U.S. Vendor Raises Energy Density for Lithium Battery Double New Battery or Available Tesla

Who is Sakti3?

Sakti3 is definitely a small, unknown company for most people, headquartered in Michigan, USA. Dr. Ann Marie Sastry, the company's chief executive officer, spent 25 years in teaching research and management at the University of Michigan (Michigan University). Although the company was established only for a period of 7 years, it received a US$30 million venture capital investment including US General Motors, and the reason for attracting investors may be due to the fact that the project it studied is a hot solid-state lithium battery technology. A technology is also considered as one of the important means to replace the existing lithium battery in electric vehicles.

What is the difference between solid-state lithium batteries?

Lithium batteries provide the necessary power for driving electric vehicles. Conventional lithium batteries generally use liquids as electrolytes. This structure is likely to cause the battery cathodes to suffer undesirable chemical reactions and thus reduce battery stability and service life. The biggest innovation in solid-state lithium batteries is the replacement of liquid electrolytes in traditional lithium batteries with solid-state ions, which can effectively prevent the occurrence of adverse chemical reactions and are compatible with a wider range of battery chemistries, thereby increasing the power and storage capacity of batteries. The actual performance in terms of density is the increase in the mileage and service life of the vehicle.

New battery advantages

The new battery that has been declared successful uses solid-state lithium battery technology, which can nearly double the mileage of electric vehicles, and if it is to achieve large-scale production, the cost is much lower than that of existing vehicle lithium batteries. If all the 18650 lithium batteries used in the Tesla Models 60 kWh model are replaced with the new one, the cost of the battery pack is only US$6,000 (approximately RMB 36,900) and the cruising range can be increased to 722km (currently 390km in China). . It can be seen that if the solid-state lithium battery technology matures, the short board of the cruising range of electric vehicles will be further diluted.

Tesla is available?

Dr. Ann Marie Sastry said that Sakti3 would like to manufacture a 60 kilowatt-hour new solid-state lithium battery for the Tesla MODELS electric vehicle, and this is not yet known for Tesla, which is building its own plants. At present, Tesla electric vehicles use 18650 lithium batteries, although the gap in performance is relatively large compared with new solid-state batteries, but Tesla's proud battery management system is completely carried out with its center, using new batteries. The impact on the existing technology system is undoubtedly enormous. Tesla recently announced its numerous patents in the field of batteries. Its purpose is also to allow more manufacturers to participate in the research and development of existing technologies, and to further expand the market share of related technologies. The intervention of new battery technologies is very large. To a degree contrary to this goal.

In addition, as the core component of the electric vehicle, the battery cannot be self-sufficient, undoubtedly has laid a huge hidden danger for the company's future development. This point must be known to Tesla, the 18650 battery it currently uses. All from the Panasonic company, and this single mode of supply has also made Tesla difficult to say for a long time. Since its supply, Panasonic has increased the price of 18650 battery to 3.5 US dollars/piece, an increase of up to 75%, and whether the price will continue to rise in the future, the initiative is still in the hands of Matsushita. The reason why the price gap between the front and the rear is so different is obviously that it depends entirely on the shortcomings of the mining industry. Sakti3 will not be the second Panasonic to “kick off”. It is difficult to explain clearly.

For car manufacturers, relying on external suppliers also has a major drawback, that is, product planning is largely constrained by the production capacity of the other party. Although Matsushita's current production can meet Tesla's demand for use, with the expansion of the market and the full development of product planning, the supply pressure of MODELX and other new carts can be imagined in the future. The objective factor restrictions will inevitably pose a serious obstacle to its development, and cooperation with Sakti3 is undoubtedly the old tone of the existing supply system. Therefore, from this perspective, Tesla's own factory construction can also be regarded as an attempt to break this model.

Of course, if Tesla had no interest in new solid-state lithium batteries, it would be difficult for Tesla to ignore them completely. The nearly doubled cruising mileage and relatively low cost make it difficult for Tesla to completely ignore them. If this kind of battery is used first by the sponsor's GM and other competitors, the challenge to Tesla will be even greater.

It is difficult to completely accept, but can not stand still, so that Tesla in the prospects of cooperation with the Sakti3 company on the fog, but according to the rough analysis of the above points of view, Tesla is likely to eventually choose some models to test the water cooperation mode. That is, Sakti3's solid-state lithium batteries are used on some models to ensure that they compete with their opponents, while continuing to develop and produce existing lithium battery technologies so that their own know-how will not be abandoned until the time comes. Then, consider whether to further integrate the solid lithium battery with the existing technology. However, no matter what kind of cooperation method is adopted in the end, the success of the new solid-state battery will bring about notable changes to the electric vehicle industry.