The power battery is getting bigger and bigger!

　　Thanks to the continuous improvement of battery technology and the increase in mid-to-high-end new energy passenger vehicle models, the battery pack capacity of new energy vehicles is becoming larger and larger.

　　Battery China has observed that recently, a number of popular mid-to-high-end new cars in China are equipped with 70kWh-150kWh "large" battery packs with electricity, with a pure electric range of more than 600 kilometers or even 1,000 kilometers. This means that the "large" battery pack has become the standard configuration of mid-to-high-end new cars, and the (ultra-)long battery life has also become one of the eye-catching selling points.

　　Based on this, the energy density of the power battery monomer currently installed is up to about 360Wh/kg, and more companies have recently released their monomer energy density of 720Wh/kg and a capacity of 120Ah vehicle-grade typed all-solid-state batteries. Industry insiders pointed out that although the all-solid-state battery has not yet been commercialized, from the perspective of the industry as a whole, with the continuous evolution of power battery technology, the new energy passenger vehicle market is quietly changing, and the development trend of high energy density of single cells and high charge of battery packs has become the mainstream consensus of the industry.

01

The market pattern of new energy passenger vehicles is changing

　　According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in 2023, in the mainland new energy passenger vehicle market, the sales volume of A-class vehicles will be 3.471 million units, a year-on-year increase of 45.5%, ranking first in market share; The sales volume of B, C and D segment vehicles were 2.337 million units, 1.160 million units and 119,000 units, respectively, a year-on-year increase of 56.5%, 73.2% and 160.5%, respectively.

　　Although the sales of B, C, and D segment cars are not as good as those of A-segment cars, they have all surpassed those of A-segment cars, showing strong growth momentum.

　　Entering 2024, B, C, and D segment vehicles will continue to make efforts. From January to March, in the mainland new energy passenger vehicle market, the sales volume of A-class vehicles was 628,000 units, a slight increase of 2.9% year-on-year; The sales volume of B-class vehicles was 681,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 57.2%, and the sales volume surpassed that of A-class cars, ranking first in market share; Sales of C- and D-segment vehicles both increased by more than 70%.

　　It is worth noting that in the first three months of this year, the sales of A-class cars in mainland China have slowed down significantly, B-class cars have become the main force in the market, and C- and D-class cars have the fastest growth rate. On the one hand, high-power battery packs help B, C and D class vehicles continue to refresh their pure electric mileage, solve market pain points, and improve consumers' willingness to buy cars; On the other hand, the rapid growth of B, C and D class car sales has also led to the continuous improvement of the number of large-power battery packaging machines, and battery companies are also increasing related research and development and layout.

02

Large-power battery packs are trending

　　Recently, a number of mid-to-high-end new energy vehicles have announced the core parameters of supporting battery packs, revealing some new trends in the field of power batteries this year.

　　In February 2024, ZEEKR released a new version of the luxury hunting coupe ZEEKR 001, equipped with CATL batteries. Among them, the CLTC model equipped with a 100 kWh Kirin battery has a range of 750 km and a maximum charge rate of 4C. It is equipped with a 95 kWh battery for the all-wheel drive version of the CLTC with a range of 675 km and a maximum charge rate of 5C.

　　At the end of March, the Xiaomi SU7, positioned as a C-class luxury technology sedan, was launched, and the standard version is equipped with a 73.6kWh Fodi lithium iron phosphate blade battery, with a CLTC range of 700km. The Pro version is equipped with a 94.3 kWh CATL Shenxing battery with a CLTC range of 830 km. The Max version is equipped with a 101 kWh CATL Kirin battery with a CLTC range of 800 km.

　　On April 3, NIO announced that its 150kWh ultra-long-range battery pack has officially entered the mass production stage, and it is planned to be officially put into use in the second quarter of this year, with a maximum range of 1,055km for NIO models equipped with this battery pack. The battery has an energy density of 360Wh/kg and is jointly developed by NIO and Weilan New Energy.

　　On April 8, SAIC Group's super smart sedan Zhiji L6 was unveiled, equipped with Qingtao Energy's "first-generation light-year solid-state battery". The battery has an energy density of 368Wh/kg, a battery pack with a capacity of 130kWh, and a CLTC range of more than 1,000km.

　　From the perspective of popular new cars, more and more mid-to-high-end electric vehicles choose high-power battery packs to meet market demand, and their charging capacity generally exceeds 70kWh. In addition, there are many models equipped with more than 130 kWh battery packs, which have a range of more than 1,000 km on a single charge, and the frequency of energy replenishment is even lower than that of gasoline vehicles. Assuming a daily commute drive of 20km, a single charge will meet 40-50 days of use.

03

Batteries are becoming more and more energy dense and capacious

　　In recent years, leading battery companies, including CATL, BYD, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, EVE Lithium Energy, Funeng Technology, Honeycomb Energy, Ruipu Lanjun, Lishen Battery, Xinwangda and other leading battery companies, have deployed the research and development and upgrading of high-power batteries to meet market demand.

　　CATL released the Kirin battery in 2022, based on its third-generation CTP technology, the volume utilization rate of the battery exceeded 72%, and the system energy density of ternary cells can reach 255Wh/kg, and the system energy density of lithium iron phosphate cells can reach 160Wh/kg. Lithium iron phosphate Shenxing battery was released in August 2023, and the data shows that its energy density is between 140Wh-145Wh/kg, and the charging rate is up to 4C.

　　In April 2023, CATL also released condensed matter batteries, which have a single energy density of 500Wh/kg, which are planned to be used in electric aviation and other fields.

　　BYD's first-generation lithium iron phosphate blade battery launched in 2020 has an energy density of 140Wh/kg. Recently, BYD revealed that it will release a new generation of blade batteries with an energy density of 190Wh/kg in August 2024, an increase of about 36% compared with the previous generation, and the range of pure electric models will exceed 1000km.

　　The Qichen L600 LMFP battery released by Gotion Hi-Tech in May 2023 has a monomer mass energy density of 240Wh/kg and a volume energy density of 525Wh/L, a volume group rate of 76%, and a system energy density of 190Wh/kg. It is reported that at present, Guoxuan Hi-Tech has the mass production capacity of 230Wh/kg energy density lithium iron phosphate cells; The ternary battery has achieved mass production and installation of 302Wh/kg energy density cells, the energy density of the high-safety semi-solid-state battery unit has reached 360Wh/kg, and the battery pack power of the supporting model has reached 160KWh, with a cruising range of more than 1,000km.

　　EVE's next-generation battery technology route includes solid-state batteries, lithium metal batteries, etc. Among them, the lithium metal battery has achieved a single energy density of 450Wh/kg, and the cycle life is more than 800 times. At the same time, EVE can adhere to the technical direction of large cylindrical and large iron lithium, and the mass production of large cylindrical batteries in the future is expected to be further improved on the basis of energy density of 280Wh/kg.

　　The 158Ah lithium iron phosphate power battery in the Ruipu Lanjun Wending series products has a volume energy density of 450Wh/L, supporting a vehicle range of more than 700km; Medium nickel/high nickel ternary batteries can support vehicle ranges of more than 1000km and 1200km respectively.

　　Lishen Battery has realized the development or application of a variety of high-energy-density batteries such as 310Wh/kg-360Wh/kg, and has released a new generation of semi-solid-state batteries with a single energy density of 402Wh/kg.

　　In addition, its power battery prototype battery cell has also recently made breakthroughs in parameters such as single energy density.

　　On April 2 this year, Tailan New Energy announced that it had prepared a vehicle-grade all-solid-state battery with a single capacity of 120Ah and an energy density of 720Wh/kg, setting a new industry record for the single capacity and highest energy density of a typed lithium battery.

　　It is reported that GAC Aion's Haobo brand plans to release Haobo's "all-solid-state battery" on April 12. Previously, the battery suppliers of Haobo brand include Funeng Technology, EVE Lithium Energy and China Innovation Aviation and other enterprises, which battery company will cooperate with the upcoming all-solid-state battery, and what innovations and breakthroughs will it bring?

　　At present, the high-power battery pack is considered by the industry to be one of the engines driving the monthly penetration rate of new energy vehicles to 50% this year.

　　On the one hand, the current mainstream application of power battery grouping rate is 60%-70%, the energy density of lithium iron phosphate battery system is generally 100Wh/kg-160Wh/kg, and the ternary lithium-ion battery system is 150Wh/kg-200Wh/kg. The higher energy density, larger capacity of battery cells, and higher group rate systems developed by leading battery companies enable the battery pack to continuously increase the power of the battery pack under the same volume/weight, which can meet the new needs of the market.

　　On the other hand, the price of lithium carbonate has dropped from the previous peak of 600,000 yuan/ton to about 110,000 yuan/ton at present, a decrease of more than 80%, driving the price of power batteries down and helping high-power battery packs to be matched in more and more new models, especially medium and high-end models.

　　At the same time, with the launch of new vehicles, more mid-to-high-end electric vehicles are equipped with large battery packs, and if 100kWh/vehicle is roughly calculated, 10GWh batteries will be needed for every 100,000 vehicles, which will further increase the installed capacity of batteries.

　　In fact, the recent extreme involution of new energy vehicles in terms of battery life and price, in the final analysis, is the upgrading of battery technology and the reduction of costs, which has increased the confidence for new energy vehicles to replace fuel vehicles. Although lithium-ion batteries are currently encountering problems such as material system bottlenecks, with the introduction of new materials and the acceleration of research and development of semi-solid, condensed and all-solid-state batteries, power batteries will continue to improve in the direction of higher energy density, higher charge, lighter weight, smaller volume and faster charging, which is bound to further increase the penetration rate of new energy vehicle sales.