EV100 has provided new directions for battery development, with a focus on recycling, solid-state batteries, and overseas expansion

In 2023, China will rank among the world's top producers and sellers of new energy vehicles for nine years, with a 31.6% market share in new car sales. Chinese power battery companies will hold six out of the top ten global rankings for power battery sales. The rapid growth of the new energy vehicle industry has also fueled the booming lithium battery industry.

During the China EV100 Forum from March 15 to 17, The Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, Wan Gang, emphasized the need for our country to research and implement new initiatives in the field of new energy vehicles. These initiatives should focus on developing innovative power systems like fuel cells and batteries in the next 5-10 years. Additionally, several industrial innovation projects should be implemented with a particular emphasis on promoting core technologies related to novel chassis structures for solid-state batteries. 

To complete the full industry chain from produce to recycle

The power battery is a crucial component in new energy vehicles, significantly impacting driving range, vehicle lifespan, and safety. It accounts for nearly 40% of the overall cost of new energy vehicles, representing the largest proportion in terms of cost.

Wan Gang believes that developing efficient and safe new vehicle power battery systems is crucial for advancing new energy vehicles. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance basic research, technological innovation, and market promotion in solid-state and system power batteries. Additionally, efforts should be made to promote integrated technologies ensuring high reliability, safety under all weather conditions, and intelligent power battery usage. Furthermore, the establishment of a cyclical system for hierarchical utilization and resource regeneration of power batteries needs to be accelerated.

In response to the concerning issue of battery safety, Ouyang Minggao, Vice Chairman of the China EV100 Association and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, cited data from the National Fire Rescue Service. The data showed that in Q1 2023, there were 18,360 combustion incidents involving fuel vehicles and 640 incidents involving new energy vehicles. The ignition rate for fuel vehicles was 0.58 per ten thousand vehicles, while for new energy vehicles, it was 0.44 per ten thousand vehicles.

The self-ignition rate of electric vehicles is expected to decrease to 0.0001% by 2030 with the introduction of technologies like large-scale model warnings, defect detection in battery production lines, and vehicle-network interaction. Ouyang Minggao confidently stated that solid-state batteries will emerge and enhance the safety level of new energy vehicles by 2030.

Behind the impressive growth in production and sales of new energy vehicles, it also means that over time, the number of discarded batteries floating around each year will keep on increasing. When it comes to this issue, Ouyang Minggao pointed out that people still remember vividly the pollution caused by lead-acid batteries in the past; however, lithium batteries have great value for reuse and can be recycled through three main recycling technologies: pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and direct recovery. These technologies are abundant and innovative, ultimately achieving almost zero emissions.

However, he also emphasized the need for further development of common technologies and equipment to achieve breakthroughs in ecological design, hierarchical utilization, and efficient extraction of valuable metals for power batteries. Additionally, improvements are required in the evaluation and testing system for retired batteries.

Academician Sun Shigang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences believes that solid-state batteries, with their good safety and high energy density, are an important direction for the development of power batteries in electric transportation. Therefore, it is necessary to intensify efforts to promote the industrialization of solid-state batteries, making them a significant driving force for the development of new energy vehicles."

New technology may promote market development

The year 2023 will be pivotal for electric vehicles, as global EV adoption is expected to accelerate with a penetration rate of 22%, according to data from the China EV100. In China, EV sales are projected to skyrocket by 36% and reach an impressive penetration rate of 35.7%, surpassing one-third of the market with 7.7 million units sold.

Currently, battery technology faces challenges including safety concerns, low-temperature degradation, limited lifespan, and slow charging capabilities. Moreover, the lack of standardized batteries hampers cost control for new energy vehicles. In China alone, there are over a hundred brands of new energy passenger cars; however, only a few have achieved profitability. The absence of a fully integrated closed-loop system for battery recycling and secondary utilization also restricts the high-quality development of China's new energy vehicle industry.

In Wang Jun's opinion, it is essential to enhance battery technology research and development, particularly focusing on improving energy efficiency. Moreover, promoting power battery standardization, especially for battery cores, increasing investment in recycling and cascaded utilization research and development for batteries, and accelerating global integration of the battery industry chain is also crucial.

The energy storage market is experiencing explosive growth, with its installed capacity reaching nearly one-third of the power market last year, becoming a new growth driver. It is expected that the compound annual growth rate of this market will exceed 50% in the coming years.

Power batteries now possess competitive costs and comprehensive capabilities, making supply chain layout and overseas capacities pivotal. Numerous companies emphasize the importance of brand elevation for Chinese automotive brands to seize global industrial opportunities.

The experts believe that, with policy support, China's new energy vehicle industry has great potential for development. In addition to technological innovation and expanding application areas, attention should be paid to supply-demand coordination and production capacity optimization. A thorough analysis of the power battery market's supply-demand disparity will help understand the industry's challenges and opportunities.

Translator：Wei Xiong                                          

Reviser：Yan Luo