LG Energy Solution to Commercialize Dry-Coating Technology by 2028
TapTechNews July 4 news, according to Bloomberg, LG Energy Solution Ltd. has recently stated that it plans to commercialize dry-coating technology by 2028. This technology aims to replace the high-energy-consuming wet process for manufacturing anode and cathode (key components of electric vehicle batteries), and can reduce the production cost by 30%. Currently, companies such as Tesla and Samsung SDI are all researching this technology.
Kim Je-Young, the chief technology officer of LG Energy Solution, said in an interview with Bloomberg: In terms of dry-coating technology, LG is in a leading position among battery manufacturers. We have started to research this technology since 10 years ago. Kim revealed that LG plans to complete the pilot production line of the dry-coating process in the fourth quarter and achieve full-scale mass production in 2028.This is the first time LG has disclosed the commercialization timetable of this technology, Kim estimates that the dry-coating technology can reduce the battery manufacturing cost by 17% to 30%.
Tesla acquired the dry-coating technology startup Maxwell Technologies Inc. in 2019 and tried to produce its 4680-type battery at its factory in Austin, Texas, but with little effect. The wet process requires the use of a drying oven up to 100 meters long on the battery production line to dry the chemicals dissolved in toxic solvents at high temperatures up to 200 degrees Celsius, which is not only costly but also very energy-intensive.
The dry-coating technology can allow battery manufacturers to save energy, equipment costs and space because they don't need to invest in drying ovens or solvent recovery systems. Volkswagen AG is also trying to research and develop dry processes in its internal battery company PowerCo, and they call this technology a disruptor, because it can allow enterprises to reduce energy consumption by 30% and space occupation by 50%.
LG aims to enhance its competitiveness through this technology and deal with the challenges from Chinese enterprises. TapTechNews noted that this year, LG's share in the electric vehicle battery market has dropped from 14.6% last year to 12.6%, which is largely due to the expansion of Chinese enterprises such as CATL and BYD. According to BloombergNEF, as of April, the average price of Chinese lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP) has plummeted by 44% to $53 per kilowatt-hour.
The battery consists of three main parts: two electrodes (anode and cathode) and a separator, which helps transport charges between the electrodes. The materials used to make these components determine how much energy the battery can store and the cost.
Tesla vigorously promoted the dry electrode process at its Battery Day event in 2020. But according to Reuters, the US electric vehicle manufacturer can currently only apply this process to the anode part of the battery, not to the cathode part yet.
Experts say that since cathode materials are typically more difficult to handle, it is more challenging to produce cathodes using the dry process than to produce anodes.
Kim said that the dry electrode manufacturing process that LG is developing can be applied to cathodes and anodes regardless of the size of the cathode particles. But he added that it is very challenging to apply the dry electrode manufacturing to cathodes with smaller particle sizes.
According to a report by SNE Research in April, in addition to Tesla, companies such as Panasonic, CATL, Eve Energy and SVOLT Energy Technology are also researching dry electrode technology and applyi ng it to high-energy-density 4680-type batteries.
Park Chul-Wan, a professor of automotive engineering at Sejong University, said: Since Tesla took the lead in adopting this technology, now all manufacturers are scrambling to invest in R & D, and the three battery manufacturers in South Korea are all still in the early stages of the dry process.