The commercialization process of solid-state batteries is accelerating, and mass production is on the agenda

In recent years, solid-state batteries (lithium-ion batteries using solid electrolytes) have shown significant advantages over traditional liquid electrolyte lithium batteries in terms of energy density, safety, and cycle life, and are widely regarded by the industry as the best route for next-generation battery technology as the performance development of lithium batteries has approached its limit.

"Solid-state batteries are the potential stocks of the next generation of battery technology, relying on a strong manufacturing foundation of the new energy industry chain, mainland battery companies have made important breakthroughs in solid-state battery technology research and development, industrial chain layout, etc." On June 28, Yu Qingjiao, Secretary-General of Zhongguancun New Battery Technology Innovation Alliance, said at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Solid-State Battery Industry Ecosystem Entrepreneur Summit that solid-state batteries have broad market development prospects in many fields such as new energy vehicles, energy storage, and low-altitude economy.

Explore the path of large-scale mass production

According to the data, from January to May this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in mainland China were 3.926 million and 3.895 million respectively, a year-on-year increase of 30.7% and 32.5% respectively. Under the rapid development of the new energy vehicle market, many industry insiders have raised the sales forecast of new energy vehicles this year to about 11.5 million, and this forecast is expected to be raised again in the fourth quarter.

With the support of strong downstream demand, the whole lithium battery industry chain has set off an upsurge of technology research and development and path expansion. At the summit, Li Zheng, co-founder of Qingtao Energy, said that there are different technical routes for solid-state batteries, such as polymer systems, oxide systems, sulfide systems and halide systems.

"From a material point of view, each single type of material has its own advantages and disadvantages. 1+1>2 is achieved through the design of composite materials, which is a point that academic research and industrialization process are very insisted on, that is, to make inorganic and organic composite solid electrolyte materials. Li Zheng believes that composite all-solid-state batteries will be an effective way to achieve mass production.

Focusing on several major technical routes of all-solid-state batteries, domestic lithium battery companies are making all-round layouts from the industrial chain level. As a subsidiary of Ganfeng Lithium Battery, Tang Guangsheng, deputy general manager of Zhejiang Feng Lithium New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., told the "Securities Daily" reporter that whether it is an oxide electrolyte route or a sulfide electrolyte route, the company is a material supplier and cell manufacturer of semi-solid electrolyte, and the company has developed a second-generation 500Wh/kg high-specific energy, high-power semi-solid-state battery, which has been applied in high-end electric vehicles and spacecraft.

"After the establishment of the company, it has successively realized the mass production of solid electrolyte powder materials, flexible solid-state electrolyte membranes and other materials, and carried out demonstration operations of semi-solid-state battery models with car companies." According to Tang Guangsheng, at present, the company has realized the production of 4GWh solid-state battery production line in Xinyu, Jiangxi, and is expected to build a 10GWh production line in Chongqing in 2025.

Talking about the difficulties and blockages in the next mass production and application of solid-state batteries, Zhang Tao, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that on the basis of the independent and controllable core materials of solid-state electrolytes, it is a key scientific issue for the development of solid-state battery technology to continuously improve the adaptability of the solid-solid interface inside the electrode, electrolyte and electrode.

"From the perspective of solid-state batteries, oxide lithium-ion conductor materials have industrialized mass production capacity, and the products are used in the form of powders, pastes, separators, separators, etc. for electrode blending, separator coating and electrode interface modification of solid-state lithium batteries." Zhang Tao believes that in addition, from the perspective of process design and engineering platform development, verifying and continuously improving the safety, energy density, cycle, rate and low temperature performance of Ah-level solid-state lithium batteries is the main problem of current engineering technology development.

The prosperity of the industry has increased significantly

At present, the technical paths chosen by domestic enterprises are not the same. For example, Qingtao Energy has taken the oxide electrolyte route, while Gotion Hi-Tech has chosen the sulfide system route.

"Solid-state battery research has been going on for a long time, and we have accumulated a solid foundation. However, with the discovery of the ultrafast ionic conductivity of sulfides, we have ushered in a period of rapid development of battery technology. Zhou Anjian, senior project director of Deep Blue Automotive Technology Co., Ltd., believes that solid-state batteries have entered a period of opportunity for innovation.

Technological innovation has also brought about a new paradigm of commercial implementation. Deng Suxiang, a senior expert of NIO solid-state batteries, said that in the tide of new energy, the focus is on returning to the essence and developing steadily. The role of application-side model innovation in the industrialization process of solid-state batteries cannot be underestimated.

Since the beginning of this year, NIO's "battery swap circle of friends" has been rapidly expanding, on the one hand, the user experience value brought by battery swapping is being recognized on a larger scale, and on the other hand, the battery swap mode seems to be accelerating the industrialization of solid-state batteries. In Deng Suxiang's view, the battery swap mode can better monitor the health status of the battery and can delay the life of the battery, which is very critical for solid-state batteries.

"The battery swap mode can experience the excellent performance of solid-state batteries in advance and bring them to market faster. The battery swap mode can also accumulate loading operation and test data to support large-scale. In addition, solid-state batteries can improve the battery swap experience in many ways. Higher energy density means that the battery can be changed for a longer mileage, the frequency of battery replacement can be reduced, and the weight of the battery can also be realized, making the battery replacement easier. Deng Suxiang said that with better low-temperature performance, higher safety, and faster energy replenishment efficiency, with the continuous maturity of solid-state battery technology, the business model of battery swap mode will be recognized, so as to achieve greater success.

In order to ensure the safety, stability and coordination of the supply chain, on the one hand, the strategic cooperation of the whole battery and new energy industry chain continues to deepen, and the industrial integration layout is heating up in an all-round way; On the other hand, the downstream demand market continues to improve quality and expand, the industry's prosperity has increased significantly, and the mass production of solid-state batteries has been accelerated on the agenda.

In this regard, Miao Lixiao, general manager of SVOLT Technology R&D, said that the company has carried out two generations of product planning for semi-solid-state batteries, which are 270Wh/kg square shell cells and 350Wh/kg pouch cells. "It is expected that semi-solid-state batteries will be finalized in 2024, and the all-solid-state battery industry chain is imperfect and will be installed after 2030."

"With its huge market scale, complete industrial chain and growing scientific research strength, the mainland is rapidly narrowing the gap with Japan and achieving parallel operation." Li Zheng said that as an industry leader, SAIC Motor recently said that the all-solid-state battery will be installed on a large scale in SAIC's own brand in 2025 and mass production in 2026.

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