[SMM Analysis] 21700 battery is the next spring for cylindrical batteries?

Published: Jan 30, 2019 07:23
Source: Shanghai Nonferrous Metals Network

SMM1, 29 March: recently, foreign media reported that Tesla is negotiating with China Lishen Company on battery supply cooperation. Tesla hopes to purchase batteries produced by Lishen Company to supply Tesla Shanghai factory, according to people familiar with the matter. Tesla has reached a preliminary cooperation agreement with China's Lishen Company. However, on the same day, Tesla officially replied that the company had received an offer from Tianjin Lishen Battery Company, but did not follow up after that. No agreement has been signed with Lishen.

Tesla Model 3: a big customer of cylindrical 21700 battery

There are three main packaging forms of lithium battery, namely, cylinder, square and soft package. Different packaging structures mean different characteristics, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Among them, there are many models of cylindrical lithium batteries, such as 14650, 17490, 18650, 21700, 26500 and so on.

The production process of cylindrical lithium battery is mature, the cost of PACK is low, the yield of battery products and the consistency of battery pack are high. Because of the large heat dissipation area of the battery pack, its heat dissipation performance is better than that of the square battery; the cylindrical battery is convenient for various forms and is suitable for the full layout of the space design of electric vehicles. However, the cylindrical battery is generally packaged in steel or aluminum shell, which will be heavier and the specific energy is relatively low.

Tesla Model 3 chose 21700 battery, 21700 battery is also a kind of lithium battery, in which "21" refers to the battery diameter of 21mm, "70" refers to the length of 70mm, "0" means that it is a cylindrical battery. Compared with the 18650 battery used by Tesla, the 21700 battery is longer and thicker. It is reported that the energy density of the 21700 battery system used by Tesla is about 300Wh/kg, which is more than 20% higher than the energy density of the 18650 battery used by the original Model S, the single capacity is increased by 35%, and the cost of the system is reduced by about 10%. It is understood that at present, Tesla's models are 1865 to 21700 cylindrical ternary lithium batteries.

Tianjin Lishen: China has taken the lead in realizing the mass production of 21700 batteries.

Tianjin Lishen, founded in 1997, is a joint-stock high-tech enterprise with independent intellectual property core technology, specializing in lithium-ion battery technology research and development, production and management. At present, it has an annual production capacity of 500m Ah lithium-ion batteries, including circular, square, polymer batteries, power batteries, photovoltaic, supercapacitors, six series and hundreds of models. The scope of application covers the fields of personal electronic consumer products, power tools, transportation and energy storage.

In January last year, after Tesla first put forward and planned to apply 21700 batteries to Tesla's latest pure electric vehicle Model-3 model, Tianjin Lishen executives believed that 21700 batteries are likely to become the future development trend of cylindrical power batteries. The focus of the company's production has changed from 18650 to 21700 batteries. After a feasibility study, the company selected the target product of the second phase of the East China Base project as the next generation of 21700 power batteries (the first customized production line for 21700 products in China). The first phase of the project under construction is also directly adjusted to the 21700 production line.

In June, Suzhou Lishen 21700, a subsidiary of Tianjin Lishen, shipped more than 400000 batteries a day and produced more than 10 million batteries a month. With the continuous increase of production capacity and through rate, the monthly output of 2000 to 25 million units can be achieved by the end of the year, and the annual output is expected to be 160 million. Liu Yanlong, secretary-general of the China Chemical and physical Power supply Industry Association, said, "this means that Tianjin Lishen has become the first company in China to mass produce 21700 cylindrical lithium-ion power batteries. It is also the second company in the world to achieve mass production of 21700 batteries after Tesla-Panasonic. "

Cylindrical batteries: the trend of 21700?

After Tianjin Lishen, many power battery manufacturers began to upgrade from 18650 to 21700 and began to lay out 21700 batteries one after another, but at present, in addition to Panasonic and Tesla, Lishen and Foster in the far East, Most enterprises have not yet been able to produce in real terms. Cai Qiang, deputy general manager of far East Foster New Energy Co., Ltd., said, "Tesla has led the global trend of 18650 batteries, and the application of 21700 batteries in Tesla will undoubtedly be the weather vane of the next cylindrical battery."

According to incomplete statistics, At present, the battery manufacturers who have a clear intention to enter the 21700 battery field are 100 million Li Neng, Australian Shunchang, Beek Battery, Zhihang New Energy, Tianchen New Energy, Shanmu New Energy, Anhui Taineng, Zhuoneng New Energy, Haisida, Chuangming New Energy and so on.

According to SMM analysis, the total installed capacity of cylindrical power batteries for new energy vehicles in 2018 was about 7.11 GWhs, accounting for 12.5 per cent of the total installed capacity. Among them, ternary cylinder 5.0 GWhaccounted for 66.9%, lithium titanate cylinder 0.5GWhaccounted for 11.5%, lithium iron phosphate cylinder 0.42GWhaccounted for 6.3%, and columns of other battery types accounted for 1.19GWh. accounted for 15.3%. The top five enterprises of cylindrical power batteries are Bick Battery, Lishen, Guoxuan High Technology, Zhuhai Yinlong and far East Foster.

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