As the "heart" of electric vehicles, power batteries are constantly iteratively upgraded with the development of technology and market demand. At this stage, short knife batteries have become one of the mainstream product forms. As the first new energy company to develop short-knife batteries, SVOLT seized the outbreak of the PHEV market and jumped to the sixth place in the Chinese market in terms of installed power battery capacity in the domestic market by the end of 2023.
In 2019, SVOLT launched L6, the prototype of the short knife L600, laying the foundation for the company to enter the short knife battery cell market. Just two years later, SVOLT announced at the Battery Day event that the company's battery cells were short-knifed. Behind all this is the unremitting efforts of SVOLT in technological innovation.
Yang Hongxin, chairman of SVOLT Energy, pointed out in an interview that one of the biggest problems facing the development of short knife cells is process problems. The process problem of short knife cells is not a simple difference in chemical system, but a new challenge in the process. He said: "The process of short knife battery cells is difficult, and no one has done it before. He detailed a series of process issues, such as the change of welding form, the redevelopment of the diaphragm, and the optimization of the thermal composite process. As a new category, the short knife has a full set of processes that are new, and SVOLT has paid a huge price for it.
SVOLT's first short knife production line has many deficiencies, including problems in product design, process design, and production line design. After learning lessons and experience, SVOLT kept up with market demand and soon launched the second and third generation of short knife production lines and processes, of which the third generation is the flying stack technology. This technology integrates electrode piece thermal composite and multi-piece stack fusion technology to achieve the yield rate of short knife batteries, while greatly reducing the footprint of the equipment and improving manufacturing efficiency.
For the development of short knife cells, Yang Hongxin said that the whole process requires comprehensive exploration and self-development, a large number of DOE (design experiments), various verifications, and huge investment and firm confidence. In the early stage of production line climbing, the yield problem is more prominent, and whether we can strengthen the confidence to solve these problems is the most difficult.
In general, in the research and development process of short knife cells, SVOLT overcame difficulties and finally successfully solved many problems such as process and equipment, which won the first opportunity for the company in the competition in the new energy vehicle market. It is believed that SVOLT will continue to uphold the spirit of innovation and open up new development space in the future.