Ningde and BYD: 3 Major Breakthroughs in Lithium Battery Tech Revealed

Just before the holiday, three major technological breakthroughs in China's lithium battery industry have been successively revealed. With a lifespan of 15 years and 1.5 million kilometers, CATL introduces the Tianxing battery; BYD's second-generation Blade Battery is about to be released, breaking through the 1000km pure electric range; and with a solid-state battery energy density of 430Wh/kg, Innova Aero will equip vehicles by 2027.

Faced with tariffs and "containment" from Europe and the United States targeting China's lithium batteries and electric vehicles, Chinese companies are accelerating technological iteration to provide the most powerful response.

As the saying goes, "Ignore today, and tomorrow you won't be able to afford it." Only by achieving a crushing superiority from technology to products can Chinese companies ultimately make Europe and the United States admit defeat and convince consumers to receive more surprises.

Quality breakthrough: 15 years and 1.5 million kilometers, CATL introduces the Tianxing battery.

As the company most affected by the tariffs imposed by Europe and the United States, CATL officially launched the Tianxing battery B-bus version on September 13. According to CATL, this battery will extend the full life cycle of new energy buses to 15 years and 1.5 million kilometers.

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This can be considered another breakthrough in the performance and quality of Chinese lithium batteries. For a long time, due to the limitations of the number of charge-discharge cycles and automatic decay of lithium batteries, the full life cycle of electric vehicles has always been difficult to improve. Some batteries even face aging and replacement in just six or seven years. This greatly affects the promotion of electric vehicles, especially for commercial vehicles, where rapid depreciation means high costs.

In terms of products, targeting the characteristics of high operating intensity, long service life, and complex working conditions of new energy buses and commercial vehicles, CATL's Tianxing battery has solved the dual challenges of long-life and long-range for bus power batteries.

Technologically, the application of higher-performance artificial graphite anodes and high-stability interface electrolytes has formed a new breakthrough, effectively extending the life of the battery cells. At the same time, the innovative integrated thermal management box has increased the volumetric energy density by 22% compared to the previous generation, thereby increasing the battery's range.

In terms of safety, Gao Huan, CTO of CATL's domestic commercial vehicle business division, stated that the battery has reached an IP69 level of protection performance, capable of withstanding a 72-hour water immersion test, which can maximize the elimination of battery water ingress safety hazards.

No wonder before this, CATL's chairman, Zeng Yuqun, had intensively "criticized" battery quality issues, believing that the safety factor of the vast majority of batteries on the market is far from enough. It turns out that CATL already had a trump card.With the launch of CATL's "long endurance, long life, and high safety" battery products, it seems to be "forcing" Chinese batteries out of the "low quality, low price" quagmire.

Range breakthrough, pure electric range exceeds 1000km, BYD's second-generation Blade Battery is about to be released.

As another lithium battery giant, there is not much talk in the face of the established fact of the United States imposing additional tariffs. In addition to Mercedes-Benz exiting Denza, BYD is accelerating its layout in the luxury brand market, and the mass production of the second-generation Blade Battery has entered the countdown stage.

The message conveyed is also very obvious - since the West does not give face, there is no need to play with them, and strengthening its own product strength is the way to win.

According to the information released by BYD in April and market news, BYD is currently developing the second-generation Blade Battery system and may be released soon. In terms of performance, the volume utilization rate of BYD's second-generation Blade Battery will be increased by more than 40% compared to the first generation, and the energy density will reach 190Wh/kg.

Not only can BYD's hybrid models reach 2000 kilometers with full fuel and electricity, but even pure electric models can also achieve a range of more than 1000km after a full charge, meeting the daily commuting needs of most people for a month.

Firstly, in terms of technology, BYD's second-generation Blade Battery may achieve a significant increase in battery energy density through further optimization of electrode materials and breakthroughs in direct integration of battery cells; and by structural integration, it has reduced the number of parts by nearly 40%, once again setting a new cost record. At the same time, the application of a new type of composite current collector fluid reduces the voltage drop of the current collector fluid and the proportion of energy loss due to electrode sheet loss.

Secondly, in terms of thermal control and safety, BYD seems to have learned its lesson. The second-generation Blade Battery may adopt a concave single-sided design, which not only reduces battery damage caused by external impacts but also avoids the risk of short-circuiting between the positive and negative poles after a collision. At the same time, the adoption of precise temperature control for single battery cells and a new wind-liquid hybrid cooling system, as well as an optical fiber cold plate temperature detection system, will also become important upgrades for BYD to upgrade the battery pack module, reduce the probability of heat generation, reduce the risk of spontaneous combustion, and greatly improve the safety factor of electric vehicles.

Once BYD's second-generation Blade Battery is mass-produced, it will not only mean a significant increase in the endurance level of BYD's pure electric vehicles, but its safety and price may also trigger another industry "earthquake".

Energy breakthrough, solid-state battery 430Wh/kg, CATL plans to equip vehicles by 2027.Of course, as China's third-largest lithium battery company, CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited) cannot be absent, especially in the most advanced field of solid-state batteries, where Chinese companies are transitioning from followers to industry leaders.

As early as the end of August, CATL had already launched the "Boundaryless" all-solid-state battery technology, with an energy density as high as 430wh/kg and a capacity exceeding 50Ah. According to CATL's plan, the "Boundaryless" all-solid-state battery is scheduled to be installed in a small batch of vehicles in 2027 and mass-produced in 2028. At the same time, CATL's top-tier all-weather super pure electric battery has also become the industry's first 5V spinel chemistry system, with an energy density of 240Wh/kg, achieving zero degradation in endurance at minus 20 degrees Celsius, and is planned to be launched in 2026.

In addition, a group of new material and battery companies such as Penghui Energy, Weilan New Energy, Qingtao Energy, and Nantu Power have also made rapid progress in the research and development of solid-state batteries. The faster half-solid-state batteries will be installed in vehicles by 2025, and the slower all-solid-state batteries are expected to be installed around 2030.

Although, from the perspective of current basic technology research and development, Chinese companies are not yet dominant. For example, Germany's Mercedes-Benz has jointly developed a new type of solid-state battery with a U.S. startup battery company, which is expected to be mass-produced before 2030. Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation also stated that all-solid-state batteries will be launched as early as 2027. However, in terms of industrialization, compared to the individual efforts of European, American, and Japanese companies, the collective "charge" of Chinese companies and the joint research and development between car manufacturers have obvious advantages.

In this regard, the founder of True Lithium Research, Mo Ke, stated that the advantage of Chinese battery companies lies in their ability to use technology and production capacity to reduce mass production costs, quickly occupying the market in competition, which is an incomparable advantage compared to European, American, Japanese, and Korean companies.