As the market share of new energy vehicles increases, car companies are progressing further in battery manufacturing. They not only develop their own batteries but also produce them in-house, combining industry trends to introduce innovative products.
On June 27th, Geely Auto officially launched its latest generation "short blade" lithium iron phosphate battery – the Shendun Short Blade Battery. Compared to the current "long blade batteries" in the industry, the Shendun Short Blade Battery boasts significant advantages in safety performance, cycle life, fast-charging capability, and low-temperature discharge. This battery is expected to be first equipped on the Geely Galaxy E5, set to be released in August.
The Trend of Short Blade Batteries
As the name suggests, short blade batteries are shorter than long blade batteries, the latter being represented by BYD's blade batteries. In terms of specific parameters, the Shendun Short Blade Battery is smaller in size, with a length of 580mm, approximately 40% shorter than long blade batteries. Its energy density is 192Wh/kg, compared to 180Wh/kg for long blade batteries. The shorter length and higher energy density of the Shendun Short Blade Battery allow for higher volume utilization, more flexible structural design, and grouping arrangements.
Due to its shorter length, the Shendun Short Blade Battery's grouping arrangement is more flexible, making it compatible with various vehicle types including sedans, commercial vehicles, SUVs, and MPVs.
Technically, long blade batteries often use dry process separators, while the Shendun Short Blade Battery uses a wet process double-coated separator, which is more flexible and less likely to break during punctures, with smaller damage pores and short circuit areas.
One of the highlights of the Shendun Short Blade Battery is its fast-charging capability. Test data shows that for the same battery capacity, the charging time from 10% to 80% state of charge (SOC) for long blade batteries is 26 minutes, with an average charging rate of 1.61C; the Shendun Short Blade Battery takes only 17 minutes and 4 seconds, with an average charging rate of 2.45C, and lower heat generation.
Physically, the faster charging speed of the Shendun Short Blade Battery is due to solving the high internal resistance problem of long blades, using thinner, longer carbon nanotubes to create a "highway" for ion transport, and adding lower film resistance additives to the electrolyte, making it easier for lithium ions to enter the anode, thereby significantly improving fast-charging performance.
In extremely cold environments, the Shendun Short Blade Battery also has a stronger discharge capability and longer range compared to long blade batteries. Even at -30°C, while the capacity retention rate of long blade batteries drops to 78.96%, the Shendun Short Blade Battery maintains a capacity retention rate of 90.54%, eliminating concerns of significant power loss in winter.
Additionally, the Shendun Short Blade Battery uses multi-element doped cathode materials and small particle anode materials. Combined with its smaller size and lower internal resistance, the internal chemical reaction speed is effectively slowed, significantly extending the battery life. The Shendun Short Blade Battery's cycle life can reach 3500 cycles, equivalent to a safe driving distance of 1 million kilometers. For a typical family car driving 20,000 kilometers per year, the battery can "serve" for up to 50 years, greatly extending the battery's retirement time and increasing the residual value of pure electric second-hand cars.
These performance features indicate that short blade batteries have become the mainstream form of power batteries for new energy vehicles, leading the new generation. Not only Geely Auto, but also Great Wall Motor's Honeycomb Energy advocates short blade batteries.
Honeycomb Energy's Chairman and CEO, Yang Hongxin, pointed out that the structure of short blade cells naturally fits the fast-charging route, with advantages such as better temperature uniformity, higher PACK volume utilization, and better compatibility. Thus, Honeycomb Energy proposed the "electric full domain short blade" development strategy and widely applied short blade batteries in BEV, PHEV, commercial vehicles, and energy storage segments.
"Military-grade" Safety Quality
In addition to performance improvements, the Shendun Short Blade Battery also proves its "military-grade" safety quality from multiple dimensions in terms of the most important safety aspect of power batteries.
The Shendun Short Blade Battery uses high-strength, high thermal stability high-heat-resistant separators, more stable and dense high-safety electrolyte, and self-developed "self-fusing technology". Once the cell is punctured, the aluminum foil will fuse and the separator will collapse, forming an insulating layer to block short circuits, greatly enhancing the safety level of the cell.
In the industry, the single-needle puncture test has been considered the most difficult safety performance test for power batteries, so the "8-needle puncture" will undoubtedly significantly increase the damage to the cell, creating multiple damage points in a short time, increasing the risk of internal short circuits, and potentially causing more complex thermal and mechanical effects, making the safety test more challenging.
In the "8-needle puncture" test by the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC), the Shendun Short Blade Battery cell was punctured simultaneously by 8 steel needles with a diameter of 5mm and left for 1 hour, without smoking, igniting, or exploding. Meanwhile, the Shendun Short Blade Battery cell achieved the world's first pass in the 5.8mm real bullet shooting penetration test. The 5.8mm automatic rifle bullet shot through the cell at a speed of 920m/s, causing explosive damage with a wound diameter ≥60mm, yet the cell did not ignite or explode.
Besides the cell "8-needle simultaneous puncture" test, Geely also initiated the industry's first "devil" serial tests on the Shendun Short Blade Battery pack, including dynamic seawater corrosion immersion, extreme cold at high altitudes, high-frequency bottom scraping, 26-ton reciprocating rolling, single-pack side pillar impact, and flame grilling.
Thanks to the patented "Tianzigeb" frame design, energy-absorbing cavity, triple-layer sandwich bottom guard, CTB battery-body integration, accident thermal runaway risk control, and multiple cell safety protection measures, the Shendun Short Blade Battery pack successfully passed all 6 tests with ease.
Self-research and Self-manufacture for Assurance
Unlike most car companies' self-research battery packs, Geely's Shendun Short Blade Battery can achieve self-research and self-manufacture of both the PACK and the cells.
It is understood that the cells of the Geely Shendun Short Blade Battery are produced by the Yaoning New Energy production base in Jianhu, Yancheng, and the battery packs are produced at the Guiyang Flash聚工厂 (Flash聚 Factory).
According to information, Yaoning New Energy Technology Company was established in July 2022 with a long-term investment of 10.2 billion yuan, and the first cell was successfully rolled off the production line on November 25, 2023. Its parent company, Yaoning Technology, originated from Geely Group's Components Business Center and has rapidly expanded into multiple fields such as new energy and new materials since its establishment at the end of 2020. Its chairman, Li Xingxing, is also a major shareholder of Geely Group.
Guiyang Flash聚 Battery Co., Ltd. was established on September 26, 2023, with a business scope covering battery manufacturing, battery parts production, power electronic components manufacturing, new energy technology research and development, and semiconductor device specialized equipment manufacturing. The full equity penetration map shows that the company is wholly owned by Zhejiang Star Innovation Auto Industry Development Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely's Zhejiang Jirun Auto Co., Ltd.
In April this year, the Guiyang Flash聚 factory was fully put into production, with the production line adopting Geely's newly developed MES system, achieving automation, transparency, and digitalization in the battery production process. It also applies the fastest changeover technology in the industry, enabling multi-product co-line production through synchronized platform design of products and production lines, creating an automated, flexible, and highly efficient production mode.
To achieve self-research and self-manufacture of power batteries, Geely Auto has been planning for many years. According to incomplete statistics, since 2019, Geely has invested more than 110 billion yuan in the battery field, with a cumulative planned battery production capacity of over 300GWh. Before the release of the Shendun Short Blade Battery, Geely Auto also released the lithium iron phosphate Gold Brick Battery, which was first equipped on the first mid-size sedan of the Zeekr brand, the Zeekr 007.
The core logic behind Geely's extensive efforts in battery manufacturing is simple - to reduce dependence on upstream and gradually gain control over the supply chain. It is known that as the core component of electric vehicles, power batteries account for about one-third of their cost and directly affect the competitiveness of various electric vehicle brands in terms of performance, safety, and price. GAC Group Chairman Zeng Qinghong once complained that "car companies are all working for suppliers," and Changan Auto Chairman Zhu Huarong also said that problems like "chip shortage" and "expensive batteries" caused Changan Auto to lose over 600,000 units of production capacity in a year.
From the current market supply situation, from January to May this year, 48 power battery companies in China's new energy vehicle market achieved vehicle matching, an increase of 5 companies from last year. The power battery installed capacity of the top 3, top 5, and top 10 power battery companies were 124.8GWh, 137.3GWh, and 154.3GWh, respectively, accounting for 80.6%, 88.7%, and 99.6% of the total installed capacity. CATL's installed capacity reached 95.7GWh, accounting for 62% of the total, while BYD's installed capacity was 22.9GWh, accounting for 15%.
With the growing influence of "super suppliers" like CATL and BYD, and as battery prices continue to rise, car companies' dependence on them increases, leading to a "seller's market" for power batteries. At the same time, due to power battery supply issues, the pace of new product development and delivery for car companies is easily affected. Just this year, some of the best-selling models of Tesla and Li Auto were discontinued because they couldn't secure batteries. Car companies' self-research and self-manufacture of power batteries can undoubtedly minimize the impact of upstream suppliers and gain the initiative in supply and cost, which is crucial for car companies with large scales and numerous products.
Therefore, to be a new energy vehicle giant, not only must a company independently develop its own three-electric technologies, but it must also master the power battery production technology and ensure a stable battery supply. Only then can it win the "market share war" in the era of new energy vehicles.
