CATL has announced a new generation of batteries for electric cars - they will begin production in 2023

Chinese battery giant CATL has announced a new generation of batteries for electric cars.
The batteries are called Qilin - they feature an increased energy density that will provide electric cars equipped with them with an increased range.
Mass production of the new batteries will start in 2023.Image source: catl.comThe CATL Qilin batteries will offer consumers the world's highest capacity utilization rate - it will be 72%; by comparison, the company's 2019 batteries had a capacity of 50%.
The energy density of batteries of the new generation will be 255 Wh/kg.The manufacturer has not yet reported whether there have been orders for the new generation of batteries from automakers.
Today, CATL supplies batteries for brands such as Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW and Nio.
In the first quarter, the Chinese giant reported a 24% loss of net income - problems have arisen due to a sharp rise in raw material prices.
In May, CATL reported that the results of the second quarter are expected to increase profits, as prices for products had to increase.
In the first four months, the total capacity of batteries sold by the company amounted to 41.5 GWh, which is more than twice as high as that of its nearest competitor, LG Energy Solution.Earlier it became known that CATL is currently studying the possibility of building two plants to produce batteries for electric cars in the United States.

Samsung SDI seeks partner to build battery plant in Europe

Samsung SDI's decision last month to build a $2.5 billion traction battery plant in the United States with automaker Stellantis may not be the last of its kind.
Korean media reports that formal head of Samsung Lee Jae-yong (Lee Jae-yong) during his visit to Europe may find a partner among the automakers to organize the local production of traction batteries for electric cars.Image source: Samsung SDINot for sure, as explained by Business Korea, this partner will be Stellantis, because the issue will be discussed during the visit of Samsung Electronics vice-president to Germany, where the position of the auto industry is traditionally strong.
The European subdivision Samsung SDI already has enterprises in Hungary and Austria, while the new site will have to be developed jointly with one of the interested carmakers.
The program of Samsung's European visit also includes visits to the headquarters of Siemens and Infineon Technologies.
The Korean conglomerate has a long-standing relationship with the former, and the latter could reportedly be an asset Samsung would like to buy.
Lee Jae-yong will also visit the Netherlands, Belgium, Britain and France.
In the first of these countries, he is interested in talks with ASML on the supply of lithographic equipment, and in the second, he will talk to the authorities of the united Europe about the possibility of Samsung receiving subsidies if it builds new plants in the region.

From 2024, NIO will start producing its own 800-volt traction batteries

Many electric car manufacturers see organizing their own production of traction batteries as a way to achieve better cost control, Chinese company NIO is among them.
Starting in the second half of 2024, it expects to produce 800-volt traction batteries, which will be used in new brand electric cars starting at $30,000.Image source: NIOIn the future, as Reuters explains, citing comments from NIO chairman William Li, the company will combine the use of both third-party batteries and its own.
In the second quarter of this year, NIO had to raise its costs for purchasing batteries manufactured by CATL as the latter raised its selling prices.
NIO has 400 employees working on the development of its next-generation batteries.The switch to 800 volts can speed up charging the traction battery and somewhat reduce the cost of the wiring used in an electric vehicle, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during a recent speech that the leading electric-car manufacturer believes it makes sense to switch to the 800 volt standard only for fairly large vehicles like the Cybertruck pickup and Semi truck.Korean carmakers Apparently, for NIO the choice of this standard is more dictated by the desire to achieve savings and improve usability for car owners.
NIO expects to deliver 23,000 to 25,000 electric vehicles in the second quarter, slightly less than the results of the first quarter, as the two-month lockdown in Shanghai undermined the company's ability to produce electric vehicles in the required quantity.

Samsung SDI has decided to make its new batteries the same size as the Tesla 4680

The traction battery market has already passed the stage of development when it was possible to endlessly experiment with the cell sizes used.
Samsung SDI first wanted to increase the diameter of its cylindrical lithium batteries to 40 mm, but now Korean sources say that the reference point is the diameter of similar cells from Tesla, which reaches 46 mm.Image source: Samsung SDI If you consider that the cylinder height was originally supposed to be 80 mm, then Samsung SDI can achieve full unification in size with the cylindrical cells 4680, which begin producing Tesla and its close partner, Panasonic.
However, LG Energy Solution is also experimenting with the creation of such batteries, so all three third-party manufacturers could eventually become suppliers of cells like 4680 to the Tesla assembly line.According to Business Korea, Samsung SDI now produces cylindrical lithium batteries in two sizes: 2170 and 1865, where the first two digits define the diameter of the cylinder and the second two define its height in millimeters.
Work on the standardization of the third size is coming to an end, and Samsung SDI is inclined to choose the diameter of 46 mm as a basis.
What will be the height of the cylinder, has not yet been decided, but for the purpose of unification, it will probably reach 80 mm, inherent in the products of Tesla, Panasonic and LG Energy Solution.According to SNE Research, now the cylindrical batteries account for 19% of the traction battery market, but by 2030 they will reach 26%.
The alternatives are either prismatic hard-shell batteries or packaged soft-shell batteries.
Samsung SDI is going to ramp up production of cylindrical-shaped batteries at its facilities in South Korea and Malaysia.

BMW and Ford will get Solid Power solid-state battery samples for electric cars by the end of the year

In 2017, German automaker BMW invested in the capital of a young company called Solid Power, which aims to develop and mass produce solid-state electrolyte batteries that can be used in electric cars.
Ford Motor later joined the investors, and now by the end of the year both automakers could have the first samples of Solid Power batteries for further testing.Image source: Solid PowerThis will become possible, according to a press release, with the launch of a pilot Solid Power solid electrolyte battery production line in Colorado.
This line will be able to produce 300 battery cells per week, with an annual production capacity of 15,000 units.
This should be enough to supply key customers with enough batteries for qualification tests.
BMW and Ford will start receiving samples of Solid Power cells later this year.Solid Power partners also include Hyundai, Samsung and SK On.
The latter two will certainly be able to set up mass production of corresponding batteries if necessary - all the more so as the developers point to the possibility of using existing technological equipment.
The cells developed by Solid Power contain 50% more silicon in the anode, increasing the density of energy storage and increasing the range of the electric car without changing mass.
The absence of liquid electrolyte in the cell increases operational safety and allows the battery to be charged faster.Solid Power cells can be used to create batteries with a capacity of 60 to 100A‧h.
The cost of the new batteries should be lower than that of traditional batteries, which will also contribute to the growth of their popularity.

GM expects to reduce the cost of traction batteries for electric cars by 60%

It is generally believed that this year, for the first time in the history of mass production of lithium batteries, their cost will stop decreasing, and this will have a negative effect on the rate of expansion of electric cars.
Experts explain that this effect will not be long-term, and for the foreseeable future, savings in mass production of electric cars will allow to override the impact of rising prices for traction batteries.Source image: GMS Beginning this year, as explained by Barron's, the cost of the most popular metals used to produce traction batteries has increased by 50%, which itself has caused an increase in prices of electric cars on average by $ 1500 per unit.
Tesla raised its product prices even more dramatically, counting on further cost increases throughout the year.Tim Grewe, General Motors' director of electrification, refers to the existence of the so-called Wright curve, which describes the tendency for production costs to fall every time output doubles.
GM Corporation of America aims to reduce the cost of producing traction batteries by 60% by the end of 2026 or 2027.
In a couple of years, it is possible to reduce the cost of production by 30%, but to do this, it will be necessary to double the production of batteries.
The effect will be achieved not only due to economic dependencies, but also as a result of introducing a new composition of cathodes and electrolyte.
Local companies in the U.S.
and suppliers of raw materials close to them will be counted on to develop production.
Taken together, all this will reduce the cost of electric cars by $5000 or $6000 by the end of the forecast period, more than offsetting the possible impact of rising raw material prices.
In addition, the cost of electric cars could equal the cost of cars with internal combustion engines, and this would serve as a tipping point in the transition of consumers to electric power.
At least theoretically, this is what the future scenario for the industry looks like.

A lawsuit has been filed against Samsung that could negatively affect the entire Android smartphone industry

K.
Mirza LLC, which is essentially a patent troll with licenses from major companies and scientific organizations, has filed a lawsuit against Samsung, accusing the South Korean smartphone maker of using a feature that allows algorithms to predict the remaining battery life of a gadget.
The process could have an impact on the entire Android smartphone industry.Image source: SamsungThe lawsuit was filed on May 20 - indicating that this widely used feature in Android smartphones is actually developed by the Dutch research institute Nederlandse Organisatie voor Togepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoe (TNO).According to the statement K.
Mirza, the feature provides \"a comprehensive mechanism for real-time prediction of the remaining battery life of a mobile device like a smartphone.
\"The company emphasizes that the prediction is based on algorithms that analyze user behavior.
Estimating the remaining battery life based on an analysis of user behavior is more accurate than predictions based on tests conducted during the development of devices.The lawsuit mentions Samsung's use of the technology with \"earlier versions of the Android OS.
It is likely that a different algorithm is used with newer versions of the OS, so the latest Android devices are probably not affected by the problem.That said, Samsung is not the only company using a similar technology - similar mechanisms are used in Xiaomi smartphones and Google Pixel series models.
It is possible that the lawsuit against Samsung is only a trial balloon, and, if successful, some claims may be made against other smartphone manufacturers.

In April, BYD managed to break into second place in the ranking of the largest lithium battery suppliers

Chinese company BYD developed in parallel with Tesla, but started producing electric cars after it mastered mass production of lithium batteries.
The shutdown of Tesla's assembly line in Shanghai allowed BYD to become the world's second largest producer of traction batteries in April.
The first place is still occupied by CATL with 33.7% of the market.Image source: BYDThe statistics of SNE Research presented by Business Korea traditionally focuses on the business dynamics of Korean battery manufacturers, considering the period from January to April of this year inclusive.
Korean manufacturers have made significant progress in the annual comparison, but Chinese CATL still surpassed them, increasing the volume of supply by 114.1% and securing a little more than a third of the world market.
BYD is in third place with a 224.5% increase in supply volume and has almost doubled its market share to 12.1%.
LG Energy Solution managed to increase battery sales by 19.1% in the first four months of this year, but its share has dropped from 22.9% to 14.1%, although it is still in second place in the world ranking compared to its Chinese competitors.
Korean SK On was awarded only the fifth place, although its sales increased by 141.3%, and market share grew from 5.3% to 7%.
Samsung SDI is on the sixth place with a sales increase of 26.9%, but its share for the year decreased from 5.8% to 4.0%.
Total for the first four months of this year was released by manufacturers of traction batteries with a total capacity of 122.9 GWh.
This represents an increase of 83.4% over the same period last year.
Shipments have grown steadily since the third quarter of 2020.
Japanese manufacturers, including Panasonic, have also reduced their market share this year amid the progress of Chinese and Korean competitors.