Recently, Lin Zhiying ran into a serious traffic accident when driving a Tesla Model X in which the vehicle caught fire. Although the exact cause of the accident is still subject to further investigation, the incident has sparked a heated discussion on Tesla and new energy vehicle safety.
As the development of new energy vehicles flourishes, safety is even more important, and the upgrade of power battery technology is crucial to solving this problem. Qi Haiyu, president of Solar Tech, told the Securities Daily that with the accelerated march of the new energy vehicle industry, the energy density of power batteries is increasing, and fast charging technology continues to develop. In this case, safety enhancement is in urgent need of solutions.
New energy vehicles have achieved remarkable results in the first half of this year. Data shows that China’s production and sales of new energy vehicles during this period were 266 and 2 times higher than the previous year, up 10,000 units and 2.6 million units. The production and sales reached a record high with 21.6% market penetration.
Recently, the Ministry of Emergency Management Fire and Rescue Bureau released data for the first quarter of 2022, showing that 19,000 reports of traffic fires had been received, of which 640 involved new energy vehicles, an increase of 32% year-on-year. It means that there are seven fire accidents of new energy vehicles every day.
In addition, there were about 300 fire accidents of new energy vehicles nationwide in 2021. The risk of fires in new energy vehicles is generally higher than in traditional vehicles.
Qi Haiyu maintains that the safety of new energy vehicles has been a major concern. Although fuel cars also have the risk of spontaneous combustion or fire accident, the safety of new energy vehicles, especially batteries, has received more attention from all sides as they are newly developed.
“The current safety issues of new energy vehicles mainly lie in the spontaneous combustion, fire or explosion of batteries. When the battery is deformed, whether it can ensure safety when squeezed is crucial.” Zhang Xiang, president of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute, said in an interview with the Securities Daily.
Technology upgrade of power batteries is the key
Statistics show that most new energy vehicle accidents are caused by battery problems.
Sun Jinhua said that the fire rate of ternary lithium batteries is higher than that of lithium iron phosphate batteries. According to accident statistics, 60% of new energy vehicles use ternary batteries, and 5% use lithium iron phosphate batteries.
In fact, the battle between ternary lithium and lithium iron phosphate has never stopped in selecting the route for new energy vehicles. Currently, the installed capacity of ternary lithium batteries is declining. For one thing, the cost is high. For another, its safety is not as good as lithium iron phosphate.
“Solving the safety problem of new energy vehicles requires technological innovation.” Zhang Xiang said. As battery manufacturers become more experienced and their capital more powerful, the process of technological innovation in the battery sector continues to accelerate. For example, BYD introduced blade batteries, and CATL introduced CTP batteries. These technological innovations have improved the safety of new energy vehicles.
Qi Haishen believes that there is a need to balance the energy density and safety of power batteries, and battery manufacturers must improve the energy density of batteries under the premise of safety to improve the range. With the progress of science and technology and the continuous efforts of battery manufacturers, the safety of future solid-state battery technology will keep improving, and the frequency of fire accidents in new energy vehicles will gradually decrease. Ensuring the safety of consumers’ lives and property is a prerequisite for the development of car companies and battery manufacturers.
Source: Securities Daily
Post time: Aug-30-2022