EV battery cell – the power source of electric vehicles

In recent years, electric vehicles have gained popularity due to their many advantages such as environmental friendliness and low cost. EV battery cell is one of the most important component of electric vehicles. It is responsible for storing and supplying the energy needed to power the vehicle.

In electric vehicles, the performance and quality of power cells directly affect the cruising range and vehicle performance of electric vehicles. This article will introduce ev battery cell, including its type, famous brand and charging method.

Type of ev battery cell

Ternary lithium ev battery cell

Ternary lithium batteries are known for their high energy density, which means they can store more energy in less space. Because they can provide greater range without taking up too much space.

As a result, many mainstream car companies use ternary lithium batteries as power battery cells in electric vehicles.For example, BMW’s iX3 electric vehicle uses a ternary lithium battery with a range of up to 550 miles on a single charge.

LiFePO4 ev battery cell

Lithium iron phosphate batteries have higher thermal stability, which makes them less prone to overheating and thermal runaway. Plus, battery life is longer and maintenance costs are lower.

In terms of price, since lithium iron phosphate batteries hardly use heavy metals and rare metals, raw materials will be cheaper. Power batteries need to consider the cost, so there are many markets for lithium iron phosphate.

Famous brand of ev battery cell

Tesla 18650

Tesla’s 18650 ev battery cell adopts a mature winding process, with a high degree of automation and stable product quality. Active electrochemical materials and improved cell structure design lead to higher energy storage per unit volume/weight.

While increasing the charging voltage, the cell stability is better. The method of parallel connection of multiple cells is adopted to improve the instantaneous discharge capacity of the battery pack. The external structure of the battery can protect the battery cells from impact and automatically cut off the power supply. Such a battery control system has become the technical core of Tesla’s car batteries.

CATL ev battery cell

CATL ev battery cell adopt advanced high-nickel NCM technology to achieve a breakthrough in the energy density of the battery system of 265Wh/kg.

In terms of materials, through innovation at the atomic level, a high-stability cathode material and a high-safety electrolyte have been developed. The high-temperature resistance boundary of the battery has been increased by 40°C, and the thermal stability has been greatly improved.

In terms of battery structure, a highly integrated and robust anti-internal short-circuit electrode is designed, and the battery will not catch fire or emit smoke after various abuse tests.

BYD blade battery

The blade battery cells are composed of 26 positive electrodes and 27 negative electrodes, and the strip-shaped pole pieces are assembled into cells by lamination. A layer of insulating protective film is wrapped on the outside of the cell, and a protective strip is also placed on the side of the cell.

The BYD blade battery is essentially a square hard case battery with a long and thin structure design. The overall dimensions are 960.0±10 mm × 90.0±1.0 mm × 13.5+2.5/-1.5 mm. Different models have slightly different sizes.

For example, the thickness of the 138Ah blade battery is about 12mm, while the thickness of the 202Ah blade battery is about 13.5mm.

EV battery cell charging methods

Fast charging

Fast charging uses direct current, which is directly stored in the power battery for charging, which has specific requirements for the site and equipment.

The power is between 60KW and 150KW, and the voltage is between 200V and 500V, usually about 20 minutes to 30 minutes. The car’s power can be charged from 0% to about 80%. However, due to the large charging current, the battery will become hot and hot.

Battery swapping

For electric vehicles, the advantage of the battery swap station is that it directly “bypasses” the charging process. In addition, battery replacement also solves the problems of high battery replacement cost, short battery life, and inability to upgrade the battery.

Thereby increasing consumer acceptance of electric vehicles. At the same time, the power swap mode can use the peaks and valleys to implement phased charging, which has obvious advantages in power distribution and can also improve energy utilization efficiency. In the future, it is expected to become part of the energy storage of the power system.

The future of ev battery cell

The rapid development of the electric vehicle market has promoted the research and development of power cells. Mainstream power battery companies such as Panasonic, LG, CATL, etc. have already taken low-cobalt and cobalt-free batteries as the research and development direction of next-generation power batteries. However, the key technical problems such as the safety of ternary batteries after cobalt removal and electrolyte matching are still to be solved.

In contrast, solid-state batteries have the advantages of high safety performance and high energy density. Although the current solid-state battery technology is still immature, the production cost is high, and there are still defects such as difficulties in the preparation of key materials.

Still, with the continuous development of technology, the semi-solid battery industry is moving towards the stage of all-solid-state development, which will bring new opportunities and challenges for the development of power batteries.

In short, with the continuous expansion and popularization of the electric vehicle market, the requirements for power cells will become higher and higher.

Future ev battery cell needs to be optimized and improved in terms of safety, energy density, lifespan, etc. At the same time, more attention should be paid to environmental protection and sustainability, which will bring greater pressure and challenges to the development of ev battery cells.

However, only continuous innovation and breakthroughs can meet the needs of the future electric vehicle market and promote the development of the ev battery cell industry.