The Zhitong Finance App learned that recently, the capital market's attention to the solid-state battery sector has continued to heat up. This phenomenon is mainly driven by a series of technological breakthroughs and corporate layout. Guohai Securities said in a research report that recently, solid-state batteries from many companies have continued to advance in terms of performance improvement and mass production progress, which is expected to accelerate the industrialization process of solid-state batteries. The inflection point for semi-solid-state batteries has reached. All-solid-state batteries are expected to be fully commercialized in 2030.

Specifically, on GAC Science Day on April 12, GAC Group unveiled GAC's all-solid-state battery technology. According to official reports, with third-generation sponge silicon anode technology and high-surface capacity solid state cathode technology, the GAC Group has achieved an energy density of over 400 Wh/Kg, an increase in volume energy density of more than 52% compared to currently mass-produced liquid lithium-ion batteries, and a mass energy density increase of more than 50%, achieving a battery life of more than 1,000 kilometers. The technology will be mass-produced in 2026 and installed on the Haobo brand.

On April 10, according to the Qingdao Energy Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute's advanced energy storage materials and technology research team made new progress in sulfide electrolyte research, solved the industry pain points and bottlenecks in the sulfide all-solid-state battery lamination process, cleared the last hurdle in the large-scale vehicle battery manufacturing process for sulfide all-solid-state batteries, and achieved a key breakthrough in sulfide soft pack battery lamination technology.

On the evening of April 8, Zhiji Auto, a subsidiary of SAIC Motor Group, officially unveiled its new pure electric model, the Zhiji L6. According to Zhiji Auto, the Zhiji L6 was first equipped with a “first-generation light-year solid-state battery”. This is the industry's first quasi-900V ultra-fast charging solid-state battery to be mass-produced. It also stated that “Zhiji L6 will lead new energy vehicles into the 'solid state battery era'.” However, the claim that “the industry's first ultra-fast charging solid-state battery is mass-produced” has sparked controversy. Some industry insiders believe that Zhiji Auto's solid-state battery is a game of words.

Tailan New Energy also announced significant progress in solid-state battery technology on April 4, successfully developing a high-energy density solid-state lithium metal battery with a single capacity of 120 Ah and a measured energy density of up to 720 Wh/kg.

Industry analysts believe that with the continuous improvement of solid-state battery performance and mass production progress by many companies, the industrialization process of solid-state batteries is expected to accelerate. According to GGII forecasts, the annual installed capacity of solid-state batteries (including semi-solid-state batteries) is expected to exceed 5 GWh by 2024, which will be an important milestone.

However, mass producers of solid-state batteries still face some challenges. Zeng Yuqun pointed out at the performance interpretation conference on March 15 that solid-state batteries still need to overcome the basic scientific problems of solid-state ion diffusion at the technical level, and are still a long way from actual commercialization. In addition, in an interview with the media on March 28, he also mentioned that the commercialization of solid-state batteries for electric vehicles is still several years away, and there are many difficulties, such as short battery life and risks that may occur due to breakage in car accidents.

Despite these challenges, the industry generally believes that all-solid-state batteries are the preferred solution for the next generation of battery technology, and are expected to be widely used around 2030. Academician Ouyang Minggao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said at the China Electric Vehicle 100 People's Conference Forum (2024) that all-solid-state batteries are expected to be industrialized around 2030. This will be a key high point of competition for next-generation battery technology, and has the potential to bring about disruptive changes.

In fact, many well-known companies around the world have invested a large amount of resources in the development and exploration of solid-state batteries.

Samsung SDI plans to mass-produce all-solid-state batteries in 2027; Changan Automobile is expected to launch 8 self-developed batteries, including liquid, semi-solid, and solid-state batteries; GAC Aian plans to mass-produce and load all-solid-state batteries by 2026; Nissan, Toyota, BMW, Volkswagen, and Ford have also formulated their own solid state battery development plans.

Guotai Junan released a research report saying that solid-state battery research and development is still carried out in parallel with various systems. Domestic solid electrolytes focus on oxide and other systems, while Japan and South Korea focus on sulfide systems. Looking at the commercialization process, considering the high R&D and processing threshold for all-solid-state batteries, solid-liquid hybrid batteries are easier to break through the process threshold as an intermediate type of battery solution, and are expected to become the main route for leading large-scale domestic production in the short term. Driven by increased requirements for battery safety and energy density and downstream demand, solid-state batteries have ushered in development opportunities and are expected to complement the current liquid lithium-ion battery system.

Huatai Securities released a research report saying that the solid-state battery market is very popular due to mass production combined with application expectations in scenarios such as low altitude. Recently, the solid-state battery sector has continued to catalyze. On the one hand, solid-state batteries have been used in the fields of new energy vehicles and consumer electronics, and news of new product launches is continuing; on the other hand, the possibility of downstream applications of solid-state batteries in low-altitude aircraft, etc., has sparked a boom. Looking at the current point, the bank believes that the inflection point for mass production and application of solid-state batteries is arriving at an accelerated pace, and continues to be optimistic about the development potential of solid-state batteries as the next generation of battery technology.

The proposal focuses on two main lines: 1) solid-state battery manufacturers and suppliers with years of accumulation and application breakthroughs; 2) manufacturers of solid electrolytes such as materials, oxides, sulfides, etc., and upstream solid electrolyte suppliers (mines, etc.), and silicon-based anode manufacturers.

Concept stocks related to Hong Kong stocks:

GAC Group (02238): According to GAC Group's official WeChat account, GAC launched an all-solid-state battery on April 12.

Ganfeng Lithium (01772): On March 29 this year, Ganfeng Lithium stated in the research notes that the first phase of the company's Chongqing solid state battery production base has been capped, and solid state battery packs have been delivered.

BYD Co., Ltd. (01211): BYD began investing in the research and development of solid-state lithium batteries as early as 2016. Currently, there are a large number of related patents in China, ranking among the top in the country.

Dongfeng Group Co., Ltd. (00489): Dongfeng Group's second-generation solid-state batteries are expected to be mass-produced and installed in the first half of 2024. At that time, the vehicle's range will reach more than 1,000 kilometers.