NIO leads the way with CATL following, jointly composing a song for the era of “ternary lithium.”

Introduction: The advantage of the three-element lithium-ion battery is that it combines the advantages of lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium-ion batteries while avoiding their disadvantages. The launch of the three-element lithium-ion battery reflects Nio’s zero tolerance for the defects of lithium iron phosphate batteries and its demand for ultimate product strength, while also highlighting the deep technical brand image of CATL.

On September 23rd, Nio officially released the standard range-extension battery pack (75 kWh) for its ternary lithium-ion battery. The so-called ternary lithium-ion battery is a new type of battery that combines lithium iron phosphate batteries and ternary lithium-ion batteries, which is quite significant in the era. With the ternary lithium-ion battery, the debate between lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium-ion batteries has become meaningless.

In July, CATL released the “lithium sodium battery pack,” similar to the ternary lithium-ion battery pack launched by Nio this time. Therefore, the ternary lithium-ion battery pack launched by Nio is probably still CATL’s latest product, and we will also see similar products from other brands in the future.

The advantage of the ternary lithium-ion battery is that it combines the advantages of lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium-ion batteries while avoiding their disadvantages. The launch of the ternary lithium-ion battery reflects Nio’s zero tolerance for the defects of lithium iron phosphate batteries and its demand for ultimate product strength, while also highlighting the deep technical brand image of CATL.

“Nio-CATL” Jointly, the World Trembles

That afternoon, Nio announced that models equipped with the standard range-extension 75 kWh battery pack are available for pre-order, maintaining the price of the 70 kWh battery pack. In other words, from the 70-degree ternary lithium-ion to the 75-degree ternary lithium-iron, Nio did something that “increased capacity without increasing cost” to reassure users.

According to Nio’s official introduction, this battery pack adopts a mixed layout of ternary lithium-ion batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries and applies CATL’s new generation of CTP technology. It has many technical optimizations for the poor low-temperature performance of lithium iron phosphate batteries and can achieve a low temperature range-extension loss of only 25%, and will begin delivery to users in November.

Let us take a look at the features and advantages of the ternary lithium-ion battery pack:

1. The price maintains the same as the original 70 kWh battery pack;

2. It uses a mixed layout of ternary lithium-ion batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries;

3. It reduces the calculation error of the traditional iron-lithium SoC from 10% to 3%;

4. It applies the new generation of CTP technology to directly form the battery pack from a single battery cell;

5. It improves the volume utilization rate of the battery pack by 5% and simplifies the manufacturing and assembly by 10%;

6. It increases the energy density of the same system by 14%, reaching 142Wh/kg.

7. The precise dual-electrode system SoC estimation algorithm, etc.It is well known that lithium iron phosphate batteries and ternary lithium batteries have always been the two mainstream battery technologies in the global electric vehicle industry. Compared to the two, NIO’s ternary iron-lithium battery pack can be regarded as a combination of the two, similar to CATL’s AB battery solution, which integrates and mixes sodium-ion batteries with lithium-ion batteries, achieving complementary advantages.

After equipping with the 75kWh ternary iron-lithium standard range battery pack, what changes will there be for NIO’s dual-motor high-performance vehicle’s NEDC?

First of all, after upgrading to the 75kWh battery pack, the pure electric standard range for NIO ES6 Sport and Performance versions will each reach 455km and 465km, while the standard version can also reach 465km and 475km. The pure electric range for the 2020 ES8 equipped with the original 70kWh battery pack is 415km, but after upgrading to the 75kWh battery pack, the range can be increased by 35km, reaching 450km. Similarly, for the 2018 ES8, after switching to the 75kWh battery pack, the range can be increased from 355km to 385km.

NIO’s battery pack released this time can be said to be the industry’s first mixed lithium iron phosphate and ternary iron-lithium battery, and the industry has always been concerned with ternary lithium and lithium iron phosphate batteries. Ternary batteries have high energy density and good low-temperature performance, while lithium iron phosphate batteries have low cost, good high-temperature performance, long service life, and high safety. It is precisely because of this that the competition between the two has always existed in the market.

It is reported that NIO also had plans to use lithium iron phosphate batteries in the early days and even developed a 68kWh lithium iron phosphate battery pack. Compared to ternary lithium, lithium iron phosphate has gaps in low-temperature performance and state of charge estimation in terms of user experience. In the Q1 financial report conference earlier this year, when asked whether to use lithium iron phosphate batteries, Li Bin also replied that the cost advantage of lithium iron phosphate batteries is very high, but before that, NIO will first solve the user experience with iron-lithium batteries, which is the core foundation. Therefore, NIO did not choose to mass-produce this battery pack, but turned to research new technical solutions.Finally, after over a year of active preparation and development, NIO officially launches a combination of ternary lithium and iron phosphate lithium batteries, relying on CATL battery technology. Compared with iron phosphate lithium, the energy density of the ternary iron lithium battery pack (75 kWh) is higher, and the range is longer. Additionally, compared with ternary lithium, ternary iron lithium also has cost advantages. In general, the launch of the ternary iron lithium battery is not only a “perfect” product combining ternary lithium and iron phosphate lithium batteries, but also a further cooperation between NIO and CATL and a big step forward for the industry.

Advanced technology is what users expect. Some users expressed that new energy is a trend with a huge market, and while they are happy with the car’s configuration for the price, they still hope it could be more affordable to allow more consumers to buy and use it. Others stated that users will experience the pros and cons of all decisions on using iron lithium batteries, such as NIO, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla. The reliability will only be judged after the product is launched. It is evident that ultimately, it needs to be based on user experience. Li Bin proposed “what if we give 5 more kWh?,” with the user getting an additional 5kWh without any extra cost. This indeed corresponds to NIO’s purpose as a user-oriented car company.

The era of ternary iron lithium has begun, and the debate between ternary lithium and iron phosphate lithium is over

An important trend to note is that before NIO, more and more high-end brands have been actively embracing iron phosphate lithium batteries. Other new energy car companies, such as Tesla, have already upgraded their standard range with iron phosphate lithium batteries for Model 3 and Model Y worldwide. As early as August, Musk tweeted recommending the iron phosphate lithium version of Model 3 for US users.

NIO’s original intention was to combine the advantages of ternary and iron lithium to create a perfect hexagon of capabilities. This is an engineering innovation that looks perfect. Ternary iron lithium is a completely new technical path, and innovative hardware design inevitably requires a large number of parts to be re-opened for modeling and customization in production.

Daimler also mentioned at the Mercedes Benz 2020 strategy communication meeting that iron phosphate lithium will be one of the long-term power battery material options together with ternary lithium and solid-state batteries. Is there anything that can better explain the issue than the world’s largest luxury brand, Mercedes-Benz, including iron phosphate lithium in its future plans?

In the context of the improving new energy industry, with the improvement of iron phosphate lithium energy density and the increasing integration level of battery packs, the installed capacity of iron phosphate lithium batteries has been rapidly increasing in recent years. However, high-end electric vehicles still use ternary iron lithium batteries, which demonstrates that ternary lithium batteries, especially NIO’s ternary lithium batteries developed by CATL, are more advanced and sought after by competitors.

Although neither ternary lithium nor iron phosphate lithium batteries are comprehensive players in the power battery hexagon of capabilities, ternary iron lithium batteries combine the advantages of both, and are therefore a great choice.

Three-element and lithium iron phosphate as a new category have their own value. Based on the Ningde Times Technology, NIO has chosen a new route of structural innovation, and the cost advantage of the three-element lithium iron phosphate battery can effectively improve the company’s long-term profits without significantly affecting the user experience. This is extremely important for NIO. At the same time, NIO must face a tricky problem, as mentioned by a user in the above text, that is, NIO needs to solve the problems on the user experience level that come with the use of lithium iron phosphate battery. Based on the battery swapping network, three-element lithium iron phosphate battery packs will ultimately affect all NIO user owners.

In fact, from the user’s perspective, there is no solution that can solve all users’ problems. Often, some users are very satisfied while others still have many complaints. Similarly, with the replacement of new battery packs by NIO, users are still divided into two factions. However, NIO abandoned the lithium iron phosphate battery and developed the three-element lithium iron phosphate battery, which increased the difficulty for itself. Technological change is like the change of seasons, it requires a process and an adaptation period. Unlike seasons, technology is constantly improving and breaking through, and the market testing and user recognition are also part of this process, just like the development of electric cars. If there is no technological innovation, the user experience of electric cars will remain in the initial stage. The rapid development of electric cars cannot be achieved without the advancement of technology. Similarly, battery technology, as an important part that can improve the user experience of electric cars, is also undergoing this process.

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.