Car Things (public account: chedongxi)
Author ｜Juice
Edit ｜Xiaohan
Highlights The energy replenishment problem that troubles electric car owners is about to be solved!
For electric car owners who need to travel long distances, the energy replenishment problem has always been a pain. Unlike the rapid energy replenishment of fuel vehicles, the energy replenishment of electric vehicles often takes about an hour.
Since this year, various new energy vehicle companies have begun to launch super fast charging to solve this problem. Just last month, Xiaopeng Motors launched its flagship model Xiaopeng G9. The official said that with dedicated fast charging piles, the vehicle can replenish 200 kilometers of range in just 5 minutes. Judging from the 570-kilometer range of Xiaopeng G9, it can be fully charged in 15 minutes. How exaggerated is the charging speed of
? Here is a simple example. iQOO 10 Pro can be fully charged in 10 minutes and is currently the fastest charging mobile phone. In the mobile phone charging speed list given by Antutu, the top five mobile phones can be fully charged in about 15 minutes. In other words, the charging speed of Xiaopeng G9 can also rank in the top five on the mobile phone list in a timely manner.
and Xiaopeng G9 have a battery capacity of 98kWh. Most mobile phones have a battery capacity of less than 5000mAh, which shows the charging speed. GAC Aion, which is located in Guangzhou with
and Xiaopeng , also stated that its AION V Plus can add 112 kilometers of range within 5 minutes, and will add 207 kilometers of range within 5 minutes in the future.
In fact, in addition to Xiaopeng and Aian , many car companies are committed to super charging. BYD once said that its e-platform 3.0 can achieve a 150-kilometer range in 5 minutes; Jihu Auto also said that its latest Alpha S can also provide a 200-kilometer range in 10 minutes.
In addition, car companies such as Tesla , NIO , Lantu are all planning super fast charging.
A super fast charging situation table for car companies
According to the official data of various car companies, the new generation of models can basically charge to more than 80% in about 20 minutes, while the Xiaopeng G9 can be fully charged in almost 15 minutes. Although the data of
is still slower than that of oil vehicles, it has made a great improvement compared with the current charging speed, which can greatly alleviate users' battery life anxiety and can also allow electric vehicles to be used in more scenarios.
Previously, many experts and scholars believed that the difficulty of replenishing energy is the key to affecting some consumers' choice of electric vehicles. As this problem is gradually solved, more consumers may choose electric vehicles in the future. What is the matter with super fast charging? What are the key technical points behind it? Which car companies and battery companies are promoting super fast charging technology?
1. Xiaopeng Aion launched the super recharge battle. Most car companies have participated in the battle.
Last month, Xiaopeng Motors launched the latest flagship model G9, and the fast replenishment speed has become one of the important selling points of the car. According to official data, Xiaopeng G9 can recharge 200 kilometers of range within 5 minutes.
takes the 570-kilometer-range version of the vehicle as an example. The Xiaopeng G9 can be fully charged within 15 minutes. Previously, it took 30 minutes for the Xiaopeng P7 to charge to 80% in fast charging mode. In comparison, the charging speed of the G9 has more than doubled.
With this performance, Xiaopeng G9 also shouted the slogan of the fastest charging mass-produced car in the world.
Xiaopeng G9
However, it is not only Xiaopeng Automobile that has begun to make efforts in charging speed. Many car companies at home and abroad are actively promoting the improvement of charging speed of electric vehicles.
Tesla is undoubtedly one of the earliest car companies to make plans, and its peak charging power can currently be close to 250kW.
In addition to Tesla, Porsche is also a car company that has made early efforts in super charging. Porsche's first pure electric model, Taycan, uses an 800V architecture, and the charging power can reach 250kW. At that time, its charging power even exceeded Tesla. According to official reports, its charging power can also be increased to 320kW.
Porsche Taycan
The competition among domestic car companies on super charging is even more intense.
GAC Aion's latest AION V Plus model can replenish energy to 112 kilometers in 5 minutes, and will be further increased to 207 kilometers in the future. Judging from the data, it can be vaguely wrestled with Xiaopeng G9 . The Extreme Fox has also stated that its Alpha S can replenish 200 kilometers in 10 minutes.
In addition, although some car companies have not yet come up with specific products, they have also demonstrated their goals in charging.
A concept model ecean-X launched on BYD e-platform 3.0 can achieve a 5-minute range of 150 kilometers. This shows that subsequent models produced on BYD e-platform 3.0 may also have very strong fast charging capabilities.
Zekr Automobile adopts an 800V architecture, supporting theoretical 360kW super charging; Lantu Automobile says that with the support of the 800V architecture and 360kW super charging pile, it can achieve a 10-minute range of 400 kilometers.
Lantu FREE
In addition, Great Wall Motors , Polestar , Ideal and other car companies are also planning super fast charging.
Although the progress of various car companies is not the same at present, without exception, supercharging has been regarded as the key aspect of the next stage, and feasible technical solutions have been found.
So, how is super charging implemented?
2. 800V architecture is an alternative. Silicon carbide components are the core.
improves the charging speed of a vehicle. It is actually a systematic project. It has certain requirements for the vehicle's battery, motor, electronic control and other aspects, and even special requirements for charging piles.
Let’s analyze it one by one.
First of all, if you want to increase the charging speed of the vehicle, it is nothing more than increasing the charging power, and there are two main ways: one is to increase the charging voltage, but to increase the charging current.
Currently, most electric vehicles' traction inverters use 600V IGBT module , and the voltage of the battery pack is limited to about 400V. On this basis, if the current is increased, the cable diameter of the vehicle will increase, resulting in heavy cables. At the same time, the increase in current will increase the system power loss, and even the heating will be more serious.
If voltage is added, the charging power of the same cable can be more than doubled. Therefore, increasing the voltage has become the most convenient method for super fast charging at present, and the 800V architecture has emerged. The key to upgrading the
vehicle to the 800V architecture lies in the changes in high-voltage components. Specifically, silicon carbide components are used in the main drive inverter , vehicle charging system (OBC), power conversion system (vehicle DC/DC) and non-vehicle charging piles. Comparison of
At present, most models use silicon-based IGBT power modules on main drive inverters, on-board charging systems (OBC), power conversion systems (on-board DC/DC) and other components.
Under the current 400V architecture, the maximum pressure of the silicon-based IGBT power module is 650V. If the vehicle's electrical architecture is increased to 800V, considering the overload of the switching voltage, the power semiconductor needs to be able to withstand a maximum voltage of 1200V. However, under high voltage, the loss of the silicon-based IGBT power module will increase sharply, which will lead to the embarrassing problem of increased vehicle costs but decreased energy efficiency.
and SiC SiC is very in line with the needs of the 800V architecture due to its advantages such as high voltage resistance, low loss, high power density, and high thermal conductivity. Therefore, in the 800V architecture, silicon carbide SiC components need to be used to replace it.
Silicon Carbide wafer
Silicon Carbide SiC components can be used in vehicles, but they are suitable for vehicle charger , charging piles, etc., which can achieve the advantages of high power and optimized cost.
However, this technology has always been in the hands of overseas companies. In terms of IGBTh, the technology after the seventh generation of IGBT is mainly mastered by Infineon , ABB, Mitsubishi , Fuji Electric and other companies, and Infineon is one of the best, almost monopolizing the mid-to-high-end IGBT market in the electric vehicle field.
. Domestic development in this regard is still far from the international leading level.IGBT products appeared as early as the last century. The first generation of products was complex and costly, and were soon replaced by the second generation of products. However, if this generation of products requires higher voltage blocking capabilities, their losses and temperature will also increase significantly. By the third generation of products, these shortcomings have been optimized and they still dominate the high-voltage field.
At this stage, the most widely used IGBT chip is the fourth generation product, which further reduces switching losses, while the switch softness is higher and the working junction temperature is increased. The fourth generation product is optimized for the sixth generation product, which further reduces the loss; the fifth generation product uses copper instead of aluminum metal, which can allow higher working junction temperature and current, and also reduces the thickness. In 2018, IGBT chips entered the seventh generation, with higher working junction temperatures and more widely used.
The domestic IGBT production technology has only reached the fourth and fifth generations, and there is still a certain gap between it and the top international technologies.
. Silicon carbide SiC components with higher technical requirements are also preferred to be popularized from the United States, Europe, Japan and other countries. Domestic silicon carbide SiC products are still relatively small in terms of technological maturity and market size.
Domestic automotive SiC power device suppliers mainly include San'an Optoelectronics , Star Semiconductor, Wingtech Technology , Basic Semiconductor and other companies, but the overall proportion is still very small.
Although domestic car companies are currently actively deploying the 800V architecture super fast charging system, they still rely mainly on foreign procurement in terms of core raw materials, and the domestic substitution of the industrial chain is also very necessary.
NIO Silicon Carbide Electric Drive System
After adopting an 800V architecture, the vehicle's motor also needs to make some changes accordingly.
During the working process of the motor, due to the principle of electromagnetic induction , an induced voltage, that is, the shaft voltage, will be formed at both ends of the motor shaft. As the working voltage increases, the shaft voltage may also increase, which may break down the oil film forming circuit and cause shaft current, which will eventually lead to bearing corrosion.
Therefore, after adopting the 800V architecture, the bearing corrosion protection of the motor needs to be further improved. In addition, the insulation and EMC protection levels inside the motor must also be improved accordingly.
3. The power battery also needs to be optimized. 4C ratio is used to achieve ultra-fast charging.
talked about the above. In order to improve the charging speed, we need to make certain adjustments to the motor and electronic control. In order to achieve super fast charging, certain adjustments are also required for the most important carrier in the charging process - the battery. The fast charging of
battery mainly depends on the battery's charging and discharging ratio. There are three main reasons for affecting the charging ratio: electrode material, charging power of the charging pile and power battery temperature. For battery companies, charging power of charging piles is an objective factor, and electrode material and temperature control are where battery factories can make changes.
Currently, the super charging power of car companies can reach 350kW. Taking the 100kWh battery used by flagship models as an example, it takes about 17 minutes to fully charge. This requires the power battery to have 4C charging capacity (referring to the battery being fully charged within 15 minutes, 3C charging means being fully charged within 20 minutes, 2C and 1C, and so on, which are fully charged within 30 minutes and 1 hour respectively).
So, what charging capabilities do the batteries equipped with fast charging models on the market currently have?
is the fastest-produced model on the market, the fastest charging speed of the Xiaopeng G9. Its 98kWh power battery comes from China Innovation Airlines. According to the maximum charging power of 480kW of the Xiaopeng G9, it can be fully charged in only 12 minutes. This means that the power battery provided by China Innovation Airlines also has charging capacity of more than 4C.
Tesla Model 3 standard battery life version has a battery capacity of 60kWh. If calculated at the peak charging power of 250kW, the battery can also be fully charged within 15 minutes, and it also reaches the charging capacity of 4C.
From this point of view, a battery with 4C charging capability has become a must. In the past two years, many power battery companies have announced that they will launch power batteries with 4C charging capabilities, most of which are based on the two perspectives of electrode material and temperature control. The main changes in
electrode materials are honeycomb energy, Xinwangda , Funeng Technology , etc.The Fengsu fast charging battery released by
has made changes to the positive electrode material, negative electrode material, and even electrolyte . Flexible coating technology is used in the positive electrode materials. Based on big data analysis and simulation calculation, flexible coating materials adapted to high-nickel materials with large volume changes will be screened to inhibit circulating particles and reduce gas production by more than 20%.
honeycomb energy product camp
negative electrode material adopts liquid phase coating technology, etc., covering amorphous carbon on the surface of graphite , reducing impedance, increasing the channel of lithium ion , reducing its impedance by 20%.
, while the electrolyte is added with a low-impedance additive system such as sulfur-containing additive/ lithium salt additive, reducing the film formation impedance at the interface of the positive and negative electrodes.
improves the charging speed of the battery through the adjustment of these materials. Official data shows that the battery can travel 400 kilometers after 10 minutes of charging.
Xinwangda adopts a high voltage low cobalt Ni60 positive electrode system, and uses composite coating and R element doping technology solutions to improve the product performance of the positive electrode material, making the battery have high energy density and fast charging performance. The power batteries it produces also have a 10-minute charging range of 400 kilometers.
Fineng Technology uses a large soft-pack power battery cell with all-pole ears and multi-pole ears, making the charging and discharging ratio cover 2.4C to 5C.
Fineng Technology battery cell product
CATL mainly made significant adjustments to the structure and cooling system of the power battery. Its Kirin battery integrates the horizontal beams, water-cooled plates and heat insulation pads in the battery pack into a multifunctional elastic interlayer, which integrates support, cooling, insulation and buffering functions in four-in-one.
At the same time, CATL also made a new arrangement design for the cooling system. The water cooling system is located between the battery cell and the battery cell, close to the large surface of the battery cell, thereby expanding the heat exchange area by 4 times and shortening the battery cell temperature control time to half.
CATL Kirin battery significantly increases charging speed
Xinwanda has also introduced a new 3D liquid cooling technology, and the entire series of products has no heat diffusion; Funeng Technology adopts a horizontal battery cell layout solution, and through the combined use of liquid cooling plates and heat conductors, the heat dissipation efficiency of the battery system can be increased by 4 times.
In addition, these batteries have also made certain improvements in low-temperature performance. It is these changes that have made the above-mentioned power batteries have the ability to charge super fast.
4. Super charging piles are indispensable. Many car companies are actively deploying
. As mentioned in the above section, the charging power of charging piles will also affect the final charging effect of the vehicle, so building super charging piles is also indispensable.
If you want to increase the power of the charging pile, you must use more charging modules. For a 350kW charging pile, 24 15kW charging modules are required to be connected in parallel or 12 30kW charging modules are connected in parallel.
adds the charging module to mean that the current equalization and control between modules will become complicated, the integration of charging piles will become more complicated, and the corresponding cost will be increased.
is calculated by using a 30kW charging module inside the charging pile. Public data shows that the single cost of a 30kW charging module is 2,000 yuan, and 12 charges 24,000 yuan, while 250kW charging piles only require 9, with a cost of 18,000 yuan, and 150kW charging piles only require 5,000 yuan, while the charging power of the most DC charging piles is less than 50kW, and the cost of its charging module is less than 4,000 yuan. There is a price difference of 20,000 yuan on the charging module alone.
. In order to achieve super fast charging, some electronic components inside the charging pile also need to use silicon carbide SiC technology, and the price of silicon carbide at the same size is 3 to 4 times that of IGBTs. The cost increase in this aspect cannot be ignored.
Secondly, the impact of super charging piles on the power grid cannot be ignored. Taking a 350kW charging pile as an example, assuming that a charging station has 6 charging piles, the voltage required for all operation is 2100kW, while most DC piles now have power of only about 50kW. Calculated with 6 piles, the required voltage is 300kW. The difference between the two is very large, which will put a certain pressure on the distribution network.
However, this can be alleviated by building energy storage stations. Some car companies such as Xiaopeng have energy storage stations built in their fast charging stations.
, although there are certain difficulties, some car companies are still actively planning to recharge their piles.
Tesla is the first car company to deploy super charging. It has launched third-generation super charging piles. The power of the first-generation charging pile is 90kW. By the time of the second-generation charging pile, the charging speed has increased to 120kW. The peak power of the third-generation charging pile that is currently being fully promoted has reached 250kW.
Tesla V3 super charging station
According to foreign media reports, Tesla is deploying the fourth generation of super charging piles, with a peak power expected to reach 350kW.
Xiaopeng Motors also recently released S4 super charging piles. According to the official introduction, the maximum power of a single pile can reach 480kW, the maximum current reaches 670A, and the peak charging power is 400kW, far exceeding the Tesla V3 and Porsche Turbo charging piles.
At the press conference, Xiaopeng Motors directly released a charging video to prove its charging speed. In just 5 minutes, the Xiaopeng G9 increased its range by 210 kilometers.
Xiaopeng Motors has started the construction of the S4 supercharging station in the third quarter of this year. Because its products and G9 are very compatible, the first batch of sites will be built in the top ten cities in Xiaopeng G9 orders. It is expected that the construction of 10 cities and 100 sites will be completed within this year.
Xiaopeng S4 ultra-fast charging pile
In addition, NIO, Ideal, GAC Aion, Jihu and other companies are actively deploying super charging piles.
However, currently, third-party charging pile suppliers are not active in the layout of super charging piles. Liang Xiangfei, deputy general manager of Wancheng Wanchang, believes that car companies build super charging stations to match super fast charging models, which can better improve the user experience of car owners. However, for operators, when the relevant models are not widely popularized, it is difficult to make investment and income proportional to the investment and income alone, so they are relatively small in their willingness to build.
But from the current trend, super fast charging and battery swap are important links in the electric vehicle energy replenishment system, and therefore will be the key development directions for car companies and operators in the future. In this regard,
, there will inevitably be unified policies, and the scale will be further increased.
Conclusion: Supercharger is becoming the standard
With the rapid popularization of electric vehicles in China, consumers' acceptance of electric vehicles is constantly increasing. But for consumers, battery life anxiety has turned into energy replenishment anxiety.
In order to deal with these problems, car companies and battery companies are making arrangements in multiple ways. Some car companies have chosen the battery swap model to save energy replenishment time, while others have chosen to establish a super fast charging system to shorten charging time. Compared with the high cost investment in battery swap and the respective battles of each player, super charge is more convenient in cost and promotion, so most car companies are currently making efforts in this regard.
As the number of car companies entering the market continues to increase, super fast charging is also expected to become the standard configuration in the future.
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