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Tesla's 4680 Battery and the Industry's Competitive Landscape

Recently, at Tesla's 2024 Q2 earnings call, Tesla announced the mass production of its dry-electrode 4680 large cylindrical batteries, which will first be used in the Cybertruck. However, due to unresolved technical issues, Tesla's current 4680 large cylindrical batteries are not yet in full mass production but are in a small-scale production stage.

Meanwhile, LG Energy Solution has stated that its 4680 battery production line at its Ochang plant in South Korea is ready and is expected to start mass production in late Q3 or early Q4 of 2024.

Additionally, BAK Battery, a leading cylindrical battery manufacturer in China, announced earlier this year that it has built a new generation of digital factory, the Zhengzhou No. 2 Factory, focusing on the industrialization of large cylindrical batteries.

The large cylindrical battery is set to significantly impact the current lithium battery competitive landscape.

BAK's Large Cylindrical Battery: A Solution to Multiple Challenges

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first half of 2024, China's new energy vehicle production and sales reached 4.929 million and 4.944 million units, respectively, with year-on-year growth of 30.1% and 32%, and a market share of 35.2%. New energy vehicles have become a crucial force in transforming China's automotive industry. However, challenges such as battery safety, range anxiety, charging inconvenience, and low residual value persist. Traditional power battery technology faces the "impossible triangle" of balancing safety, energy density, and fast charging.

To break the power battery dilemma and achieve a balanced performance, BAK Battery has focused on high-nickel ternary steel-shell large cylindrical batteries, achieving a new balance in safety, cost, and performance.

In terms of safety, BAK Battery believes that cylindrical cells are the strongest pressure vessels for batteries, and large cylindrical products mostly use steel-shell materials with reliable directional pressure relief and heat insulation through honeycomb-like arrangements. Coupled with ultra-high consistency, BAK's large cylindrical batteries can achieve zero thermal runaway, providing optimal safety throughout a vehicle's lifecycle.

Regarding cost, the cost of cylindrical cells must be comprehensively assessed from both explicit and implicit cost perspectives. On one hand, the high automation level in cylindrical cell production ensures high efficiency and consistency, reducing production and R&D costs. On the other hand, as large cylindrical products reach full-scale production across the supply chain and mature battery recycling forms a closed loop, industry estimates suggest that the cost per watt-hour of large cylindrical cells will be comparable to prismatic lithium iron phosphate batteries.

In terms of performance, cylindrical cells are currently the safest among mainstream battery forms, allowing for higher energy density chemical systems, including high-nickel and high-silicon systems, as well as semi-solid and solid-state systems. BAK's first-generation large cylindrical product starts at an energy density of 280Wh/kg and can exceed 300Wh/kg. Additionally, BAK's large cylindrical batteries feature an all-tab design, resulting in very low internal resistance, which translates to low heat generation and low energy waste, significantly reducing the energy consumption for thermal management and enhancing energy efficiency.

BAK's Third Generation All-Tab Large Cylindrical Batteries: Performance Upgrade

As one of the earliest companies to produce cylindrical batteries, BAK has been a pioneer in the large cylindrical battery field in China. In March 2021, BAK launched its first-generation 46-series large cylindrical battery.

Today, BAK's large cylindrical batteries have evolved to the third generation. With the all-tab technology, the product's fast charging and safety performance have continuously improved.

The third-generation all-tab large cylindrical batteries from BAK support 4C fast charging, reaching 10% to 80% charge in just 15 minutes at 25°C, addressing users' charging anxiety.

In safety tests, BAK's third-generation all-tab large cylindrical batteries have successfully passed single-cell puncture-induced thermal runaway, small module puncture tests, and small module heating tests.

Notably, the "all-tab" trend initiated by large cylindrical batteries is rapidly spreading to small cylindrical batteries. Currently, BAK has developed an all-tab cylindrical cell product matrix covering 21-series, 26-series, and 46-series, setting a new benchmark for technological innovation and green development in the industry.

Conclusion

Achieving mass production is the final major hurdle for large cylindrical batteries to become the new driving force for electric vehicles.

To this end, BAK Battery has built a new generation digital factory, the Zhengzhou No. 2 Factory, accelerating the mass production of large cylindrical batteries. This factory uses BAK's data foundation as the core of its intelligent construction, leveraging AI for big data analysis and product quality inspection. With the support of digital technology, BAK plans to achieve 2.5GWh of large cylindrical battery mass production by the end of 2024, with capacity gradually ramping up to 15GWh by 2026 and 30GWh by 2028.

As an early entrant and leader in the domestic lithium battery industry, BAK Battery will continue to uphold its 23-year development mission, compete for new quality production capacity, contribute to the transformation of China's power battery industry, and drive global new energy vehicle industry development and innovation.

Source：Ofweek

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