Dr. Liu Jincheng: continue to maintain the development of existing products and start the development of cutting-edge technology of next generation!

Chairman Liu speaks on the 2^nd International Conference on New Energy Vehicle and Power Battery.

Thank you very much to the organizer for hosting such a forum, gathering everyone together to discuss the opportunities and challenges of pouch batteries.

I am an elderly battery man. I talked to Secretary-General Liu before entering the room this morning that dry batteries and lead-acid batteries occupied a large place in exhibitions while lithium batteries only had a small corner. But now, it's different. Lithium batteries have become a trillion-level market. A few days ago when I communicated with researchers, they told me that this is a trillion-dollar market. With such a shocking volume, you can imagine how promising the future of this industry is.

This year remarks EVE’s 20th anniversary. We’ve been growing from zero to a certain scale in the past 20 years. A few days ago, we discussed EVE's development plan for the next 3-5 years internally, which shocked us; but after careful discussion, we reached the conclusion that it is "possible" to achieve. Therefore, the orientation of EVE was adjusted to “be energetic and promising in the era of new energy” from making steady progress.

From the opening video of the meeting, we can see that EVE already gained a place in the international market in terms of manufacturing equipment, raw materials and battery technology. We are full of confidence.

Pouch battery: a collection of love

I have been in the battery industry for a long time and I am much cautious that I had deployed many production lines. The 18650 cylindrical batteries are proved to run well while LFP cells have also improved in recent years. And we began to deploy pouch batteries, reaching a certain scale now.

The opening video made it very clear that pouch batteries have natural advantage with high energy density which can achieve 280Wh/kg or even 300Wh/kg in mass production. In the past, we were too much concerned about the safety of lithium batteries. The gentleness of the pouch battery made us very happy because it does not explode, only burns.

The battery technology is constantly advancing, and it is entirely possible that a disruptive technological iteration will occur at a certain time. I have been in the battery industry for decades, knowing that a new technology is iterated, you will have no chance at all. The pouch battery does have challenges from all-solid-state batteries, lithium metal batteries, etc. but they will use production process and technology of pouch battery in general. In this case, pouch battery still can be used.

EVE’s pouch battery capacity: 10GWh

The current capacity of EVE's pouch batteries is 10GWh. This year, it will be fully produced and sold, serving top companies in the industry. The products have been sold for 2 years (2018&2019). Last year, 3GWh was delivered and the quality was relatively stable.

Technically, the energy density of the next-generation products developed can be 300Wh/kg and the cycle performance is relatively good, which can reach 1800 times. In terms of system research, the life of the module can be 50% longer than that of the cell.

Obvious advantages in the high-end market

From the high-end market application, the pouch battery has its unique competitive advantage. Nowadays, in high-end PHEV and BEV cars, pouch batteries are relatively satisfactory choice. At present, the LFP cell has emerged with sudden, but we still believe that pouch batteries have more advantages by considering the stacking technology. We prefer flat electrodes, uniform current density distribution and thinness. Blade batteries are not as good as pouch batteries in this regard. The pouch battery has very good fast charging performance, which are very important characteristics of electric vehicles. When we communicate with customers, they are quite firm on the development direction of pouch batteries.

EVE’s strategy

The module-level heat spread safety design is currently the biggest challenge. The country has a standard that requires 5 minutes. Some days ago, BYD’s chairman proposed at a very important meeting that China should increase the heat spreading time to 30 minutes. It is difficult for a pouch battery to spread heat after 30 minutes. Same challenges for LFP cell and large-sized cylindrical battery.

EVE has a layout in different product directions, and the production capacity of pouch batteries is moderate. We currently have 10GWh capacity and 27GWh from joint venture. In the future, the production capacity will be further expanded.

EVE’s product portfolio can now serve customers well, and will also be one step ahead in the iterative process of new technologies in the future. At the International Battery Seminar in Florida last month, Dr. Peng reported on the development status of lithium metal batteries, whose energy density can reach 400Wh/kg. And we’ve been carrying out relevant cutting-edge technology research and development work.

In order for the product series to continue to develop steadily, the research and development for battery products of next generation such as solid-state batteries and lithium metal high-energy batteries must be carried out in addition to continuing to meet the performance and safety requirements of current products. Failure to keep up with product development will face the risk of being iterated. Therefore, EVE will develop optimistically and prepare carefully for the future. Thank you!