South Korean media: China's solid-state battery technology is breaking the limits!

On January 12, South Korean media "Seoul Economic Daily" published an article stating that a Chinese company announced it has developed the highest energy density solid-state battery technology in the industry.

However, compared to existing electric vehicle batteries, this technology still has shortcomings in mass production and cost, so its application may be limited to specific industries such as humanoid robots for now.

Recently, China's Weilan New Energy announced that it has developed a solid-state battery with an energy density of up to 824 watt-hours per kilogram in the laboratory.

Yu Hegen, chairman of Weilan New Energy, said in an interview: "We have achieved the highest energy density of 824 watt-hours per kilogram for solid-state batteries in the industry. We expect to break 1000 watt-hours per kilogram in the medium to long term."

Solid-state batteries are hailed as the 'dream technology' due to their higher energy density and superior safety compared to conventional electric vehicle and energy storage system (ESS) batteries.

Many automotive and battery companies in South Korea, the United States, Japan, and China are accelerating R&D and production investment, viewing solid-state batteries as a key growth engine for the future.

The energy density of currently commercial electric vehicle batteries usually remains below 250 watt-hours per kilogram.

Weilan New Energy has been regarded as a leading enterprise in the commercialization of solid-state battery technology. The company supplied semi-solid-state batteries to China's electric vehicle company NIO in 2023.

These batteries can achieve a range of up to 1044 kilometers on a single charge.

However, Chairman Yu Hegen added that due to the high cost of materials such as electrolytes, solid-state batteries still face challenges in price competitiveness, and large-scale production is still restricted.

Therefore, he predicts that solid-state batteries may first be applied in specific industrial fields including humanoid robots.

He further explained that the humanoid robot market is less sensitive to factors such as battery costs, and safety is also crucial, making solid-state batteries an ideal choice for early commercialization.

Original: toutiao.com/article/1854111761088650/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.