SES lithium metal battery industrialization broke
The penetration rate of electrification has passed the 10% inflection point, and the market breakthrough has accelerated significantly. For car companies, the introduction of higher-performance batteries to improve product competitiveness has become a key point of market competition in the new cycle.
To increase the energy density of power lithium-ion batteries by an order of magnitude, lithium metal batteries are an inevitable choice.
As a representative company of next-generation power lithium-ion batteries, SES is gradually breaking the "shackles" of the industrialization of hybrid lithium metal batteries, whether it is product development, process manufacturing, or the application and listing process of car companies.
From the perspective of product development process, lithium metal batteries have jumped from the initial single-layer, multi-layer, Ah-level cells to the automotive-grade 100Ah cell level.
The Apollo™ lithium metal battery recently announced by SES has a capacity of up to 107Ah, which is currently the world's largest lithium metal battery with a single capacity, and it is also the first public display of a single lithium metal battery with a capacity of more than 100Ah.
Apollo™ 107Ah battery, weighing only 0.982Kg, has an energy density of 417Wh/kg and 935Wh/L. It has been tested for 10 hours, 3 hours and 1 hour at room temperature, all showing extremely high capacity and energy density.
From the perspective of engineering and manufacturing, different from the all-solid-state battery paths selected by QuantumScape, SolidPower and other peers, the hybrid lithium metal battery selected by SES not only maintains the characteristics of high energy density of lithium metal batteries, but also has a process and manufacturing. Lithium-ion batteries have a high degree of matching.
SES has mastered a set of core material technologies for the industrialization of hybrid lithium metal batteries, and has explored a complete production process and manufacturing process, including wide-format lithium metal anodes, composite anode coatings, polymer-based separators, and high-concentration liquid electrolytes formula, high energy density cathode, etc.
In addition, the three parallel development directions of SES are: Hermes™, a new material development platform, Apollo™, a production process development capability for automotive-grade large battery cells, and Avatar™, an artificial intelligence security software for monitoring battery health.
From the perspective of the application rhythm of the car companies, the commercial application and verification of lithium metal batteries have been accelerated, and the general plan will be "on the bus" around 2025.
SES is cooperating with GM and Hyundai on A sample, and plans to launch A sample of automotive-grade lithium metal battery next year, supply C sample in 2024, and officially start commercial mass production of lithium metal battery in 2025.
In order to cooperate with the verification of samples B and C, SES is building a Shanghai super factory, which is scheduled to be completed in 2023. After completion, the output will reach 1GWh, making it the world's largest lithium metal battery factory.
From the perspective of capital financing process, the next generation of battery companies have entered the mid-to-late stage of financing, and began to focus on listing in the United States. The products have gradually completed the pre-tech development stage and entered a new cycle of batch industrialization.
In July, SES announced a definitive merger agreement with Ivanhoe Capital Acquisition Corp. Following the transaction, the combined company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol "SES."
From the perspective of policy orientation, the industrialization of next-generation power lithium-ion batteries has been put on the agenda. my country, the European Union, the United States and other major economies have made policy guidance and planning arrangements for the development and mass production of lithium metal batteries.
Gaogong Lithium Battery believes that in the next few years, the world will accelerate the industrialization process of lithium metal batteries by means of policy guidance, financial subsidies, and industrial chain coordination.
Taking SES as the representative, relying on its own technological precipitation, establishing a feasible industrialization path, and uniting with upstream and downstream strategic partners in the industrial chain, it will accelerate the realization of the industrialization of new technologies and products.
