[SMM Analysis] Anode Material Leverages Battery Cell Technology Tailwinds to Achieve Track Upgrade

Core Background

CATL: The Lithium Battery Industry Must Pursue Coordinated Development Across Multiple Chemical Systems
Third-generation Shenxing fast-charging battery: equivalent 10C, peak 15C fast-charging capability; 10%→98% in just 6 minutes 27 seconds at room temperature; 20%→98% in approximately 9 minutes at -30°C extreme cold; capacity retention rate ≥90% after 1,000 full cycles.
Third-generation Qilin battery: achieves 1,000 km+ driving range, battery cell energy density of 280 Wh/kg, and the entire battery pack weighs only 625 kg.
Qilin condensed-state battery: battery cell energy density of 350 Wh/kg (the highest in mass production), volumetric energy density of 760 Wh/L; sedan driving range of 1,500 km, SUV driving range of 1,000 km+, battery pack weight controlled within 650 kg.
Sodium-ion battery: overcame engineering challenges such as hard carbon gas generation and aluminum foil bonding, with official large-scale mass production scheduled for the end of 2026.
BYD: Overcame Two Major Global Challenges — "Slow Charging and Difficulty in Low-Temperature Charging"
Second-generation blade battery: energy density of 190–210 Wh/kg; CLTC driving range of 1,000 km+; flash charging performance 10%→70% in just 5 minutes, 10%→97% in just 9 minutes; 20%→97% in just 12 minutes at -30°C extreme cold (only 3 minutes more than at room temperature).

The Underlying Logic Behind the Two Giants' Intensive Battery Cell Iterations

Competition in the current NEV market is becoming increasingly fierce.Involution on the vehicle side continues to intensify, directly pushing power battery enterprises to achieve breakthroughs in both "cost reduction and performance improvement." As the NEV price war deepens, downstream automakers urgently need to strictly control battery costs to enhance product competitiveness on the one hand, and on the other hand, they are imposing higher requirements on core battery cell performance such as driving range, charging efficiency, and low-temperature adaptability. Against this backdrop, anode material, as the key core component determining battery cell performance, has become a critical breakthrough point for battery enterprises to achieve technological advances.
Traditional graphite materials have entered a performance bottleneck phase.Conventional artificial graphite and natural graphite have significant shortcomings in high C-rate fast charging, energy density ceiling, and low-temperature environment adaptability, and can no longer match the iterative demands of current high-voltage platforms and fast-charging car models. Adopting new-type anode materials such as silicon carbon and hard carbon has become an inevitable choice for battery enterprises to break through performance bottlenecks and meet end-use demand.
Compliance requirements in markets outside China continue to escalate.Policies related to carbon tariffs, energy consumption controls, and green supply chains are becoming increasingly stringent. This not only pushes power battery enterprises to optimise production processes and advance low-carbon transformation, but also indirectly drives battery enterprises to prioritise low-energy-consumption, low-carbon-emission new-type products in anode material selection, facilitating green transformation across the entire industry chain and aligning with the global carbon neutrality development trend.

Impact Transmitted to the Anode Material Industry

Silicon-based anode is gradually moving from the conceptual R&D stage to large-scale commercialisation.To further enhance battery cell energy density and meet the long driving range requirements of high-end car models, leading battery enterprises such as CATL and BYD have been steadily introducing silicon carbon composite anode into high-end power battery cells. The industry has now entered a critical phase of transitioning from small-batch trial production to volume application, directly driving the steady release of silicon-based anode-related orders and accelerating the industrialisation process.
Demand for fast-charging high-end artificial graphite is strengthening.As the penetration rate of fast-charging car models continues to rise, market demand for modified artificial graphite with high C-rate and high cycle performance has increased significantly. Driven by this trend, anode material enterprises are accelerating the optimisation of product formulations and upgrading graphitisation production processes. Leading material enterprises, leveraging their technological advantages, are seeing their order structures continuously shift towards high-value-added fast-charging high-end artificial graphite, with the industry's product structure continuously upgrading.
Hard carbon anode is moving from R&D to mass production adoption.As the commercialisation plan for sodium-ion batteries accelerates, hard carbon anode has gradually progressed from lab-scale and pilot-scale stages to batch validation, becoming the most certain new track in the current anode material industry. Related enterprises in the industry are accelerating their deployment, driving the industrialisation process of hard carbon anode.
The trend of supply chain binding with leading enterprises continues to deepen.Leading battery enterprises are continuously raising their requirements for anode material in terms of customised formulations, product stability, and low carbon emissions. Supply chain resources are further concentrating towards leading anode enterprises that possess core technology R&D capabilities, stable capacity supply, and outstanding compliance advantages. Small and medium-sized low-end graphite capacity continues to exit the market due to technological backwardness and other issues, and industry concentration continues to increase.

Summary

Overall, the intensive iteration of new battery cells by leading battery cell manufacturers is not merely a technology promotion exercise, but rather an inevitable choice driven by intensifying competition in the end-use market, the increasingly prominent performance bottlenecks of traditional materials, and the strategic need for multi-technology-route deployment. This highlights the core trend of the industry's transformation towards high-quality development. The material upgrade demand on the battery cell side is effectively driving structural growth in demand for sub-segments such as silicon carbon anode, hard carbon anode, and high-end modified graphite, with the industry's product structure continuously upgrading towards higher-end and more diversified offerings.

SMM New Energy Industry Research Department

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lv Yanlin 021-20707875

Zhou Zhicheng 021-51666711

Zhang Haohan 021-51666752

Wang Zihan 021-51666914

Wang Jie 021-51595902

Xu Yang 021-51666760

Chen Bolin 021-51666836

Xu Mengqi 021-20707868