As policy subsidies are tilted toward high energy density and cost pressures caused by rising cobalt prices, power battery companies have begun to deploy to increase battery energy ratio from the perspective of reducing cobalt content.

　　With policy subsidies tilted toward high energy density and cost pressures caused by rising cobalt prices, power battery companies have begun to deploy to increase battery energy ratio from the perspective of reducing cobalt content.

　　In the pursuit of higher energy density power batteries, Tesla has always been far ahead of domestic car companies. As the first company to install 18650 batteries on electric vehicles, Tesla has been a benchmark for domestic companies to imitate in recent years.

　　The increase in energy density depends on the advancement of material technology from the source. From the perspective of material route, the potential of ternary materials is much higher than that of lithium iron phosphate, and domestic power battery manufacturers have also focused on high nickel. Three-dimensional direction. Especially under the pressure of policy, NCM811 material technology has matured day by day, and began to release production capacity gradually, forming a small batch trial.

　　As the industry situation changes, will 2018 be the first year of the explosion of high nickel 811 materials?

　　811 material has been supplied in small quantities

　　The so-called soldiers and horses have not moved, the food and grass are the first. The advancement of battery material technology is the key to promoting the increase of battery energy density. The reason why Tesla has been able to hold high energy density batteries is relying on the NCA battery provided by Panasonic as the core support.

　　The ability to mass-produce high-energy-density cathode materials is a prerequisite for the production of high-energy-density power batteries. Whether domestic power batteries can move toward high-energy density depends to a large extent on whether high-nickel ternary materials can be formed in batches. supply.

　　In fact, due to the urgent demand for the introduction of high nickel ternary materials by car companies and battery companies, the speed of advancement has been accelerating. Since the first quarter of this year, NCM811 materials have shown a serious shortage of supply.

　　Industry data shows that in the first quarter of 2018, the domestic output of ternary materials was 31,670 tons, a year-on-year increase of 64.26%. Among them, conventional NCM models accounted for 78%, NCM622 models accounted for 14%, and NCM811/NCA accounted for 8%. Among them, the output of NCM811 surged sharply.

　　From the perspective of industry trends, the current domestic mainstream power cathode material is NCM523, and the development direction is NCM811 and NCA. Internationally, Panasonic and Tesla have already used NCA on a large scale in advance. Although domestic power battery companies are still a long way away from Panasonic, they have begun trials of NCM811 materials in small batches.

　　At present, the second- and third-rate positive electrode companies on the market cannot produce high-nickel ternary materials, and the products are relatively scarce. Therefore, Dangsheng technology leader with strong research and development capabilities and high technical strength has obvious advantages.

　　Not long ago, Dangsheng Technology, a leading domestic ternary material company, stated in its quarterly report that the company's power ternary cathode material customers basically include the top ten battery manufacturers in China, and it has expanded several major customers this year. The company's 622 product scale and quality are at the forefront of the industry. At the same time, the company's 811 anode has been mass-produced. At present, downstream customers are in the pilot stage and are expected to start contributing revenue in the second half of the year.

　　Battery technology matures. Cylindrical battery will become the main battlefield

　　The rapid growth in NCM811 material market demand is mainly due to the strong demand from downstream power battery companies. "The problems that plagued the application of 811 materials have been broken, and the next step will be verified by small batch applications." Su Jinran, deputy chief engineer of Lishen Battery, said that in terms of technology, some power battery manufacturers, including Lishen, have basically solved the problem of 811. Technical problems in the application of cylindrical batteries.

　　In fact, it is not just Lishen battery. At present, at least 3-4 power battery manufacturers in China have initially solved the core problem of high-energy density power batteries.

　　Not long ago, Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, clearly pointed out that the Ningde Times, Lishen Battery, Guoxuan High-tech and other teams have basically achieved the research and development of 300Wh/kg power batteries.

　　"Our expert group made an optimization iteration on the development trend of technical battery technology (not as a basis for the national battery technology roadmap, for reference only)." Academician Ouyang said that in 2020, the specific energy of power batteries will be 300 watt-hours/kg , The specific power is 1000 watt-hour/L, the cycle is more than 1000 times, and the cost is less than 0.8 yuan/Wh. This is certain.

　　At this stage, the material corresponding to high energy density batteries is high nickel ternary.

　　"Everyone knows that we are now changing from the ratio of nickel: cobalt: manganese 3:3:3 to 6:2:2, and then to 8:1:1, which is gradually being realized." Ouyang Minggao emphasized that nickel has become 8. Cobalt further drops to 1, even cobalt further drops to 0.5. The negative electrode must be transformed from a carbon negative electrode to a silicon-carbon negative electrode, which is a feasible direction for China's current power battery technology reform.

　　On the other hand, the acceleration of the application of NCM811 in the field of power batteries is also mainly due to the adjustment of subsidy policies, the continued high cobalt price, and the huge pressure to improve quality and reduce costs.

　　According to estimates, after using high-nickel materials, the overall unit cost of the battery will drop by more than 8%, and the cost advantage is obvious. Cobalt price fluctuations caused by the contradiction between supply and demand are also helping manufacturers to shift to low-cobalt and high-nickel products.

　　In this context, the introduction of NCM811 materials in the field of power batteries has been significantly accelerated. Since the second half of last year, a few power battery companies such as BAK Power, Lishen Battery, and Penghui Energy have basically completed the process from product technological breakthroughs to small-batch production to customer sample certification and testing.

　　BAK Battery stated that the high nickel 811 battery produced by the company has been successfully applied to the relevant models of electric vehicles such as JAC, SAIC Maxus, BAIC New Energy, Xiaopeng, Yundu, etc. The models have been listed in the new energy recommended catalog, and Overall feedback on market applications is good.

　　It is understood that the maximum energy of BAK 18650 battery after mass production can reach 3.5Ah. The next step will be to develop 21700 battery. By combining high nickel and silicon carbon, the mass production energy of 21700 battery can reach 6.0Ah. Other companies, such as Lishen Battery and Penghui Energy, that have achieved small batch production of NCM811, have basically chosen cylindrical batteries as their breakthrough. In the future, cylindrical batteries will become the main battlefield for NCM811 materials.