Due to the impact of global inflation and tight supply of raw materials,  the price of lithium batteries has risen sharply in the past two months. As a  customized manufacturer with nearly 20 years of experience in the lithium  battery industry, SES Power deeply feels that this kind of price increase is  extremely irrational, which leads to the forced adjustment of the price of our  lithium battery products, such as our 12V100Ah, 24V100Ah, 36V100Ah, 48V100Ah,  household energy storage 3KW, 5KW system, rack-mounted energy storage system and  other products using EVE, CATL, BYD square aluminum lithium iron phosphate  battery. Of course, we have a good cooperative relationship with many battery  cell manufacturers, so our cost increase is lower than the same level in the  industry.

　　We carefully analyzed the source and trend of the price increase of the  battery cell, and found that the trend of the price increase of lithium battery  raw materials is caused by the positive electrode material of the battery, which  has more than doubled in just one month. very amazing. The following is a brief  explanation of the cost composition of lithium batteries and the classification  of cathode materials by SES Power.

　　Lithium battery materials are in the upstream of the entire lithium battery  industry chain, and are mainly composed of four materials: cathode materials,  anode materials, separators and electrolytes: cathode materials account for  40%-60% of the cost, and anode materials account for about 15%. The liquid cost  accounts for about 10-15%, and the diaphragm cost accounts for about 20-30%.  From this ratio, we can see that the positive electrode material has a great  influence on the cost of the cell, and the choice of the positive electrode  material determines the technical route and main performance of the cell.

　　According to the cathode material system, the technical route of lithium  batteries is divided into lithium cobalt oxide (LCO), lithium manganate (LMO),  lithium iron phosphate (LFP), ternary materials (nickel cobalt lithium manganate  (NCM) and nickel Lithium cobalt aluminate (NCA)) and other technical routes.

　　The mainstream lithium battery cathode materials are lithium iron  phosphate, lithium cobaltate, lithium manganate and ternary materials. In terms  of output structure, in 2020, ternary materials will have the largest market  share, accounting for 44%, followed by lithium iron phosphate, accounting for  29%, and lithium cobaltate and lithium manganate, accounting for 15% and 12%,  respectively.

　　A: Ternary material (NCM)

　　Ternary material (NCM) material has high energy density and stable  electrochemical performance. The mainstream ternary materials are 523 type and  622 type. Among them, type 523 is the most used ternary material in recent  years, with high specific capacity and thermal stability. NCM811 and NCA  materials have the advantages of high capacity and low cost due to high nickel  content and low cobalt content. At present, Panasonic, Samsung, and LG use  high-nickel materials to produce high-quality power batteries.

　　The performance advantages of NCM811 are significant, and the energy  density of the monomer can reach more than 300Wh/kg, which is much higher than  that of NCM523 and NCM622, which represent ordinary ternary elements. The market  expects that it will gradually replace lithium iron phosphate and common ternary  materials.

　　Although the NCM material system has many advantages over lithium iron  phosphate batteries with lower energy density, such as occupying less space in  the car, lighter weight, longer discharge and cruising range, etc., the driving  range of new energy vehicles is generally increased to more than 600km important  technical path.

　　At present, Tesla, which has the highest sales volume in the global  electric vehicle market, uses NCM811 batteries from Panasonic NCA and LG New  Energy. The development and mass production process of high nickel and low  cobalt batteries.

　　According to industry estimates, the global output of high-nickel ternary  materials will exceed 600,000 tons by 2022, doubling the growth. By 2030, the  global output of high-nickel materials in the entire industry will be close to  3.5 million tons. However, this material system still has the problem of heavy  dependence on rare metals, such as cobalt metal. In addition, the safety of NCM  is still far less than that of lithium iron phosphate batteries.

　　B: Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP)

　　Since Tesla gradually began to use lithium iron phosphate batteries for  standard battery life models, many car companies have successively launched  lithium iron phosphate models. According to normal logic, although lithium iron  phosphate has the advantages of high safety performance and long cycle life, the  disadvantages of low energy density and large volume and heavy weight should be  the fatal defects of consumer products.

　　In this wave of price increases, we can clearly see that because the  cathode material of lithium iron phosphate battery does not contain precious  metals, although the price increase of lithium ore has also led to its increase,  the price increase is significantly lower than that of the NCM system.

　　In addition to performance advantages, cost is the main reason for deciding  which battery a car company uses. Relatively speaking, the cost of ternary  lithium battery is higher, and it is not as stable as lithium iron phosphate  battery. The price of lithium iron phosphate battery is about 10% lower than  that of ternary lithium battery, and the price advantage of lithium iron  phosphate battery is more obvious.

　　The irrational fluctuation of raw material prices actually affects the  sales of final products. It is like a butterfly flapping its wings in South  America but causing a hurricane in North America. SES Power is very much looking  forward to the return of the raw material market to a stable and rational track.  Only in this way can the lithium battery industry develop healthily. For  example, our lithium iron phosphate battery using customized cathode materials  can work in a low temperature environment of -40 degrees Celsius. Customers have  been asking us to increase production capacity, but raw material manufacturers  are powerless.