New Energy Business/EV Battery Pack

New energy business

Compared with aluminum battery packs, steel battery packs have obvious advantages in terms of cost, strength, connection, fire resistance, scrap rate, and carbon emissions. Through the application of advanced materials and processes, it is possible to achieve a weight close to that of aluminum battery packs, but currently limited by subsidy policies, the market share of aluminum battery packs is nearly 90%.

Typical case of module production line

Typical case of Pack production line

5. Lithium iron battery

The full name of the lithium-iron battery is lithium iron phosphate lithium-ion battery. Because its performance is especially suitable for power-facing applications, it is also called "lithium-iron power battery".

The lithium-iron battery uses LiFePO4 as the positive electrode, which is connected to the positive electrode by an aluminum foil, with a polymer separator in the middle, which separates the positive electrode from the negative electrode, but lithium ions can pass through but electrons cannot. Carbon (graphite) is used as the negative electrode, which is connected to the negative electrode of the battery by aluminum foil.

Lithium-iron batteries have the following characteristics:

1. Good performance at high temperature (can withstand high temperature of 160°C);

2. Even if the battery is damaged externally or internally, the battery will not burn or explode, and the safety is the best;

3. Excellent cycle life, after 500 cycles, its discharge capacity is still greater than 95%;

4. Over-discharge to 0V without damage;

5. Can be charged quickly;

6. Low cost;

7. No pollution to the environment.

From the experience of R&D and production of lithium-ion batteries, Japan is the first country to commercialize lithium-ion batteries, and has always occupied the high-end lithium-ion battery market. Although the United States is leading in some basic research, so far there is no large-scale lithium-ion battery manufacturer.

Therefore, it is more reasonable for Japan to choose modified lithium manganese oxide as the positive electrode material for power lithium-ion batteries. Even in the United States, manufacturers using lithium iron phosphate and lithium manganate as cathode materials for power lithium-ion batteries account for half and half, and the federal government also supports the research and development of these two systems.

In view of the above-mentioned problems of lithium iron phosphate, it is difficult to be widely used as a positive electrode material for power lithium-ion batteries in new energy vehicles and other fields. If the problems of high-temperature cycling and poor storage performance of lithium manganate can be solved, it will have great potential for application in power lithium-ion batteries by virtue of its advantages of low cost and high rate performance.