From knock-off old-man's electric vehicles to industrial giant

Chapter 273 Consumer Battery Cell Market

Pei Ruitao was also helpless.

They have prepared silicon-based anodes in their laboratory.

However, many problems remain unresolved, and the project is stuck in the pre-mass production stage.

"Their approach of using a grinding method to deposit nano-silicon with carbon coating is extremely effective in controlling the grinding process and particle structure, and they were the first to achieve mass production without using silane CVD to deposit silicon..."

This is a route that can quickly achieve mass production, since the initial silicon doping does not pursue extremely high content and avoids the entire hazardous chemical system for handling silane, a highly dangerous gas.

Yu Chengdong listened to the route analysis from the supply chain, not caring which link ATL was currently stuck at.

What he's more concerned about is whether his company's flagship phone can still maintain its leading position this year.
This year is crucial for Huawei. The Kirin 980 with a 7nm process will be launched in the second half of the year, so they have put a lot of resources into the Mate 20. Charging and battery life cannot be a problem.

The originally expected 4200mAh capacity + 40W fast charging was already quite impressive.

However, this advantage has been erased after competitors adopted Polestar batteries.

He suddenly had the idea of ​​re-evaluating the battery suppliers.

……

It is no coincidence.

The other two manufacturers maintain close contact with Xingchen, the newly emerging battery supplier.

After all, the consumer market moves at a very fast pace. Everyone wants to be the first to use any good products. Every year, Android manufacturers don't necessarily have to be the most advanced, but they certainly can't fall too far behind.

1 month 20 number.

The latest second-generation Polestar mobile phone battery cells have rolled off the production line.

An internal meeting at the battery R&D center.

Each newly produced battery cell sample has completed the entire verification process, and the formula and process adjustments have been finalized.

"Mr. Xu, this is the latest generation of 'Polaris A,' using our nano-silicon technology, which currently has the highest silicon doping content. Therefore, its energy density has also reached the highest level under our current generation of technology. Calculated by the cell volumetric energy density, the energy density reaches 700Wh/L, which is equivalent to an improvement of about 20% compared to last year's flagship phone, and the installed capacity can reach more than 5000mAh..."

Dong Yuxuan is showcasing his latest achievements inside.

Since the size and internal space of each flagship phone are not fixed, this 5000mAh is just a conservative estimate. In actual installation, if the manufacturer is willing to optimize and squeeze out space, it may even add another 100-200mAh.

The first battery cell has red markings printed on its casing, representing its performance and ultimate capabilities.

Then he took out a "yellow-label battery cell" of the same size.

"This is the Polestar B, which also uses the same nano-silicon process, but the silicon content is slightly lower, and the energy density is about 10% lower than that of the Polestar A. The installed capacity is approximately 4500mAh."

"However, we also examined the actual situation of several other companies in the supply chain. Even the second-generation Polestar B battery cells should have an 8%-10% lead in energy density."

He said it very seriously.

……

As for why there are two grades of battery cells?
This isn't the R&D team playing tricks.

Rather, it's a plan aimed at maximizing production and profitability.

As we all know, polymer battery cells, whether in laboratory preparation or mass production, have real yield and scrap rates, which even leading suppliers like ATL cannot avoid.

Silicon-carbon anodes represent a new approach. The higher the silicon doping rate, the stricter the requirements for production line equipment and processes, meaning more complex procedures, more extreme stacking, and stricter grading, which naturally limits production capacity.

Even if the manufacturing yield can reach over 92%, the shipping yield may not necessarily exceed 85%.

Xingchen currently only has one Polar Star A production line.

In contrast, the control of the second-generation Polestar B is much more relaxed, because the silicon doping rate and stacking process do not need to be too extreme, the output yield can reach a high level in the industry, and the production cost is relatively low. Therefore, they built four more Polestar B production lines at the same time.

With this year's significant capacity expansion plan, production capacity is no longer limited to supplying one manufacturer. Once fully operational, supplying three or four manufacturers will not be a problem. Xu Yi praised the battery team's R&D efficiency internally, and then Sales Director Wang Chuan reported, "Mr. Xu, Vivo and Xiaomi have also sent messages inquiring about the progress of our consumer-grade battery cell process this year. It is said that ATL has squeezed out a lot of performance, and the energy density has been improved significantly compared to last year."

"In addition, OPPO and the contacts at Huawei have also expressed interest in inquiring..."

All mobile phone manufacturers have taken notice of Xingchen.

The domestic market for low-to-mid-range mobile phone batteries is largely dominated by BYD's contract manufacturers, while ATL holds the largest share of the high-end battery cell market.

Last year, Xingchen snatched VIVO's orders from ATL.

of course.

This can't be called stealing; it's that Vivo found a more suitable high-end battery for itself, and then Xiaomi's high-end models also switched sides.

Although mobile phone manufacturers are gradually and consciously cultivating their own supply chains and battery patents, they are still powerless against the extremely high energy density of Polestar batteries.

If ATL can produce a higher capacity flagship battery this year, or a flagship battery with a similar capacity but a lower supply price, they will not hesitate to switch sides.

“They are considering orders for this year’s flagship phone. Now that we have produced the engineering samples, we can send them the test samples and verification forms for the two battery cells so that they can test them themselves.”

Xu Yi smiled slightly.

It's fairly clear that the client still thinks the purchase price of Polestar batteries is too high.

But without a doubt, this year's second-generation Polestar A will be more expensive.

Their R&D costs a lot of money, and they also need to keep up with profitability.

Therefore, we definitely need to capture the consumer-grade battery cell market. Last year, the global revenue of mobile phone battery cells exceeded 50 billion. Even if we cut that share in half, it would still be more than 20 billion.

……

Several samples from Xingchen were quickly sent to the headquarters of various Android device manufacturers.

The person in charge of liaising with Xingchen was Liu Zecheng, the purchasing director of Huawei Mobile. After communicating with ATL, they also considered investigating Polaris batteries.

When he received the department's notification and saw the battery cell samples sent by Xingchen, he stared intently, "Why are there two different samples and reports? We only requested one sample."

"Director, these two models have different capacities. Xingchen's explanation is that they have two different consumer-grade battery cells this year, and they sent them both over," the employee said.

"There are honorary and flagship versions??" Liu Zecheng was also stunned.

Is this necessary?
They only want the flagship model!

The one with the highest capacity and the most stable performance!
He picked up the two reports, but when he saw the capacity test data and performance descriptions on them, he froze on the spot and gasped!
How many? ?
With an energy density of 640Wh/L, can the installed capacity reach over 4500mAh?
The cell designation is "Polarstar B".

This is already ahead of ATL's high-capacity 4200mAh battery cells.

The lead is close to 10%.

Let's look at another one with a red label.

With an energy density of 700Wh/L, can the installed capacity reach over 5000mAh?
Have you conducted a retest and charge/discharge test?

"We've done both tests, and the data are basically consistent. Both of these battery cells have excellent performance indicators."

Liu Zecheng silently picked up his phone and dialed Yu Chengdong's private number.

Compared to the original ATL cell solution used in the Maet20, this can no longer be described as simply being ahead.

He thought of a word.

Perhaps "far ahead" is more appropriate for the current situation.

(End of this chapter)