"Why can't lithium iron phosphate batteries have more power?"Why can't lithium iron phosphate batteries achieve ultra-fast charging?".On December 14, on the ZEEKR Energy Day, An Conghui, President of Geely Holding Group, Chairman of Geely Automobile Group, and CEO of ZEEKR Intelligent Technology, issued a soul torture.
Traditional lithium iron phosphate batteries have problems such as low battery capacity, slow charging speed, and average performance, and An Conghui's confidence in this soul torture lies in the gold brick battery, which is the world's first mass-produced 800V lithium iron phosphate ultra-fast rechargeable battery developed by ZEEKR. Although the composition of the gold brick battery is still lithium iron phosphate, compared with the traditional lithium iron phosphate battery, its battery energy density and charging speed have been significantly improved, and it will be first equipped on the ZEEKR 007 launched on December 27.
The release of the Golden Brick battery has also brought an increase in orders for ZEEKR 007. According to An Conghui, within 2 hours of the release of the BRICS battery, the order for 007 increased by 487 vehicles. "It is enough to prove that the BRICS battery has helped the order of 007, and even the order of the entire ZEEKR. An Conghui said.
ZEEKR opens the era of 800V ultra-fast charging
Generally speaking, the energy density of a battery will have a decisive impact on the weight and range of the whole vehicle, and the energy density of the battery is mainly determined by the energy density of the battery cell and the volume utilization rate of the cell compartment. Due to the difference in chemical composition, the energy density of lithium iron phosphate cells is not as good as that of ternary lithium, so ZEEKR seeks a breakthrough from the volume utilization rate and completely transforms the battery pack structure.
According to Xie Shibin, vice president of ZEEKR, at the bottom of the BRICS battery, ZEEKR uses an integrated liquid-cooled tray to replace the traditional water pipe structure to reduce the squeeze of the cell space by structural partsIt also adopts a "compact sandwich structure" of the cell, upper cover and bottom plate to release the longitudinal space of the cell compartmentIn addition, aviation-grade ultra-thin thermal barrier materials are used between the battery cells to fully improve the volume utilization rate. Compared with the traditional design, the design of the high-efficiency integration of the BRICS battery greatly optimizes the internal structure of the battery, reduces the number of core components by 35%, reduces the total length of a single line of the sampling wiring harness by 157m, and achieves a space utilization rate of 837%, and the energy density of battery quality is increased by more than 10%. Previously, the highest volume utilization rate of battery packs in the industry was CATL's Kirin battery, which was 72%.
In addition to the cruising range, another factor that affects consumers' car purchase and experience is the energy replenishment experience. Ordinary lithium iron phosphate batteries, even in the fast charging range of 30%-80%, the charging time still takes more than 30 minutes. The BRICS battery benefits from the self-developed global 800V platform of ZEEKR, matched with the 800V extreme charging V2 V3 charging station, with a maximum charging power of 500kW and a maximum of 45C charge rate.
Especially in the 10%-80% fast charging range, the battery life of the gold brick battery will increase by more than 500km in 15 minutes, which is the world's fastest mass-produced lithium iron phosphate battery, which will bring a more efficient energy replenishment experience. In addition, the 4 of the gold brick batteryThe 5C charging rate exceeds the 4C charging rate (10 minutes of charging, 400 kilometers of range) Shenxing super-rechargeable battery released by CATL in August. The battery, which is also made of lithium iron phosphate material, is expected to be mass-produced in the first quarter of next year.
It charges quickly at room temperature, and it is not slow at low temperature. At a low temperature of minus 10 degrees, the charging speed of the BRICS battery is at least a quarter faster than that of similar products. Not only does it charge quickly, but the discharge performance of the BRICS battery is also excellent. Its 3-second pulse discharge rate can reach up to 16C, while the ZEEKR 007 equipped with a gold brick battery has a 0-100 acceleration time of only 3 seconds, which is not inferior to the discharge performance of ternary lithium batteries.
Compared with ternary lithium materials, lithium iron phosphate has higher chemical stability, which is its advantage. ZEEKR has once again increased the safety of the battery, upgraded the 6 major technical safety measures of the pole core battery pack to 8 on the gold brick battery, and locked the best hidden dangers into the cage with an innovative cage structureThe material is upgraded, and an exclusive golden high-voltage insulating film is designed for the surface of the gold brick battery cell, which can withstand 4000V DC high voltage, and the high-voltage resistance capacity is increased by 27%. At the same time, ZEEKR has also passed the three extreme safety tests of overpressure acupuncture, 240 seconds of external fire and immersion, fire, freezing, dragging, rolling, and high falling.
The energy replenishment business is expected to be profitable in 2025
There is a very important reason for ZEEKR's self-developed battery, and that is the cost. An Conghui believes that the power battery, as one of the most expensive parts of new energy vehicles, in today's extreme market, car companies must not only bear the high cost of insisting on procurement, but also give enough lethal **, then they can only compromise on other configurations, which will eventually make the user's experience greatly reduced.
In this context, many car companies have bowed to the game. However, there are many ways to lay out the battery industry, such as Changan Automobile's choice to establish a joint venture with CATL to create a "Golden Bell Jar Battery";BMW and other companies produce their own high-voltage battery cells, and the rest of the sector cooperates with car companiesZEEKR chose to develop a full stack from battery cells to battery packs, which has been mass-produced and rolled off the production line at the Quzhou Jidian factory. Just three days before the release of BRICS Battery, GAC Aion's Inpai Battery Smart Ecological Factory was officially completed and put into operation, and the self-developed P58 microcrystalline super battery was released.
An Conghui introduced that through the platform-based design, integrated equipment and intelligent and environmentally friendly operation capabilities, the overall production efficiency of BRICS batteries has increased by 40%;The total cost of components other than battery cells is reduced by 23%;Under the same performance, the overall cost of the BRICS battery can be reduced by 14 per kilowatt-hour compared with the ternary lithium batteryAround 8%.
At present, the battery of ZEEKR is CATL. With the mass production of BRICS batteries, ZEEKR will open the era of battery self-supply, but this does not mean that ZEEKR will immediately "break up" with CATL. According to the previous declaration information of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, ZEEKR 007 will be equipped with a ternary lithium battery provided by CATL, with a maximum cruising range of 870 kilometers. This means that ZEEKR 007 will provide two battery options: gold brick battery and CATL ternary lithium, and in the short term, ZEEKR will still maintain the battery selection route of synchronous advancement of these two battery routes.
An Conghui also revealed that the current ** of the BRICS battery is mainly focused on the ZEEKR brand, in addition to meeting the needs of ZEEKR's own products, it is not excluded that it will ** other brand models under the Geely SEA platform architecture, and may also be supplied to other automobile companies in the future. With the expansion of scale, ZEEKR will further reduce costs and increase efficiency, and improve its competitiveness in the overall market.
Backed by Geely, ZEEKR has self-developed, self-built, and self-operated ultra-fast charging network since its inception. On the Energy Day, ZEEKR released the goal of "Thousands of Stations, Thousands of Piles" and the "1515 Convenient Electricity" plan. As of November 30, ZEEKR has built a total of 401 pole charging stations, covering 100 cities across the country, providing 2,261 pole charging piles, each with a charging power of more than 360 kW. According to the plan, the total number of krypton charging stations is expected to reach 1,000 next yearBy 2026, the total number of pole-filled piles is expected to reach 10,000, realizing the idea of "thousands of stations, thousands of piles".
Not only is the layout wider, but the energy supplement network of ZEEKR is also developing in depth, close to the user's use scenarios. According to Zhao Yuhui, vice president of ZEEKR Intelligent Technology, ZEEKR will start from the data of basic car owners, and polish a more accurate and intelligent location strategy through the big data intelligent location model, so as to create a "1515 convenient electricity" for users: that is, 15 minutes to find the station and 15 minutes to charge. In the next three years, "1515 convenience electricity" will cover more than 90% of ZEEKR car owners, and will be infinitely close to 100%. In addition, for the energy replenishment scenario of long-distance travel, ZEEKR has cooperated with 35 public operators, and has connected more than 610,000 charging guns in total, and the coverage rate of highway charging piles will increase to more than 95% next year in 204.
The rapid expansion of the energy replenishment network requires continuous capital investment from ZEEKR. In this regard, An Conghui remains optimistic, and it expects the company's energy replenishment business to be profitable in 2025. From the release of lower-cost and more efficient batteries to the continuous improvement of the energy replenishment system, ZEEKR is improving the user's car experience with real gold and building a "moat" for brand development.