The lead-to-lithium market for 12V vehicle power supply is heating up.
It is reported that the latest version of Tesla Model S Plaid has replaced the 12V battery from lead-acid to lithium battery, which was provided by CATL.
The 12V lead-acid battery Tesla used in the Model S/X previously weighed 27 pounds (12 kilograms). After switching to lithium batteries, the weight can be reduced to about 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms), which is about 85% lighter.
CATL has also stated that the 12V lithium battery auxiliary power supply developed by it is 80% lighter and 60% smaller than traditional lead-acid batteries.
With the development of electrification and intelligence of automobiles, and the addition of a wide variety of sensors and chips, the original electrical architecture is becoming increasingly weak, and the 12V vehicle power supply, which bears the brunt, has increased "power consumption depth", further shortening the service life of lead-acid batteries. The pain points such as general rate performance and low energy density (large weight) provide opportunities for lithium battery replacement.
Based on this, many car companies are accelerating the introduction of 12V lithium battery applications.
Recently, Guanyu Power Battery, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zhuhai Guanyu, received a designated notice from SAIC to develop and supply 12V lithium batteries for the LS7 model, which will be mass-produced and supplied in 2022.
Camel shares also revealed that its 12V lithium battery has obtained the project designation of Geely Auto, and the cooperation projects with high-end OEMs in Europe and the United States are also in-depth docking.
In addition, Tesla, Porsche, BYD, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen and other car companies have also started the replacement of on-board power supplies with lithium batteries.
As of September 2021, the number of private cars in China is about 237 million. If all 12V starting power sources are replaced with lithium batteries (calculated based on the battery capacity of a single vehicle of 300wh), the corresponding lithium battery demand will reach 71GWh.
In terms of supporting batteries, currently only battery companies such as CATL, Wanxiang A123, LG Chem, manly battery, Camel, Yiwei Lithium Energy have set foot in, and are preparing for 12V lithium batteries to replace lead-acid in advance.
However, the current lead-acid battery to lithium battery still faces constraints. First, the 12V battery is a low-voltage high-rate battery, which requires a low temperature of -30 °C to work normally, and meets the high current and high cycle durability required for ICE startup. The technical barriers are very high Second, the price of the lithium battery version 12V vehicle power supply is generally higher than 1100 yuan, which is about 1.5-3 times the price of the corresponding lead-acid.
