Volkswagen partner Gotion High Tech builds record-breaking battery

Important progress at Volkswagen’s Chinese battery partner Gotion High-Tech: The company was able to industrialize the production of its record batteries, which were presented at the beginning of 2021.

The Chinese battery manufacturer and Volkswagen partner Gotion High-Tech was able to industrialize the production of its lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which it introduced last year. This was announced by company boss Li Zhen at the China EV100 Forum 2022. By the end of this year, the company wants to have LFP cells with an energy density of 230 Wh/kg in series production. Gotion surprised industry observers in early 2021 with an LFP battery that boasted an energy density of 210 Wh/kg – a record.

LFP-Akkus verzichten auf den kritischen Rohstoff Kobalt, gelten als weitaus weniger brandgefährlich und weisen eine lange Lebensdauer auf. Bevor Gotion Anfang 2021 seine Rekord-Akkuzelle vorstellte, lag der Rekord hinsichtlich der Energiedichte bei 200 Wh/kg, ebenfalls von Gotion aufgestellt. Die LFP-Zellen von CATL, die Branchen-Platzhirsch Tesla in einigen seiner Fahrzeuge verwendet, kommen hingegen auf etwa 125 Wh/kg. Dabei handelt es sich allerdings um produktionsnahe Angaben auf Batteriepack-Ebene, während Gotion zunächst offenbar Zahlen auf Zellebene nannte. Dennoch soll die Serienversion der LFP-Zellen nun wohl auf bis zu 230 Wh/kg kommen.

When the LFP batteries go into mass production at the end of the year, “Gotion’s ternary lithium batteries will be replaced by LFP batteries on a larger scale,” Li Zhen said at the China EV100 Forum, according to industry portal GasGoo.

According to Gotion, it is also working on a semi-solid-state battery cell, the industrialization of which is being pushed “with vigour” – the exact production status, however, is unknown. According to Li Zhen, a series-ready semi-solid-state cell should have an energy density of 360 Wh/kg.

Gotion, sometimes written as Guoxuan, is one of the largest battery manufacturers in China. The company’s largest shareholder is the Wolfsburg carmaker Volkswagen, which invested 1.1 billion euros in the company in 2020. VW thus holds about 26 percent of the Gotion shares.

Source : eFahrer / Gasgoo Header / Logo : Gotion