In terms of battery safety technology, Aian is exploring uncharted territory.
Text/"Automobile Man" Zhang Min
On April 2, at the 100-person meeting on electric vehicles, Xi Zhongmin, deputy general manager of Aian, said: "As long as the spontaneous combustion data does not return to zero, Security reform will never end.”
Industry forums can be pragmatic, but enterprises must be pragmatic. Aian has gone “quite far” in promoting battery safety technology.
How far is "quite far"? Simply put, Aian is seeking where no man has gone before. On March 30, Aian released a new generation of power battery pack technology "Magazine Battery 2.0" and used an unprecedented shooting test to once again define battery safety standards. Compared with the first-generation magazine battery, the former is not like a version iteration, but a disruptive technological update. Sure enough, the most powerful challenge to the championship is self-challenge.
Xi Zhongmin, Deputy General Manager of Aian
The moat for new energy brands is always judged by whether they have "original technology, leading technology, and exclusive technology." At a time when the market is becoming increasingly "involved", Aian, who has always been known as the "king of batteries", has led the industry's innovative technology to create a new level of battery safety.
The day Magazine Battery 2.0 was launched, it caused a shock in the industry. It not only refreshed the public’s understanding of battery safety, but also allowed the industry to see that the technology with battery safety as the core has reached the level of two years ago. Unimaginable heights.
Thermal weapon destruction test, only magazine battery 2.0 can withstand it
With the popularity of electric vehicles, battery safety has become the first option that consumers pay attention to. Following the acupuncture test of BYD's lithium iron phosphate blade battery, Aian achieved for the first time in the industry in 2021 that the entire package of ternary lithium batteries did not catch fire when acupuncture was applied, redefining the safety standards of ternary lithium batteries.
Judging from the current data on spontaneous combustion of electric vehicles, battery safety is still a pain point and problem for the industry. Although the magazine battery has withstood the test of various extreme road conditions for more than 10 billion kilometers and has zero spontaneous combustion when charged safely, Aian, who regards safety as a belief in his bones, will never allow a one-in-a-million risk to exist.
For this reason, Aian has put forward higher requirements for battery safety. It must not only solve the problem of not catching fire in acupuncture scenarios, but also consider the problem of battery thermal runaway protection in extreme situations.
Aian chose a very intuitive test method to allow consumers and the industry to experience the safety level of Magazine Battery 2.0 at the same time - gunshot test.
If Aian’s ability to prevent a complete pack of ternary lithium batteries from catching fire when a needle was inserted back then was comparable to “climbing Mount Everest”, then the difficulty of not catching fire in this shooting test is the “first in the field of battery safety” Landing a man on the moon." This is because the gunshot test creates much harsher damaging conditions than the pinprick test.
In fact, the pinprick test does cover more severe external penetration conditions than actual impact.
A general impact, even if it continuously breaks through the protection of the rear bumper, chassis longitudinal beam, energy-absorbing area, PACK upper cover and support beam, is still a blunt impact, and the battery module will be more likely to be squeezed. pressure. Its failure mode (or thermal runaway) is to force the dielectric between its positive and negative electrodes to deform, resulting in an internal short circuit.
Acupuncture is relatively rough. Through a needle tip, stronger pressure is gathered to pierce the medium and directly create an internal short-circuit channel. As a result of an internal short circuit in the battery, if there is only smoke, no fire, or a fire occurs after a long delay (must be without deflagration), and enough people can escape, it is already very good. This shows that battery technology can well control and delay thermal runaway through thermal isolation, pressure relief and other means.
The needle insertion speed does not exceed 10mm/s, and the single core penetrated does not exceed 20. Although the wound reaches 8mm, the core structure is basically intact. In Eian's opinion, that's not extreme enough.
Under the external impact of instantaneous large kinetic energy and "high penetration force", the three cell structures were physically damaged at the same time, and the energy released instantly during thermal runaway was 5 times higher than that of acupuncture.
At this time, can the battery core still delay and slow down the occurrence of thermal runaway (in view of the large-scale physical damage, internal short circuit is inevitable, it is just a matter of intensity)?
Ean came up with the condition of shooting, which seems incredible. The idea is to simulate an instantaneous impact magnitude of more than 2800 joules, which can only be achieved by firing live ammunition from a 5.56mm rifle (the muzzle kinetic energy of a pistol bullet Insufficient), thus resulting in a wound diameter exceeding 60mm.
If there are still followers in the acupuncture test that surpasses the national and industry standards, there is currently only one player taking the shooting destruction test.
Due to the penetration pressure and speed (momentum) brought by high kinetic energy, the wounds caused by shooting are large and the tears are deep. In other words, it is the cross-generational difference brought about by cold weapons and hot weapons. Thermal runaway defense must also be substantially improved at the program level. Just like an iron shield can protect against bows and arrows, Kevlar body armor must be used to protect against bullets.
Active and passive Buff stack reaches new heights
What is the "Kevlar" of magazine battery 2.0?
Based on the four major safety technologies of the magazine battery, 2.0 has developed a new heat insulation technology, namely nano-ceramics, which are isolated between the positive and negative electrodes. When an extreme event occurs and the dielectric breaks down, this heat-resistant layer improves the interface stability of the positive and negative electrodes and prevents internal short circuits (actually also acts as a replacement for the dielectric). If an internal short circuit cannot be avoided, the double heat-resistant layer will delay the heat transfer process at the expense of its own temperature rise and play a flame retardant role.
Moreover, after an internal short circuit occurs, the heat will cause the "composite current collector" near the short circuit point to collapse and become an open circuit. The use of this compound is equivalent to carrying a "fuse" inside the battery.
Aian cooperated with China Aerospace to deploy "phase change materials" outside the battery module. This material uses the change of its own "phase" (solid-liquid, liquid-gaseous) to absorb a large amount of heat, and the temperature changes very slowly (its phase change latent heat is 10 times higher than that of conventional materials).
The matched double-layer (top and bottom of the battery) cooling system increases the battery heat dissipation area by 100% and the cooling efficiency by 50%.
In this way, the magazine battery 2.0 was stacked four times to increase the heat defense, but the Aion technical team was not satisfied yet. They actually developed active defense technology. This move breaks people's perception: battery thermal protection can only rely on passive defense.
A fire extinguishing chamber is isolated inside the battery PACK, which stores fire extinguishing agents with strong temperature stability. If passive defense cannot prevent thermal runaway, the "partition wall" made of low-melting point alloy will melt away, and the fire extinguishing agent will be released instantly and accurately sprayed on the out-of-control cells. The most amazing thing is that the fire extinguishing agent generates inert gas, wraps up the out-of-control battery cells, and prevents fire.
At the same time, the generated gases and sparks, as well as 99.5 PM10 particles, are eliminated through gas emission treatment technology. Don’t forget to protect the environment while putting out fires. It’s all thanks to you, Aian.
Ean claimed that each battery cell of the magazine battery 2.0 has its own "fire brigade", which is actually more like an automatic sprinkler system that can be put in place without calling.
With this approach, Aion has become the only PACK-level active safety solution provider in the world. As if stacking buffs is a bit addictive, they have deployed a sixth-generation cloud BMS to monitor battery health in the background, no matter what state the car is in.
Aian said that the current threshold for cloud AI’s ability to identify internal short circuits is 200Ω, which is much higher than the 10Ω risk line. This is equivalent to every Aian vehicle being a frontline fighter, and the cloud AI acts as an early warning aircraft, issuing safe action instructions to the "fighters" through the Link communication link.
Security measures have been taken to the extreme, and Ian used actual deployment to prove that he was not "bragging".
To fulfill the technical vision, all the "boasted boasts" have been realized
In the past, some of the technical goals set by Ian were considered too unrealistic or even fantasy by others, and were considered It's bragging.
In 2021, Gu Huinan, general manager of GAC Aian, promised that the Aian brand will achieve 1,000 kilometers of battery life, a new level of safety battery solution, and super fast charging (A480, 480kW).
At that time, everyone did not know what a "new safety height" battery was, and it had not attracted much attention. But everyone is no stranger to 1,000 kilometers of battery life and 480kW fast charging. Two years later, some manufacturers have achieved a certain technology, such as 1,000 kilometers of battery life (although it is still only a product plan) and 6C fast charging. However, it is worth mentioning that the only one who can achieve the above three dimensions at the same time is Aian.
We can guess that when Aian made the promise, these three technologies had actually been laid out and were progressing smoothly, and they were only a layer of window paper away from commercialization. In terms of new energy technology, GAC Research has long accumulated a large number of patents and engineering application methods. However, due to poor information or inaccessible technical imagination, most people outside cannot understand it well.
The magazine battery 2.0 test video and data released now are shocking but also heartfelt: Aian is still working hard in industry!
Behind Aian’s high profile is his confidence in the progress of the underlying technology. The Aian people, who dare to think, dare to do, and are pragmatic in their actions, have fulfilled their promises with actions and results.
Even though the goal spans such a large distance and seems difficult, Ian actually accomplished it. These world-leading "black technologies" have completely solved the pain points of electric vehicle consumption and are the foundation for Aian to continue to lead the industry.
Inheritance and innovation, immersing yourself in a no-man’s land
Magazine Battery 2.0 is not created out of thin air. No matter how large the technological leap is, it still needs to have a good inheritance of the previous generation technology. sex. In 2011, Aian began the research and application of electrification technology, forming a large number of technical achievements and talent reserves.
Up to today, the first-generation technology has been installed on more than 400,000 vehicles, experienced 10 billion kilometers of various extreme road conditions, and has the foundation of 68 million safe charging times with zero spontaneous combustion. Magazine Battery 2.0 emerged on top of it, reflecting the strength of Aian's self-research capabilities.
The market is the ultimate judge. In 2022, Aian’s annual sales volume will be 271,000 units; in February this year, sales volume was 30,086 units, a year-on-year increase of 253 units and a month-on-month increase of 195 units; in March, sales volume exceeded the 40,000 unit mark. Entering a new stage of scale effect. The market shows its recognition of Aian's product ideas and safety concepts.
But Aian is not satisfied with this. With the "2023 Spring and Summer New Product Release", he will pursue the victory and expand his market leading advantage.
Aion released the 2023 AION Y Plus and the 2023 AION S Plus, and launched a series of major user benefits. AION V Plus and AION LX Plus have also launched preferential policies with a maximum financial discount of 10,000 yuan and a maximum replacement subsidy of 6,000 yuan. At the same time, according to Guangzhou City’s new round of new energy subsidy policies, all Aian’s models will receive subsidies ranging from 6,000 to 10,000 yuan, an unprecedented discount. It is foreseeable that Aian is about to set off a new round of hot sales, and is sure to achieve its annual sales target of 600,000 vehicles.
In terms of technology development, Aian did not work behind closed doors. Aian invested 10.9 billion yuan to establish Yinpai Battery Technology Company. On this platform, it reached strategic cooperation with top material suppliers such as Ganfeng Lithium Industry and Hanrui Cobalt Industry. It not only pushed the technology to new heights, but also sought to open up the battery industry. The Eight Extraordinary Meridians of Research, Production and Sales of Services.
In time, we will not be able to deny the possibility that Aon batteries will be provided to other OEMs through authorized production. Not only in the EV field, there has been information about changes in the cooperation model between Aion's AH8 project and Huawei, which further confirms Aion's ICV R&D strength.
Actually, Aian's ambitions don't stop there. Aian is also preparing for the full-pack shooting test of ternary lithium batteries, and will accelerate the complete end of users' battery safety pain points through continuous breakthroughs and innovations.
Meeting military-grade standards under harsh environmental conditions, the scope of use of magazine battery 2.0 will no longer be limited to paved roads and civilian use.
In the future, Magazine Battery 2.0 will bring users a safer experience in extreme car use scenarios such as track, off-road, and adventure, and also provide possibilities for underwater, aerospace and other applications.
The technology tree first clicks on "Safety", and Aian takes action steadily. Aion's pursuit of battery safety technology has reached an almost paranoid level, and safety has become an important manifestation of Aion's brand value.
Magazine Battery 2.0 will also be gradually installed on Haopin models to achieve mass production application. On this basis, it is logical for Aian to create a high-end brand image.
Previously, science and technology unicorn Aian received 18.3 billion yuan in financing and a valuation of over 100 billion yuan in the Series A round. This year, it has intensively released technologies, opening up more imagination space in the capital market.
Deeply rooted in the fertile soil of technology, Aian has fully entered a technological blowout period, and its latecomer power will be even more amazing. Breakthroughs in battery safety technology are the key to accelerating the popularity of pure electric vehicles and even promoting the transformation of the entire energy ecology. In the future, magazine batteries will continue to evolve and will advance from battery safety protection to energy control.
Aion’s contribution to battery safety and new energy development goes beyond commercial operations. Copyright Statement: This article is an original manuscript of "Autobot" and may not be reproduced without authorization.
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