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TSS独家报道:固态电池为下一代电动汽车提供动力

TSS EXCLUSIVE: Solid-State Batteries To Power Up Next-Generation Electric Vehicles

原作:Rhodilee Jean Dolor

by Rhodilee Jean Dolor

总部位于巴黎的经济协调与发展组织(OECD)下属机构国际能源署(iea)报告称,尽管新冠疫情影响了汽车销售,但去年注册的新电动汽车(ev)达300万辆。这一数字比2019年的数字增加了41%。

The International Energy Agency, a Paris-based affiliate of the Organisation for Economic Coordination and Development (OECD), has reported that despite the COVID pandemic that affected car sales, 3 million new electric vehicles (EVs) were registered last year. The figure marks an increase of 41% from the number recorded in 2019.

IEA今年4月发布的Global Electric Vehicle Outlook 2021还预测,如果各国政府着眼于实现国际能源和气候目标,到2020年,全球四轮电动汽车的数量可能会突破2.3亿辆。

IEA’s Global Electric Vehicle Outlook 2021, which was published in April, also predicted that the number of four-wheeled electric cars worldwide could breach 230 million by the end of the decade if governments set their eyes on meeting international energy and climate goals. 

这反映了四轮电轿的市场已经步入正轨。今年第一季度电动汽车的销量是2020年同期的近2.5倍。

The projection appears on track. The number of electric cars sold in the first quarter of 2021 was nearly 2.5 times more than the sales made during the same period in 2020. 

锂离子电池和固态电池

Lithium-Ion Battery and Solid-State Battery

随着电动汽车逐渐成为主流,汽车制造商们正在研究开发新一代电动汽车电池,以提高电源的效率和安全性。

As electric-powered vehicles become more mainstream, manufacturers are now looking at improving the efficiency and safety of their power sources by developing the next-generation battery for EVs. 

电动汽车和大多数混合动力汽车目前依赖重达1400磅的大型锂离子电池。这些电池需要一个多小时的时间来充电,并在10年内失去近三分之一的容量。这些电池还限制了电动汽车的行驶里程,并且由易燃材料制成,存在安全风险。

Electric vehicles and most hybrid cars currently rely on large lithium-ion batteries that weigh as much as 1,400 pounds. These cells take more than an hour to recharge and lose nearly a third of their capacity within a decade. These batteries also limit the travel range of EVs and are made of flammable materials that pose safety risks.

解决这些问题就意味着电动汽车大规模普及能够实现。此外,电动汽车电池的突破可以改变这个行业,因为它将使电动汽车更快、更高效、甚至更便宜。

Addressing these issues can spell massive adoption of electric vehicles. In addition, a breakthrough in EV batteries can transform the industry because it will make electric cars faster, more efficient and even cheaper. 

一个潜在的解决方案就是所谓的固态电池。固态电池使用的是固体电解质,而不是液态电解质在电极之间传输锂离子。它们允许超快充电,降低电池起火的风险,并提高循环寿命。

A potential solution is the so-called solid-state battery. Instead of using liquid electrolytes to transport lithium ions between electrodes, solid-state batteries use solid electrolytes. They allow ultrafast charging, reduce risks of battery fires, and improve cycle life. 

固态电池还有望实现能量密度的倍增,能量密度是电池相对于其重量所能传递的能量的量度。

Solid-state batteries also hold promise in multiplying energy density, a measure of the energy that a battery can deliver relative to its weight. 

因此,与目前用于电动汽车的传统电源相比,固态电池是更好的选择。然而兑现承诺的解决锂离子电池问题的方案一直难以实现。

Solid-state batteries thus make a better alternative than the conventional power source currently used in electric vehicles. Unfortunately, one that delivers the promised solutions to lithium-ion battery woes has been elusive. 

制造商正在开发固态电池

Startups Developing Solid-State Batteries

一家由Bill Gates和德国汽车制造商大众支持的初创公司声称,他们已经开发出一种固态电池,解决了锂离子电池的缺点。

A startup backed by Bill Gates and German carmaker Volkswagen claims to have developed a solid-state battery that addresses the shortcomings of lithium-ion batteries. 

据总部位于加州的QuantumScape称,它的电池可以将电动汽车行驶里程增加50%,充电时间不超过15分钟。该公司还表示,它的电池是不燃的,因此比传统电池更安全。这个单元格的大小和厚度和一张扑克牌差不多。

According to California-based QuantumScape, its battery can increase the range of electric vehicles by as much as 50% and requires less than 15 minutes to recharge. The firm also says its battery is non-combustible, so it is safer than conventional batteries. The cell is also just about the size and thickness of a playing card. 

“我们想解决五个关键问题。我们想把能量密度增加一倍,这样一次充电就能增加汽车的行驶里程。充电速度可媲美汽油动力汽车。更安全,寿命更长,理想情况下成本更低,”QuantumScape首席执行官Jagdeep Sing在彭博绿色峰会上接受采访时说。

“There were five key problems we wanted to solve. We wanted to double the energy density, so increase the range of a car on a single charge. Faster charging to be comparable to refilling a gasoline-powered car. Safer, longer life and ideally lower cost,” QuantumScape Chief Executive Officer Jagdeep Sing said in an interview at the Bloomberg Green Summit.

对该公司技术的乐观情绪在12月推动了股价上涨,但到目前为止,QuantumScape尚未发布一款商用产品。该公司还对电池的细节守口如瓶,这让人猜测这是一个哄抬股价的计划。在去年12月创下历史新高后,这家初创公司的股票现在仅在30美元上下徘徊,从130美元的历史高点大幅下跌。

Optimism over the company’s technology helped fuel a stock price rally in December, but to date, QuantumScape has not yet released a working product commercially. It also remains secretive about the details of its battery, prompting speculations that it is a pump and dump scheme. After hitting an all-time high in December, the startup’s stock now hovers at just $30, a massive drop from its record high of over $130

另一家初创公司也在固态电池开发领域掀起了波澜。Solid Power使用硫化物电池,旨在降低成本,增加行驶里程,并提高电动汽车的安全性。该公司已经开始生产原型电池,并与包括福特、宝马和现代在内的著名汽车制造商合作。

Another startup is also making waves in solid-state battery development. Solid Power uses sulfide-based battery cells designed to lower costs, increase the range and boost the safety of electric vehicles. The firm has already started producing prototype batteries and partnered with notable carmakers, including Ford, BMW and Hyundai.

上个月,福特宣布,到2022年,它将接受Solid Power公司提供的电池,用于测试,并将其集成到未来的汽车中。

Last month, Ford announced that by 2022, it will receive batteries from Solid Power for testing and integration into its future cars. 

“通过简化固态电池与锂离子电池的设计,我们将能够增加车辆行驶里程,改善内部空间和货运量,最终为客户提供更低的成本和更好的价值,”福特的电气化子系统和电源研究经理Ted Miller说。

“By simplifying the design of solid-state versus lithium-ion batteries, we’ll be able to increase vehicle range, improve interior space and cargo volume and ultimately deliver lower costs and better value for customers,” said Ted Miller, Ford’s manager of electrification subsystems and power supply research.

日本支持发展固态电池

Japan Supports Development Of Solid-State Batteries

日本也在推动这项技术的发展。政府已经分配了约190亿美元的预算作为脱碳基金,其中很大一部分用于支持固态电池的开发。

Japan is also pushing for the development of the technology. The government has allocated a budget of around $19 billion as a decarbonization fund and a significant part of this budget supports the development of solid-state batteries. 

日本公司受益于这一举措。丰田目前正在开发一种固态电池,并计划销售世界上第一辆使用该技术的电动汽车。这家全球最大的汽车制造商与松下合作,目前拥有数千项固态电池专利。

Japanese firms benefit from the initiative. Toyota is now developing a solid-state battery and aims to sell the world’s first electric vehicle that runs on the technology. The world’s largest carmaker, in partnership with Panasonic, now has thousands of patents on solid-state battery.

另一家日本汽车公司日产(Nissan)也在进行一个类似的项目,工业公司三井近产(Mitsui Kinzoku)和出光小(Idemitsu Kosan)目前正在建设生产固体电解质的基础设施。

Another Japanese car company, Nissan, is also working on a similar project, and industrial firms Mitsui Kinzoku and Idemitsu Kosan are now building the infrastructure for producing solid electrolytes.

未来电轿的能量来源

Battery of Future EVs

尽管固态电池的开发取得了进展,但专家指出了为电动汽车生产这些电源的障碍。

Despite progress in the development of solid-state batteries, experts point out the hurdles in producing these power sources for electric vehicles.

  密歇根大学专门研究储能的机械工程师Jeff Sakamoto表示,现阶段关于锂金属固态电池的基本力学性能仍然存在一个重大的知识鸿沟。

According to Jeff Sakamoto, a mechanical engineer from the University of Michigan who specializes in energy storage, a significant knowledge gap on the fundamental mechanical properties of lithium-metal solid-state batteries still exists. 

Sakamoto在接受《Wired》杂志采访时表示:“我对锂金属的力学行为以及锂的物理特性如何影响固态电池的可行性所知甚少感到惊讶。”“我不知道这些知识差距会在多大程度上影响锂金属固态电池的广泛采用。但我们对基本行为了解得越多,就越能更好地向大规模采用过渡。”

“I am astonished at how little is known about the mechanical behavior of lithium metal and how the physics of lithium affects the feasibility of solid-state batteries,” Sakamoto said in an interview with Wired. “I don’t know to what extent these knowledge gaps will affect the widespread adoption of lithium-metal solid-state batteries. But the more we know about the fundamental behavior, the better the transition to wide-scale adoption.”

要让固态电池驱动的汽车上路,还有很长的路要走。不过,当时机成熟时,它可以验证正在进行的努力,即开发下一代电源,使未来的电动汽车更高效、更安全、更划算。

It may still be a long way to go before solid-state battery-powered vehicles ply the roads. Still, when the time comes, it can validate the efforts being done to develop the next generation of power supply that can make the EVs of the future more efficient, safer and more cost-effective.

STARSET_Mirror