Major Breakthrough!
China's first all-solid-state lithium battery mass production line officially put into production, with a daily output of more than 1,000 units.
Source: ByteDance
The breakthrough in mass production of solid-state lithium batteries sounds like good news that "the sky is finally bright", but this "light" may not be able to shine into thousands of households immediately.
The name of solid-state lithium battery is not new. What we heard before was just "paper talk" - good performance and high safety, but the production cost is like a high wall that has always been daunting. Now, Beijing Pure Lithium New Energy Technology Co., Ltd has actually pried open this wall, and the first solid-state lithium battery mass production line has officially been launched, producing thousands of solid-state batteries per day. This is a "big stone" that stirs up the entire battery industry! This means that the battery performance of electric vehicles may be taken to a new level.
Having said that, the reason why solid-state lithium batteries are so exciting is that they have obvious advantages over traditional liquid lithium batteries - higher energy density, longer life, and improved safety. Especially in high temperature environments, liquid batteries may spontaneously combust, while solid-state batteries can be as stable as Mount Tai. It's like when you are driving on the road and suddenly there is a pit in front of you, the liquid battery may "explode" directly, while the solid-state battery is like an off-road vehicle, which can pass smoothly with one foot of the accelerator. Who doesn't want such a battery?
But ideals are always full, but what about reality? It's still very cruel. Although solid-state lithium batteries are hyped up, the cost is really too high! It's like when you go into a restaurant and the "super deluxe set meal" on the menu makes you drool, but you take out your wallet, swallow your saliva and put down the menu - you can't bear it! The cost of producing a solid-state battery was several times that of an ordinary battery before. Who can stand this?
With the launch of the mass production line, solid-state batteries have finally come out of the laboratory and entered the threshold of the factory. Although the production capacity is not very large - thousands of batteries a day, it doesn't sound like much, but in the current battery market, it is already very powerful, at least enough to supply the power needs of 200,000 two-wheeled electric vehicles. This is equivalent to the previous luxury package, which suddenly has a discount event. Although not everyone can afford it, more people can afford it.
However, this is not the most exciting thing. More importantly, this time Beijing Pure Lithium New Energy not only mass-produced, but also obtained CNAS certification, and passed the quality and safety. "Old drivers" in the battery industry know that batteries must not only have good performance, but also safety. If you buy a battery and you have to pray that it doesn't explode when charging, wouldn't you be scared at any time when using it? Therefore, the CNAS certification has given this solid-state battery a bottom line for safety, at least there is no need to worry about it suddenly getting "angry".
But don't think that with the launch of this production line, solid-state lithium batteries will be able to quickly occupy the market like the popularization of mobile phones in the past. Its current target production capacity is 200 megawatt-hours. To be honest, it is still just a "tadpole" in the huge market. It's like you have a reservoir. The production capacity of solid-state batteries can only irrigate a small vegetable garden. If you want to make the whole field green, you have to wait. But it doesn't matter. Quantitative change will lead to qualitative change. Who knows where the next breakthrough will be?
What's more, solid-state lithium batteries are not just a "patent" for electric vehicles. Don't forget that in the future, this thing is expected to enter the fields of artificial intelligence, communication equipment, new energy storage, etc. Just like when you play with your mobile phone, you always complain that the battery drains too fast. Once the solid-state battery comes on the stage, the battery life problem will be solved in minutes. With the upgrading of technology and the advancement of mass production, the application space of solid-state batteries in the future may be much larger than we imagined, and it may also drive innovation in other fields.
Of course, don't be too happy too soon. The promotion of solid-state batteries still faces many challenges, especially the cost issue. The success of this mass production line is like a new "starting gun". Solid-state batteries finally have the opportunity to be commercialized, but how to reduce the cost is the key to whether it can be truly popularized. Besides, market competition is no joke. Liquid lithium batteries have been in the market for so many years, and everyone is used to it. Suddenly, they have to change to "solid-state" ones. The price is not cheap. Whether users can adapt to it for a while is also a problem.
Finally, can solid-state lithium batteries completely change our perception of electric vehicles as everyone expects? The answer depends on time. At least now, we see hope, but from technological breakthroughs to real popularization, there are still several hurdles to overcome.