Number one in the industry! Samsung SDI all-solid-state battery trial line will finally be dawned until the protracted battle for mass production

Lithium giant Samsung SDI has begun to build "the industry's first" all-solid-state battery trial line, BusinessKorea reported today.

It is reported that Samsung SDI has completed the manufacture of 1-2 product prototypes. The all-solid-state battery developed by it uses sulfide as electrolyte and has been patented and entered the stage of technical verification.

The company plans to introduce pure battery plates, solid-state electrolyte processing equipment and battery assembly equipment to the trial production line. Industry insiders pointed out that to some extent, the establishment of a trial production line means that "Samsung SDI has stepped through the technical bottleneck of mass production of all-solid-state batteries."

With this trial production line, Samsung SDI is expected to shake off its competitors on the road to mass production of all-solid-state batteries.

Its South Korean counterparts LG New Energy and SK On are also gearing up to develop all-solid-state batteries with the goal of mass production by 2030. Among battery startups, QuantumScape, which is funded by Volkswagen, plans to mass-produce all-solid-state batteries in 2024.

Multi-links are expected to share dividends, "compromise solution" and the war is heating up.

At present, lithium iron phosphate and ternary batteries are the two mainstream routes in the industry, but neither of them can escape the problems of safety and mileage. In the face of these two problems, solid-state battery is the nearest way.

It has advantages in energy density, output current stability, service life and volume, and the most prominent advantages are safety and mileage: solid electrolyte is non-flammable, high temperature resistant, non-corrosion and non-volatile; in addition, its battery life is 2-3 times longer than that of traditional liquid lithium batteries.

Given that solid-state batteries are recognized as the next-generation battery technology route, Guojin Securities believes that it is expected to enjoy a valuation premium beyond conventional liquid batteries.

Societe Generale Securities added that if all-solid-state batteries are successfully mass produced, changes in electrolyte and diaphragm links will be ushered in. At the same time, it is suitable for high energy density system materials, which will lead to the demand for high nickel cathode, silicon carbon negative electrode, lithium metal negative electrode and so on.

However, it is difficult to move from a liquid battery to an all-solid-state battery overnight. Most of the industry also believes that the mass production and commercialization of all-solid-state batteries are still faced with many problems, and it is still a "protracted war".

Semi-solid battery (solid-liquid hybrid battery) thus becomes a compromise transition solution. For example, the "solid-state battery" previously carried by Dongfeng E70 and supplied by Ganfeng Lithium Industry, the "solid-state battery" used by ET7, and the products of Weilan New Energy, Funeng Technology and SES are actually semi-solid batteries.

It is worth noting that even if mass production is achieved successfully, there are still multiple difficulties ahead of all-solid-state batteries.

Not to mention the sharp decline in power density of solid-state batteries after leaving the lab; poor fast-charging performance will also make most consumers shake their heads-a big problem that Samsung SDI now has to face.

Ouyang Minggao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, professor of Tsinghua University, and director of the State key Laboratory of Automobile Safety and Energy Saving, estimates that it will take about a decade for all-solid-state batteries to industrialize and have an important impact on the market pattern. Existing lithium technologies, including liquid and semi-solid batteries, will remain absolutely dominant until 2030.