Nanshan Group takes the route of relying on technology to get orders.

This is the slogan that Cao Yang has been promoting within the company.

Now that the production of cars has begun, it is natural to make Xingchen Automobile's products have technical content.

Otherwise, how would you go the high-end route?

In terms of brand heritage, no matter how you market it, there is definitely no way to compare with Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce and other old car companies.

But technically, it is possible to break through.

Relying on technology that surpasses peers, there is no problem in creating high-performance cars that surpass peers.

Based on this idea, many of the technologies used by Cao Yang on Xingchen-2 and Xingchen-3 are more than ten years ahead of this era.

Although it can't be said to be black technology, it is definitely amazing enough.

When the time comes, it is absolutely no problem to run the race or continue to go to Niubei to brush the circle.

If the W16 engine is developed in the future, then from the W12 to the W16, the performance of the high-end version will definitely be even better.

So soon, in addition to dealing with some of the company's main issues, he began to devote a lot of time to technology research and development.

"Mr. Cao, at present, the number of members of our battery team is different."

"Some people have been studying the batteries used in pure electric vehicles before, if they are allowed to transform into the research and development of FHEV batteries, it is not impossible, but it is a waste of talents, and the other party may not be happy."

"Some people used to study lithium nickel-acid batteries, and now it will take time to switch to lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese oxide batteries."

"Electric vehicles are the way forward, but whether it is FHEV, PHEV, or BEV, they should all have their own market in the future."

"We may not need to develop all the talents of various types to work on FHEV batteries alone."

Lin Cheng is a professor recruited from universities by Nanshan Group, and now serves as the deputy general manager of Nanshan Battery.

The position of general manager is temporarily vacant.

As a professor from a university, there is no problem with his professional level.

However, since several directions have been involved before, it is natural to hope to be able to make efforts in several fields at the same time.

Otherwise, if the bet is wrong, wouldn't all the efforts be meaningless?

"Professor Lin, there is some truth in your analysis."

"There is really no need to limit ourselves to the research of FHEV batteries, and the development of PHEVs and BEVs can also be carried out simultaneously."

"However, in the short term, our focus will definitely be on the FHEV battery, after all, this is what will be used on the Xingchen 3 immediately."

"As for the battery chemical system, combined with the previous company's research, I think that at this stage, we only need to study two types of lithium iron phosphate batteries and nickel-cobalt-manganese oxide batteries."

"Other lithium cobalt oxide batteries, lithium manganese oxide batteries, lithium nickel oxide batteries, etc., although they all have their own advantages, but the corresponding disadvantages are also very obvious."

"For example, lithium cobalt oxide, Sony first applied it commercially, with high specific capacity and low self-discharge excellent performance."

"But the cost is high, the thermal stability is very poor, and at high rates and deep cycles, the battery decays quickly, which is not suitable for use in electric vehicles."

"Lithium manganese oxide is cheap enough, but whether it is energy density or power density, it is not inferior to other types."

If you want to convince a talent like Lin Cheng who came out of college, the best way is to show your professionalism in front of him.

If you make him feel great in the professional field, he will naturally become a lot easier to communicate.

So Cao Yang is going to have a good chat with Lin Cheng about the battery.

"Mr. Cao, what you said is not wrong."

"No matter what kind of material the battery is, it actually has its own advantages and disadvantages."

"For example, lithium iron phosphate, a new type of lithium-ion battery electrode material, is characterized by large discharge capacity, low price, non-toxicity, and no environmental pollution."

"At present, countries around the world are competing to achieve industrial production, but its tap density is low, which affects the capacitance, and is not necessarily suitable for the needs of electric vehicles."

"Lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese oxide batteries can effectively increase the cell voltage by increasing the nickel content, so as to obtain a higher energy density."

"And because it contains less cobalt, the cost is only a quarter of that of lithium cobalt oxide and it is greener."

"This material is indeed a research hotspot in the field of batteries now, but it is not without its own problems."

"A basic fact is that with the increase of nickel content, the specific capacity of ternary cathode materials gradually increases, and the energy density of battery cells will also increase."

"However, the poor thermal stability of high-nickel materials in the state of charge leads to the decline of battery safety, which makes battery manufacturers and end product users worry about the safety of this kind of battery, and it is necessary to carry out reliable safety design of the system from the aspects of cell design, power system design, and power use."

"There are all kinds of other specific technical problems, but in fact, they have not been completely solved."

When it comes to professional things, Lin Cheng is still very energetic.

It's what he's good at.

He also wanted to take this opportunity to let the boss have a good look at his level.

"You're right, it's true that every battery has its own problems."

"At this time, it is more challenging to test the vision of various enterprises."

"If the future development trend is lithium iron phosphate batteries, but we are concentrating on lithium cobalt oxide batteries, then there will definitely be no future."

"Conversely, the industry is still uncertain which battery technology is easier to make a breakthrough and become the direction of the future."

"And if we can make a successful choice, then we will be able to overtake in the corner and become the industry's leading battery company."

"Frankly speaking, our research history in battery technology is certainly not as good as that of companies like Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba, nor can we compare it to LG Chem and SK Innovation in Korea."

"Even BYD and some other companies in China have a longer history of battery research than we do."

"But as long as we choose the right direction, it's not impossible to overtake in corners."

"In the future, lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese oxide batteries will be our main high-performance batteries, and lithium iron phosphate batteries will be low-cost batteries."

"The combination of the two paths allows us to quickly become a leader in the industry."

"Of course, I'm talking about things in ten years, and if you look at it in the long run, the research on semi-solid-state batteries and solid-state batteries will definitely be involved in the future."

"It's just that our Nanshan battery hasn't even learned to walk now, and we'll talk about running later."

Cao Yang has a very firm attitude to take the route of lithium iron phosphate and lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide batteries.

This is the path to success that has been proven by history.

Among the four main materials of the battery, cathode materials, anode materials, electrolytes and separators, cathode materials not only account for more than 40% of the cost, but also directly determine the energy density of the battery cell.

Because of this, most power batteries are named after the cathode material.

Lithium iron phosphate and lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese oxide batteries are no exception.

In later generations, whether it is CATL or BYD, the main focus is on these two products.

Of course, everyone's focus is different.

BYD is better at lithium iron phosphate batteries, while CATL is more powerful in nickel-cobalt-manganese batteries.

"The two research directions you mentioned are indeed one of the popular research areas in the industry."

"There are many options for battery cathode materials, and it is obviously unrealistic for us to study them all-round."

"It's not impossible to lock in a goal and cultivate this field well."

After all, it was the boss's decision, and Lin Cheng was not so hard-headed and kept opposing it.

The most important thing is that what Cao Yang said is not unreasonable.

It's just that Lin Cheng has no way to directly determine the research direction in his own heart.

Now that Cao Yang's attitude is so obvious, he is naturally no longer entangled.

Of course, he is mainly involved in this field, and even nickel-cobalt-manganese oxide lithium battery is still his relatively good field.

In the future, I will be able to play to my strengths.

"Good steel should be used on the blade, although there are two research and development directions, but our Xingchen No. 3 is a sports car, and it must be a lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese oxide battery with better performance."

"In this case, Nanshan Battery's FHEV battery must use nickel-cobalt-lithium manganese oxide as the cathode material."

"Then the next work is to discuss how to implement this technology into specific parts."

Cao Yang is here to "pull out the seedlings to help grow", and now that there is a bottleneck in the development of the batteries used on the Xingchen 3, he naturally has to "pull out the seedlings to help grow".

"Mr. Cao, we have also done some industry research in this regard, reviewed a lot of related papers, and already have some ideas."

"Primarily, prismatic cells should be a type that is more suitable for hybrid batteries."

"Considering that the power demand of hybrid batteries is not very large, basically one or two kilowatt-hours of electricity is enough."

"However, it has high power requirements, so we are ready to use lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese oxide batteries with relatively low nickel content, which can better meet the technical requirements of hybrid batteries."

"However, the corresponding cost will be higher than that of high-nickel batteries."

Lin Cheng began to combine his previous research and seriously discussed it with Cao Yang.

"The cost of a power battery is definitely higher than that of an energy battery."

"Especially for hybrid batteries, due to the need for rapid charging and discharging in a short period of time, or high-power discharge, the requirements for positive and negative electrode materials and separators are very high."

As soon as Cao Yang said this, Lin Cheng immediately thought of a question.

"Mr. Cao, during this time, we have also had some contact with material suppliers, and I have some ideas that I think need to be discussed in advance."

"Oh? But it doesn't hurt to say it! ”

Cao Yang really wanted to hear what opinions people in the industry in Lin Cheng had.

"At present, the cathode and anode materials of lithium batteries, especially the cathode and anode materials, are mainly in the hands of Sumitomo Metal, Mitsubishi Chemical, Toei Chemical, Mitsui Copper Foil and other Toei enterprises."

"There's no way we're going to avoid them completely."

"Although there are some related cathode and anode material manufacturers in China, they have not yet fully developed and expanded, and further support is needed."

"So I think we need to consider some key materials, do we need to consider our own acquisition or investment in building factories to produce, so as to grasp the core competitiveness."

"In addition, with the increase in battery production, there will be a day when related lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, nickel, cobalt and other metal resources will become relatively scarce."

"The price of these materials is not particularly expensive now, but maybe the situation will be different in the future when the production of batteries increases."

"So I think it is also necessary for Nanshan Investment to come forward and start to lay out some lithium, nickel and cobalt related companies from the early stage?"

As soon as Lin Cheng said this, Cao Yang's eyes couldn't help but light up.

Being able to raise this question so early shows that Lin Cheng is seriously thinking about the problem.

Cao Yang, who knows the situation in the future, also knows very well that what Cao Yang said will happen in the future.

In particular, the price increase of lithium carbonate and other materials related to lithium ore is very alarming.

It is hard to imagine that a mineral resource can rise in price more than ten times or dozens of times.

Is this the increase in the price of oil for mining carts?

Or is it that the value of the mine lying on the ground has really changed so much?

"The layout of mineral resources, I will let Nanshan Investment start to consider, but now it is not so anxious, and when the time is right, I will buy some domestic and foreign minerals."

Cao Yang naturally knows the importance of lithium mines, but waiting until the financial crisis to buy them can obviously save a lot of money.

Anyway, the current use of lithium batteries in cars is very low, and it will not grow by leaps and bounds in the next few years.

I still have enough time to lay it out.

As for the various materials used on the battery, such as the positive and negative electrodes, the situation is different.

"As for the positive and negative electrode materials, some can consider their own production, and some can consider investing in some domestic suppliers to support their development."

"Of course, this is not something that can be achieved in a short period of time."

"At the beginning, it was not impossible to purchase some of them from Sumitomo Metal, which was not impossible to consider."

"It is also possible to take this opportunity to visit Sumitomo Metal and other manufacturers to prepare for the next step of our own production."

Batteries will be a very big industry in the future.

In addition to the well-known battery manufacturers, there are also various supporting material manufacturers behind it.

Even the profit margins of these material manufacturers are sometimes higher than those of battery manufacturers.

Cao Yang naturally won't completely ignore this piece of things.

The main thing is that the quality of these materials is closely related to the performance of the battery.

For example, if you don't make copper foil thin enough, the battery cell and other things will not change, and the performance will also be reduced.

Similarly, the diaphragm is also very crucial.

"The performance of the separator determines the interface structure and internal resistance of the battery, which directly affects the capacity, cycle and safety performance of the battery."

"The separator with excellent performance plays an important role in improving the comprehensive performance of the battery."

"In this piece, we Nanshan Battery should consider investing in our own factory to build."

Cao Yang also quickly gave his own advice.

Along with these proposals, he and Lin Cheng also began to discuss specific battery specifications.

Even the personnel in charge of the research and development of battery equipment of Nanshan Equipment were also called.

Everyone discussed together, step by step, so that the FHEV battery used on Xingchen-3 has a prototype of development.

For the rest, Cao Yang naturally came over every once in a while to "pull out the seedlings and help them grow".

Of course, that's for later.

Cao Yang is now going to discuss the development of electric motors for hybrid models with Nanshan Transmission.

(End of chapter)