Why are there no super batteries in the cutting-edge technology?

The improvement of battery life determines the fate of electric vehicles. Researchers are pursuing new discoveries in chemistry and materials. Vehicle companies and battery suppliers are working together to reduce costs and increase energy. Among the emerging technologies, a variety of researches have been invested in the replacement of lithium ion chemistries, and some have become popular applications and solutions.

Mobile phone battery seems to improve quickly, power battery?

The consumer market (notebook, mobile phone, MP3, etc.) is the earliest "eastern" of lithium-ion batteries (hereinafter referred to as lithium batteries), which has made tremendous contributions to the promotion of lithium batteries. Today, smartphones are becoming more popular, and batteries have once again become one of the key factors that constrain the development of smartphones. This is somewhat similar to today's new energy vehicle market.

For the description of battery energy density, there are generally two versions of mass ratio energy and volume ratio energy. The so-called mass ratio energy is the amount of energy carried per kilogram of battery. For example, the power battery market is mostly described by mass ratio energy. The so-called volume ratio energy generally refers to the amount of energy carried by the battery per unit volume. At present, the capacity of mainstream mobile phone batteries is 2000~3000mAH. The quality of such batteries is often only a few tens of grams. Therefore, in the mobile consumer market, the battery is more concerned with the specific volume energy of the battery.

In contrast, the development of mobile phone batteries in the past decade can be divided into three stages.

In the first phase, the rise of lithium-ion polymer batteries.

Conventional lithium-ion batteries use ordinary liquid lithium electrolytes, but after 2005, polymer electrolyte lithium-ion batteries began to emerge. Compared with the previous liquid lithium-ion battery, the polymer lithium-ion battery has more advantages in electrochemical characteristics. More importantly, it is more flexible in shaping, which makes the battery thinner and has higher volume utilization. .

The second stage, the stability of the mobile phone battery.

Before 2010, especially before 2007, the rise of lithium-ion polymer batteries has greatly improved the battery capacity of mobile phones. But as technology matures, the rate at which batteries increase in energy begins to slow. More importantly, as battery energy increases, safety issues begin to surface. Many manufacturers have begun to focus on improving the safety of the battery, and put some effort into the protection of the battery casing. Although it is not possible to increase the energy density of the battery, it is still necessary in the long-term development. As the energy density increases, the loss of problems will also increase.

In the third stage, the second energy density of the mobile phone battery is increased .

After 2013, mobile phone batteries began to increase energy density once. There are materials for this reason. Battery manufacturers have improved the compaction density of materials by improving the process, or by other means, the battery capacity has improved. At the same time, after iPHONE, more and more mobile phone batteries in the market have become undetachable. Through the "integration" of the battery and the mobile phone, the hard shell protection of the original battery is omitted, the energy density of the battery is improved, or a special-shaped battery is developed according to the battery structure. In addition to this, a more direct method is to increase the voltage of the battery. Generally, the energy of the battery is increased by increasing the voltage platform by about 0.1V. This is similar to the previous section of BYD's lithium iron manganese phosphate battery.

At present, the energy density of mainstream mobile phone batteries is kept at around 600Wh/L. Some manufacturers' products will be slightly higher. For example, Xiaomi mobile phones have a battery energy density of 620Wh/L or more, and a Gionee mobile phone has an energy density of 650Wh/L. Which means to use, please also check in. It has been reported that when the energy density reaches 700Wh/L, the battery may have a full cycle life of less than 300 times, and the hidden danger of the explosion is greatly increased.

Since there are so many harms to increasing the voltage, why do you still have to do this? This reminds me of a story. In the past, the thickness of the refill of the ballpoint pen and the pen was the same, but there was a problem that the ballpoint pen was written about 20,000 words, and there would be oil leakage. The main reason is that the wear life of the pen is about 20,000 words, when everyone is When studying wear-resistant materials, a Japanese named Tian Tengshan Lang developed a product that used the ink of the refill before 20,000 words. This is similar to the current research and development of mobile phone batteries.

Smartphones are no longer the "bad" traditional mobile phones of the past, but like computers, after a period of use, they need to be updated. So the phone may have been eliminated when there is a problem with the battery. Although I personally think that improving the battery voltage platform is actually a more risky way to have a potential impact on battery stability and longevity. However, at present, it is acceptable for the market to properly increase the operating voltage of a battery.

Although the new battery technology is inspiring, any new technology and new materials need to go through a long process of conversion to become a commercial product, such as lithium batteries. The concept of the earliest lithium battery dates back to the last century. In the 1960s and 1970s, liquid lithium-ion batteries and polymer lithium-ion batteries were also developed over the past decade, and they have today's status. However, in recent years, smart phone hardware has made rapid progress, and the performance of a small mobile phone can compete with a personal computer, so that battery technology is a bit overwhelming. Therefore, although mobile phone life is not necessarily a national pain point, it is at least one of the shortcomings.

Many people care about the difference between power batteries and consumer batteries. I think there is no essential difference from the battery point of view. However, due to the different application conditions of the products, the design concepts and ideas are different, which leads to different product characteristics of the batteries in different fields. In the field of consumer batteries, there are no diverse cathode materials; in the field of power batteries, little is known about the impact of electrolyte changes on performance. In terms of energy density, for example, we all know that on February 16, 2015, the Ministry of Science and Technology released the “National Key R&D Plan New Energy Vehicle Key Special Implementation Plan (Draft for Comment)”, which clearly required the energy density of the car power battery at the end of 2015. To reach 200Wh/kg.

As a consumer battery, as early as 2013, its energy density exceeded 200Wh/kg, which is not only related to optimizing materials and structure, but also high voltage. Since consumer batteries are generally not used in groups, even in groups, there are series and parallel connections between several batteries, which is an order of magnitude difference with power batteries; "BMS" directly manages the cells; charging and discharging currents are small; thermal management is relatively Easy; in general, the consumer battery warranty period is only one year, so this approach is fully able to meet the needs of the consumer battery market. But in the power battery market, it may not work. The requirements of the power battery are relatively high and comprehensive, with both safety considerations and cost evaluations, as well as performance requirements. Although it seems that Tesla has completed the perfect combination of a consumer battery and a new energy vehicle, the positioning and price of the car are still far from the one we expect from the home-class new energy vehicle.

Lithium iron phosphate, lithium cobaltate, ternary materials, lithium manganate... While various positive electrode materials impact energy bottlenecks, I wonder if it should stop to consider safety and other problems. Consumer market, power market, energy storage market, lithium-ion battery can solve all problems. Any battery may have its applicable environment. For example, fuel cells, whether as a power unit for new energy vehicles or as a municipal power supply device, are very suitable for battery characteristics, but compared with existing lithium-ion battery systems, it is possible to develop small fuel cell portable devices. Make it more difficult. In the shouting of technological breakthroughs, consider the limitations of lithium-ion batteries more calmly. Because only by realizing these limitations, it is possible to explore new battery systems. Of course, I have to admit that with the advancement of technology, new battery systems with higher energy density and meeting the needs of commercial applications will be developed in the future, and the materials used in the new system are required to be environmentally friendly, low in cost, and easily available. It has become more and more difficult. Therefore, while developing lithium-ion batteries, I am calling for more energy and resources for battery systems that have been discovered but not fully commercialized.

Can't be commercialized, why is there no breakthrough in battery technology?

If you want a car with a good acceleration experience, the Tesla Model S will definitely satisfy you. Of course, an electric car like this not only brings a good driving experience, it does not pollute the environment compared to a conventional gasoline car. However, since the birth of electric vehicles, it has only accounted for a small portion of the market. The main reason is that electric vehicles have expensive batteries and require frequent charging. However, why has battery performance been steadily improving?

In the past few years, there have been many breakthroughs in battery technology research, but few of them have been used commercially, fulfilling the promise of low cost and multi-capacity. For example, A123 Systems, a lithium-ion battery startup founded in 2001, has claimed that lithium iron phosphate cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries can be made into uniform nano-sized ultra-small particles, which greatly increase the battery due to the sharp increase in particles and total surface area. The discharge power, and overall stability and cycle life are unaffected. But it ended in failure in 2012. The reason is that it is not possible to mass-produce the lithium batteries it describes, nor can it convert power safely and efficiently.

In 2012, California-based battery company Envia Systems announced at a major conference in Washington that it has developed energy-intensive batteries that store twice as much energy as current batteries and cut costs by half. When GM heard that it could develop such a high-energy battery, Envia immediately invested $7 million in it, hoping to cooperate in the electric vehicle business. By 2013, Envia had not fulfilled its alleged “amazing effect”, resulting in the loss of funding and GM's partnership. In addition, the company is also valued by the US Advanced Energy Research Program ARPA-E. It can only be said that Envia's impressive battery is exciting and frustrating.

In fact, in the battery industry, start-ups are difficult to survive alone due to the high threshold of battery technology. Therefore, the battery industry is generally dominated by large companies. Andy Chu, a former A123 Systems executive, said: Energy storage is a "big head" game, because a little carelessness in the development of the battery will cast a mistake. Although I hope that battery startups will eventually succeed, but through the history of these years, (everyone can see, these companies) are not very good.

In the past ten years, we have witnessed the “breakthrough” progress of the battery industry, but these are some small progress from big companies.

Battery cost reduction is faster than expected, will drop to $230/kWh in 3 years

Nowadays, the price of electric vehicles is much more expensive than ordinary fuel vehicles. Many people think that the entry of electric vehicles into the Volkswagen consumer market will never be a day. Although fuel and maintenance costs can be saved, the higher initial purchase price will still be Scared away many consumers. Everyone knows that electric vehicles are expensive batteries, but what is gratifying is that a new foreign study says that the cost price of lithium-ion batteries is falling all the time, and the speed is faster than previous estimates.

According to The Carbon Brief, as early as 2013, the International Energy Agency (IEA) had predicted that by 2020, the cost of electric vehicle batteries would drop to $300/kWh. However, researchers at NatureClimate Change believe that the electric vehicle industry may have reached this goal ahead of schedule. Between 2007 and 2014, the industry-wide average cost dropped from $1,000/kWh to $410/kWh, with an average annual decline. 14%. Some leading companies, such as Nissan and Tesla, have crossed the IEA's projected $300/kWh barrier. Battery costs are likely to have been cheaper since last year, and prices may be two to four times lower than many recent peers' estimates. It is 8%.

The findings are based on 85 cost projections from peer-reviewed academic journals, institutional estimates, consulting and industry reports, media reports, battery manufacturers and automakers. Since the manufacturer is not willing to disclose its true cost to the public, the data mentioned above is not complete data.

Battery cost estimate and expectations

$100/kWh is often seen as the benchmark for price competition between electric vehicles and ordinary fuel vehicles. In order to pursue cost reduction, various studies have been made to replace the chemical components of lithium ions.

Researchers expect battery costs to drop to $230/kWh in 2017-18. In the United States, for example, the current price of oil is very low. It is expected that the battery cost will be less than $250/kWh, and the price of electric vehicles will be more competitive. If the battery cost falls further below $150/kWh, then the electric vehicle market will change in quantity and the vehicle technology will change.

In order to achieve the above level, even under the current momentum, even if battery cell chemistry technology has achieved a lot of progress, the substantial drop in battery cost price is unlikely to occur overnight. The researchers believe that these new research is still far away, and only the expansion of the market size is more likely to bring about a cost reduction.

Tesla Motors is validating the researchers' assertion that when the Gigafactory super-battery plant in Nevada is launched in 2017, it will generate a large enough market size to achieve a civilian low price of $35,000 for the Model 3 electric car. This means that battery costs will be reduced by 30%. On the other hand, Renault-Nissan also plans to achieve battery capacity for 1.5 million electric vehicles in 2016.

The researchers said that overall, in the near future, even if there is no big breakthrough in technology, the economies of scale may push the battery cost down to $200/kWh. If the predictions for this study are correct, then the development of the electric vehicle market may exceed expectations, which is a good thing.

In the long run, automakers must produce electric vehicles on a profitable basis, and then increase sales to achieve economies of scale. Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. set up a huge sales target after the launch of the first generation of LEAF electric vehicles. Now it is said that it is the world's highest-selling electric vehicle, and it will break through 200,000 units this year. The next generation of the wind is expected to provide 120-150 miles (193-240 kilometers), and even more cruising range, obviously this will attract more consumers, Nissan will become more profitable as a car.

Five major battery technology business prospects

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Semi-solid lithium flow battery

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in collaboration with a derivative company called 24M, have developed an advanced process for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries: semi-solid lithium flow batteries, which are expected to significantly reduce production costs and improve battery performance. Make it easier to recycle.

The founder of 24M is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and one of the former founders of A123 Battery Company, Jiang Yeming. The name Jiang Yeming is well known in the battery industry and ranks 66th among global materials scientists. Be regarded as the world's top expert in the battery industry. In addition to lithium iron phosphate batteries, he also proposed the concept of "semi-solid flow battery" with his colleagues five years ago. He has been doing commercial efforts these years.

People are constantly looking for positive and negative materials to increase energy density, dry batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries or lithium batteries. No matter how the materials are upgraded, the utilization rate of active materials in traditional batteries is very low, and the substances capable of generating electric energy are wrapped in necessary inactive substances. Among them. In common lithium batteries, lithium materials only contain about 2% of the weight of the battery. These inactive materials increase the cost of the battery and reduce the utilization of the active material. Because of these weaknesses in traditional batteries, flow batteries have been born. The flow battery can be regarded as a separate large battery, and the positive and negative electrolytes are separately stored, and the concentrated reaction generates electric energy. This eliminates the need for expensive additional materials and greatly increases efficiency.

Since the flow battery is so good and the efficiency is so high, why has it not been widely used? Because the flow battery has many disadvantages. At present, the concentration of the flow battery is limited. Although the theoretical efficiency is higher than that of the conventional battery, the solution concentration is low, the energy density and the power density are not superior, and the price is not cheap. The energy density of the solution itself is low, and the additional device such as the tank containing the solution and the pump for pumping the solution, the overall performance of the flow battery is even worse.

Therefore, Jiang Yeming developed a semi-solid lithium liquid battery. This flow battery is a slurry formed by mixing fine lithium compound particles with a liquid electrolyte without using a solution. Because the energy density of this mud can be made higher than the solution, so the large capacity advantage of the flow battery is there. When Jiang Yeming wrote a paper at MIT, the energy of his semi-solid flow battery can reach 500WH. /L.

The principle of this battery is actually very simple. The electrode is a slurry formed by mixing fine lithium compound particles with a liquid electrolyte. The battery uses two bundles of mud flow, one beam is positively charged, one beam is negatively charged, and two bundles of mud are passed through an aluminum current collector and a copper current collector, two sets. There is a membrane that is permeable to water between the appliances. When the two layers of mud pass through the membrane, lithium ions are exchanged, causing current to flow externally.

In order to recharge the battery, it is only necessary to apply a voltage to allow the ions to retreat through the membrane. Thus, the material utilization rate of its positive and negative electrodes is much higher than that of conventional batteries, as long as a film is sufficient, and various materials used are much cheaper than conventional batteries. Moreover, the semi-solid lithium flow battery can be made flexible (it can be imagined that the plastic bag is wrapped with two muds), which can be bent and folded, even if it is passed through the bullet, it will not be damaged, and the safety and durability are Great advantage.

Semi-solid flow battery

In theory, semi-solid lithium flow batteries have higher energy density, lower prices, safer, and better prospects. However, the principle and structure of this kind of thing is completely different from the current battery. The production line design, quality control, test standards, mass production technology have to be explored from the beginning. Therefore, in these years, Jiang Yeming's 24M company has been doing things from laboratory to mass production, solving various problems encountered in the mass production of new structure batteries, and gradually formed a manual production line. Later, they manually produced a cell phone battery-sized unit in just 6 minutes. After groping, the team repeatedly improved the production process, and finally created an industrial production platform, which caused a qualitative change in the energy density and production speed of the battery.

24M has already manufactured about 10,000 of these batteries in the prototype line, and some are being tested by three industrial partners, including a Thai oil company and Japanese heavy equipment manufacturer IHI. The new process has obtained 8 patents and another 75 patents are being reviewed. Next, Jiang Yeming is preparing to launch a third round of financing. The new funds will be used to develop a machine that will produce a battery in 2-10 seconds. This shows that the semi-solid flow battery has reached the stage of large-scale testing, and this stage has been mass production.

The cost advantage, safety advantage and capacity advantage of the flow battery are not prominent in the mobile phones and tablets that we use every day. On the contrary, such a large, cheap, and safe battery is a perfect match for new energy vehicles and household energy storage. Once the electric car is used, the price will be immediately approachable and the cruising range will be longer, and the battery is safer and not afraid of ordinary collisions, which is very beneficial to the safety of electric vehicles.

A semi-solid lithium liquid battery may really make a battery revolution, maybe as long as 3-5 years, the world of electric cars will be completely different.

2.nanoFLOWCELL: Flow battery can last 1000 km

At the 85th Geneva Motor Show, which opened on March 5th, the nanoFLOWCELL of Liechtenstein, a small country in Central Europe, not only brought about 800 km of QUANT F electric supercar. In addition to the cool appearance, the biggest highlight was the use of lithium ion flow battery as performance. The driving force of electric super-running, the cruising range is up to 800 kilometers. The first prototype will be on the road in 2015 at the earliest.

QUANT F electric super run

Flow batteries combine all aspects of electrochemical batteries and fuel cells to deliver up to four times the performance of lithium-ion battery technology that powers today's electric vehicles. In addition to its significant advantages in terms of price and mileage, the new flow battery is safer than the batteries currently used in automobiles and is easier to integrate into automotive design.

Flow battery working principle

Flow batteries combine all aspects of electrochemical batteries and fuel cells. The liquid electrolyte is present in both battery compartments and circulates through the battery. The system center has a membrane that separates the two electrolyte solutions, but still allows the charge to circulate, creating power for the powertrain. One of the advantages of this system is that it uses a larger battery compartment, which means higher energy density. With a rated voltage of 600V and a rated current of 50A, the system can continuously output a maximum power of 30 kW. Compared to the lithium-ion battery technology that powers today's electric vehicles, the performance is four times higher, which means that its mileage is five times that of conventional components of the same weight.

The QUANT F prototype is equipped with a 200-litre battery compartment with a storage capacity of 120 kWh. The vehicle consumes about 20 kWh of energy per 100 kilometers under low load conditions. The company said that it is expected to expand the battery compartment to 800 liters in the future. The car is equipped with four motors with a continuous power of 120 kW and a peak power of 170 kW. It can be driven by torque distribution for four-wheel drive or as a backup energy storage device for two supercapacitors in the car. The individual peak torque per wheel can reach 2,900 Nm. The 100-kilometer acceleration takes only 2.8 seconds.

3. SakTI3 solid-state battery technology breakthrough, electric vehicle mileage doubled to nearly 800 kilometers

SakTI3, a lithium-ion battery startup based in Ann Arbor, Michigan's sixth-largest city, recently won a $15 million investment from British home appliance giant Dyson, a startup that specializes in lithium battery research and development. That is, the energy density of the battery developed by SakTI3 reaches 1000 watts per liter, which is twice that of ordinary lithium batteries. The battery performance of smartphones, notebook computers and electric vehicles will be greatly improved.

SakTI3's mysterious battery uses new materials and production techniques to achieve higher energy density. They claim to be able to store 1000 watt-hours per liter, and the cruising range of electric vehicles can be increased from 256 miles to 480 miles (about 772 kilometers). Low, fast charging and discharging, more environmentally friendly, and safer than some standards. This technology eliminates the use of flammable liquid electrolytes in traditional lithium batteries, technological advances through its high-energy storage materials, and most importantly, its lower price, about $100 per kWh, far below current 200 to 300 The market price of the dollar can be applied to electric vehicles that are subject to cost and mileage restrictions in the future.

At present, Sakti3's lithium battery technology is in the research and development stage, and it takes "a few years" to be commercialized. Many battery startups are striving to turn laboratory technology into real-world goods, but there have been no major breakthroughs, in part because their prototypes are custom-made, require expensive manufacturing techniques, and are difficult to mass produce. The prototype of Sakti3 uses standard production equipment, which has been upgraded and commercialized.

4. Volkswagen super battery: cost reduction, energy density increase

Martin Winterkorn, chief executive of Volkswagen Group, revealed that the company is developing "Super-battery", which can greatly enhance the cruising range of electric vehicles, and is now making a breakthrough in new battery technology.

In an interview with German media, Wendeng said: Volkswagen is developing a super battery in Silicon Valley, California. The new battery is cheaper, smaller and more powerful. An electric version of the Volkswagen brand (after a super battery) is expected to reach a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles).

So, what technology will Volkswagen use to significantly increase battery energy density? And significantly improve the mileage of electric vehicles? At present, the focus is mainly on the existing lithium-ion battery upgrade version of the solution, as well as the relatively new solid-state battery technology in both directions.

In terms of cost reduction, Heinz-Jakob Neusser, head of the Volkswagen brand board of directors, said that he is planning to unify battery pack specifications and hopes that all electrified vehicles will be able to switch to a single lithium-ion battery unit design in the future. Uniform specifications will inevitably lead to cost reductions, with the goal of reducing battery costs by 66% by simplifying cell design.

5. LG Chem battery technology, so that electric cars can run 500 kilometers

South Korean battery giant LG Chem announced the development of new technology, electric vehicles can travel 400-500 kilometers at a time, mileage doubled, and energy production is expected in 2017.

At present, electric vehicles can only travel less than 200 kilometers after charging. LG Chem Vice President and CEO Park Jin-soo said that the company has developed new technology, the mileage of electric vehicles can be increased to 400-500 kilometers, the product will be put into production soon, but declined to give more details. . Prabhakar Patil, head of LG Chem's power battery division, recently accepted an exclusive interview with foreign media. It is expected that LG Chemical will once again achieve major technological breakthroughs in 2017, which is faster than he expected. "To 2017 or 2018, $30,000 Electric vehicles with a battery life of 200 miles (about 321 kilometers) will become a mainstream commercial product." Although GM has not confirmed whether the upcoming 2017 Chevrolet BOLT pure electric vehicle will use LG's battery, it is widely believed in the industry. It will be like this.

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