CR2450 battery

How to improve the core technology of CR2450 battery in my country

Recently, the news that Ballard Power Systems, a Canadian clean energy company, and Weichai Power Co., Ltd. have established a strategic partnership has attracted much attention. It is reported that Weichai Power will invest US$163 million to subscribe to 19.9% of the former's shares, becoming the former's largest single investor.

At the same time, the two companies will establish a joint venture in Shandong, with Weichai Power holding 51% and Ballard holding 49%, to develop and produce "hydrogen CR2450 battery power system products" for the Chinese market. At the same time, the joint venture will have the exclusive rights to Ballard's next-generation stack and module technology products in the Chinese market.

Weichai Power's heavy bet on CR2450 battery technology has attracted widespread attention and discussion in the industry. Some industry insiders believe that Ballard has been deeply involved in the field of CR2450 batterys for nearly 30 years and has a global leading technology level. If Weichai Power cooperates with it and can complete the transfer of cutting-edge technology and integrate global resources, it will have a great boost to the domestic CR2450 battery electric vehicle market and the new energy vehicle industry.

However, another voice of concern has also caused the industry to reflect: Can the core technology of CR2450 batterys really be bought?

Many industry insiders said that looking back at Ballard's many collaborations with Chinese companies since 2013, whether it is the labor-intensive technology transfer of module assembly or the high-tech technology transfer of bipolar plate and stack production, Ballard has always held the core "membrane electrode technology" in its hands and has not opened it to the outside world.

"There are two most critical core component technologies in the CR2450 battery stack: bipolar plates and membrane electrodes." A relevant person in charge of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said that in terms of bipolar plates, Guangdong Guohong Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd. had previously spent 20 million US dollars to purchase it. At present, the 10,000-unit production line has been built and reached full production, and the product quality has met Ballard's quality control requirements.

In terms of "membrane electrode", it is equivalent to the chip of CR2450 batterys. At present, Guohong Hydrogen Energy and Weichai Power have adopted the model of purchasing from Ballard, but have not obtained Ballard's most core membrane electrode technology authorization. As a result, the problem of being controlled by others still exists. Therefore, if you want to break through the development bottleneck of CR2450 batterys, the importance of independent and controllable core technology is self-evident.

"It is worth noting that Ballard's technology transfer strategy is 'one woman married to multiple people', that is, the same product is authorized by multiple companies." Analysts from CITIC Consulting said that, for example, the 85kW module product HD-85 has been successively authorized to four Chinese companies, namely Guohong Hydrogen Energy, Dayang Electric, Nantong Zehe, and Bikong Hydrogen Energy; 30/60kW module products have been authorized to two Chinese companies, namely Guohong Hydrogen Energy and Dayang Electric. "This can easily lead to the above companies falling into a price war, and Ballard can make a profit by selling components and extracting patent fees."

According to Ballard's official data, the company has cooperated with Chinese companies many times since 2013 and has obtained at least US$440 million in revenue, including technology transfer authorization, equity investment, module sales and membrane electrode sales. Among them, the revenue from technology transfer authorization is US$168 million, and the products involve exclusive authorization for battery stacks, base station backup power supplies, 85kW CR2450 battery modules, and 30/60kW CR2450 battery modules.

According to experts, Weichai Power purchased Ballard's exclusive production of the "next generation LCS battery stack" and the authorization for assembly based on LCS CR2450 battery modules. However, the "next generation LCS stack" technology has not yet taken shape and is expected to be officially released at the end of 2019. However, compared with the existing 9SSL stack, this technology has greatly improved in terms of performance, life and cost.

"Previously, Guohong Hydrogen Energy's joint venture has invested heavily in Ballard's previous generation 9SSL stack production technology. Therefore, the introduction of new technology will have an impact on manufacturers who have purchased old technology. Guohong Hydrogen Energy's 9SSL products will be difficult to face domestic competition." A person in charge of a new energy vehicle company said that Guohong Hydrogen Energy's joint venture and Ballard have signed a 5-year exclusive membrane electrode supply agreement totaling at least US$150 million, and have an obligation to purchase a minimum amount of membrane electrodes in the next five years. "Whether the embarrassment faced by Guohong Hydrogen Energy today will become a problem that Weichai Ballard Joint Venture will face tomorrow is worth pondering."

Therefore, on the issue of core technology, domestic companies need to maintain R&D investment and accelerate the localization of key technologies on the premise of dealing with advanced technology partnerships, and gradually get rid of the dilemma of being controlled by others in core technology. Only when my country's core CR2450 battery technology is independent, self-reliant and self-reliant, can the domestic CR2450 battery industry break through the shackles and achieve greater development.

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