Author: Lingfang Wang
If you want to know how the next-generation electric vehicle driving performance of a car company is, look at its next-generation battery level.
On May 12th, SAIC revealed the core information of its next-generation platform electric battery.
At the “Transportation Energy Transformation Industry Seminar” held by Sinopec Group that day, Zhu Jun, deputy chief engineer of SAIC, stated that SAIC will start rolling out the next generation of platform electric batteries by the end of this year or the beginning of next year. It will support IM, R Automobile, Roewe, MG, Maxus, and commercial vehicles, including some models of SAIC General Motors.
This battery pack has a unified length and width, which includes three thickness series and four electrochemical systems, totaling 12 specifications, supporting ternary, lithium iron phosphate, high-nickel, and silicon-doped lithium batteries with higher energy, and it can also support solid-state battery technology. The battery capacity covers 50-120 degrees. It supports ChaoJi charging, is compatible with fast battery swapping, and has zero thermal runaway design.
In other words, the performance, functionality, lifespan, safety, and extendibility of this battery pack are balanced and breakthrough.
A Universal Battery Pack
After years of hard work in the field of electric vehicle technology, SAIC is finally launching a platform electric battery.
As Zhu Jun explained, the so-called platformization means “making a battery pack that can be used by low-end and high-end cars, and cars with prices ranging from RMB100,000 to RMB400,000.”
This idea is about to become a reality.
Zhu Jun said that starting from the end of this year or the beginning of next year, SAIC will launch a battery pack with unified specifications. “We currently need to support the requirements of IM, R-brand, Roewe, MG, some SAIC General Motors models, and commercial vehicles and Maxus.”
This battery pack has a uniform length and width, including three thickness series and four electrochemical systems: the thickness includes 110 mm, 125 mm, and 135 mm; the chemical systems include ternary, lithium iron phosphate, high-nickel, and silicon-doped lithium batteries with higher energy, which can also support solid-state battery technology.
In terms of voltage level, Zhu Jun said that SAIC’s current models are still 400 V, but they are planning to design the same battery pack size to support the 800 V voltage level.
In addition, there are some specialized series in ternary batteries, such as achieving a lifespan of 800,000-900,000 km for taxi battery packs, or achieving a lifespan of 1.5 million km (i.e., using one battery for two vehicles) over two vehicle lifecycles.
For batteries that can be rapidly charged at a rate of 4C, SAIC will also implement them in this system.朱军 stated that, at this size, at least 12 different battery pack specifications can be derived, which can support a range of 50 to 120 degrees of electricity demand. Moreover, further subdivision of the battery pack can support next generation ChaoJi high power charging piles with a charging current above 350 A.
In addition, they also support fast-changing technology, which differs from the snap-on style and is closer to the bolt-on style.
Regarding safety, SAIC also pursues zero thermal runaway design for battery packs, using a unique cell configuration to achieve no risk of thermal runaway for the entire pack.
Supporting car-electric separation and pushing battery bank
朱军 supports car-electric separation and battery bank.
(1) The battery bank can fully tap into the value of the battery
朱军 revealed that they use CATL’s battery cells and produce battery packs themselves. Their second-generation battery pack technology aims to reach 70 cents per watt-hour, which is the level of 1 kWh for $100 USD.
However, Zhu Jun believes that this price still cannot match that of gasoline cars and electric cars, and that it needs to reach about 40 cents for competitive parity.
Therefore, Zhu Jun strongly supports the sales approach of car-electric separation. This can significantly reduce the initial purchase cost for consumers and bring great benefits to the safety management of the battery.
Zhu Jun stated that SAIC’s independent brands, ROEWE and MG, have sold more than 500,000 vehicles, but have not recovered a single old battery. “Many people came to me to discuss cooperation for battery recycling, but (they could not cooperate) because the battery is not ours, it has been sold to users. We can only track it, and it is difficult to recover.”
Furthermore, operating the battery bank to provide electricity has significant advantages. First, it can fully tap into the value of the battery, and secondly, it can reduce consumer costs.
(2) Limited versatility of battery swapping stations
Regarding the battery swapping model, Zhu Jun’s opinion is cautious because the battery swapping station is not universally compatible. After all, there are too many battery specifications in the market, and the battery swapping station cannot achieve full coverage.
Zhu Jun stated that as a high-end vehicle, NIO’s battery height and width are adapted to the high-end models, while low-end and A-class vehicles obviously cannot accommodate them.
“Large energy companies like Sinopec are not serving individuals in providing battery swapping services. They serve the entire society and the entire industry.”
By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, 30% of independent brand sales will be new energy vehicles.#朱军解读上汽集团新能源汽车规划
At the meeting, Zhu Jun provided a detailed interpretation of SAIC Group’s plan for new energy vehicles.
According to SAIC Group’s plan, by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the proportion of new energy vehicle sales in the entire group will reach 25%, with more than half of the sales coming from its own brands.
Based on this estimation, by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, SAIC’s own brand sales will be approximately 5 million vehicles, of which new energy vehicles will account for at least 30%, or 1.5 million vehicles.
Including joint ventures, SAIC Group’s new energy vehicle sales will exceed 2 million vehicles by 2025.
In Zhu’s opinion, the current Chinese electric vehicle market is divided into two segments: high-end cars (priced above RMB 300,000) and low-end cars (priced below RMB 100,000). However, he believes that the real consumer group is the middle class.
Therefore, SAIC’s new energy vehicles will mainly target this market demand in the future.
In addition, SAIC is actively expanding its overseas markets.
Zhu Jun provided a set of data showing that last year, SAIC sold nearly 40,000 new energy vehicles in the European Union and the United Kingdom under the influence of the epidemic.
SAIC is also expanding its layout in ASEAN Thailand and India.
Clean electricity proportion affects vehicle carbon footprint
In Zhu Jun’s opinion, under the background of “peaking carbon emissions” and “carbon neutrality,” further increasing the proportion of clean electricity is needed to truly reduce the carbon footprint of vehicles.
To quantify this data, Zhu Jun calculated the carbon footprints of gasoline vehicles and electric vehicles.
Zhu Jun gave an example. Assuming the current manufacturing method and electricity source, the production process of a gasoline vehicle with a 2.6-2.7 meter wheelbase may produce 5-6 tons of carbon dioxide, and over the lifespan of the vehicle after driving 200,000 kilometers, a total of 30 tons of carbon dioxide will be emitted. In contrast, an electric vehicle with 60-degree electricity and driving 200,000 kilometers will produce more than 20 tons of carbon dioxide.
This means that, under the current manufacturing methods and electricity sources, the lifecycle carbon footprint of an electric vehicle is only 5-6 tons less than that of a gasoline vehicle.
Assuming that the proportion of clean electricity in China reaches close to 40% by 2025 (currently approximately 30%), the carbon footprint of electric vehicle production will significantly decrease.
Because improving the thermal efficiency of gasoline vehicles is difficult, but progress in the recovery of battery materials will be fast. After the recovery and reuse of raw materials, the production of batteries will reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide.Zhūjūn stated that when the same size and same functionality fuel and electric vehicles reach the end of their life, the carbon dioxide emissions of electric vehicles will be reduced by more than 10 tons compared to fuel vehicles.
In order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, SAIC is also communicating with mainstream and innovative battery companies to reduce the carbon dioxide produced during the battery manufacturing process.
However, Zhūjūn also reminds that the vehicle battery capacity he calculated is 60 degrees. If it is equipped with 100-120 degrees, or if the electricity consumption per 100 kilometers reaches 15, 20 or even higher, the carbon footprint of the vehicle will also be high.
In short, achieving emission reduction and environmental protection through new energy vehicles requires the joint efforts of the entire industry chain, from the proportion of clean electricity to production and manufacturing processes, and cooperation is needed to achieve this goal.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.