domestic Model? 3 was officially delivered at the end of last year, but the hot spots have been continuously updated. First, affected by subsidies, the price dropped further, and the price dropped to less than 3,, which further strengthened the impact on the luxury car market, but it was far from enough, because the BBA of the same level was already around 25,, so when Tesla announced that it had reached a cooperation agreement with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited in the beginning of the year, the two stocks soared against the trend and became the only red in the stock market, because this meant that the price of domestic Tesla was expected to drop.

Recently, the news that the price of domestic Tesla models is expected to continue to drop came out again. This time it is about batteries, and it may be battery news that subverts the industry.

it is reported that Tesla is negotiating to use Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited's cobalt-free batteries in CATL made in China.

and there are media reports, and it is learned from relevant sources: "Tesla has been discussing with China manufacturers for more than a year to provide LFP batteries which are" double digits "cheaper than its existing batteries."

so far, Tesla and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited have not responded to this.

Let's see what this so-called "cobalt-free battery" is.

The so-called "cobalt" is a precious metal, which plays a role in increasing the battery density in vehicle batteries. Simply speaking, it can increase the battery life, but it is not irreplaceable. Therefore, battery suppliers all over the world are now working to reduce the content of cobalt in power batteries.

Take Tesla as an example. elon musk once mentioned in Twitter: "We have greatly reduced the content of cobalt in the battery, and the proportion of cobalt in the ternary battery has dropped to 3%. Now our goal is to achieve cobalt-free, and this technology is already under development."

the realization of cobalt-free mentioned in this article may be the "super battery" that Tesla mentioned is expected to be officially launched in April.

at the same time, Mr. Tamura, the head of Panasonic's automotive battery department, once said that he hoped to reduce the content of cobalt in ternary batteries to zero.

in addition, IBM is also developing a cobalt-free battery for electric vehicles, which mainly relies on three materials extracted from seawater, a cathode material without cobalt and nickel, and a safe liquid electrolyte with high flash point.

The Tesla mentioned this time will probably adopt the cobalt-free battery from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, which is expected to be the well-known Ferrous lithium phosphate power battery, which is also the most common electric vehicle power battery except ternary lithium battery on the market at present.

the only disadvantage of Ferrous lithium phosphate power battery compared with ternary lithium battery is that the energy density is not enough, and the same volume can not provide higher endurance, so it is relatively rare in household electric vehicles now, and it is mostly used in large electric vehicles such as electric buses.

but the biggest advantage of Ferrous lithium phosphate power battery is its safety. Compared with ternary lithium battery, it has higher stability and can avoid safety problems such as battery fire and spontaneous combustion with high probability. At the same time, because cobalt, a precious metal, is not needed to be added, the cost is lower. At present, the market price is .65 yuan /wh, which is far lower than .85 yuan /w of ternary batteries.

This is why major battery suppliers and car companies have been trying to replace it with lithium iron phosphate batteries, although they are using ternary lithium batteries.

As the largest battery suppliers in the world, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited and BYD already have a general solution.

In Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, the energy density of the battery was increased to 2Wh/kg through CTP technology, by reducing the production parts. BYD launched a "blade battery" for low-end models in January, which can increase the bulk density by 5%, thus increasing the cruising range of vehicles.

The so-called "blade battery" is actually a large battery cell with a length of more than .6m developed by BYD, which is arranged together in an array and inserted into the battery pack like a "blade". On the one hand, it can improve the space utilization rate of power battery pack and increase the energy density; On the other hand, it can ensure that the battery cell has a large enough heat dissipation area and can conduct the internal heat to the outside, so as to match the higher energy density.

in other words, the safer and more cost-effective lithium iron phosphate battery has infinitely approached and is expected to surpass the endurance of ternary lithium batteries through technical means, which will have a great impact on the future electric vehicle market, at least further improving the manufacturing cost.

As a global electric vehicle, Tesla, if the "cobalt-free battery" is officially used this year, the price will be further reduced, which will have a great impact on the whole electric vehicle industry, especially traditional luxury cars. However, we must also recognize the problem, that is, if the battery replacement action leads to poor battery life performance in the later period, it will have a huge impact on Tesla brand, so for Tesla, is "battery decarbonization" desperate or well-thought-out?

Finally, the word cobalt (G incarnation)

This article comes from the author of Chejia, car home, and does not represent car home's standpoint.