Where are the "rivers and mountains" created by lithium batteries?

In recent years, lithium batteries have been used more and more widely in our lives. According to different application fields, lithium batteries can be roughly divided into three types: consumer type, power type and energy storage type.

Where are the "rivers and mountains" created by lithium batteries?

The application of lithium batteries in the consumer field dates back to the rechargeable lithium batteries developed by Sony Corporation in 1990. Later, lithium batteries were commercialized and popularized in everyone's daily life. Lithium ion batteries on the market are secondary batteries, which can be recharged repeatedly and are widely used in mobile phones, laptops, Bluetooth headsets, etc. In fact, the cycle life of such consumer lithium batteries does not need to be too good. Generally, they will be replaced after 2 or 3 years of use. However, because they are portable products, it is necessary for them to become thinner and lighter, so they have higher requirements for battery size and capacity.

Before 2015, the consumer lithium battery occupied an absolute dominant position in the market. However, with the beginning of electric vehicles, by 2016, power lithium batteries had rapidly occupied the market, with a proportion exceeding that of consumer lithium batteries. The power type lithium battery is mainly used for transportation tools. In addition to electric bicycles, electric vehicles and electric buses, it is also used for forklifts, airport tractors, etc. In recent years, even countries have developed lithium battery aircraft and successfully flew.

Because of the need for strong power, such batteries have large discharge power, high specific energy and large capacity. The battery system is complex and requires thick membrane, foil and shell to protect the internal environment of the battery and prevent serious accidents due to short circuit and other reasons. It can be seen that the technical requirements for power lithium batteries are very high, and countries have invested a lot of money in technology research and development to seize the market.

Energy storage lithium batteries are different from the first two. The first two types basically benefit people directly, while the role of energy storage lithium batteries is more complex. It is equivalent to the "middleman" of electricity, and does not earn a price difference. It can not only store the electricity in the grid, but also can store the electricity from wind, water, solar and other resources, which can be used for households, enterprises or the whole region. It can also balance the load of the power grid, and even achieve "black start" when the power grid crashes, which can be said to be a realistic version of the "Red Queen" in Biochemical Crisis.