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Solid-state batteries are expected to significantly improve the battery performance of EV power systems. How far are they? How far is solid-state electric vehicle batteries for the mass market? Battery technology is becoming a key differentiating factor between electric vehicle projects. As most EV power systems other than battery packs achieve efficiency data exceeding 95%, improvements in battery technology provide the greatest potential for mileage and performance improvements. Incremental improvements have been achieved by adjusting the chemical composition of battery electrodes or electrolytes, or by optimizing the size, layout, and structure of the cells in the battery pack. However, compared with the huge performance leaps promised by solid-state batteries, none of these modest improvements have been made. Solid-state batteries generally use the same lithium ion-based chemical reactions as traditional batteries to store and release energy. The difference lies in the electrolyte used to separate the positive and negative electrodes and promote the movement of lithium ions. Traditional batteries use liquid electrolytes—usually lithium salts suspended in organic solvents—and solid-state batteries replace them with extremely thin solid electrolytes, usually made of ceramic, polymer, or glass. Removal of liquid electrolyte will bring many potential benefits. Solid-state batteries are lighter and more compact than liquid-based batteries, which means that the weight of the battery pack can be reduced or the energy capacity can be increased. They should be more resistant to the formation of lithium dendrites, which will improve the power discharge performance and increase the potential charging speed, while extending the life of the battery pack. In addition, once large-scale manufacturing is achieved, they should be easier and faster to manufacture than traditional lithium-ion batteries due to the removal of solvents and reduced production steps. The advantages of solid-state batteries in the field of battery safety are more obvious. Fires caused by defective or damaged lithium-ion batteries have been widely publicized, including the current problems faced by Chevrolet Bolt and its batteries from LG. In many cases, these fires occur because internal failures or external damages cause the volatile lithium electrolyte to be exposed to the outside air, causing it to catch fire and trigger a chain reaction, thereby destroying the entire battery pack. Solid electrolytes completely avoid these problems, and have strong fire and explosion-proof properties-even when they are punctured or impacted. Although they provide many theoretical benefits, no company has demonstrated the ability to mass-produce solid-state batteries for light-duty vehicles, most of which are still in the bench test stage. There are many problems to be solved, including designing the solid electrolyte and electrodes so that they are evenly joined on the entire surface, because any warpage will create gaps, which limit battery efficiency. In addition, material stability has been shown to be an issue of electrolyte brittleness, which can lead to microscopic fractures, thereby limiting battery performance.

China's auto industry has stepped up its expansion into the global market. Despite the continued downturn in China's domestic market, many local automakers have doubled their overseas sales this year. After the explosive growth of the Chinese auto market for two consecutive years reached a peak of more than 28 million vehicles in 2018, it expanded with slightly more than 2 million vehicles before China became a member of the World Trade Organization in 2001. According to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), the country fell by more than 8% in 2019—even before the market was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a more moderate decline in 2020. This year, auto sales are expected to be slightly higher-mainly reflecting the rebound in sales in the first half of the year. The global semiconductor shortage has had a significant impact on the country's car production this year, but due to the decline in consumer confidence, demand has also weakened in recent months. There is no doubt that the market will resume its long-term expansion when conditions improve. Chinese automakers are increasing their influence in more and more overseas markets. The latest CAAM data shows that China exported 1.6 million vehicles in the first ten months of 2021, of which 231,000 were exported in October alone. In contrast, the total export volume in 2020 was 995,000 vehicles, and this year's export volume more than doubled to more than 2 million vehicles. Chinese automakers are not only expanding into developing regions such as Asia, Africa, and South America. In these regions, they are already competing increasingly fiercely with established companies in the traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) field, including Japanese and Korean automakers. . They have also stepped up their expansion efforts in developed markets (especially Europe), targeting the fast-growing electric vehicle (EV) segment, which is becoming a key advantage for Chinese automakers.

According to data released by LMC Automotive, due to continued shortages of parts and components affecting manufacturers' supplies, dealers have difficulty supplying vehicles, and the US light vehicle market fell by 16% in November. LMC said that November had a strong start, indicating that the most serious impact of insufficient inventory on sales may have ended, but at the end of the month, dealers were still struggling to meet the reality of demand. At the end of the month, the sales of light vehicles were 1 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 16%. Compared with last year, sales in September and October fell by more than 20%. The annualized (SAAR) sales rate in November dropped to 12.8 million units, a decrease of 200,000 units from October. It was the second-lowest growth rate this year, second only to September. However, daily sales increased from 39,000 units in October to 41,700 units. Analysts pointed out that the potential demand for new cars in the United States is strong, thanks to the economic growth brought about by the US federal government's large-scale stimulus plan. However, a general shortage of new cars has limited sales this year. There are 24 sales days in November, one more than in 2020. LMC said that the Black Friday deal may be slightly helpful, but the speed at the end of the month is not as strong as the beginning of the month, indicating that vehicles for sale may have been released in batches. Retail sales fell below 1 million units for the fourth consecutive month and fell to the lowest level so far this year, estimated at 850,000 units. The average transaction price continued to break records, exceeding $40,000 for the sixth consecutive month, adding additional demand risks. Retail demand did not perform as well as the fleet, falling by 17% and 12%, respectively. Fleet deliveries may account for 15% of total sales, the highest level since February.

BASF has stated that it plans to expand its mobile emission catalyst business and invest up to 4.5 billion euros in battery materials and recycling. An independent mobile emission catalyst and related precious metal service entity will be located in Iserin, New Jersey. BASF said in a statement that the new independent structure will prepare companies for the upcoming changes in the internal combustion engine market and allow future strategic choices. The new entity will continue to operate globally, including 20 production sites and 4,000 employees. The divestiture process will begin in January 2022 and is expected to take up to 18 months. Markus Kamieth, who is in charge of the surface technology department, said: “BASF is constantly evaluating its product portfolio. Through the divestiture, we hope to give the business more entrepreneurial freedom and agility so that it can better focus on market needs and customers.” BASF Automotive The Catalyst and Recycling Division will be a unique legal entity structure with Dirk Bremm as CEO.

Stellantis and Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to establish a partnership to design a series of specialized semiconductors for automakers and third-party customers. Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, said: "Our goal is to create four new chip families that will meet more than 80% of our semiconductor needs and help significantly update our components and reduce complexity. And simplify the supply chain. This will also improve our ability to innovate and build products and services more quickly.” The deal was announced as part of the Software Day event, where the automaker released STLA Brain, which It is a new electrical/electronic and software architecture launched on Stellaantis’ four battery electric vehicle platforms (STLA small, medium, large and frame) in 2024. STLA Brain is fully equipped with OTA capabilities, so it is very flexible and efficient. "As the world's leading technology company, Foxconn has extensive experience in manufacturing semiconductors and software-these two are key components for electric vehicle production. As we continue to expand into the electric vehicle market, we look forward to sharing this expertise with Stellattis To jointly solve the problem of long-term supply chain shortages," said Young Liu, Chairman and CEO of Foxconn Technology Group. Foxconn has a long history of developing semiconductors and applications for consumer electronics products. These applications will be extended to the automotive field "under the guidance and demand of world-class mobile partners." These semiconductors will also be used by Foxconn in its electric cars.

According to Reuters, Toyota plans to launch a battery-powered mid-size passenger car in China at the end of next year, thanks to the procurement of key technologies from local automaker BYD Auto. Last year, the Japanese automaker stepped up its efforts to play a role in the global electric vehicle (EV) revolution. It just announced a new large-scale electric vehicle battery factory worth 1.3 billion US dollars in the United States. However, the company is still regarded as a laggard in this field, and in recent years has concentrated a lot of energy on hybrid technology and the development of hydrogen as the fuel of the future. The automaker has set up a dedicated zero-emissions department in Japan called the ZEV factory, which, among other things, focuses on the development of safer and lower-cost battery technologies, including solid-state lithium-ion batteries. Toyota and BYD established a research and development joint venture called BYD Toyota Electric Vehicle Technology last year. It is understood that the company employs 24 Toyota engineers and 100 BYD employees in Shenzhen. Reuters reported that Toyota is planning to launch a "small and affordable electric car" by the end of next year, using BYD's key battery technology to help it "build an affordable and spacious electric car" for the local market. According to reports, Toyota will purchase BYD’s smaller blade-shaped batteries based on the chemical composition of lithium iron phosphate (LFP). This technology has been significantly improved in recent years. A company executive who asked not to be named said that BYD batteries will help Toyota reduce costs.

The Daimler Supervisory Board approved Mercedes-Benz's business plan from 2022 to 2026 and supports the brand's strategic plan for full electrification. Following the spin-off of Daimler Trucks (listed today), it will "focus on profit and growth opportunities in the passenger car and truck business." The world's most valuable luxury brand will strive for a leading position in the fields of electric drives and automotive software. The board of directors signed a 60 billion euro investment plan. Although the company plans to reduce capital expenditures, research and development expenditures for product line electrification and digital measures (including steps towards autonomous driving) will remain high. CEO Ola Kaellenius said: "Our goal is to be a technological leader in the luxury car segment and premium truck segment, while continuing to work towards achieving our ambitious profit margin goals." Mercedes-Benz is preparing for the end of the 20th century. , To achieve full electric power when market conditions permit. The investment plan from 2022 to 2026 is still in line with the goal of cutting capital expenditures and R&D expenditures by 20% from 2019 to 2025 and further reductions thereafter. The key to achieving this goal is to strictly prioritize future investments-mainly by focusing on electric vehicles. The company expects the use of standardized battery platforms and scalable vehicle architectures, as well as advances in battery technology, will help reduce the variable costs of vehicles. It is expected that in the next ten years, the proportion of battery costs in automobiles will drop significantly.

In 2021, the Euro NCAP final safety rating tested 11 new models. Seven models received the top five-star ratings-BMW iX, Genesis G70 and GV70, Mercedes-EQ EQS, Nissan Qashqai, Skoda Fabia, and Volkswagen Cady. The electric Fiat 500e and MG's Marvel R also performed well, each with four stars. However, the Dacia Spring and the revamped Renault Zoe EV only received one-star and sporadic qualifications respectively, and their performance was even worse than expected. Although the power system and price are different, all five-star cars have excellent overall performance in collision protection and collision avoidance. The new Qashqai performs well in the field of safety assistance and adult and child occupant protection EQS. Fiat 500e EV and the new MG Marvel R also performed strongly and received a commendable four-star rating. Euro NCAP Secretary-General Michiel van Ratingen said: “We salute these manufacturers to provide consumers with the level of safety they expect. These results once again show that safety depends entirely on good engineering design, not on the type of power system. Or the price itself.” Renault launched the Zoe EV in 2013. The "new" model is a facelift launched in 2020, and many improvements have been made to the battery, but there is no increase in safety. On the contrary, the seat-mounted side airbags that used to protect the head and chest have been replaced by the less effective chest-only airbags, which indicates that the protection of the occupants has declined. The latest Zoe provides poor protection in overall collisions, poor protection of vulnerable road users, and lack of meaningful collision avoidance technology, which makes it disqualify as any star. For Renault's cheap brand Dacia, things are not much better. The all-electric Spring sold as a brand new model is largely based on the Renault City K-ZE made in China, which itself is a derivative of the troublesome Renault Kwid and has been sold in India and Brazil for several years. Dacia has strong supporters throughout Europe: car buyers who like low entry prices and avoid the "useless features" in their cars. However, with the arrival of Spring, the "Master of Thrift Engineering" has launched an extraordinary product. Its performance in the crash test is a complete problem. In the frontal crash test, the driver's chest and the rear passenger's head are at high risk of life-threatening injuries. The edge protects the chest in a side collision. The mediocre crash performance and poor collision avoidance technology resulted in a one-star rating.

BMW said it is strengthening long-term supply chain agreements for key electronic components and has reached direct agreements with high-tech microchip developer INOVA Semiconductors and feature-rich semiconductor manufacturer Globalfoundries. Ford also recently reached a strategic agreement with Globalfoundries. BMW said that its trilateral agreement with INOVA and Globalfoundries guarantees that the BMW Group can supply millions of microchips each year. These microchips will be used in the ISELED smart LED technology jointly developed by the BMW Group, which will be used for the first time in BMW iX and will be promoted in more models. Customer deliveries for BMW iX started in early November.

Ford claims to be the first car manufacturer to use 100% recycled marine plastics to produce car parts. The harness clip in the Bronco Sport model is made of marine harvest plastic commonly referred to as "ghost gear." The automaker said that the strength and durability of nylon materials are comparable to those of petroleum-based parts previously used, but the cost has been saved by 10% and production requires less energy. These small parts represent an important step in the company's plan to produce other recycled marine plastic parts on other models.

Graeme Roberts, Associate Editor of Just Auto Related Companies GlobalData GlobalData can provide actionable insights to drive your company forward August 28, 2020 Access to the data

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