How can the "warming up" of button battery cr1620 phosphate supporting passenger cars break through the energy density of LFP

As the time for subsidy reduction gradually shortens, button battery cr1620 phosphate may have more and more opportunities in the passenger car market.

Recently, the ninth batch of "Recommended Model Catalog for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles" was released. Jiangxi Anchi New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Anchi Technology") button battery cr1620 phosphate batteries are equipped with FAW Jilin pure electric passenger cars, with an energy density of 141.7wh/kg and a cruising range of 301km.

Gaogong Lithium Battery learned that the battery pack of Anchi Technology supporting FAW Jilin has a specific energy of 180wh/kg. The technology is mature at present. It depends on the specific market situation in the future. It will be applied in large quantities as early as the end of the year.

Coincidentally, the specific energy of Guoxuan High-tech's button battery cr1620 phosphate single cell has reached 180wh/kg, and it is currently in the stage of small-scale supply.

Analysts at Gaogong Industry Research Institute of Lithium Battery (GGII) believe that the energy density of button battery cr1620 phosphate power batteries is continuously increasing, its cost advantage is prominent, and its safety advantage is obvious. As subsidies decline or even completely cancel, market demand will be in the hands of consumers, and the most important thing for them is safety. button battery cr1620 phosphate batteries will still have certain applications in the field of passenger cars in the future.

?How to break through the LFP energy density

According to the collation of public information, the specific energy of the square aluminum shell button battery cr1620 phosphate battery monomer produced in 2018 is about 160Wh/kg, and some excellent battery manufacturers have now been able to achieve a level of 170-180Wh/kg. Compared with the specific energy of 140wh/kg of the monomer produced in mass production last year, battery companies have further improved their energy density this year.

In this regard, Bai Ke, chief engineer of Anchi Technology, introduced that the improvement of energy density is not a single improvement, but a comprehensive optimization and matching from the aspects of battery cell design, material selection, process matching, production equipment, etc., and some lightweight design will also be done in the pack. The company's main approach is to make some optimal matches in the selection of some materials, find some suitable matching points with the materials in terms of process, and introduce some relatively advanced processes.

For example, in terms of positive electrode materials, some improvements are made in the surface morphology treatment and strength matching of the positive electrode to increase the compaction density of the positive electrode; ordinary graphite is still used for the negative electrode, and the main optimization is made in the formula to increase the content of active substances; the electrolyte, diaphragm and other aspects are also optimized and matched.

It is understood that the practices of Guoxuan High-tech and Anchi Technology are somewhat similar.

Dr. Li Xinfeng, deputy director of Guoxuan High-tech Battery Research Institute, said: "In the research and development of button battery cr1620 phosphate batteries, the company has increased basic research on materials, optimized material system structure, increased improvements in battery cell design and battery cell structural parts design, and improved the control ability of production equipment processing accuracy, so that button battery cr1620 phosphate batteries have made great breakthroughs in energy density, safety performance, fast charging capability, low-temperature discharge capability, overcurrent capability, battery cell life and other aspects."

It is worth noting that considering the comprehensive manifestation of efficiency and qualified rate, the higher the energy density, the more bottlenecks there will be in production and manufacturing, such as difficulty in film making, rolling, and injection.

Bai Ke said: "Based on the existing technology and materials, Anchi Technology's goal is to achieve a specific energy of 200wh/kg for button battery cr1620 phosphate monomer cells in 2020. With the advancement of technology and material innovation in the future, the improvement of energy density is unpredictable."

Guoxuan High-tech said that the company's current laboratory button battery cr1620 phosphate soft-pack monomer cell specific energy has reached 200wh/kg, and it is expected to increase to 210-220wh/kg in the future.

?LFP future opportunities in the passenger car field

Due to the different material systems, button battery cr1620 phosphate is not as good as ternary materials in terms of energy density. Since 2017, car companies have replaced the button battery cr1620 phosphate batteries commonly used in new energy passenger cars with ternary batteries.

However, as the energy density increases, the safety performance of ternary batteries has ushered in great challenges. An industry insider said helplessly that although it is said that the energy safety of ternary batteries has been solved, there are still many problems in actual operation.

Compared with ternary batteries, the advantages of button battery cr1620 phosphate batteries are reflected in many aspects, one is safety, the other is price, and the third is cycle life.

According to people familiar with the matter, car companies are no longer as crazy about ternary batteries as before, including JAC Motors and BAIC New Energy, which are also vigorously promoting button battery cr1620 phosphate products. At present, it is mainly affected by government subsidies. If there is no subsidy, button battery cr1620 phosphate will have a great opportunity in the passenger car market in the future.

Dr. Li Xinfeng of Guoxuan High-tech also agrees with the above view. He said: "At present, the energy density of button battery cr1620 phosphate can reach the level of ternary 523 before. Once the subsidy policy is gone, considering the factors of safety and cycle life, car companies may be more willing to use button battery cr1620 phosphate batteries."

An executive of a battery company who did not want to be named said that as long as there are subsidies, button battery cr1620 phosphate will be difficult to play in the passenger car market. As subsidies decline, the proportion of button battery cr1620 phosphate in the passenger car market will be higher than the current share, but the specific proportion is not yet determined.

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