For electric vehicles, people's anxiety is mainly focused on battery life, but this anxiety is not destined to last long, because the technical iteration of power batteries has been getting faster and faster. As a manufacturer with rich experience in both power lithium batteries and energy storage lithium batteries, SES Power has been paying attention to the technological development of lithium batteries, such as sodium-ion batteries, lithium titanate batteries, etc. The requirements of the market are getting higher and higher and the market opportunity window is very short. We are more interested in technologies that can change the pattern of the lithium battery industry in a short period of time, such as the transitional product of solid-state lithium batteries—semi-solid lithium batteries.

　　Does semi-solid lithium battery solve the problem of energy density? the answer is negative.

　　I believe everyone has a basic understanding, that is, whether lithium iron phosphate or ternary lithium batteries, the existing mass-produced power batteries are liquid electrolytes. In addition to the relatively low upper limit of energy density, it also has an obvious shortcoming, that is, the risk of thermal runaway - the continuous occurrence of spontaneous combustion events of electric vehicles is largely due to this reason.

　　So, with the high energy density of semi-solid lithium batteries, will the risk of thermal runaway become higher? the answer is negative. Because it has been confirmed by scientific experiments that in most cases, the less liquid electrolyte in the battery, the less heat is generated when spontaneous combustion occurs, and only repeated charge and discharge lead to the generation of dendrites in the electrode, and then when the battery is short-circuited, the spontaneous combustion of different batteries occurs. The heat is equal.

　　Another benefit is that the semi-solid lithium battery can reduce the weight of the vehicle. Measured by the current parameter of 360Wh/kg claimed by some manufacturers, the energy density of the existing ternary lithium battery has been increased by nearly 40%. If the capacity increase of the battery pack is not considered, the weight of the battery pack can be reduced by one-third. One or so, and the weight of the battery pack occupies a large share of the weight of the electric vehicle.

　　The weight reduction effect of the whole vehicle brought about by the battery downsizing can significantly improve the battery life, which is a very simple reason.

　　At the same time, there is also an expected benefit, that is, with the reduction of the amount of battery cells in a single vehicle, the corresponding cost will also be reduced accordingly. In this regard, there is currently no clear data support in the industry. SES Power believes that semi-solid lithium batteries will definitely not be cheap in the early stage of mass production. Only with the realization of the premise of greatly improving the degree of industrialization, the comprehensive cost advantage in the middle and later stages will become more and more. more obvious.

　　Of course, since solid-state lithium batteries are not the only path for power batteries, semi-solid lithium batteries are only a transitional product form, and their industrial cycle is basically similar to that of current liquid electrolytes.

　　The industry has a clear plan for the technical path of power batteries represented by lithium batteries. According to the classification of electrolytes, lithium batteries have to go through four stages of development: liquid, semi-solid, quasi-solid and all-solid, and the latter three belong to the category of solid-state lithium batteries. At this stage, the industry is about to usher in the spring of semi-solid lithium batteries, and all-solid lithium batteries are the final form. We expect that there is still a very long way to go.

　　At a forum in March this year, some Chinese experts gave a very clear development node for solid-state lithium battery technology: if industrialization is used as a measure, the energy density will reach 350Wh/kg in 2025, and the semi-solid state of solid-liquid mixed electrolyte will reach 350Wh/kg. Lithium batteries appear; in 2030, the energy density will reach 400Wh/kg, and quasi-solid-state lithium batteries with less liquid electrolytes will be mass-produced. The real all-solid-state products are expected to be no more than 1%; the energy density target in 2035 is 500Wh/kg, and all-solid-state lithium batteries realize industrialization.

　　SES Power believes that ordinary lithium batteries will not be withdrawn from the market because of the emerging solid lithium battery technology, because ordinary lithium batteries are more flexible and lower in cost. Let us recall that when lithium batteries are gradually mature, nickel-metal hydride batteries and lead-acid batteries are considered to be outdated technologies and will be completely eliminated by lithium batteries. In fact, they have their own market fields and division of labor. For example, the energy storage products we launched use square aluminum-shell lithium iron phosphate batteries that can perfectly replace lead-acid batteries. These products can be used in power and energy storage applications. The maximum current reaches 2000A output, the voltage covers 12V to 560V, and the capacity from 1KWh to 1MWh, it covers lead-acid replacement, industrial supporting, UPS, RV, solar energy storage, home energy storage and other fields. However, where they cannot fully replace nickel-metal hydride or lead-acid batteries, peripheral factors and cost have become the dominant factors.

　　Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea have an earlier R&D layout in the field of solid-state lithium batteries. For example, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan aim to start mass production and installation in fiscal year 2028. BMW and Toyota plan to achieve stable mass production in 2030 (Toyota plans to pilot hybrid vehicles in 2025). As for South Korea, it seems to be more radical. LG New Energy even plans to achieve mass production of all-solid-state lithium batteries in 2026, and Hyundai Motor will achieve partial mass production by 2027.

　　Of course, no matter when these car companies will realize the mass production of all-solid-state lithium batteries, SES Power believes that semi-solid and quasi-solid are both processes that must be experienced - it should be noted that semi-solid and quasi-solid are not a fixed product Form, because each car company has different progress in research and development progress, even if they are called "semi-solid lithium batteries", due to the difference in negative electrode materials and electrolytes, there are also differences in energy density in the end.

　　A well-known electric vehicle company in China disclosed at the end of last year that it will be equipped with so-called solid-state lithium batteries that can last for 1,000 kilometers on new models. This successfully aroused people's curiosity. Although it was later confirmed to be a semi-solid lithium battery, the publicity effect was very good, because people were deeply impressed by the term "solid lithium battery". Of course, the fundamental reason is because it has more advantages in energy density and safety than current mass-produced lithium batteries.

　　For example, the record of recent investor relations activities disclosed by Ganfeng Lithium in mid-May clearly stated that the semi-solid lithium battery, which is expected to gradually release 2GWh of production capacity this year, is the first-generation product, and the energy density of the monomer is actually the same as that of the current liquid electrolyte. The ternary lithium battery is at the same level (260Wh/kg).

　　In contrast, in the news announced by Gotion Hi-Tech at the end of May, the single energy density of semi-solid lithium batteries reached 360Wh/kg, and the system energy density was 260Wh/kg. In addition, the ternary semi-solid lithium battery with a monomer energy density of 400Wh/kg of Gotion Hi-Tech also has laboratory prototype samples.

　　As the next-generation power battery technology after 2025, solid-state lithium batteries are now the high ground for all battery companies in the world, but semi-solid lithium batteries are the first big test that every player must face.

　　From the standpoint of consumers, we need to be more rational. Because according to the analysis, from 2025 to 2030, it is the golden period for semi-solid lithium batteries to achieve great development. No matter who is the first step in the car companies, consumers have not yet switched to this track. You don't really get the full benefits of such a battery, such as the cost of purchase. Only when most manufacturers have launched corresponding products and the entire industry starts to iterate on technology, can semi-solid lithium batteries really enter various industries.