The latest progress of solid-state batteries from 10 companies

In 2024, solid-state batteries will be continuously "detonated"!

On April 16, Nissan Motor announced the planned installation of its all-solid-state battery pilot line, and plans to start production of all-solid-state batteries next year.

According to reports, Nissan Motor has reserved about 10,000 square meters of space at its Yokohama plant building, which produces engines and other products, to prepare for the construction of the equipment. Production of all-solid-state batteries is scheduled to begin in March 2025 and mass production in FY2028. Nissan says its all-solid-state batteries have about twice the energy density of conventional lithium-ion batteries, significantly reducing charging time.

As soon as the news came out, solid-state batteries quickly became a hot topic, and the secondary market moved when they heard the news.

At the moment when sodium-ion batteries, super fast charging batteries, large cylindrical all-tab batteries and other technologies are "contending" for mass production, solid-state batteries have always maintained an unshakable position in the industry, and the reason behind it is mainly due to the attraction of users for its excellent performance.

According to public information, the all-solid-state battery has high safety, no fire and unnatural, the energy density of the battery cell can reach more than 700Wh/kg, the cycle life exceeds 10,000 times, and the fast charging capacity exceeds 10C.

At present, the average energy density of lithium iron phosphate batteries is 100-160Wh/kg, the average energy density of ternary lithium batteries is 150-250Wh/kg, and the average fast charging performance is 4C, which is much inferior to all-solid-state batteries.

Of course, it is not only the dynamic layout of enterprises that has aroused heated discussions about solid-state batteries, but also the market demand.

—1—The "chain reaction" caused by the low-altitude economy

In addition to new energy vehicles, the "low-altitude economy" is also one of the main drivers of the industrialization of solid-state batteries.

The so-called low-altitude economy refers to a comprehensive economic form that radiates multiple fields in the airspace below 3,000 meters, with the low-altitude flight activities of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles as the traction.

In March this year, the "low-altitude economy" was written into the government work report for the first time as a new growth engine, and then the relevant documents, support policies were introduced, Jiangsu and other more than 10 provinces proposed to actively explore the development of low-altitude economy; in April, the State Council Information Office held a press conference, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology pointed out that the low-altitude economy is an important direction for the future development of emerging industries, and will definitely form a trillion-level industrial scale in the future. All of the above will bring the low-altitude economy to the public eye, and drive the electric low-altitude aircraft industry to leap up.

In fact, various enterprises have been exploring the field of low-altitude flight for a long time, including the first flight of Xpeng Huitian flying car "Voyager X2" over Guangzhou CBD, Fengfei Airlines' eVTOL "Shengshilong" flying from Shenzhen Shekou Terminal to Zhuhai Kyushu Port Terminal, EHang's intelligent unmanned manned manned aircraft EH216-S completed its first manned commercial flight in Hefei, and GAC Flying Car GOVE achieved its first flight.

As one of the core accessories of electric low-altitude aircraft, the battery needs to have high rate, light weight and other performance, and the performance index is higher than that of the vehicle power battery. Therefore, the existing semi-solid-state battery, with an energy density of 350-400Wh/kg, has become the most suitable battery for electric low-altitude aircraft compared with traditional liquid lithium batteries.

According to the starting point of lithium battery, at present, CATL, BYD, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, Funeng Technology, Lishen Battery and other leading battery companies have begun to deploy related products and technologies.

What is certain is that the low-altitude flight trillion market is broadening the boundaries of solid-state battery applications, and solid-state battery application scenarios are no longer limited to the field of new energy vehicles. Whoever can take the lead in breaking through the bottleneck of system and density will have the opportunity to become the first person to eat crabs in emerging industries.

—2—Semi-solid-state batteries are not "solid-state batteries"

It should be noted that the batteries currently installed in the market and used in electric aircraft are semi-solid-state batteries, not (all) solid-state batteries in the true sense.

For example, on April 3, NIO released a 150kWh solid-state battery pack with an energy density of 360Wh and a CLTC range of 1,055 kilometers. However, it still uses a solid-liquid hybrid electrolyte, which is a semi-solid-state battery, and Qingtao Energy, which has partnered with Zhiji Automobile, still contains a small amount of liquid in its first- and second-generation solid-state battery products.

Toyota and Nissan, which were earlier in the deployment of solid-state batteries and have more related patents, are also constantly delaying the mass production of solid-state batteries.

It can be seen that the mass production application of solid-state batteries is not easy. Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, also said frankly that at the commercialization level, the current domestic development of the all-solid-state battery industry is facing huge challenges, with interdisciplinary characteristics and extremely high technical thresholds, including material interfaces, processes, industrial chains, equipment, etc.

Although solid-state batteries are still in the early stage of industrialization, industrial applications are also worth looking forward to. According to statistics, there are nearly 100 companies that currently deploy solid-state batteries, some of which have semi-solid-state batteries already commercialized, and many companies have announced the mass production time of solid-state batteries (concentrated in 2027-2030).

Among them, Samsung SDI plans to mass produce all-solid-state batteries in 2027, Changan Automobile is expected to launch eight self-developed battery cells including liquid, semi-solid and solid-state by 2030, GAC Aion plans to achieve mass production and installation of all-solid-state batteries in 2026, and Nissan, Toyota, BMW, Volkswagen and Ford have also formulated their own solid-state battery development plans.

—3-10 battery companies layout progress

Entering 2024, the popularity of solid-state batteries remains high, and many companies have made new progress to convey "good news" to the industry. Starting Point Lithium has sorted out the recent solid-state battery layout progress of 10 battery companies for reference.

CATL officially released the condensed matter battery in April 2023, and on April 3 this year, it said on the interactive platform that it has increased investment in solid-state batteries, and the energy density of the company's condensed matter batteries can reach up to 500Wh/kg. According to the news, mass production is expected this year.

In 2018, Qingtao Energy built the country's first solid-state lithium battery production line with a production capacity of 0.1GWh, which is mainly used in special power supplies, high-end digital and other fields; in 2020, the first phase of Yichun 1GWh solid-state battery production line was completed and put into operation; in 2022, the 10GWh solid-state battery industrialization project started construction in Kunshan, and on April 15 this year, the project completed power transmission.

According to reports, the energy density of Suzhou Qingtao solid-state battery can reach 368Wh/kg, the maximum cruising range can exceed 1000 kilometers, and it can achieve an ultra-fast charging speed of 10 minutes and a range of 400 kilometers.

In April this year, Tailan New Energy successfully developed an ultra-high energy density body-type all-solid-state lithium metal battery with a vehicle specification unit capacity of 120Ah and a measured energy density of up to 720Wh/kg. It is reported that Tailan New Energy uses high-capacity, long-cycle lithium-rich manganese-based materials as the positive electrode, and composite lithium metal-based materials as the negative electrode, which has both high cycle stability and high rate performance.

In terms of production capacity, the second phase of Tailan New Energy's Chongqing project started production in November last year, after the first semi-solid phase I project was put into operation in 2022.

GAC officially launched an all-solid-state battery with an energy density of more than 400Wh/kg at the Science and Technology Day held on April 12. It said that it has completed the research and development of 30Ah large-capacity all-solid-state batteries, which are expected to be applied to Haobo models in 2026.

The battery uses 100% solid electrolyte, high energy density, super intrinsic safety of the monomer, and also has an ultra-wide temperature range, which can be used in the temperature range of -40°C-100°C. In addition, the battery has completed the laboratory stage and has now entered the stage of mass production application research.

On April 2, Funeng Technology said on the investor interactive platform that the company's next-generation semi-solid products have higher energy density and are suitable for emerging fields of low-altitude flight. The company has carried out battery cooperation and supply with overseas and domestic customers in the field of manned aircraft, and actively communicated with several domestic potential customers to jointly promote the development of low-altitude flight.

According to reports, all production lines and equipment adhere to the ternary softpack technology route of Funeng Technology, and can seamlessly connect the manufacturing of semi-solid-state or solid-state batteries without transformation. At present, the second-generation semi-solid-state battery of Funeng Technology is in the stage of industrial development, and the new cathode and anode materials that take into account energy density, cycle life and fast charging performance have been in the pilot stage and will be applied to the company's product systems.

In February this year, the world's first solid-state battery production line was officially put into operation, and samples have been sent to major new energy vehicle companies for testing and module development. According to reports, the solid-state battery produced this time is a large lithium ceramic battery (LLCB), which can be charged for 12 minutes up to 80% of the power in terms of performance, and in a fully charged state, it can achieve a range of more than 1000km for electric vehicles.

In December last year, Changan Automobile and Ganfeng Lithium signed a "Memorandum of Cooperation" to accelerate the promotion of (semi-)solid-state battery research and development joint venture projects and manufacturing industrialization projects.

In the field of solid-state batteries, Changan Automobile is continuing to promote the development of new electrolyte materials and key processes, and plans to promote the weight energy density of 350-500Wh/kg and the volume energy density of 750-1000Wh/L no later than 2027, and gradually mass production and application, and achieve full popularization in 2030, completely solving users' range anxiety.

Ganfeng Lithium launched a semi-solid "pioneer" battery in September 2023, which uses a flexible solid electrolyte separator and a super semi-solid cell, which can achieve a 3000+ cycle life and 100,000 kilometers without attenuation. In terms of production capacity, Jiangxi Xinyu production base has a solid-state battery production capacity of 2GWh, and the first phase of the Ganfeng new lithium battery technology industrial park project with an investment of more than 5 billion yuan is progressing smoothly. In terms of products, the company's second-generation hybrid solid-state lithium battery uses ternary cathode, solid-state separator and lithium metal anode, and the energy density can reach more than 400Wh/kg, and the second-generation battery has not yet been mass-produced.

Weilan New Energy Semi-Solid State adopts in-situ solid-state technology, and has completed the design and development of hybrid solid-state batteries with high-nickel ternary cathodes of more than 300Wh/kg, and its cooperative car companies include NIO and Geely. In December 2023, the NIO ET7 equipped with a 150kWh battery pack will travel more than 1,000km in live broadcast, and the battery supplier is Weilan New Energy, which will be mass-produced and delivered in Q2 2024.

Gotion Hi-Tech energy density 260Wh/kg, 160KWh ternary semi-solid-state battery pack has been installed and applied, and the 360Wh/kg ternary semi-solid-state battery will be mass-produced in 2024.