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China has Become the Largest Lithium Battery Producer Worldwide

China has become the largest lithium ion battery producer worldwide, neck and neck with South Korean and Japan in the global market. Last week, China (Qinghai) Lithium Industry and Power Battery International Summit Forum 2018 was officially held in Xining, Qinghai. According to the report published by the Forum, thanks to the rapid development of the global electric vehicles, the production capacity of power battery of China has reached 38 kWh, accounting for 60% of the global capacity. Despite the prosperity in the electric vehicle market currently, industry insiders are still concerned about the future development of the industry, as a lot of crucial problems are not solved, e.g., low technological level for resource utilization and battery production and lack of battery regeneration system.

According to Zhang Yongwei, secretary-general and chief expert of China EV100, a non-profit organization committed to promoting the development of new energy vehicles in China, by 2030, China will manufacture dozens of millions of electric vehicles annually. However, the electric vehicle industry will still face huge pressure if the power battery development bottleneck can’t be eliminated.

According to Zheng Mianping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, despite of the rich lithium resources in China, the lithium utilization rate is low due to lag in technology and underdeveloped matching industry. According to the estimate of his research team, approx. 70% of the lithium resources used in China are imported. In addition, China lacks of natural resources of nickel and cobalt, which are crucial materials for production of power batteries. Currently, China has not established a complete battery recycling system. Approx. 70%-80% of the electricity in the waste batteries of the new energy vehicles can still be recycled, and multiple base metals in them can be extracted for reuse with appropriate processing technology.

Presently, the first batch of power batteries in the Chinese market will retire soon. According to the suggestion of Chen Qingtai, chairman of China EV100, competent departments in China shall launch a program to encourage the recycling of batteries of electric vehicles, and introduce detailed rules for technological development and battery disposal programs.