$9 trillion! Semi-solid-state batteries leverage the "super" market

　　Semi-solid-state batteries have a high probability or will become the "most beautiful boy" this year.

　　On the one hand, the semi-solid-state battery can break through the energy density ceiling of liquid lithium battery, which is more than 300Wh/kg at every turn, and on the other hand, it can take into account the existing equipment production line, so that the solid-state battery can "go down" in advance. Up to now, SAIC, GAC, FAW, Dongfeng, NIO, Changan and other car companies have or will soon mass produce semi-solid-state battery models.

　　At the same time, a supermarket with a scale of 9 trillion US dollars (about 65 trillion yuan), which is different from new energy vehicles, is also being leveraged by semi-solid-state batteries.

　　"The company's condensed matter battery energy density can reach up to 500Wh/kg, and it is carrying out the cooperative development of civil electric manned aircraft projects, implementing aviation-grade standards and tests to meet aviation-grade safety and quality requirements." CATL recently said on an interactive platform. Zeng Yuqun once pointed out, "Compared with all-solid-state batteries, our condensed matter batteries can achieve mass production faster, and achieve both high specific energy and high safety." ”

　　From the cars running on the ground and the ships swimming in the water to the aircraft flying in the sky, the application scenarios of power battery commercialization continue to expand. Battery China noticed that in addition to CATL, many battery giants, including EVE Lithium Energy, Funeng Technology, Lishen Battery, Zhengli New Energy, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, etc., have also been stuck in the semi-solid-state battery layout in the aviation field, and the market was filled with gunsmoke for a while.

01

Many battery giants have been stuck

　　The low-altitude economy, represented by eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing), has been a hot topic in recent years. The "Green Aviation Manufacturing Industry Development Outline (2023-2035)" jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China and other departments proposes to accelerate the application of innovative products such as eVTOL for urban air transportation, emergency rescue, logistics and transportation and other application scenarios, and create a new economic growth pole.

　　From the perspective of market prospects, the vastness of eVTOL can be described as a sea of stars. According to Morgan Stanley, the global eVTOL market will reach $55 billion by 2030, exceed $1 trillion by 2040, and reach $9 trillion by 2050.

　　"Battery performance is a key bottleneck for the development of eVTOL. Batteries used in low-altitude flight scenarios need to meet both higher energy density and safety requirements. Ping An Securities pointed out in the research report that the power required for eVTOL vertical take-off is 10 to 15 times that of ground driving, which puts forward extremely high requirements for the energy density of the battery.

　　Up to now, most of the batteries developed by various battery manufacturers for low-altitude flight scenarios are semi-solid-state batteries. According to industry organizations, the current energy density of eVTOL batteries has reached the level of 285Wh/kg, which is close to the upper limit of the energy density of liquid batteries, and (semi-)solid-state batteries may be the battery technology closest to the needs of eVTOLs.

　　Many battery companies have been laid out. In May last year, Zhengli New Energy took the lead in the industry to release Zhengli Aviation Battery for the field of electric aviation. Through the continuous optimization of material system and cell design, the energy density of Zhengli Aviation Battery developed by Zhengli New Energy has reached 320Wh/kg; While taking into account the high energy density, the battery can still meet the high-rate discharge performance of 12C under 20% SOC.

　　At the beginning of this year, Lishen Battery announced the completion of the development of semi-solid-state batteries with an energy density of 402Wh/kg, mainly targeting ultra-long-range mid-to-high-end electric vehicles, as well as eVTOL and other fields. Prior to this, Lishen Battery has realized the development or application of a variety of high-energy-density batteries such as 310-360Wh/kg, mainly targeting ultra-long-range electric vehicles, consumer drones, flying cars and eVTOL and other fields.

　　In April this year, EHang announced that it had obtained a production license for unmanned manned aircraft systems issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. This is the world's first production license in the field of eVTOL. It is understood that Gotion Hi-Tech has previously signed an agreement with EHang to customize and develop power battery solutions that meet the airworthiness standards of the Civil Aviation Administration of China for its unmanned eVTOL products.

　　"The company's next-generation semi-solid products have higher energy density and are suitable for the emerging field of low-altitude flight." Funeng Technology recently said that the company has cooperated and supplied batteries with overseas and domestic customers in the field of manned aircraft, and is actively communicating with several potential domestic customers. It is reported that the energy density of the eVTOL battery and the system equipped with Funeng Power battery has exceeded 280Wh/kg and 230Wh/kg respectively.

　　EVE also said that the company has an early layout in the field of eVTOL batteries, has cooperated with a foreign company to conduct research work for three years, and has delivered A-sample products, and is assisting customers to obtain certification of relevant aviation systems. It is reported that EVE is based on a 50Ah soft-pack semi-solid-state battery, which can achieve an energy density of 330Wh/kg and a cycle life of more than 2,000 times.

02

Towards higher energy density

　　Compared with the power battery of new energy vehicles, the performance requirements of aviation power batteries are higher. The "Implementation Plan for the Innovative Application of General Aviation Equipment (2024-2030)" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China gives a clear development goal for the performance of aviation batteries: to promote the mass production of 400Wh/kg aviation lithium battery products and realize the application verification of 500Wh/kg aviation lithium battery products.

　　"Facing the future to achieve breakthroughs of 400Wh/kg and 500Wh/kg, the entire cathode iteration direction is developing in the direction of high nickel, ultra-high nickel or lithium-rich manganese. The direction of the anode is bound to develop from graphite to silicon carbon and then to lithium metal. Zhou Lisha, co-founder and CEO of Anhui Mengwei, pointed out.

　　According to the technological development trend of energy density, aviation batteries are bound to transform from semi-solid to all-solid-state and lithium metal batteries in the future. EVE said that the company's next-generation battery technology route includes solid-state batteries, lithium metal batteries, etc. The company's lithium-metal batteries have achieved an energy density of 450Wh/kg. It is reported that the energy density of Anhui Mengwei's lithium metal battery is as high as more than 500Wh/kg, which has been applied in a variety of electric aviation scenarios.

　　As for the application of all-solid-state batteries, the industry consensus is that it will not be until several years before large-scale commercialization can be achieved. CATL said that at this stage, there are still scientific problems in all-solid-state batteries that have not yet been solved. Although the company has made solid-state battery samples, the relevant indicators are still a long way from commercialization. All-solid-state batteries may not be mass-produced until after 2030.