Battery tech progress to power EV sector's future

China has completed its first high-capacity all-solid-state battery production line and is running small batch tests, signaling the country's accelerated efforts to commercialize this game-changing technology for the global new energy vehicle sector.

The new production line, built by automaker GAC Group, is capable of mass producing all-solid-state batteries of above 60 ampere-hours, GAC said on Saturday. Above 60 Ah is a threshold considered by industry experts as sufficient for vehicular applications. Until now, most such vehicle batteries worldwide have had an amperage range of 20 Ah to 40 Ah.

Industry sources said that Chinese authorities are preparing to expand efforts and introduce stronger policy and financial support for the research and development of all-solid-state batteries.

Those measures are intended to accelerate and steer resources toward breakthroughs in materials, technical routes, safety performance, large-scale manufacturing and application of all-solid-state batteries, sources said.

All-solid-state batteries are a type of power batteries used in electric vehicles. Compared with lithium-ion batteries, which are now widely used in most electric vehicles, all-solid-state batteries allow higher energy density, improved safety, faster charging and lower fire risk, thus earning a reputation as a disruptive technology.

Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at Tsinghua University, said that China is progressing "faster than expected" in the research and industrialization of all-solid-state batteries this year, thanks to more government support.

"The gap between China and leading countries in all-solid-state batteries has narrowed sharply, and China has been ahead in some areas. The next two to three years will be critical for China to choose industrial routes and move laboratory results into production, with the goal of achieving commercialization by 2030," he said.

A group of Chinese EV and battery makers announced accelerated efforts in manufacturing all-solid-state batteries this year.

Qi Hongzhong, head of research and development of new energy and power at a research institute of GAC, said that GAC plans small-batch vehicle tests of all-solid-state batteries by 2026 and aims for gradual mass production between 2027 and 2030.

China's largest EV maker, BYD, said that the company plans to begin small-scale production of sulfide-based all-solid-state batteries by 2027, and incorporate them into its mainstream EV models by 2030.

Gotion High-Tech, a leading battery maker, has launched the first road testing for its next-generation all-solid-state batteries, after completing the country's first fully localized 0.2 gigawatt-hour pilot production line.

Automaker SAIC Motor Corp said on Sunday that its partner Qingtao has completed the main production line for an all-solid-state battery plant in Shanghai, and sample cells are expected to roll off the line by the end of the year.

According to China International Capital Corp, China's new all-solid-state battery equipment market could reach 2.5 billion yuan ($352 million) by 2027 and grow at a compound annual rate of 122 percent to 27.3 billion yuan by 2030.

China also set up the China All-Solid-State Battery Collaborative Innovation Platform last year, a consortium that united almost all the country's battery makers and automakers to commercialize all-solid-state batteries as part of a united government-led drive.

However, the commercialization timeline for such batteries in China is still being debated. Most industry insiders expect small-batch installation in EVs to start as early as 2027 and broader commercialization to begin after 2030.

Zhu Xingbao, chief scientist at Gotion, said that vehicles could adopt the technology as early as 2026 if composite technical routes are used. But Wu Zhixin, former deputy general manager of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, remained prudent and said that the commercial use of such batteries in the country may begin between 2032 and 2033.

chengyu@chinadaily.com.cn