Source: official account of company e
Author: sun Yahua
Tesla, Inc. made another big move! This time we have to develop new batteries on our own.
On February 18th, Tesla, Inc. responded exclusively to a reporter from company e, confirmingTesla, Inc. will develop the new battery on his own and is expected to announce details such as battery composition at a meeting of battery investors in April.
It is reported that the cobalt content of the new battery may be zero.In addition, in response to rumors that "Tesla, Inc. is engaged in in-depth negotiations with the Ningde era to use cobalt-free batteries in electric cars in the Shanghai factory." In this regard, Tesla, Inc. said that there is a cooperation agreement with the Ningde era, and the lithium iron phosphate battery produced in the Ningde era itself does not contain cobalt, but whether the cooperation will eventually fall to the ground has not been commented.
Tesla, Inc. 's independent research and development of new batteries has a greater medium-and long-term impact on the A-share battery industry. Analysts said that Tesla, Inc. 's independent research and development of new batteries will have a greater negative impact on the A-share market battery sector, especially in the medium and long term. Tesla, Inc. 's independent research and development of new batteries is equivalent to improving his own industrial chain. Tesla, Inc. is now mainly on the demand side. After independent research and development of new batteries, it will gradually become the supply side, which will have a far-reaching impact on the whole industry of new energy vehicles. It will bring the reshuffle of the A-share battery industry. Enterprises can survive only by occupying the commanding heights of new energy battery technology.
Tesla, Inc. 's shares rose more than 7 per cent after the opening of trading.
Tesla, Inc. will develop the patent layout of battery technology frequently.
As the core battery pack of electric vehicles, Tesla, Inc. has always been purchased from the outside and has never produced it independently. At present, the Tesla, Inc. battery mainly comes from Panasonic. Recently, LG Chemistry and Ningde era have also entered the Tesla, Inc. battery industry chain. However, on February 18, Tesla, Inc. related people told the reporter of the e company:Tesla, Inc. is developing and producing 'superbatteries' independently to further increase mileage and battery life. Details are expected to be announced at a meeting of battery investors in April. "
In fact, Tesla, Inc. has been laying out the production and research and development of batteries for a long time. Tesla, Inc. acquired Maxwell, a supercapacitor and battery maker, in May 2019. The company has a number of battery manufacturing technologies and patents, Tesla, Inc. CEO Elon Musk once said:"these technologies will have a significant impact on the cost and output of batteries. We are now able to start mass production at a low cost and reduce costs in the production process. "
In October of the same year, Hibar Systems, a Canadian battery manufacturing company, appeared on the list of Tesla, Inc. subsidiaries. According to Hibar's website, the company has advanced lithium battery manufacturing technology, the core technology is the vacuum automatic filling system. The technology can be used to make battery devices for cars, laptops and other products. In December, Tesla, Inc. applied for a patent for battery technology, which shows that batteries with larger capacity, longer life and lower cost can be obtained by using new chemical materials. Its performance will far exceed that of lithium-ion batteries, which are widely used in electric vehicles and other energy storage applications.
Recently, foreign media reported that Tesla, Inc. is building a trial production line for electric cores at a factory in Fremont, California, USA. After the production line is completed, Tesla, Inc. will have the ability to produce batteries independently. Tesla, Inc. has previously confirmed that the planned Berlin super factory in Germany will also produce batteries in the future, but it is not clear whether to cooperate with other battery manufacturers or produce them on their own.
In addition, Tesla, Inc. has also increased the recruitment of battery technicians. Tesla, Inc. related staff told e company reporter: "Last year, the company recruited cell technicians and testers." At present, our battery manufacturing engineering team is looking for equipment development engineers to speed up Tesla, Inc. 's next generation battery manufacturing plan. "
The cobalt content of the new battery may be reduced to zero, which has a great influence on the battery plate in the A-share market.
Tesla, Inc. related staff told e company reporters that the self-developed "super battery" is also committed to reducing the cobalt content of the battery to zero without reducing battery performance. Details such as ingredients are expected to be announced at the battery investors' meeting in April.
It is worth noting that today, there are also foreign media reports that "Tesla, Inc. is engaged in in-depth negotiations with the Ningde era to use cobalt-free batteries in electric cars in the Shanghai factory." In this regard, Tesla, Inc. said that there is a cooperation agreement with the Ningde era, and the lithium iron phosphate battery produced in the Ningde era itself does not contain cobalt, but whether the cooperation will eventually fall to the ground has not been commented.
As one of the important raw materials of lithium battery, cobalt is mainly used as the cathode material of ternary lithium battery, which can obviously improve the energy intensity of lithium battery. However, due to the high price of cobalt and the scarcity of resources, various battery manufacturers are committed to reducing cobalt content.
Lithium iron phosphate battery is one of the "cobalt-free" batteries. In fact, lithium iron phosphate batteries have long been widely used in various brands of domestic electric vehicles. Ningde era has long produced lithium iron phosphate batteries, and BYD expects this year's new "blade battery" to be a square aluminum shell lithium iron phosphate battery that increases the length of the core. The production cost of this kind of battery is relatively low compared with cobalt-containing battery.
But the disadvantages of this kind of battery are also obvious. A lithium battery expert said: "Lithium iron phosphate is cheap, but the energy density of the battery is obviously relatively low, and a large amount of materials are needed to ensure the capacity of the battery." In addition, it is difficult to recycle these materials in the later stage. "
Although Tesla, Inc. did not give a positive response to whether he would use Ningde-era lithium iron phosphate batteries, it can be seen from Tesla, Inc. 's plan at the Shanghai factory that he had predicted the use of such low-cost batteries with relatively low energy density. In the domestic Tesla, Inc. Model3 filing of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology at the end of 2019, Tesla, Inc. only recorded the minimum mileage configuration of Tesla, Inc. model 3, and "full of uncertainty" was written as two kinds of mileage configuration, namely 445km and 455km. Model3, which has a configuration with up to 600km battery life, can only buy an imported version.
At present, the batteries used in all Tesla, Inc. models are lithium cobalt oxide batteries produced by Panasonic. If the lithium iron phosphate battery of Ningde era enters the Tesla, Inc. production line, the production cost of domestic Tesla, Inc. model3 will be further reduced, and the price will be further reduced. A related person close to Tesla, Inc. once told the reporter of the e company: "the domestic Tesla, Inc. model3 will seize the market is about 200000 mid-end cars." "at present, the price of domestic Tesla, Inc. model3 is 299000 yuan, and the reduction of battery cost will further impact the domestic car market. Some analysts said: "Tesla, Inc. 's further price reduction measures will not only impact domestic electric cars, but also have a greater impact on the market of mid-range fuel cars." "
In fact, it is not just the whole car companies that are affected. Tesla, Inc. 's independent research and development of new batteries has also had a greater medium-and long-term impact on the A-share battery industry.
The investment director of a medium-sized private equity firm in Shenzhen told e company that Tesla, Inc. 's independent research and development of new batteries has a greater negative impact on the A-share battery sector, especially in the medium and long term.
Tesla, Inc. 's independent research and development of new batteries is equivalent to improving his own industrial chain. Tesla, Inc. is now mainly on the demand side. After independent research and development of new batteries, it will gradually become the supply side, which will have a far-reaching impact on the whole industry of new energy vehicles. It will bring the reshuffle of the A-share battery industry. Enterprises can survive only by occupying the commanding heights of new energy battery technology.
Edit / Phoebe