Recently, a series of electric vehicle accidents have reminded the industry that the safety of power batteries is always the primary prerequisite as battery energy density is rapidly advancing. As the market share of high-nickel ternary batteries is increasing day by day, how to better balance "safety" and "range" and find a balance between the two has become a pain point that the power battery industry needs to solve urgently.

　　In addition to safety, battery costs and integration with the grid are also challenges facing electric vehicles. However, challenges often also present opportunities. Envision Group, which has just completed the acquisition of Nissan's battery business AESC, hopes to use intelligent means to solve these challenges and help the industry find the "corner" of opportunities.

　　"Battery safety is the biggest 'grey rhino' in the electric vehicle industry. Envision will continue the extreme safety of AESC batteries' 'zero major accidents' and is expected to reduce battery costs to US$50/kWh by 2025. Intelligent IoT operations based on Envision System, electric vehicles will become green mobile intelligent terminals, organically integrated with clean energy systems, and provide dynamic balance for the fragmented renewable energy network." said Zhang Lei, CEO of Envision Group and Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Envision AESC.

　　Pursuing ultimate safety

　　At the 18th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition held not long ago, Envision AESC officially released a new generation of Gen5-811 AIoT power battery products. This product will be officially mass-produced at Envision AESC’s Wuxi factory in 2020. In the future, the Wuxi factory’s total annual production capacity will reach 20GWh, and it is expected to provide power batteries for more than 400,000 new energy vehicles around the world every year. What attracts the attention of the industry is that the newly released Gen5-811 AIoT power battery product will have a high specific energy of more than 300Wh/kg. The higher the energy density of the battery, the higher the level of safety management required.

　　Envision AESC CEO Shoichi Matsumoto revealed that so far, 430,000 electric vehicles have been installed with batteries produced by Envision AESC in Japan, the United States and Europe, and the rate of major failures such as battery fires has been zero. It was this safety record that originally impressed Zhang Lei and his vision team.

　　"This achievement stems from AESC's ultimate pursuit of battery R&D and design. Through years of cooperation with Nissan, we have fully grasped the full life cycle data of the battery, and fully tested and verified the performance, safety and durability reliability of the product. We have The target data is monitored in real time, and more than 770 quality control projects in the production process are strictly controlled, so that the data of the entire production chain can be traced and tracked." Masaichi Matsumoto said.

　　In Zhang Lei's view, such a safety record is based on good materials and good quality control on the surface. Behind it is countless experiments and verifications, and its core is the production process and technology. And this is the core competitiveness of the power battery industry.

　　Zhao Weijun, executive director of Envision AESC and head of China business, revealed that Envision AESC’s global shipments last year were approximately 4.1GWh, with the main markets in Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom. Shipments are expected to reach 6-6.1GWh this year.

　　Redefining power batteries

　　Currently, in the global power lithium battery market, CATL, Panasonic, and BYD firmly occupy the top three positions, with a combined market share of more than 50%. In Zhang Lei’s view, this market structure is far from finalized, and the industry is still in the early stages of a marathon.

　　Zhang Lei believes that to truly solve the three major pain points of safety, battery cost and integration with the power grid, the entire power lithium battery industry needs to be redefined. This is where the opportunity for Envision AESC to change lanes and overtake lies. Just like 12 years ago, Envision AESC, which broke into the wind power field as a dark horse, led the wave of smart wind power, today, Envision AESC also wants to lead the change in the power battery industry.

　　So, how will Envision AESC redefine the power battery industry?

　　Zhao Weijun told reporters that the redefinition is first reflected in safety. Based on AESC's years of experience in battery manufacturing and its visionary digital and AIoT technologies, sensors are used to accurately grasp temperature changes and internal resistance changes inside the battery, collect and process them in real time, and perform strategic control to achieve ultimate battery safety.

　　"As an electric car, it may only be running 10% of the time and parked 90% of the time. The battery not only provides power for the car, but is also an energy storage device itself. In this sense, the entire life cycle of the battery actually Only 10% of the value is exerted. Another implication of redefining the power battery industry is to truly release the full life cycle value of a battery." Zhao Weijun said.

　　The release of the full life cycle value of batteries also involves the issue of tiered utilization of retired power batteries. In Zhao Weijun's view, retired batteries are not unpacked and are directly screened by data. Three battery packs can be stacked together to become a building energy storage device. This is the most suitable application scenario for the stepped utilization of retired power batteries.

　　In addition to the need to redefine the battery itself, the relationship between batteries and electric vehicles, the relationship between electric vehicles and the power grid, and the relationship between electric vehicles and people also need to be redefined. To redefine these relationships, we need to use digital capabilities, AI capabilities, and the capabilities of the Internet of Things.

　　"In the future, power batteries will need to coordinate with the power grid, and tens of thousands of electric vehicles and power batteries will need to rely on the Internet of Things to achieve synergy with the power grid." Zhao Weijun told reporters.

　　Empowering with digitalization and IoT

　　If the previous AESC incorporated Nissan’s understanding of automobiles and chemical batteries, then today’s AESC will integrate Envision’s understanding of energy systems and digital technology.

　　In Envision's concept, electric vehicles and power batteries are no longer isolated, but are mobile power stations on its intelligent IoT operating system EnOSTM, and the value they can exert is no less than any other on the operating system. Wind turbines and any photovoltaic panels. Starting from this concept, Envision AESC will not only be a power battery manufacturer, but also an energy system manager with power batteries as the carrier.

　　In fact, Envision wind turbines have low failure rates and high power generation, largely relying on digital and intelligent technologies, as well as data, AIoT platforms and analytical capabilities. "Envision Intelligent Business is such an empowering tool. It originates from the wind power field, but is not limited to the wind power field. It can now be used to empower the power battery industry and bring disruptive changes to the industry." Zhao Weijun said.

　　Zhang Lei believes that through the empowerment of digital technology and the Internet of Things, the power battery industry can fully realize the management optimization of the entire life cycle, including comprehensive management of battery status and fault warning from R&D, production, installation, secondary use, recycling and other stages. , improve battery safety, efficiency and service life, reduce battery costs, thereby unlocking the full life cycle value of power batteries.

　　How can Envision's successful experience in the wind power field be replicated in the power battery field? How can batteries better achieve industrial synergy with wind power and photovoltaics on the energy production side? The industry is waiting for a clearer answer from Vision.

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