BAK Releases A New High Energy Battery Cell: 18650-3.0Ah With Energy Density Up

The specific energy of cells is a direct indicator of the technical level of a power battery enterprise, and BAK pioneers to achieve an advanced specific energy now when NMC batteries have been greatly popularized.

On May 16th, BAK Battery was publicly listed and launched a new high energy battery cell of 18650-3.0Ah with an energy density up to 250Wh/kg. This is another significant technical upgrade of BAK after the energy density of the 2.75Ah power battery cell (18650) which reached 240g/kg. In addition, the current capacity of BAK’s 3.0 high energy battery cell is 6.5GWh with the daily output of 2 million units. This will be the most standardized product with the ultimate performance in the 18650 series, which can support the ultra-long cruising range of 500 kilometers for electric passenger vehicles.

18650-3.0Ah New Product Release Conference

"BAK’s 18650-3.0Ah battery cells are first released and mass-produced in domestic China. In the next two years, 18650 cells will break through 3.0 to reach 3.3Ah, the ultimate performance of the 18650 series. Meantime, BAK has already pre-arranged the 21700 products and achieved the mass production. In the future, BAK will continue to provide higher energy and stronger power for new energy vehicles with a higher energy density between 4.5-6.0Ah.” said Mr. Pan Wang, the Vice President of Shenzhen BAK Battery Co., Ltd.

Mr. Pan Wang, Vice President of Shenzhen BAK Power Battery Co., Ltd.

BAK Accounts For About 30% in the Market of NMC Batteries

The continuous R&D and improvement of the energy density of BAK products are driven both by the policies and the market demand. In accordance with the requirements of the Medium and Long-Term Development Plan of China's Automobile Industry, the specific energy of power battery cells should reach above 300Wh/kg by 2020, and the subsidy threshold for new energy vehicles in 2018 is also further improved. Therefore, on the premise of ensuring safety, it is increasingly important to improve the development and promotion of the new energy vehicle industry.

The data from the First Electric Power Research Institute shows that the global sales volume of the new energy passenger vehicles (pure electric + plug-in hybrid electric) has reached 1.223 million in 2017, with a significant increase of 58% compared with that in 2016. Among them, China’s new energy passenger vehicle sales of 578,000, accounted for 50% of the global market.

With the continuous popularization of new energy vehicles domestically and internationally, and the pursuit of vehicles with longer cruising ranges, NMC batteries have become the mainstream in the market due to their own features and advantages. The proportion of NMC batteries’ sales volume has also increased from 21% in 2015 to 27% in 2016, and then to nearly 50% in 2017. Therefore, NMC batteries have dominated the market now.

As one of the few enterprises in domestic China that specializes in cylindrical power batteries, BAK Battery fully covers needs across new energy passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles and special vehicles. While closely cooperating with traditional automobile companies such as JAC, Zotye, FAW, Haima and DAFC, BAK also provides battery cells for emerging new energy vehicles such as Leapmotor, Yudo, Singulato and Xiaopeng, etc. Among them, Zotye Automobile is a key customer of BAK. In the field of NMC batteries, BAK occupies a market share of about 30%, ranking first among domestic battery suppliers in term of NMC cylindrical batteries.

By December 2017, the production capacity of BAK’s power batteries has reached 8GWh, with battery cells loaded for a cumulative total of 110,000 vehicles and the longest driving range of a single vehicle exceeding 400,000 kilometers.

The Specific Energy of BAK’s 3.0 High Energy Battery Cells Reaches up to 250Wh/kg. Leapmotor May be One of the First Batch of Users.

Reportedly, the features of BAK’s 3.0 high energy battery cells include high specific energy, long service life, fast charging and stable safety.

First, the energy density of this product is up to 250Wh/kg through the introduction of the silicon-based anode material, the high-nickel cathode material and the specially developed electrolyte. With this feature, even a long cruising range of 500 kilometers can be achieved;

Second, it supports 3,000 deep cycles and has a good high & low temperature discharge performance. The actual cases show that the battery attenuation of the first batch of new energy taxis in Beijing equipped with BAK battery cells is less than 30% after the driving range of 400,000 kilometers of a single vehicle;

Third, the high energy materials of this product can achieve high rate charging and discharging. And through the design of the charging strategy, the charging time can be effectively shortened to improve the charging efficiency. To take the current Leapmotor LP-S01 powered by BAK’s 18650-2.75Ah battery cells as an example, the power of the whole pack is 36KWh. The expected maximum cruising range is 360km and that under NEDC is 250km. In slow charging mode, 100% charging will take 8-10 hours, and in fast charging mode, it can charge over 80% in 48 minutes. In extreme emergency mode, charging for 10 minutes would allow you to drive for 60 kilometers.

Fourth, stable safety is ensured. The symmetrical structure with uniform pressure release, safety valve to avoid thermal runaway, independently developed additive for anodic protection in domestic China and data communication of the 17 production crafts can strictly control the quality of battery cells, which form a four-fold safety guarantee system.

Contract Signing Between Mr. Biao Xiao, Senior Director of Marketing Center of Shenzhen BAK Battery Co. Ltd., And Mr. Yining Song, Director of Leapmotor Power Batteries.

On the day of the press conference, Leapmotor, as an emerging new energy vehicle manufacturer, had reached a strategic agreement with BAK Battery. Both parties agreed to promote the application of the 18650-3.0Ah product jointly.

According to the agreement, Leapmotor will purchase BAK battery packs worth tens of millions of RMB. At present, both parties are in the joint testing phase of the whole vehicle, and mass production & delivery will be completed soon. With the continuous advancement of the bilateral cooperation, Leapmotor may be one of the first batches of automobile manufacturers with the application of 18650-3.0Ah battery cells in domestic China.