Bitche original --"Che is hungry"? Come on, get a chocolate battery.
Yes, you read that right. Nowadays, manufacturers really take great pains in naming their products in order to attract attention. What about blade batteries and jelly batteries? This is not the battery replacement recently released by Ningde Times. The brand EVOGO has brought chocolate batteries again. When your car runs out of battery, you can come to the battery replacement station at any time and be "resurrected with full health" in an instant. It's as if the scenes in the game have really been brought to the real world by "Ning Wang". I can't help but ask: Weilai, are you ready to fight?
We all know that NIO has always been an advocate and leader in battery swapping and energy replenishment. Before CATL entered the game, NIO was the only one doing the rare form of battery swapping in China. It's starting to take shape. According to NIO’s official website, there are currently 784+ power swap stations. The number is already considerable, and it is still being promoted and covered. At last year’s NIO Day, NIO also announced that it planned to have more than 1,300 power swap stations in China. After implementation, users' mileage anxiety will be greatly improved. It takes only one song to complete the battery replacement process and continue on the road, which will greatly promote the development of electric vehicles.
So is CATL’s sudden entry into the game a whim or a long-planned one? We might as well review some of the highlights of the press conference. Let’s take a look at the highlights and advantages of battery swapping in the CATL era.
01 What new gadgets does EVOGO bring?
Currently, the new energy vehicle industry has entered a new stage of explosive growth. In December 2021, the domestic retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles reached 22.6%, with increasingly rich products and more diversified services. However, range anxiety, energy replenishment anxiety and purchase costs have always troubled new energy vehicle consumers.
In view of the pain points of consumers, EVOGO launched an overall battery-swapping solution consisting of battery-swapping block + quick-swapping station + APP at the press conference. The three major modules form a closed loop, making the matter of energy replenishment very simple. .
The most eye-catching one is the Choco SEB. Each chocolate battery exchange block can provide a cruising range of about 200km, and the bicycle supports up to 3 chocolate battery exchange blocks. That is to say, it can achieve a maximum range of about 600km.
The "Chocolate Battery Swapping Block" is a mass-produced battery specially developed to achieve shared battery swapping. It has three major characteristics: small and high-energy, free combination, and minimalist design. . Using CATL's CTP (High Efficiency Packaging) technology, the "Chocolate Battery Exchange Block" has a weight energy density of more than 160Wh/kg and a volume energy density of more than 325Wh/L. A single battery can provide a range of about 200 kilometers and can be adapted to the world. 80% of the models developed on pure electric platforms are already on the market and will be on the market in the next three years. The most humane thing is that when consumers change batteries,You can choose 1-3 batteries according to different mileage requirements. The power exchange efficiency is improved and the power replacement cost is reduced. In addition, the "Chocolate Battery Exchange Block" uses wireless BMS technology for the first time, with only high-voltage positive and negative interfaces on the outside, which greatly improves the reliability of plug-in and pull-out components.
In addition, "one battery for multiple vehicles" is also a highlight of this battery swapping block. The "chocolate battery exchange block" can be applied to passenger cars and logistics vehicles from A00 to B and C classes. The battery swapping station can be adapted to models of various brands that use "chocolate battery swapping blocks", breaking through the adaptation barriers between batteries and models, enabling freedom of choice in battery swapping models.
Consumers can "rent electricity on demand" and freely choose the number of battery exchange blocks to rent based on their own usage scenarios and habits. Currently, most private car owners only use 10-20% of the battery power in daily use scenarios. However, in order to alleviate range anxiety and recharge anxiety, they have to buy high-power models and pay a lot of sunk costs. Through "renting electricity on demand", consumers only need to rent one electricity block for daily commuting in the city. If you want to travel long distances, you can choose two or three power blocks, which can truly increase or decrease the power consumption and realize the freedom of electricity consumption.
The second focus is the quick-change station, which has the four characteristics of small footprint, fast circulation, large capacity, and all-climate. Each standard station only requires three parking spaces. It takes about 1 minute to swap a single battery block. The station can store 48 battery swap blocks, ensuring that users always have fully charged battery blocks to replace without having to wait for a long time. At the same time, the battery swap station can also provide versions adapted to the climate and environmental conditions of different regions.
As the last item in the closed loop, APP assumes the role of link between different modules and consumers, providing services for people, cars, Interconnection and services of stations and power blocks. In the future, more and more functional modules will serve consumers through APP.
The final press conference announced member No. 001 of EVOGO’s “Little Green Ring Family”—the FAW Pentium NAT combination battery replacement version. In the future, EVOGO will select the first ten cities to launch battery swap services and release more brands of battery swap models.
02 What is CTP technology?
We mentioned earlier that the newly released chocolate battery block applies CTP high-efficiency grouping technology, so what exactly does CTP mean? How does this technology positively help improve battery performance?
We know that the structure of power batteries is generally cell → module → battery pack. The cell is the smallest unit, and the module is composed of cells. In order to improve the safety of the entire battery system, the battery pack It is composed of modules.
This three-layer structure is the standard configuration of a typical power battery pack. The reason why there are modules is to protect, support and integrate the cells on the one hand. , on the other hand, each module independently manages some battery cells, which helps temperature control, prevents thermal runaway, and facilitates maintenance.. But everything has pros and cons. The existence of modules reduces the space utilization of the entire battery pack, resulting in low group efficiency. While the single energy density has exceeded 300Wh/kg, due to the traditional battery pack grouping method, the energy density at the battery system level is still around 160Wh/kg. Therefore, the efficient grouping technology proposed by CATL is to solve this problem.
Remove the module and integrate the battery cells directly into the battery pack, that is, CTP (Cell to Pack). This has the advantage of reducing the gaps between the modules. , the volumetric energy density of the entire battery pack increases accordingly.
But at the same time, although the above-mentioned de-modularization idea seems simple, it is not easy to implement. No module means higher process difficulty, which means higher requirements for the quality and consistency of battery cells. In the past, a problem with one battery cell could be controlled in a local module through the BMS battery management system to avoid affecting the entire battery pack. However, after the module is removed, a problem with one battery cell may affect the entire battery. Therefore, the Ningde era's wireless Module technology is not only an outstanding innovation at the battery system process level, but also reflects the technical level of battery cell design and manufacturing. In 2021, CATL's CTP (high-efficiency grouping) solution has entered version 3.0. Under the same volume, the power of the entire package is 13% higher than the previous version, and the weight is reduced by 10%.
What are the advantages of CTP?
1. Improve the cruising range: After removing the module, more battery cells are filled, and the energy density of the battery pack is increased, which directly improves the vehicle's cruising range. Under the same battery chemical system conditions, the system energy density of Ningde CTP battery pack has been increased by 10-15%;
2. Safety improvement: As we mentioned earlier, removing the module will not make the monomer Is the safety of battery cells reduced? We must know that improving battery performance has always relied on improving battery energy density. Before the advent of CTP technology, the improvement of energy density was mainly achieved through the transformation from lithium iron phosphate to ternary lithium. Compared with phosphoric acid, ternary lithium batteries Lithium iron is more dangerous. CTP improves the energy density at the battery pack level, which means that at the battery cell level, ordinary ternary or even lithium iron phosphate batteries with higher safety can be used to achieve sufficient driving range. Under the same mileage effect, the safety of the entire vehicle is undoubtedly improved. Of course, for CTP with high nickel systems, safety risks still exist.
3. Reduce costs: From a cost perspective, due to the elimination of wiring harnesses, covers and other components in the module, the number of parts in the entire battery pack has been reduced by 40%, and production efficiency has increased by 50%. The material cost and manufacturing cost of CTP battery packs will be improved. And if lower-cost lithium iron phosphate batteries are used, the cost of the entire battery pack will be further reduced compared to traditional ternary battery packs.
Therefore, each company is currently innovating on the structure of the battery.When the chemical properties are relatively fixed, improving the physical structure is indeed a wiser choice and breakthrough.
03 The advantages of CATL in battery swapping
Let’s first take a look at CATL’s position in the entire battery industry:
CATL has unparalleled advantages in the installed capacity of power batteries and its industrial chain integration capabilities. It also has innate conditions that other manufacturers do not have to promote the development of the battery swap model.
First of all, with the huge shipment volume and battery supply, at least the battery swap station has been built, so there is no need to worry about the source of batteries for battery swap; secondly, CATL acquired Guangdong Bangpu in 2015 Circular, it has realized a circular industrial chain integrating R&D, production, sales and recycling, and created an ecological closed loop of "battery production → use → recycling and resource regeneration". Therefore, the cascade utilization and recycling of batteries can be effectively solved; thirdly, having a controlling stake in battery after-sales service companies can solve power battery safety issues and improve the quality of power battery after-sales services. In addition, CATL has recently launched a lot of cooperation in urban cooperation, financial cooperation, and power grids. It should be that it has already planned for power exchange.
So what is NIO’s attitude towards NIO, which has long been involved in battery swapping, towards CATL’s entry into the game?
In this regard, Weilai, which insists on using the battery swap solution, said in an interview: "We welcome innovations and business models that are conducive to the convenience of electric vehicle owners and convenient travel." He also pointed out that “Nio and CATL are both shareholders of Wuhan Weineng, a battery asset company, and the two parties have always cooperated in this regard. Investing resources in the construction of electric vehicle energy replenishment infrastructure will help promote the popularization of smart electric vehicles and promote the development of the transportation field. The development in the direction of low-carbon and environmental protection is necessary and beneficial. The most important competition at present is the competition between electric vehicles as a whole and fuel vehicles, so everything is conducive to the convenience and convenience of electric vehicle owners. Innovation and business models that facilitate travel are good news for all electric vehicle brands.”
It can be seen that NIO has expressed an open and welcoming attitude towards NIO’s entry into the market. After all, how to promote battery swapping at present. The popularization and improvement of ecology requires joint efforts by all parties. The joint promotion of multiple enterprises can achieve a win-win and multi-win situation, and it is a convenient energy-replenishing option for consumers.
04 Written at the end
The arrival of the battery swap mode has greatly improved and alleviated the long-criticized battery life anxiety problem of electric vehicles. Just imagine the future of the battery swap mode Popularization makes it as efficient and fast as refueling, and the penetration rate and ownership of electric vehicles will increase to a greater extent.
Whether it is CATL or Weilai, or new companies joining in the future, the collectiveCreating a complete, safe and convenient power swap ecosystem is the greatest benefit to consumers.
I believe that in the near future, more companies will join in. Whether it is battery manufacturers or car companies, the participation will lead to the accelerated popularization of the battery swap model. Nowadays, whether it is fast charging or Regardless of battery replacement, whoever can really help consumers solve the problem of battery life anxiety and make energy replenishment easy will be the most needed technical route in the industry. Let's wait and see.