Daily Economic News 2023-07-05 13:03:45
Edited by Wang Yuelong
Toyota has unveiled its ambition to halve the size, cost, and weight of its electric car batteries following a breakthrough in solid-state battery technology, according to the Financial Times. Keiji Kaita, Toyota’s top battery expert, said on July 4 that streamlining the production process for battery materials will lower the cost of its next-generation technology. “For our liquid and solid-state batteries, our goal is to revolutionize the current situation where batteries are too big, too heavy, and too expensive,” Keiji Kaita said.
In addition, Ma Cheng, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, has developed a new type of solid electrolyte. Its comprehensive performance is similar to that of the most advanced sulfide and chloride solid-state electrolytes, but the cost is less than 4% of the latter, making it suitable for industrial applications.
Affected by the good news, the solid-state battery sector moved up in early trading, with Jinlongyu going straight to the daily limit, and Zhongzi Technology, Zhuhai Guanyu, Shanghai Xiba, and Dongfang Zirconia quickly following suit.
Run 1200 kilometers in 10 minutes?
Is Toyota’s solid-state battery going to change the game?
Toyota said on Tuesday it has made a major breakthrough in solid-state battery technology capable of halving the weight, volume, and cost of batteries, which could provide a huge boost to the advancement of electric vehicles, the Financial Associated Press reported.
The world‘s second-largest automaker is already pursuing a plan to launch electric vehicles with advanced solid-state batteries by 2025. Compared with liquid batteries, solid-state batteries have greater advantages.
Keiji Kaida, president of Toyota’s Carbon Neutral R&D Center, said: “Whether it is a liquid battery or a solid-state battery, our goal is to completely change the current situation where batteries are too large, too heavy, and too expensive. On the potential of this, we will strive to halve these factors.”
David Bailey, professor of business economics at the University of Birmingham, believes that if Toyota’s claims are true, this could be a milestone moment for the future of electric vehicles. “Often there are some breakthroughs at the prototype stage, but scaling up to production is difficult,” he added, “If this is a real breakthrough, then it could be a disruptive change, and even the holy grail of the electric vehicle industry.”
According to the Financial Times, the company expects to start producing solid-state batteries for electric vehicles in 2027.
Previously announced to invest 1.5 trillion yen in research and development
Small-scale mass production before 2025
According to a previous report by Meijing.com, as early as August 2020, Toyota electric vehicles equipped with all-solid-state batteries have obtained licenses and started driving experiments. Toyota revealed to reporters that before 2025, Toyota’s all-solid-state batteries will be mass-produced on a small scale, and they will first be installed on hybrid vehicles; by 2030, Toyota’s all-solid-state batteries will achieve continuous and stable production.
“During the development process, we learned that the ions in the all-solid-state battery will move at high speed in the battery to achieve high power output. We hope that this feature can be used in hybrid vehicles to take advantage of the all-solid-state battery.” Toyota expressed.
Image source: Toyota China official website
In 2021, Toyota Motor announced that by 2030, it is expected to invest 1.5 trillion yen (approximately RMB 88.12 billion) in the development of power batteries and their battery supply chain, The goal is to gain leadership in key automotive technologies for the next decade and remain price-competitive for electric and hybrid vehicles.
On June 21 this year, according to Jiemian News citing the Nikkei Chinese website, Toyota will also implement an “all-round” strategy to meet all needs in terms of batteries for pure electric vehicles (EV). Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry announced on June 16 that it will provide subsidies for Toyota’s planned battery investment. One of the subsidy objects is the lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP), which Toyota calls the “popular version” of the battery. Although it will also vigorously develop all-solid-state batteries, which are regarded as a strong candidate for a new generation of batteries, Toyota believes that lithium iron phosphate batteries that can be produced at low cost are the key to the electrification strategy, so it intends to speed up development.
The total amount of Toyota’s EV-related businesses that will be subsidized this time is expected to reach approximately 330 billion yen, of which 117.8 billion yen will be provided by subsidies from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. Toyota will strengthen EV battery production lines at the Himeji plant of Prime Planet Energy & Solutions (PPES), a battery company jointly established with Panasonic Holdings, to increase annual production capacity by 25 GWh.
Professor Tsinghua: We must attach great importance to solid-state battery technology
USTC develops new solid electrolyte
According to previous reports from The Paper, in the high-end forum of the Second World Power Battery Conference held on the afternoon of April 16, Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a professor at Tsinghua University, said, “Although all-solid-state battery technology still faces many challenges, it is still a goal worth pursuing. This goal is not short-term, and it can be seen as a goal worthy of innovation for 2030.”
In the forum, Ouyang Minggao also warned Chinese new energy car companies and battery companies to attach great importance to this technical route. “We found that the papers related to solid-state battery technology published in the world‘s top journals are increasing exponentially. It can be said that the technology is on the eve of commercialization.” Ouyang Minggao said.
It is understood that Japanese companies have invested the most in all-solid-state batteries globally, including Toyota, which has the most patents for solid-state battery technology.
The good news is that, according to a report from CNR.com on July 4, the reporter learned from the University of Science and Technology of China that Professor Ma Cheng of the University of Science and Technology of China has developed a new type of solid electrolyte. Compound solid electrolytes are similar, but the cost is less than 4% of the latter, which is suitable for industrial applications. On June 27, the achievement was published in the internationally renowned academic journal Nature Communications.
While having a strong cost advantage, the comprehensive performance of lithium zirconium oxychloride is equivalent to the most advanced sulfide and chloride solid-state electrolytes. Experiments have proved that the all-solid-state lithium battery composed of lithium zirconium oxychloride and high-nickel ternary positive electrode has demonstrated excellent performance: under the condition of fast charging for 12 minutes, the battery still successfully cycles at room temperature for more than 2000 cycles.
According to the researchers, lithium zirconium oxychloride can achieve performance similar to that of the most advanced sulfide and chloride solid-state electrolytes at the current lowest cost, which is of great significance to the industrialization of all-solid-state lithium batteries.
Edit: Wang Yuelong Du Hengfeng
Proofreading: Duan Lian
The daily economic news is comprehensive from the Financial Associated Press, Jiemian News, Every Jing.com, The Paper, CNR.com