16340 battery

The technical improvement of 16340 battery must be led by vehicle manufacturers to be fast enough

Everyone is paying attention to the development of battery cell technology and the level of battery cell life and safety, but it seems that there is less attention to the level of battery pack (PACK) technology and what new technologies are currently being applied. I think this has a lot to do with the current owners and executors of PACK technology.

Why should vehicle manufacturers be the main body of battery PACK?

At present, battery PACK technology is generally implemented by three types of entities: battery cell manufacturing companies, vehicle manufacturing companies and third-party independent or joint venture professional PACK companies. According to incomplete statistics, 60-70% of PACK is completed by battery cell companies (in the field of buses, it should be almost 100%), 10-20% is completed by vehicle companies, and 20% is completed by third parties. Battery cell manufacturing companies are best at battery cell technology, so they have a lot of say in this regard, which is also one of the reasons why the development of PACK technology is currently hindered.

I personally think that it is unreasonable to let the battery cell company take the main responsibility of PACK. The vehicle manufacturer should take the lead to lead the healthy and rapid development of PACK technology, based on the following considerations:

First, the complexity and systematic nature of PACK technology cannot be solved by the engineering capabilities involved in battery cell technology. PACK technology involves multiple disciplines such as machinery, electronics, heat, and fluid, while battery cells are more involved in chemistry, materials, and thermal engineering, with less cross-cutting. The professional talents involved in PACK technology are essential in the automotive industry and are more professional. If a battery cell company wants to equip so many professional personnel, it will require a lot of capital injection. Under current conditions, most battery cell manufacturers do not have these conditions. So the final result is that although they can make PACK, it is more like stacking blocks, simple assembly, and there is no talk of technological development.

Second, the vehicle manufacturer itself can better understand its own needs, and can consider the problem from the perspective of the overall system in PACK design, so as to better achieve the organic coordination and unity of PACK and the car.

Third, the current international mainstream vehicle PACK technology is a model dominated by the vehicle and assisted by the battery cell manufacturer. The PACK of Leaf is led by Nissan itself, and NEC supplies monomers; the PACK of Tesla is led by Tesla itself, and Panasonic only supplies monomers; Volt, Prius, etc. are all in this mode. In this mode, the battery cell factory only needs to provide necessary support according to the requirements of the vehicle manufacturer for battery cell parameters and design, and its main responsibility is to make batteries with good consistency.

Fourth, the field of buses belongs to a special group. The international market shipments are basically in my country, and the space for buses is relatively loose. At the same time, the technical strength of bus factories is not at the same level as that of passenger cars. Therefore, this part of the PACK is basically completed by the battery cell factory. But in the later stage, it should be aligned with the level of passenger cars.

Complex systems should focus more on professional and refined division of labor, prevent monopolization, and improve system efficiency. From this perspective, the PACK development model dominated by vehicle manufacturers and assisted by battery cell manufacturers should be an inevitable choice in the future. Based on this judgment, the market structure of PACK for electric vehicles will undergo a relatively large change compared to now.

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