Electric vehicle (EV) battery is like an engine of cars that run on internal combustion engines. Not only is battery is the power source of electric vehicles, it is also a part that takes up the most percentage of production cost of an electric vehicle. As a result, many companies have been trying to manufacture their own batteries, and automakers such as Volkswagen and Tesla also announced that they would look to internalize their own batteries. Battery-related equipment plays a crucial role from the beginning to the end of battery production. A battery goes through electrode process, assembly process, and formation process. At ‘Battery Day 2021’ that will be held by the Electronic Times on April 28, many companies will talk about topics related to battery production and process technologies that are becoming more important than ever.
Kim Han-jun, who is the manager of the laboratory of CIS that is a South Korean company that makes cathode plate and anode plate manufacturing equipment will talk about a forecast of EV battery electrode equipment.
CIS is a well-known battery electrode equipment manufacturer in South Korea and it makes equipment that corresponds to the front-end process of rechargeable battery production. Kim is in charge of leading development of electrode manufacturing equipment technologies that will be needed to manufacture electrodes of pouch-type, cylindrical, and prismatic batteries.
Kim will introduce the company’s equipment such as coater, slitter, and roll press that are needed to make cathode and anode plates. Coater is the most important equipment in manufacturing process of battery electrodes. It coats and dries slurry that is made up of cathode material, anode material, and conductive agent. Slitter is an equipment that applies graphite in order to increase density once coating process is completed. Battery-related companies have been busy with development of technologies that will raise energy capacity as roles of cathode plate and anode plate are different within a battery cell. Along with detailed explanation about battery electrode equipment technologies in South Korea, Kim plans to explain about different tasks that need to be solved in order to commercialize next-generation battery equipment.
CEO Kim Jun-bo of Innometry plans to talk about EV battery safety standards and the current trend of battery inspection technologies. Innometry is a company that is drawing attention globally with its battery inspection equipment based on X-ray. As safety of batteries has emerged as an important issue as the world faces an era of EVs, importance and demands for battery inspection technologies have been growing.
Innometry’s battery inspection equipment is recognized by the battery industry. It is different from other inspection equipment that analyzes each battery for defects once it is made in that it inspects batteries in real time.
Innometry has also developed its own software (SW) technology that allows its inspection systems to analyze large images in real time and separated itself from other companies. The company has also developed a technique that inspects entire cell rather than areas that are suspected of defects.
Increased productivity of batteries is directly connected to profitability. Although increased orders from automakers will also increase profit for a company, the most important thing is to raise production yield to at least 90%. Because Innometry’s inspection equipment reduces inspection time that normally takes a long time, demands for its products are expected to grow greatly.
CIS and Innometry in particular are drawing much attention as they have been receiving calls from both domestic and foreign battery manufacturers. Their products are supplied to Northvolt based in Sweden as well as LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, and SK Innovation. Because Northvolt is expected to carry out huge investments as it is a latecomer in the EV battery market, CIS and Innometry are expected to see new orders from Northvolt shortly.
A presentation about aluminum foil that is a key material of a rechargeable battery is also prepared at the event. Bae Geon-ho, who is the head of Sam-A Aluminium’s Quality Assurance Center, will explain about the current trends on development of aluminum foil for cathode current collector.
Although copper foil is familiar even to normal people, aluminum foil is a field that is not a familiar field to normal people.
Sam-A Aluminium makes aluminum foil used for cathode current collector of EV batteries. Cathode current collector that determines energy capacity and voltage of a battery collects electrons created based on electrochemical reaction and supplies the electrons during discharge.
The company supplies its aluminum foil to the three South Korean battery manufacturers. This is the first time that the company is doing a presentation on its technologies and it plans to talk about direction of development of aluminum foil based on changes in the cathode material market for EV batteries.
Staff Reporter Yun, Geonil | benyun@etnews.com & Staff Reporter Kim, Jiwoong | jw0316@etnews.com