About domestic models? Tesla told everyone that the price cut was due to "advanced software technology and efficiency optimization". In fact, the core element is the relatively low raw material cost of lithium iron phosphate battery. Does everyone agree with this model? There is still room for prices to continue to fall, and sales have been bullish.
BYD's new Korean series models launched in July this year also caused a sensation. Officials claim that its sales in the market have just exceeded 30,000. At that time, the production capacity of Korean EV models was far from enough. To be sure, the lack of production capacity of the newly appointed "blade battery" is the main influencing factor. Of course, last month, we also saw that with the gradual release of production capacity, the delivery volume of Korea also increased accordingly. At the same time, BYD is also making a quick layout for Song PLUS? EV, 202 1 Tang EV and many other models are equipped with this new lithium iron phosphate battery. Based on the above information, do you think that lithium iron phosphate battery is a new technology that subverts the existing battery technology and will have a long-term development in the future?
I hope you don't misunderstand me. For lithium ferrous phosphate, we still use "coming out of the mountain again" to describe it. Friends who know a little about the development of power batteries may know that as early as the early 1990s, one of the first inventors of lithium-ion batteries, John bannister Goodnow (? Bannister? Goodenough) improved the lithium iron phosphate battery on the basis of the original lithium ion (lithium cobaltate) battery. This new cathode material solves the disadvantages of chemical battery in safety for the first time, and oxygen is difficult to precipitate in its olivine structure, so it has high thermal stability. At the same time, lithium ferrous phosphate does not contain any heavy metal elements harmful to human body, and the cost of several chemical raw materials is relatively low. Coupled with the advantages of high charge-discharge efficiency and long cycle life, lithium iron phosphate battery can be said to be the most "mature and stable" cathode material for lithium ion batteries so far.
One of the original inventors of lithium-ion battery-John bannister Goodnow (John? Bannister? Goodenough) Dr.
However, the shortcomings of the traditional lithium iron phosphate battery are also obvious: firstly, there is no breakthrough in energy density, too large volume and too much electrolyte. At the same time, due to the large capacity, the consistency between cells is also poor. The most criticized is its low temperature characteristics. At low temperature, the activity of lithium ferrous phosphate cathode material decreases, which reduces the number of lithium ions that can move and bring discharge current, and finally leads to the characteristics of low discharge voltage platform, low discharge capacity, rapid capacity attenuation and poor rate performance. In short, it is quite resistant to use in winter, which was fully reflected in the early BYD new energy vehicles.
BYD can be regarded as an "old player" of lithium iron phosphate battery. BYD, which entered the field of new energy earlier, has formed a considerable industrial scale by relying on the mutual adaptation advantages of lithium iron phosphate batteries and commercial vehicles. In the process of developing into passenger cars, lithium ferrous phosphate gradually shows some shortcomings, such as low energy density and poor adaptability to low temperature environment. In addition, the rapid rise of ternary lithium batteries in the field of new energy passenger cars has led BYD to change its technical route from lithium ferrous phosphate to ternary lithium for many years in a period of time.
Speaking of the rapid rise of ternary lithium batteries, it is closely related to the development and growth of Tesla motors. 2/kloc-0 At the beginning of the 20th century, Jeff Dagen of Dalhousie University in Canada (? Jeff. Professor Dahn) pioneered the invention of Ni-Co-Mn ternary composite cathode material which can be commercialized on a large scale. The appearance of ternary lithium battery has made a major breakthrough in the energy density of the whole lithium-ion battery field, and it is also a power battery which is very suitable for the characteristics of passenger cars. When many automobile manufacturers have not yet formed a unified technical route for power batteries, it is Tesla's favor that makes ternary lithium batteries enter the mainstream development circle. Professor Jeff Dagen and his research team are Tesla Hanlin College appointed by elon musk. Tesla Motors has provided a lot of financial support for this research team for a long time to ensure its leading position in battery research and development related fields.
Jeff Dagen, inventor of commercial ternary lithium battery (? Jeff. Dahn) professor
We are not sure who took the initiative, Tesla or BYD. When the ternary lithium battery was in full swing, we came up with the idea of inviting lithium iron phosphate batteries to come out again. But what is certain is that in 20 19, these two car companies have taken this step substantially. For Tesla, the purpose is simple-to cut costs. Tesla, eager to expand the global market, is always thinking about cost control. Especially after entering the China market as a wholly foreign-owned enterprise, a more localized competition strategy is imperative. The high cost of cobalt raw materials in the original ternary lithium battery is precisely an obstacle that new energy vehicle companies such as Tesla are difficult to break through through through technical means. At this node, CTP modular-free power battery technology of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. provides a very suitable solution. According to the data, the number of CTP battery parts in contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. decreased by 40%, the volume utilization rate of CTP battery increased by 15%-20%, the production efficiency increased by 50%, and the manufacturing cost was greatly reduced. As a result, Tesla's domestic model has changed from the rumored "cobalt-free" battery to a more practical lithium iron phosphate battery. As for the shortcomings such as low temperature characteristics, it is not a problem in front of today's more intelligent battery management system.
In March 2020, BYD released a high-profile self-developed blade battery, which did not let me see the great innovation of battery chemical materials. To put it bluntly, everyone's ideas coincide. Blade battery is also a lithium iron phosphate battery with greatly optimized battery monomer and module structure, and its energy density is more than 50% higher than that of traditional lithium iron phosphate battery. Taking the blade battery as an opportunity, BYD launched a grand strategy to revive the technical route of lithium ferrous phosphate. From BYD Han EV to Song PLUS? EV, 202 1 Tang EV, and Qin Pro, which upgrade is faster? EV, E system and other models, the coverage of lithium iron phosphate battery in BYD product array will be more and more comprehensive. The supply mode of BYD's power battery has also changed from exclusive use of its own brand to global opening, which may be more important for BYD. The competition in the domestic battery industry is becoming increasingly fierce, and BYD also needs to seize every opportunity to regain its strong position in the past.
So in the final analysis, lithium iron phosphate battery is an important means for Tesla to effectively reduce production costs and stimulate sales. They are willing to accept anything that is conducive to Tesla's global market expansion except lithium iron phosphate batteries. For Tesla, whether it is "electrodeless ear" technology or further increasing the proportion of "nickel", the technical route of power battery is still developing towards the perfection of ternary lithium technology. However, for BYD, the situation has become severe. The increasingly eroded market share tells them that a series of positive actions, such as launching a brand-new lithium ferrous phosphate technology strategy, opening up the battery supply system to the outside world, and forming a technical alliance with Huawei, must be taken to continuously enhance investor confidence. Of course, in this process, it is also necessary to reduce costs and increase sales. Lithium ferrous phosphate blade battery can achieve this goal, BYD should be fully laid out.
This year, many lithium iron phosphate models with new battery modules will come to us. But as far as the whole battery field is concerned, it is a foregone conclusion that the chemical materials in lithium ferrous phosphate will enter the bottleneck of performance characteristics. Lithium ternary is still in the further exploration period of chemical system, and its development prospect will undoubtedly be longer. On the other hand, although Musk outlined his beautiful vision for the new battery on "Battery Day", the subsequent sharp drop in market value also tells us that the time for the real subversion of lithium-ion battery technology is far from coming, and the low-threshold lithium iron phosphate technology still has considerable living space at this stage. No matter what kind of technical route products, consumers are looking forward to buying affordable products, and manufacturers are looking forward to selling well. The reason is actually that simple.
■? Bangping branch
Think further: It is understood that both lithium iron phosphate batteries and ternary lithium batteries, including new technologies such as "cobalt-free" and "graphene" that have recently appeared in the field of lithium-ion batteries, are not in the hands of China. More than a decade ago, hundreds of companies involved in lithium ferrous phosphate business in China suffered claims from patent owners. For the sake of national interests and industrial protection, the State Patent Office revoked the patentee's patent ownership in China. For this reason, we should think that although China started late in the field of battery basic chemical materials and has no first-Mover advantage, it is not a long-term solution to study bypassing patents or acquiring patents of others. At this moment, it is even more necessary to prepare for a protracted war in advance and strive to achieve transcendence in the next generation of technology.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.