery manufacturers have thought of improving the battery pack, and currently mainly formed CTP technology and CTC technology, and CTP technology is more mature due to the earlier appearance.
CTP technology mainly by eliminating the module design, directly integrating the battery cell into the battery pack, which in turn is integrated into the body floor as part of the structural parts of the vehicle.
This method reduces the module itself side plates, end plates (module structural parts) and the original used to separate the module and help the module connection of beams, longitudinal beams (battery packaging with support structure) and other materials, the entire battery structure is greatly simplified, the use of space is released, the same size of the battery pack capacity can be expanded, the quality of the battery pack can be reduced, resulting in the improvement of battery energy density and cost reduction.
Data show that the CTP battery pack has increased by 15%-20% compared with the traditional battery pack volume utilization rate, the number of battery pack parts has been reduced by 40%, the production efficiency has increased by 50%, and the energy density can reach more than 200Wh/kg. At present, CTP technology has two different routes, one is to completely cancel the module program, represented by BYD blade battery; the other is the solution of small module integration into large modules, represented by CTP technology in the Ningde era.
Let's take a look at CTC technology, the core of which is to eliminate the module, packaging process, and integrate the battery cell directly into the car chassis to achieve a higher degree of integration. The data shows that new energy vehicles using CTC structure can reduce nearly 400 components, reduce parts by 20%, reduce the cost of structural parts by 15%, reduce the volume of battery structure by 10%, and increase the stiffness of the whole vehicle by 25%. For the driving experience, after optimizing aerodynamics, the chassis responds faster, the driving maneuvering is better, and the battery life is increased by 15%.
Speaking of which, some people may think that CTC is an upgraded version of CTP technology, but in fact, it is true from the optimization of the structure, but the technology they involve is different.
CTP does not break through the PACK itself, battery companies / professional PACK companies can independently complete the development, the technology has not extended to the downstream. The emergence of CTC will break through the limitations of PACK and directly involve the car chassis, which is the most critical core component of the vehicle, the core advantage accumulated by the vehicle manufacturers after long-term development, and it is difficult for battery companies / professional PACK companies to develop independently. Therefore, CTC is not so much an upgrade of CTP technology as a new technological innovation.
However, it is worth noting that although CTC technology can save more vehicle space, its disadvantages are also obvious, that is, the maintenance of the battery will be very inconvenient. And at present, many car companies, including Weilai, are vigorously developing substations, CTC technology seems to be on the opposite side of power exchange technology, so in the subsequent development, it is likely to be differentiated, and the problem of battery disassembly is likely to become a new problem.
summary:
The further development of CTC technology also shows that the majority of car companies are actively looking for solutions to consumer endurance anxiety, although there is a certain conflict with power exchange technology, but with the improvement of technology and the different development directions, the two can actually coexist or even complement each other.