![]() On May 19, Ganfeng Lithium, the world’s largest lithium producer, started to mass-produce its first-generation solid-state battery. Though it may be a decade before solid-state batteries become a regular feature of the EV industry, CATL is not the only Chinese company working on the technology. He added, “China will always be faster than the rest of the world in commercializing these alternatives and actually putting them into vehicles.” “Solid-state batteries will not get into mass scale production at least into the 2030s,” Lei Xing (邢磊 Xíng Lěi), a veteran car market analyst, told The China Project. Although solid-state batteries use up to 35% more lithium than lithium-ion batteries, they use far less polluting graphite and cobalt. This is an intermediate technology of solid-state batteries, which use solid ceramic material instead of liquid electrolytes, making them lighter, faster to charge, and cheaper, with a manufacturing carbon footprint 24% smaller than lithium-ion batteries. Mass production of the Condensed Battery, which the company said also can power aircraft, is set to begin in 2023.ĬATL Chief Scientist Wú Kǎi 吴凯 stated at the launch event that the Condensed Battery is a semi-solid-state battery. In April, CATL said its new lithium-ion Condensed Battery (凝聚态) will have an energy density as high as 500 Wh/kg and be able to power an EV as far as 932 miles (1,500 kilometers) on a single charge. Nevertheless, while the proportion of higher-quality batteries has dropped significantly in just one year, China still produces the world’s most advanced batteries. With the rush to make EV batteries to meet hoped-for EV growth, the quality of China’s battery supply has been diluted. More powerful batteries whose energy density is above 160 Wh/kg account for only 18.1% of all batteries in China, and this proportion has dropped significantly from 31.6% in May 2022. Yet as of May 2023, the vast majority of the batteries in China - around 75% - have an energy density well below this threshold, less than 160 Wh/kg, as per CAEV data. The efficiency of a battery is expressed in energy density and measured in watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg) conventional lithium-ion batteries currently have an energy density of under 300 Wh/kg. These batteries currently come in two main configurations, depending on which cathode materials are used: NMC batteries use lithium, manganese, and cobalt oxide, while LFP batteries use lithium, iron, and phosphates. Lithium-ion batteries are the workhorses of the global EV industry, accounting for up to 99% of the batteries installed in EVs as well as hybrids. ![]() But in 2023, China’s EV sales are projected to be fewer than 10 million units. From the start of 2022, more than 50 Chinese battery companies announced capacity expansions of almost $200 billion that would produce enough batteries for 30 million EVs. The battery glut is partly due to softening EV sales, but also due to a headlong rush into battery production. And the imbalance between battery supply and demand has continued into 2023, with 233.5 GWh produced from January through May, while only 119.2 GWh were installed in EVs. According to the China Alliance for Electric Vehicles (CAEV), China produced batteries equivalent to 545.9 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of power, but only 294.6 GWh were installed in EVs. In 2022, a battery shortage suddenly turned into an oversupply when battery makers produced more than the EV makers could absorb. The balance of the battery market is shared by a raft of second-tier competitors. The third player, CALB, spun off from a state-owned defense company in 2009 and listed in Hong Kong in October 2022, holds about 10%. BYD, headquartered in Guangdong Province and listed in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, has about 30%. CATL, headquartered in Fujian Province and listed in Shenzhen, enjoys a 40% market share. Three giants dominate China’s EV battery industry. Short of taking their batteries abroad, Chinese EV battery makers now face having to distinguish themselves with technological innovation, developing the most advanced batteries such as solid-state and sodium-ion. With the battery glut in China, some companies are choosing to expand overseas, localizing their production to adhere to stricter emission standards in the U.S. By comparison, only 320,000 EVs were sold in the United States from January through the end of March.Īs impressive as China’s EV sales growth has been, passenger EV sales in January and April declined month-on-month by 48% and 3.6%, respectively, while battery production capacity has continued to expand prodigiously.Īs China’s EV battery industry has reached and surpassed self-sufficiency, it is now entering a period of fierce competition. This included full electric vehicles (EVs), hybrids, and cars running on hydrogen and other non-gasoline power. The May fleet of new NEVs on China’s roads was 580,000 strong, representing sales 60.9% above May 2022.
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