By Yongchang Han
Edited by Qin Li
Tesla's recent 10% workforce reduction highlights the growth fatigue of this leading electric vehicle company. In China, the growth rate of pure electric cars is being surpassed by hybrid vehicles, and in the European market, led by Mercedes-Benz, the timeline for full electrification is becoming less defined.
The ultimate vision for electric vehicles cannot rely solely on current liquid-state batteries. Semi-solid-state and solid-state batteries have emerged as the new fuel igniting market sentiment.
When Smart Automobile announced the "mass production of solid-state batteries," it triggered a virtual clash between the company's CEO, Liu Tao, and the general manager of Tengshi. On April 12, Haobo, under Guangzhou AEV, released "fully solid-state" batteries, shocking the industry.
The capital market reacted fervently. Sanxiang New Materials, involved in solid-state battery electrolyte materials and providing samples to companies like Qingtao Energy, saw its stock hit the limit up for 6 consecutive days. Defu Technology and Xiangfenghua also saw a 20% increase, and at the peak, 76 of the 80 stocks in the Choice solid-state battery sector were in the green.
However, on the day after Smart's announcement, its battery supplier, Qingtao Energy, downplayed the term "solid-state battery" during a live broadcast, stating that Smart uses Qingtao's first-generation product, which is a "semi-solid-state battery." Nevertheless, this was just a minor episode.
According to Smart Automobile, the Smart L6 Light Year Edition equipped with semi-solid-state batteries can be delivered within the year. More importantly, it possesses performance and indicators that support large-scale industrialization: a presale price of less than 330,000 yuan (the actual price will be even lower), support for over a thousand kilometers of range, and compatibility with ultra-fast charging at up to 3C rates.
Even the presale price of 330,000 yuan may not be a bleeding subsidy for the market by Smart. According to sources familiar with the industry's pricing from Qingtao Energy and others, the offer is around 0.65 yuan/Wh. This price is only 0.1 yuan higher per watt-hour than that of ternary lithium batteries.
With costs, performance, and delivery all in place, could semi-solid-state batteries become the breakthrough for the dilemma facing pure electric vehicles? Does the picture of solid-state batteries become clearer as a result?
To understand Smart's semi-solid-state batteries, let's start with the technical aspects.
The supplier of Smart L6 Light Year Edition's semi-solid-state batteries is Qingtao Energy, an investment by SAIC Motor, and one of the star companies in China's solid-state battery industry.
Putting aside the necessary high energy density of positive and negative electrodes and solid-state electrolytes, the main technological highlight of Qingtao Energy's semi-solid-state batteries is the "dry process integrated molding" technique, which is a brand-new term.
According to Smart's official statement, the dry-process solid-state electrolyte layer integrated molding technology greatly reduces the impedance between the positive electrode and the electrolyte.
Battery development experts analyzing for 36Kr pointed out that, in terms of realization path, this is essentially a transfer coating technology for releasing membranes, transferring solid-state electrolytes to the surface of the electrode sheet. Smart's official term is dry-process integrated molding.
Given that the release membrane coating technology is relatively mature, the dry-process integrated molding technology, though it sounds new, is not a significant innovation in practice.
Furthermore, Qingtao Energy CEO Li Zheng explicitly stated, "To enhance the lithium-ion conductivity of the solid-state electrolyte, we added 10% of an infiltration solution to the electrolyte." This is also a common practice for semi-solid-state batteries.
In contrast, the core technology of the semi-solid-state batteries used by NIO, developed by Weilan New Energy, is in-situ solidification.
In-situ solidification technology is quite groundbreaking. However, the problem lies in the manufacturing issues that new technologies often bring. According to 36Kr, the reason why NIO repeatedly delayed the 150-degree battery pack is largely because "the yield of in-situ solidification cannot be improved."
Another point of contention for Qingtao's semi-solid-state batteries is the separator. A significant difference between semi-solid-state and full solid-state batteries lies in the presence of separators. If Qingtao removes the separator, it would also be a significant advancement in battery technology, something Weilan has not achieved at least.
Although the presence of separators is not visible in Smart's promotional videos, during a live stream on Douyin, Li Zheng from Qingtao Energy clearly demonstrated that the semi-solid-state batteries used in Smart L6 are the first-generation technology from Qingtao, which does include separators.
This leads to the conclusion that Smart L6 Light Year Edition's adoption of semi-solid-state batteries largely relies on mature technology. The advantage of mature technology is that it poses fewer challenges in mass production, which is likely one of the reasons why Smart L6 dared to price the Light Year Edition at no more than 330,000 yuan.
Compared to NIO's 150-degree battery pack, Smart managed to achieve over a thousand kilometers of range with only a 133-degree battery, indicating a significant improvement in energy density. However, the reality may be different.
Smart L6's Light Year battery supports ultra-fast charging at 3C rates, and the performance of the battery and energy density are almost mutually exclusive, making it difficult to increase both simultaneously. This is why when Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) released the first-generation 4C-rate Godsend battery, they did not disclose the energy density.
During the live stream, Qingtao Energy CEO Li Zheng explicitly stated that this battery pack "does not increase volume or weight." In Smart's promotional images, we can also see that the 133-degree battery pack of the Smart L6 Light Year Edition is almost identical in size and design to the 100-degree battery pack, both using 204 square cells, a grouping form not uncommon in the industry. Smart LS6 also adopts this arrangement, with a grouping efficiency of around 70% to 80%.
Although the Smart L6 Light Year Edition has not yet appeared on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's announcement, the super-performance version of the 100-degree battery pack has been disclosed, weighing 585 kg.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Announcement
Therefore, if the weight of the Lightyear version semi-solid-state battery pack remains at 585kg, with a capacity of 133 kWh, the energy density of the battery pack system is approximately 227Wh/kg.
When the grouping efficiency is compromised to 75%, the energy density of a single battery cell is about 302Wh/kg. If the energy density of the cell wants to exceed 360Wh/kg, the grouping efficiency will decrease to around 63%. This level is similar to BYD's level in 2020. In today's situation where grouping efficiency often exceeds 80%, it is unlikely that Zhiji will allow the grouping efficiency of its vehicle battery packs to be lower than 70%, as every inch of chassis space is precious.
This also implies that Zhiji sacrificed some energy density to achieve fast charging. So why did the Zhiji L6 achieve the same range as NIO's 150 kWh battery pack with only a 133 kWh pack? It must be related to various aspects of the overall vehicle quality, thermal efficiency, aerodynamic resistance, and more.
The Zhiji L6 Lightyear Edition has not yet appeared in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announcement, so more information will need to wait for further disclosure from Zhiji. Currently, the discussions about Zhiji's semi-solid-state energy density exceeding 368Wh/kg come from early promotions of their first-generation semi-solid-state battery products by Qingtao. However, Zhiji's official posters do not explicitly disclose energy density.
Given the current competitive landscape in the automotive industry, if the energy density exceeds that of NIO's semi-solid-state battery pack, it's hard not to use it for promotion.
However, Zhiji's L6 semi-solid-state battery pack combines long-range capabilities with 3C fast charging, making it one of the best-performing battery products available on the market, if not the best. If this battery pack can truly be delivered on a large scale, then Zhiji has indeed made a significant contribution to the mass production of semi-solid-state batteries.
"The Cost Puzzle of the 133 kWh Battery Pack"
Semi-solid-state batteries have always been known for their high cost.
According to 36Kr's understanding, the cost of most semi-solid-state batteries is close to 2 RMB/Wh. This is why "the price of a 150 kWh battery pack is equivalent to that of a ET5," because the cost of the 150 kWh battery pack's cells alone is 300,000 RMB.
The cost of the Zhiji L6 Lightyear Edition battery pack is a puzzle, as the cost determines whether this battery pack can be mass-produced.
Qingtao Energy has always been known for its low cost. Li Zheng, the CEO of Qingtao Energy, has mentioned on several occasions that the cost of Qingtao Energy's first-generation semi-solid-state battery is comparable to that of liquid lithium batteries, the second-generation quasi-solid-state battery is 20% lower in cost compared to liquid batteries, and the third-generation fully solid-state battery, which will be mass-produced in 2027, will be 40% cheaper than liquid lithium batteries.
A source close to SAIC told 36Kr that the cost of Qingtao Energy's semi-solid-state battery pack is probably around 0.65 RMB/Wh, not exceeding 0.7 RMB/Wh. This price is somewhat higher than Qingtao's expectations for the first-generation product but is groundbreaking for the industry.
If calculated at 0.65 RMB/Wh, the cell cost of this battery pack is 86,500 RMB. The Zhiji L6 Ultra Performance Edition is equipped with a 100 kWh ternary battery pack, which, at 0.5 RMB/Wh, costs 50,000 RMB.
The Lightyear Edition is about 31,000 RMB more expensive than the Ultra Performance Edition, and the 133 kWh battery pack is about 36,500 RMB more expensive than the 100 kWh battery pack. Apart from the battery pack, the other configurations of the two models are the same, making this a reasonable pricing strategy.
However, it is difficult to reach a consistent conclusion based on material costs alone.
This semi-solid-state battery uses a high-nickel positive electrode and a silicon-carbon negative electrode. Generally, the nickel content of a high-nickel positive electrode is at least 80%, using 811 material, or even reaching the 9-series.
36Kr learned that high-nickel 811 material is generally about 25% more expensive than ordinary mid-nickel 523 material. Calculating with the positive electrode material accounting for 40% of the battery cost, and considering that the price of a typical mid-nickel (523) ternary battery is calculated at 0.5 RMB/Wh, the increase in only 811 material would raise the battery price to 0.55 RMB/Wh.
Some solid-state battery industry insiders told 36Kr, "If it's a relatively pure semi-solid-state, it may involve coating a layer of ceramic oxide on the separator, which would increase the cost by at least 0.2 RMB/Wh or even more. Unless it's some kind of compromise solution that doesn't pursue excessively high energy density, the safety performance would also be better."
Therefore, considering the application of various new materials and new processes, the comprehensive cost of these materials makes it difficult for the cell price to stop at 0.65 RMB/Wh.
If Qingtao really manages to achieve a cost of 0.65 RMB/Wh for the 133 kWh semi-solid-state battery pack, it can almost be called a revolutionary breakthrough. This cost would make semi-solid-state batteries ready for mass delivery.
It is known that manufacturing industries need scale to reduce costs. Previously, solid-state battery manufacturer SVOLT Technology calculated that when the capacity reaches 1 GWh, SVOLT's solid-state cell cost is 1.6 times that of liquid cells, and when it reaches 7 GWh, its cost is basically on par with NCM622.
If calculated based on each vehicle equipped with a 150 kWh semi-solid-state battery pack, a shipment volume of 7 GWh can support approximately 46,000 electric vehicles. This requires cooperation among NIO, Zhiji, and other automakers planning to launch semi-solid-state battery models.
According to data from the Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance, as of last year and the first three months of this year, NIO's supplier, Weilan Technology, has already shipped a cumulative total of 1.57 GWh. If Zhiji L6 achieves scale production in the second half of the year, the target of 7 GWh may be reached by 2025.
However, at present, without achieving scale in semi-solid-state shipments, even Ningde Times cannot reduce the cost of semi-solid-state batteries to the level of mass delivery.
Among the semi-solid-state battery production models currently on the market, the JinKr 009 and 001 are the most representative. Both models are equipped with Ningde Times' Kirin battery pack and support a range of over 1,000 kilometers. The ExtremeCORE 009ME edition (semi-solid-state) is priced 88,000 yuan higher than the WE edition, while the optional Thousand Miles package for the ExtremeCORE 001 (semi-solid-state) costs 100,000 yuan. The specific sales figures for the 588,000 yuan ExtremeCORE 009ME edition have not been officially disclosed, but the Thousand Miles package for the ExtremeCORE 001 explicitly states a limit of 1000 units, which are currently sold out.
In comparison, the ZhiJI L6 Lightyear edition is only about 31,000 yuan more expensive than the Super Performance edition, which is truly remarkable. However, industry experts have analyzed that this is a product with small batch deliveries and won't initially be produced on a large scale.
ZhiJI CEO Liu Tao has stated that at the beginning of production, there will be a certain limited quantity of the "first-generation Lightyear solid-state battery" since the "dry process integrated forming technology" requires a ramp-up in production capacity. The current plan is for the L6 Lightyear edition to start mass production and delivery in the second half of this year, with initial production capacity limitations, but the ramp-up speed will be very fast, aiming for large-scale production and delivery within the year.
Regarding speculation and inference about the technical aspects and cost structure of the Lightyear edition's semi-solid-state battery pack, 36Kr previously sought communication with officials from Qingtao Energy, but as of the time of writing, no response has been received.
The true level of the ZhiJI L6 semi-solid-state battery pack remains to be seen. Whether it can be delivered on a large scale is the only standard to judge the battery. However, discussions sparked by the solid-state battery craze are far from over.
The core of solid-state batteries lies in the solid electrolyte, which provides a higher performance ceiling for battery products but also brings about the currently difficult-to-solve problem of solid-solid interfaces.
To promote mass production, the industry has proposed a compromise solution: semi-solid-state batteries. There are roughly two technical approaches to semi-solid-state batteries. One is to use a solid electrolyte in the middle of the electrodes, while applying a layer of special electrolyte on the electrode sides, essentially adding a "lubricant" to the solid-solid interface to improve interface issues. The other approach involves using gel-like electrolytes in combination with positive and negative electrodes, which also helps improve interface issues.
The former approach has many representative companies, with Qingtao's semi-solid-state battery being one example, while the latter, represented by companies like CATL, uses gel-like electrolyte materials in their battery packs.
Insiders have told 36Kr that even adding a small amount of electrolyte to solid-state batteries can have an immediate effect. Therefore, any battery that uses electrolyte cannot fundamentally solve the solid-solid interface problem and cannot be called a solid-state battery.
All so-called wetting agents, wetting agents, etc., which exist on the electrode side to solve interface problems, can be classified as "electrolytes."
Of course, this does not negate semi-solid-state batteries. Compared to current liquid-state batteries, semi-solid-state batteries have significant advantages, namely higher energy density. If the cost of semi-solid-state batteries decreases and they are widely deployed, it will further improve the range of current electric vehicles, accelerating the penetration rate of new energy vehicles.
More importantly, the industrial chains of semi-solid-state and solid-state batteries can largely be shared, such as positive and negative electrode materials and solid electrolytes. The adoption of semi-solid-state batteries will accelerate the mass production of solid-state battery materials, laying the groundwork for cost reductions.
Toyota of Japan has set the production milestone for solid-state batteries in 2027. As the country with the most complete global power battery industry chain, China's solid-state batteries can only be advanced, not delayed. Therefore, companies like Qingtao and Hao Bo have set the production milestone for solid-state batteries in 2026.
This is no longer a competition between companies but a race between industrial systems. In this competition, mastering semi-solid-state batteries may hold the key to half of the success.
