Pacific Auto Yan Qian Technology Original
With the rapid development of electric vehicles, battery technology is constantly breaking through, such as BYD blade battery, solid-state battery, battery replacement technology and so on. In the near future, another very innovative technology will appear in the field of vision, and this technology is CTC battery chassis integration technology. Will this technology work or not? Is it the existence of chicken ribs or the emergence of new opportunities? Let's talk together.
What is CTC battery chassis integration technology?
A simple summary is the process of integrating the battery directly into the vehicle chassis. It further deepens the integration of battery system with electric vehicle power system and chassis, reduces the number of parts, saves space, improves structural efficiency, greatly reduces vehicle weight and prolongs battery life. It is considered to be the key core technology to determine the success or failure of new energy vehicle competition in the next stage.
Simply put, CTC battery chassis integration technology is to integrate the battery into the chassis and make it a part of the vehicle chassis.
In order to realize this technology, the battery system is not only integrated into the bottom tray, but also mainly goes through the following stages:
In the first stage, CTM(Cell to Module), the original new energy industry, hoped to standardize battery cells and then reduce costs through scale. However, the different requirements of various models make it difficult for battery manufacturers to unify the size of battery cells, and then the next best thing is to standardize the battery system into modules. In the past few years, the focus of battery system integration has been to continuously improve the size of standard battery modules, such as the typical 590 module.
In the second stage, CTP (Cell to Pack): CTP directly integrates the battery cells into the battery pack, effectively improving the space utilization rate and energy density of the battery pack. At present, contemporary Ampere Technology, BYD and Honeycomb Energy all have their own CTP schemes. The well-known BYD blade battery adopts CTP technology.
In the third stage, CTC(Cell to Chassis): The evolution to CTC stage requires not only battery rearrangement, but also an electrically driven electronic control system, which makes the battery, motor, electronic control, vehicle charger and chassis highly integrated, and optimizes power distribution through intelligent power domain controller to reduce energy consumption. This requires the whole manufacturing chain to be extremely high, which requires the OEM and battery suppliers to have a number of interdisciplinary abilities: most car companies must have the ability to design batteries and highly integrate three-electric systems, and battery companies need to design motors and chassis. At present, domestic zero-run and overseas Tesla have taken the lead in announcing the CTC scheme, and BYD and Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. are accelerating their layout.
CTC technology is to directly skip all intermediate links, directly combine the battery core with the chassis, and integrate the core components such as motor and electronic control.
What are the advantages of CTC technology?
First of all, it has strong adaptability, improved matching degree with the whole vehicle, and can be produced in batches quickly and flexibly. Secondly, the chassis is highly integrated and modular, which can adapt to all levels and types of vehicles in the future across platforms. At the same time, it is precisely because of the high degree of integration and modularization that the number of parts and production steps are better simplified, and the battery capacity and cruising range are increased while reducing costs.
High integration is the biggest advantage of CTC technology, which can better optimize parts and production steps, reduce production costs and improve battery capacity.
Is CTC technology not a disadvantage?
Of course there is. First of all, it is impossible to change electricity. At present, the country has a policy of power exchange mode, and major manufacturers have successively launched brands and models that support power exchange. However, CTC technology integrates the battery with the chassis, so vehicles using CTC scheme will not be able to adapt to power exchange and energy supplement.
Secondly, it is analyzed from the perspective of maintenance. Because the battery pack and chassis of the vehicle adopting CTC scheme are designed as a whole, when the vehicle chassis area collides and deforms, the maintenance scheme will involve more integral structural parts and the cost will increase.
CTC is not only an advantage, but also a fundamental problem that cannot be solved.
Zero Car released its own CTC scheme in April. The CTC scheme released this time is not the most radical "battery-chassis" in the industry, but a set of models of "battery-module-chassis". Compared with the former, the zero-run scheme has more modules, but the same thing is that the battery pack is also omitted. Overall, it is more like a tentative transition plan. However, from the results, the zero-run CTC scheme effectively improves the comprehensive performance of the vehicle.
The zero operation scheme does not save the module, which is more like the transition scheme from CTP to CTC. But even so, it is still worthy of our praise. Dare to take the first step, is a great courage and courage.
In this scheme, CTC double skeleton ring beam structure is innovatively applied, and the battery skeleton structure and chassis body structure are combined into one, which is both chassis structure and battery structure, and the overall structural efficiency is higher. Secondly, air tightness, battery sealing is achieved through the design of the car body. CTC technology borrows the basic structure of chassis, and uses the longitudinal beam and transverse beam of car body to form a complete sealing structure. Compared with traditional cars, this is definitely a great innovation.
At the same time, according to the official data of zero run, this CTC scheme reduces the number of parts by 20%, reduces the cost of structural parts by 15%, and improves the rigidity of the whole vehicle. 25%, to achieve a high degree of integration and modularization. It also has strong expansibility and is compatible with intelligent and integrated thermal management systems. In the future, it can be compatible with 800V high-voltage platform and support 400kW super fast charging. Judging from the final results, this scheme has also achieved certain expected results, with fewer parts, lower costs, longer battery life and higher strength, which is relatively successful as a whole.
The CTC scheme will be applied to C0 1 for the first time. If there are no accidents, zero run C0 1 (parameter | inquiry) will also be the first production car equipped with CTC technology in China.
From the specific performance of the vehicle, CTC technology can bring more battery capacity space for C0 1, increase the battery layout space of 14.5% compared with the traditional scheme, realize more spacious driving space, eliminate the installation gap between the battery pack and the car body, and increase the vertical space of the car body by10 mm..
Secondly, CTC technology improves the battery space utilization rate, battery life by 10%, and battery thermal insulation performance. At the same time, the AI BMS big data battery management system is adopted, which can be monitored in real time, basically eliminating the safety problems caused by batteries or battery failure. Tesla has more than CTC technology.
Tesla: CTC Scheme and Integrated Die Casting Technology
Tesla released a brand-new turnkey packaging technology CTC in 2020. Tesla's plan is to install the battery or module directly on the chassis, and the battery pack will be used as a part of the body structure to connect the front and rear large castings of the body. The original cockpit floor was cancelled and replaced with a battery cover, and the seat was directly installed on the battery cover. Tesla's solution is more direct, the module is cancelled, the battery is directly placed in the chassis, and the seat is directly placed on it.
According to the patent application and public information, Tesla CTC technology has the following characteristics:
1. The upper cover of the battery pack is bonded with the battery cell and directly connected with vehicle structural members such as seats;
2. Resin materials are filled between the batteries to play the role of thermal protection and structural support;
3. The previous aluminum wire connection is changed to bus connection, and the bus pin is used to directly connect with the acquisition board of the battery management system;
4. One side of the battery pack is equipped with 8 pressure relief valves to strengthen the management of thermal runaway;
Tesla's scheme has the advantages of reducing supporting parts, reducing vehicle weight and improving the overall battery capacity. The vehicle weight is reduced by 65,438+00%, the cruising range is increased by 65,438+04%, 370 parts are reduced, the unit cost is reduced by 7%, and the unit investment is reduced by 8%, which greatly improves the efficiency of automobile manufacturing. Moreover, Tesla's latest third-generation cylindrical battery 4680 cells and the previous generation cells can use this CTC scheme. This scheme also achieves the purpose of reducing parts, reducing vehicle weight and prolonging battery life, and further reduces the manufacturing cost. Generally speaking, it is a very successful design scheme.
In addition to CTC scheme, Tesla's integrated die casting technology is also worth introducing here. This technology combines the front body+chassis battery pack+rear body into a body. Tesla's integrated die casting technology will greatly reduce the number of body parts, reduce the complexity of the body and achieve lightweight. According to the information released by Tesla, Model Y (Parameter | Inquiry) with integrated die casting technology can reduce the weight of the lower car body assembly by 30% and the manufacturing cost by 40%. At the same time, the integrated body after die casting does not need secondary heat treatment, which greatly improves the manufacturing efficiency. In fact, integrated die casting is not a new technology, but combined with CTC technology, it can further reduce the manufacturing cost and body weight. But in actual use, if the chassis bumps, the maintenance cost will be very, very high.
BYD: CTB technology will be adopted for the seal.
BYD launched a brand-new pure electric e3.0 platform on 20021,which integrates eight modules, such as drive motor, motor controller, reducer, high-voltage distribution box, inverter, vehicle charger, vehicle controller and battery management system, to realize the integration of "eight in one" power system. The battery still adopts blade battery, which deeply integrates the functions of driving, braking and steering of the whole vehicle. BYD's brand-new e3.0 platform realizes the "eight-in-one" power system integration, and with BYD's proud blade battery, it will bring a better driving experience.
The new model Seal, which will be pre-sold on May 20th, will be built on the e3.0 platform, and CTB battery body integration technology will also be adopted. Simply put, SEALs further integrated the battery into the car body on the basis of "eight in one", and the blade battery integrated safety and strength into a part of the whole car. BYD's CTB technology still has an independent battery pack from the structural point of view, but when it is installed, the battery pack and the car body are hard connected, and the gap is sealed with sealant to achieve an integrated effect.
At present, there is not much information exposed by BYD's plan. Judging from the exposed pictures, BYD's CTB battery body integration technology combines the floor panel in the car with the upper shell of the battery pack, which means that BYD integrates the battery system with the car body when designing and manufacturing the battery pack. This effect can meet the sealing and waterproof requirements of the battery itself, and the sealing between the battery and the member cabin is relatively simple, and the overall risk is controllable.
Contemporary Anpu Technology Co., Ltd.: Accelerate the layout of CTC research and development.
In August 2020, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. announced the development of a new battery chassis integration technology. At present, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. is accelerating the research and development of CTC, and has announced plans to launch highly integrated CTC technology around 2025, and it is expected to upgrade to the fifth generation intelligent CTC around 2028. At present, CTC technology of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. is still in a critical stage, and the final product has not been released. As a leading enterprise in the battery industry, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. will naturally not let go of CTC technology.
It is reported that the integrated CTC technology of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. will not only rearrange batteries, but also include power components including motors, electronic control, DC/DC, OBC, etc. The battery core integrates the body, chassis, electric drive, thermal management and various high and low voltage control modules, so that the mileage exceeds 1000km. What is the future development of CTC technology?
◆ The influence of ◆CTC technology on industrial development
For vehicle companies, CTC technology directly involves chassis, which is the core component that vehicle companies are most concerned about. Therefore, car companies with more experience in chassis research and development will have more dominance in the future, while car companies without development advantages will eventually lose their dominance in chassis and other hardware links.
For battery enterprises, the application of CTC technology requires battery manufacturers to get involved in vehicle design from an earlier stage, which requires battery enterprises to have stronger R&D and design capabilities in order to cooperate with some OEMs for in-depth development. It is expected that there will be more in-depth cooperation between battery factory and main engine factory in the future. The application of CTC technology means that the combination of car companies and battery manufacturers will be closer, but the competition for dominance between them will naturally appear. Both car companies and battery manufacturers hope to implement according to their own standards, which is likely to be related to the right to speak of the whole industry in the future.
In addition, battery companies lack experience and technical accumulation in vehicle chassis development, which is likely to lose the dominant position of the whole project in the process of CTC research and development and break the current strong position of battery manufacturers.
◆ Who is more in line with the current development of ◆CTC technology and power exchange technology, and who is more in line with the current development?
Actually, this question is hard to say.
In 20021year, the State Council issued the Development Plan of New Energy Automobile Industry (20021-2035), and proposed to vigorously promote the construction of charging and replacing network. Therefore, at present, major brands led by Beiqi New Energy, Weilai, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. and Geely have successively launched their own power exchange technologies.
Similarly, in the New Energy Automobile Industry Development Plan (202 1-2035), it is proposed to develop a new generation of modular high-performance automobile platform, and tackle the integrated chassis design of pure electric vehicles and the integrated technology of multi-energy power systems.
Different from power exchange, CTC technology is developing in another direction. Compared with power exchange technology, CTC technology has great advantages in reducing costs, improving battery life and lightening, which makes major manufacturers willing to deploy CTC technology. CTC technology is not so flexible compared with power exchange, but it has the advantages of low cost, longer battery life and lighter vehicle.
Generally speaking, the two technologies are still in their infancy, and each has its own unique advantages. Both technologies belong to one of the development trends of electric vehicles in the future, but it is still too early to draw conclusions about who the final result will be.
Summary: CTC technology is indeed the frontier at present, and it is also one of the important directions for the development of battery technology in the future. Judging from the current situation, only Tesla has put CTC technology to the ground among overseas brands, while there is only zero running in China. BYD will also apply this technology to production vehicles in the near future. Moreover, if this technology is applied on a large scale, it will also put forward a set of brand-new standards for OEMs, battery companies and the entire supply chain system. So it may take a long time to apply this technology on a large scale at present.
@20 19