Beginning July 1 implementation of “new energy companies as automobile manufacturing and rules of access management products,” which states that “the use of lead in car battery acid passenger hybrid clean cars of electric and pure electric vehicles and the use of nickel-metal hydride Powered hybrid is classified among the products mature. “Before the loudest voices were included in the stage of vehicle development lithium battery, not a wide-scale promotion of the column.
Performed in Frankfurt, Germany Frankfurt Auto Show, to Daimler - Benz, Volkswagen, Toyota car dealer, represented expressed their optimism about the development of lithium batteries, and a series of hybrid vehicles powered by lithium batteries to reduce emissions carbon vehicles. Such as the Toyota van in carbon emissions of a mere 60 g / km (average annual emissions of ordinary cars 5.000 kilograms).
Then, the outlook for lithium batteries at the end?
New car electrical components is the most important driving force of batteries, electric motors and the system of energy conversion control. The new energy vehicles demanding on the battery, you must have a higher specific energy, high specific power, fast charge and discharge performance deep, and requires the lowest possible cost, life also long as possible. Therefore, the battery pack is a technical threshold of the highest, is also the most concentrated benefits.
Lithium batteries in the rapid growth phase
Car manufacturers usually choose to use lithium batteries as a power driving new energy vehicles, the value of industrial production has enormous potential.
The traditional lead-acid batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries and nickel-hydride technology of metals of the battery itself is relatively mature, but they are used in automotive batteries as power, there are still major problems . Li-ion battery has a small, lightweight, high voltage (which is nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries 3 times) that the energy of large (up to 165WH / kg, nickel-hydrogen batteries 3 times), cyclical long-term self - a low rate, no memory effect, no pollution, safety, and good, a great choice for car manufacturers as a new power battery energy lithium car battery.
China Lithium-ion battery industry started late in Japan, but the very rapid development in recent years, particularly in the food-lithium battery research and development ion have invested considerable financial and material resources. Lithium Chinese automotive-ion battery R & D project was the 863 “national” key project, much of the equipment to perform the localization and the introduction of multi-national materials has been self-built production lines and support, the plants have more than one, were the formation of large-scale production, intense market competition.
Automotive Li-ion battery industry because of enormous value inherent potential of electric vehicles, suppliers of battery materials upstream and downstream of the automakers have begun to enter the automotive battery. Li-ion battery is behind the price of hot cars on the plug-in hybrids (also known as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) and pure electric vehicles, the market prospects of recognition and R & D capabilities of their current concerns.
As the United States Ford, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Hyundai, France, Courreges, Ventury and other companies have launched their own lithium Motor Vehicle Program. While the domestic automaker BYD, Geely, Chery, Lifan, ZTE and other car firms also have their own hybrid and pure electric powered by lithium battery.
Therefore, the development cycle, the current market for automotive lithium battery is out of the start-up stage and began undergoing rapid growth.
Insufficient to solve the load and over-discharge phenomena
The level of security and the vehicle battery power management system is the bottleneck of the development of lithium batteries.
Currently, Chinese companies in BYD downstream Wanxiang Group, Shenzhen BAK Battery, Tianjin Lishen Battery and U.S. joint ventures Myers. Currently the only control of the vehicle battery pack lithium iron phosphate production technology of large scale, BYD Company, has officially launched its self-developed lithium-E6 Battery Powered F3DM pure electric vehicles and hybrids.
Currently, however, hinder the development of lithium-bottlenecks are ion battery: safety performance and vehicle power management system battery.
Automakers based on safety, oriented concept, the battery safety has presented a very high demand. As the supply voltage of 12V vehicle battery or 24V single power lithium-voltage ion battery is 3.7 V, it must be used by multiple cells in series, but difficult to achieve because of the burden and discharge the battery completely homogeneous, resulting in the battery discharge appears imbalance that occurs under load and over-discharge phenomenon, the situation will lead to a sharp deterioration in battery performance, eventually leading to all group of cells does not work, or even scrapped significantly affect battery life and reliability.
Therefore, lithium-ion battery power for good purposes, materials needed, batteries, systems management, taking into account the mechanical and other aspects. Therefore, firms in upstream and downstream should work together on drums as a core material, the management system requests formation of an industry group, would be conducive to technological progress and system costs.
Average price of materials, manufacturers continue to realize the localization and improved techniques
Barriers Lithium battery cathode materials with high entry, the minimum capacity, the anode materials for the industrialization of China has been achieved, the technology and the electrolyte membrane is still dependent on imports.
The lithium batteries can be divided into electrode (positive / negative) materials, separator and electrolyte. Material for Li-ion battery cathode is at the heart of the current cobalt oxide lithium, lithium manganese, lithium and nickel-cobalt-manganese-based lithium iron phosphate. Ze Yi graphite anode material, solid particles of carbon-based, amid the positive and negative electrodes while the electrolyte and battery separator.
As barriers to entry, material of the lithium battery cathode is the smallest capacity, which is the chain industry as a whole, the most promising aspect. Cathode materials currently in production companies are: China Baoan, CITIC Anhée Shanshangufen, BYD.
Compared with the cathode materials, anode materials, graphite, particles of solid carbon, which represents the proportion of low cost batteries, lithium, and the servant who has been achieved industrialization. Currently engaged in business in lithium battery cathode material production are the first three of the Chinese national security, capacity Shanshangufen shahi long. It is noteworthy that the negative electrode materials present in any position to meet market demand mainly domestic, but with the growing popularity of vehicles, new energy future, this application will be a massive shortfall.
Manufacturers of household batteries supporting electrolyte has been performed mainly at national level. Lithium hexafluorophosphate electrolyte main raw material, which represents about 50% of the cost of the electrolyte, its production cost is 10 yuan / ton, the price of 40 yuan / ton, gross margin reached 75%, but the market has been widely Electric Kanto Chemical Industry, SUTERAKEMI-FA, Morita chemistry, several Japanese companies a monopoly.
Divide the Department of Li-ion materials technology, barriers to higher value-added material, the gross margin is generally 70% or more, representing the cost of lithium batteries 20 ~ 30%. It is reported that the car needed to 1000-2000 m2 membrane. Currently, a serious shortage of market supply diaphragm, the most dependent on imports, the market dominated by Japanese Asahi Chemical Industry, Tonen Chemical, and the United States Celgard dominate. Domestic firms can produce only stars membrane technology source, Jinhui High-Tech two technologies are relatively mature.
Upstream to find the resources and technical barriers to a breakthrough in
Lithium iron phosphate power battery cathode materials, investment opportunities the most promising, but reserves are limited, the process technology for the simultaneous separation of lithium carbonate is only a few hands of foreign companies .
Power Lithium iron phosphate battery cathode materials, investment opportunities the most promising, the key raw materials, lithium iron phosphate is lithium carbonate, lithium carbonate from mineral resources in nature reserves are limited, with strong regional and scarcity of resources belonging to rare. Thus, in the chain of new energy automotive industry, the strategic resources of lithium carbonate become particularly important.
Currently, the Global Fund, lithium carbonate industry, the status quo, the threshold of significant resources, capacity is highly concentrated. At the end of 2007, major international manufacturers have SQM in Chile, the United States, FMC and Germany Chemta the total annual capacity of 78,000 tonnes, representing 80% of global market share. With the company producing the large scale must have reserves of lithium resources are more abundant in salt lake resources, mineral rights, making the resources of industry with higher barriers to entry, secondly, the vast majority of the planet’s resources are at high magnesium salt type lithium lowest of the high-and low magnesium lithium apple a1079 battery ,sony vgp-bps2 battery ,separation of brine purification of lithium carbonate in the process technology is very difficult, but these techniques only a small number of foreign companies rests in their hands, so that the area is very technical obstacles.
The current national production of lithium carbonate businesses mainly in Tibet, mining, CITIC Guoan, Western Mining Group, Qinghai Salt Lake Group, the four companies, while the extraction of Tibet and CITIC Guoan has accounted for the vast majority, the two companies in 2008, lithium carbonate Total production over 4000 tons.
It is estimated that each new type of electric vehicle needs about 0.08 tons of lithium carbonate, lithium batteries, once the engine of large scale application of new energy vehicles in 2012 that cars energy news on demand of lithium carbonate will reach 5 million tons. While domestic prices of industrial lithium carbonate years to 4.5 yuan / ton level of lithium carbonate price of 7 yuan / ton, the high purity lithium carbonate price is as high as 10 yuan / ton involved in local projects of the new as it is used Salt Lake brine extraction of lithium carbonate production costs 10,000 ~ 1.5 yuan / ton. Therefore, the market generally felt that the profitability of products of lithium carbonate is very high.