(Yicai) Oct. 15 -- Chinese power batteries have consistently focused on addressing the consumer pain points of new energy vehicles, including mileage, safety, and charging speed, prompting the transformative upgrade of the entire battery industry.

China has implemented a government-level blueprint for NEV development. Lithium-ion batteries, with their superior driving range, have emerged victorious in the competitive race against nickel-metal hydride batteries and hydrogen fuel cells.

Lithium-ion batteries were first used in buses and low-speed electric vehicles. As energy density improved, their application expanded to the more demanding passenger car sector, prompting the battery industry to transition from lower-cost, lower-energy-density lithium iron phosphate batteries to higher-cost, higher-energy-density ternary lithium batteries.

However, due to safety concerns around ternary lithium batteries, LFP batteries have made a strong comeback. BYD introduced its Blade LFP battery, while Contemporary Amperex Technology launched the Kirin battery by leveraging the energy density advantages of ternary lithium batteries.

Thanks to their superior safety and lower costs, LFP batteries accounted for 82 percent of the market in the first three quarters of this year, equal to 402.6 gigawatt-hours and a 63 percent from a year earlier. In contrast, the market for ternary lithium batteries shrank 19 percent to 91.2 GWh, amounting to an 18 percent market share.

Regarding safety, China once mandated that in the event of thermal runaway in a battery cell, the battery system must not catch fire or explode within five minutes, allowing sufficient time for a vehicle’s occupants to escape or be rescued. However, an industry insider noted that current technology has not yet achieved absolute safety, as it has only made significant improvements.

Compared to internal combustion engine vehicles, range and battery instability under varying climatic conditions have emerged as a new consumer pain point. "If future EVs cannot support fast charging or battery swapping, they will struggle to survive," said Wu Kai, chief scientist at CATL. “This is an urgent issue we need to address in the near term.”

To this end, CATL believes that fast-charging technology should be prioritized for relatively higher-end models, while battery-swapping solutions should be used with mass-market models. The firm has introduced the Shenxing super fast-charging battery, which has a 400-kilometers range after a 10-minute charge, and Choco-SEB, swapping electric blocks resembling a chocolate bar that can be used both in passenger and commercial vehicles.

The battery industry’s current goal is for batteries to charge from zero or 20 percent to 80 percent in less than 15 minutes, while using thermal management systems to address climate-related challenges, said Fu Shengrong, general manager at Huizhou Xinneng Pioneer Testing Technology.

Battery cell durability and storage performance -- specifically, how long a fully charged battery can hold its charge -- are equally important, Fu added.

(This article is an extract from The Heart of Electric Vehicles by Yang Lu and Zhang Congzhi.

Editor's Note: Chinese companies took all top six spots in the global battery market as measured by installations in the first half of this year, with a record 69 percent share, up from 65 percent a year ago, according to data from South Korean market research provider SNE Research. CATL and BYD ranked first and second, with market shares of 38 percent and 18 percent, respectively.)

Editor: Futura Costaglione