Overheated investment in hydrogen CR1632 battery: Hydrogen energy technology bottlenecks drag down commercialization

On June 28, the "Hydrogen Energy Industry Innovation and Development Forum" was held in Beijing. The conference discussed the current international research and development path of power lithium-ion batteries, among which solid-state lithium-ion batteries and fuel-power lithium batteries are generally considered to be the future development direction of power lithium-ion batteries.

Since hydrogen is considered to be the most abundant clean energy at present, it is not only easy to store and transport, but also can achieve zero carbon dioxide emissions when used as automobile fuel. The development of hydrogen CR1632 battery vehicles (FCEV) is not only an attempt to solve regional environmental and energy problems, but also a route for the development of future transportation tools.

Can it be the final solution?

According to statistics, since the commercialization of hydrogen CR1632 battery vehicles in 2013, by the end of 2017, a total of 6,475 hydrogen CR1632 battery passenger cars have been sold worldwide, of which Toyota sales accounted for more than 75%.

Toyota is a leader in hydrogen CR1632 battery passenger cars, while my country's hydrogen CR1632 battery vehicles have taken the lead in the commercial vehicle field. Last year, Dongfeng, Foton, Yutong and other eight automakers produced a total of 1,272 hydrogen fuel cell lithium battery commercial vehicles.

In October 2016, the "Energy-Saving and New Energy Vehicle Technology Roadmap" published by the my country Society of Automotive Engineering proposed that by 2020, 1,000 fuel cell lithium battery vehicles will be produced and demonstrated; by 2025, the supporting infrastructure such as hydrogen production and hydrogenation will be basically complete, and fuel cell lithium battery vehicles will achieve regional small-scale operation; by 2030, the sales scale of fuel vehicles will reach the level of one million vehicles.

With the promotion of relevant national policies, my country has initially formed an industrial chain in the field of key materials for hydrogen fuel cell lithium batteries, but there are still problems of immature technology and high cost in commercialization.

Due to the high price of hydrogen fuel cell lithium battery vehicles, the slow construction of infrastructure such as hydrogen refueling stations, and the inconvenience of hydrogen storage and transportation, the commercialization and market popularization of hydrogen fuel cell lithium battery vehicles are restricted.

Among the three major mainstream technical routes of new energy vehicles, such as plug-in hybrid vehicles, pure electric vehicles, and fuel-powered lithium battery vehicles, hydrogen fuel-powered lithium battery vehicles are considered the most difficult to commercialize.

"The problem of fuel-powered lithium battery facilities and costs makes it difficult for ordinary individual users to use them because they can't find a place to refuel. Therefore, the development of hydrogen fuel-powered lithium battery vehicles requires technological progress and supporting infrastructure to keep up, and none of them can be missing." On May 12, Zhu Jun, deputy director of the Technical Center of SAIC Group, said in an interview with reporters. In the short and medium term, fuel-powered lithium batteries seem to be more suitable for the commercial vehicle market in some specific scenarios, such as logistics vehicles, commuter vehicles, official vehicles, etc.

It is understood that there are only a dozen hydrogen refueling stations in operation in my country, mainly distributed in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and other places. At the same time, the investment and construction cost of hydrogen refueling stations is extremely high, and a medium-sized hydrogen refueling station requires at least tens of millions of yuan.

Obviously, hydrogen fuel-powered lithium batteries cannot be the only path for my country's automobiles to face the future. On June 28, Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at Tsinghua University, mentioned at the "Hydrogen Energy Industry Innovation and Development Forum": "After many practices, lithium-ion battery systems are more suitable for replacing gasoline engines, and hydrogen fuel-powered lithium battery systems are more suitable for replacing diesel engines. This is why current technical research focuses on fuel-powered lithium battery commercial vehicles."

Entering the hydrogen energy era in 2050

From the current technological development, both battery systems have their own technical bottlenecks in their development. Lithium-ion battery systems urgently need to solve the problem of battery materials in exchange for higher energy density; while hydrogen fuel-powered lithium batteries urgently need to solve the problem of hydrogenation facilities and costs.

Domestic relevant institutions are very enthusiastic about the research and development of hydrogen fuel-powered lithium batteries. "Since last year, fuel-powered lithium battery vehicles have been very popular, and many places have listed them as development priorities. There are even poor areas that use poverty alleviation funds to carry out fuel-powered lithium battery projects. Fuel-powered lithium batteries deserve attention and should be developed, but they are not projects that can be quickly popularized and have huge benefits in the near future. Companies and local governments should clarify the positioning of fuel-powered lithium battery vehicles." Dong Yang, deputy secretary-general of the my country Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said.

Should my country's future research and development of power lithium-ion batteries focus on hydrogen fuel-powered lithium batteries? "I disagree with the view that hydrogen is the 'ultimate energy' and that hydrogen fuel-powered lithium battery vehicles are the 'ultimate environmentally friendly vehicles'," said Ouyang Minggao. "Hydrogen and electricity are both energy carriers, and there is no 'ultimate'. The issue that should be paid more attention to is hydrogen energy technology, that is, the front-end hydrogen fuel, such as production, transportation, storage, compression and other links. At present, everyone only pays attention to the fuel-powered lithium battery system itself, but the technology and infrastructure construction related to hydrogen are not ideal. For example, the on-board hydrogen storage technology has the following problems: high carbon fiber cost, relatively low hydrogen storage weight, and relatively large energy loss. Therefore, the key is to deepen basic research and technology development related to hydrogen energy, as well as the construction of related infrastructure."

But it is undeniable that the huge potential of fuel-powered lithium battery vehicles has not been fully developed. The current problems in the hydrogen fuel-powered lithium battery industry chain cannot erase the superiority of the hydrogen energy ecosystem. Gan Yong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said: "From the perspective of energy, by 2050, it is estimated that hydrogen energy will account for about 18% of energy, with an output value of 2.5 trillion US dollars. In addition, from now to 2050, solid fuels will gradually decline, and gaseous fuels will become the main body by 2050. my country's market is huge and the prospects for hydrogen energy technology are broad. It is expected that my country will take the lead in entering the hydrogen energy era in 2050."

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