In 1799, the Italian physicist Voltaire immersed a piece of zinc and a piece of tin in salt water and found that there was an electric current flowing through the wires connecting the two metals. Therefore, he placed a piece of cloth or paper soaked in salt water between the zinc and silver plates and stacked them flat. When he touched both ends, he would feel a strong electric current. Voltaire used this method to successfully create the world's first battery – the "Voltaic Stack".
Therefore, the battery had a history of more than two hundred years.
However, after more than two hundred years, the energy density of the battery had not significantly increased.
The first widely used battery was the carbon-zinc battery. Its energy density was about 30-100 Wh/kg. It could only be used once, but it was cheap.
Later, the lead-acid battery was invented. Its energy density was about 80-120 Wh/kg, but it could be charged and discharged repeatedly. It was cheap and quickly became the mainstream. It had been popular for hundreds of years and had not been eliminated yet.
However, the energy density of the lead-acid battery was too low. Therefore, in the 1960s, the lithium battery came into being. Its energy density was as high as 150-250 Wh/kg, which was equivalent to twice that of the lead-acid battery.
Some high-performance lithium batteries could even reach 300 Wh/kg and theoretically had the possibility of reaching 1000 Wh/kg.
However, a theory was just a theory.
In reality, the energy density of the lithium battery was very difficult to exceed 350 Wh/kg.
It could only be regarded as a "semi-high-energy battery".
Due to the complexity of the technology, safety, and high production costs, the lithium battery was not widely used until the 21st century.
In addition, there were many paths for the development of batteries. In the future, several batteries with higher energy density, longer lifespan, and safer were all being developed by organizations.
For example, the metal-air battery.
The representative of this type of battery was the zinc-air battery. The specific energy of the zinc-air battery was 4 to 6 times that of the lead-acid battery and twice that of the lithium-ion battery. The maximum range of an electric vehicle powered by it could reach 400 kilometers.
The manufacturing process of the zinc-air battery was simple and cheap. The mass production cost was about 300 to 500 yuan/kVAh, which was even lower than the lead-acid battery. Also, it was safe and reliable. Even if it encountered an external fire, short circuit, puncture, or impact, it would not burn or explode.
However, even with so many advantages, zinc-air batteries also had some fatal drawbacks. The cost of using them was relatively high, and the charging process was complicated. The actual service life was only 1 to 2 years. This was not mainly because of the battery's poor electrochemical performance, but because of the battery's structure. The mass production process was not mature enough. This was mainly because the production of catalytic membranes and waterproof and breathable membranes mostly required semi-mechanical operation. There were some manual factors that led to differences in the performance of the electrodes.
Therefore, the promotion of metal-air batteries was still relatively difficult.
There were also solid-state batteries, nanocrystalline lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells, and dozens of other types of batteries.
Some announced that their energy density had reached 500 Wh/kg, some announced that it had exceeded 800, and some even broke through 1000. It could be said to be exciting, as if they had seen the hope of the era of high-efficiency batteries.
But … it was useless.
Laboratory performance was not equivalent to actual performance.
Products produced in the laboratory may not necessarily become products on the market.
In the current market, the battery with the highest energy density that could be purchased was a ternary polymer material (Li (NiCoMn) O2) composed of lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide as the positive electrode of the ternary battery.
Among this type of battery, a certain domestic manufacturer combined graphene technology and achieved the world's highest energy density of 550 Wh/kg. At that time, it caused a sensation all over the world and was thought to be the era of new energy.
But it might be too early to be happy about it.
This was because the energy density of gasoline was as high as 12000 Wh/kg. The energy density of the best ternary battery was only 4.58% of that of gasoline, less than one-twentieth.
It was not yet time for ternary battery technology to replace traditional energy sources.
There was only a glimmer of hope.
And the success of the development of Xing Hai Technologies' "High Energy 1" battery directly realized this hope.
In the research center.
Therefore, Zhao Qiang, who was in charge of the project, said excitedly, "President Chen, we have achieved an amazing breakthrough in battery technology!
First of all, our 'High Energy 1' is not a traditional liquid or semi-solid battery, but an all-solid-state battery!
All-solid-state batteries have the highest safety, resistance to impact, high temperature, and good stability. They can be charged more often than other types of batteries.
"For example, the best quality ternary battery has a battery life of 1,500 charges. After about 800 charges, the battery's capacity will drop to 80%. However, the 'High Energy 1' can be charged up to 10,000 times. After 5,000 charge-discharge cycles, the battery's capacity will drop to 80%."
Moreover, the 'High Energy 1' battery is integrated with the most advanced graphene fast charging technology. For example, this 10,000 milliampere-hour cell phone battery in my hand can support up to 100 watts of fast charging technology. This battery can be fully charged in six to ten minutes, and there is no need to worry about overheating. "
Zhao Qiang held the small battery and continued, "As for its energy density, due to the use of a brand new nano-polymer material as the positive electrode of the battery, its energy density has reached the level of 1,500 Wh/kg.
This is six to seven times that of ordinary lithium batteries! It is equivalent to one-eighth of the gasoline.
But in the actual process of use, the gasoline burned in the engine has an energy utilization efficiency of 40% at most. Generally, it is more than 30%.
The battery's utilization efficiency is generally above 90%.
Therefore, in terms of energy utilization efficiency, the actual efficiency of the 'High Energy 1' battery is equivalent to one-third of gasoline. "
One-third of gasoline!
This could be said to be quite incredible.
The promotion potential of electric cars instantly surpassed that of traditional gasoline cars.
Compared to the engine of a gasoline car, the electric car's electric motor was simpler in structure and lighter in weight. Coupled with some additional mechanical structures, the weight was reduced by hundreds of kilograms.
The gearbox and other complex transmission structures were eliminated.
The overall weight reduction was at least 200 kilograms.
Of course, in order to achieve the same endurance as a gasoline car, the number of battery packs would definitely be increased. If a tank of gasoline weighed 50 kilograms, it must be equipped with 150 kilograms of the 'High Energy 1' battery to achieve the same endurance.
Even so!
An electric car equipped with the 'High Energy 1' battery would still lose more than 100 kilograms!
Therefore, the endurance performance would only be better.
Also, because of the most advanced fast charging technology, a large battery could be fully charged in half an hour to an hour. The waiting time would not be particularly long.
Moreover, it had a lifespan of tens of thousands of charging cycles, and extremely high safety …
At least in the field of automobiles, for the sake of environmental protection, ease of use, endurance, safety, cost, and many other comprehensive considerations.
With the introduction of the 'High Energy 1' battery, there was almost no reason for people to reject electric cars.
Once this battery model was introduced, it could be imagined that the sensational impact it would cause would be even more unimaginable. It would cause a global shock in many fields, and it was bound to cause huge pressure on Xing Hai Technologies.
Therefore, the question in front of Chen Jin was: Should he detonate this heavyweight bomb?
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