Automotive enterprises to reduce the urgent demand for composite copper foil market inflection point

For car companies, cutting costs and increasing efficiency has never been more critical to survival.

In the beginning of 2023, the state subsidy will withdraw from the stage of history, which has already brought pressure to the new energy vehicle terminal volume.Under the "heavy blow" of a maximum reduction of 50,000 yuan for Tesla's domestic models, the electric vehicle market is further plunged into the panic of a "price war".

Most of the new energy vehicle enterprises have been stuck in the quagmire of increasing income and not increasing profits.While the drop in lithium carbonate prices has released some cost pressure, the wave of price cuts still carries a cold spring flavor.

In February, new energy brands such as Ask, Xiaopeng and Zero Run also cut their prices.Even ideal President Ma Donghui also lamented in the interview, fierce and cruel "elimination game" has come, the next three years will be from elimination game to final.

The Tesla catfish effect may play a key role behind the wholesale price cutting phenomenon, but it essentially reflects the "dimensionality reduction blow" that "disruptive innovation" in manufacturing has brought to an established industry paradigm.

This is not only reflected in the replacement of new energy vehicles to traditional fuel vehicles, but also reflected in the violent reshuffle of new energy vehicles.

Last week, Tesla said at its 2023 Global Investment Day event that it expects to reduce the cost of its next generation of electric vehicles by 50% as part of Chapter 3 of its vision.Musk said bluntly, "We don't think any other automaker can come close to our cost."

Before Tesla sets off the next wave of "bloody rain", whether car companies can develop enough space to reduce costs has become the key to survival.

As a core component that accounts for more than 40% of the vehicle cost, the technology innovation and material cost reduction of power battery have become the "big kill device" that automobile enterprises rely on.

The particularity of power battery as the basic element of today's transportation lies in the fact that it requires low cost and energy density, while the most important safety cannot be sacrificed, otherwise it will shake the foundation of the automobile industry.

In 2022, the penetration rate of new-energy vehicles in China reached 26.5 percent, exceeding 30 percent in a single month.Some cities, such as Shanghai, have set a target of more than 50 percent of personal purchases of pure electric vehicles by 2025.As the number of electric vehicles continues to increase, and even the next step will be to fully replace fuel vehicles, the fault tolerance rate for power battery safety issues is getting lower and lower.

In this context, through the introduction of new material applications, to find a more extreme balance between battery safety, performance and cost, has become an important direction for the industry chain to generate power.Among them, the application of complex set fluid is the most concerned field.

The polymer substrate in the middle of the composite fluid collector has flame retardant properties, and its metal conductive layer is thin. When short circuited, it will be fused like a fuse, melting quickly before thermal control, and battery damage is limited to the puncture site to form a "point break".

In terms of cost, take composite copper foil as an example, which is coated with two 1um copper layers respectively on a 4um pet/pp polymer substrate.Compared with traditional copper foil, the use of copper metal is reduced by 2/3.

The raw material cost of traditional copper foil accounts for about 83%, while the raw material cost of composite copper foil accounts for about 31%.In the case of rising copper prices, the potential for decline is significant.

At the same time, traditional copper foil accounts for about 13% of the total weight of lithium battery, which is a key material affecting the energy density of battery mass.The amount of composite copper foil foil weighs 56% less than that of conventional copper foil. Thus, the energy density is improved.

A head substrate manufacturer said that the company can control the cost of composite copper foil at 3.5 yuan/ping, and the current mainstream 6um electrolytic copper foil on the basis of self-produced base film, spot copper price, magnetic control equipment localization (not more than 18 million/set), mainstream water plating line speed and price (7-10 meters speed, 10 million/set), yield 95%.

Considering the initial stage of industrialization, the cost of equipment accounts for up to 50%.With the cost dilution brought by the improvement of the efficiency of magnetron sputtering, water plating and other key equipment, as well as the reduction of the cost of target materials, plating additives and other consumables, the future composite copper foil production through scale effect to reduce the cost of greater space.

Since 2022, the middle and lower reaches of the industrial chain have cooperated to accelerate the industrialization of composite copper foil.

The technology of upstream base film and equipment section continues to change.High-performance PET/PP basically complete the domestic replacement, in strength, flatness, ductility of Japan Toray and other original leading;The efficiency and yield of magnetron sputtering and water electroplating equipment are continuously improved, effectively reducing the equipment cost and energy consumption index.

For example, the advanced magnetron sputtering coiling and coating equipment developed by Guangdong Huicheng Vacuum can realize 2-4.5μm, 600-1650mm wide PET/PP base film, which shows that double-sided copper plating film can be completed at one time, the process speed is 0.5-30m/min, and the grain-motion rate is more than 90%.

Teng Sheng Technology will launch 2.5 generation of mass production composite copper foil and the second generation of composite aluminum foil vacuum coating equipment in 2022.Is the industry very few with composite copper foil, composite aluminum foil equipment production capacity of coating equipment manufacturers.

Midstream copper foil manufacturers have steadily expanded capacity and actively promoted the research and development of composite collector fluids and sample delivery verification.

Nordisk set up a pilot line of composite copper foil two years ago and tested the product last year, which can now be customized for OEM needs.

Han 嵙 new material is engaged in early domestic compound fluid product research and development of one of the manufacturers, the company can be 2 to 4.5 5 micron composite copper foil, production is expected to yield can reach over 90%.

Dawson Shares after the acquisition of Hongtian Technology, the 10 meters /min walk speed composite copper foil all-in-one equipment as the research and development focus, the first quarter of this year to complete the assembly and debugging.The design scheme of composite copper foil integrated machine can accurately control the utilization rate of target material and sputtering efficiency, and effectively reduce the production cost of composite copper foil.

Based on the deep understanding of cell design, terminal battery manufacturers continue to accumulate related technical patents to overcome the technical difficulties of composite fluid collector in the welding section of cell.

For example, Ningde era in the composite set fluid electrochemical device and electronic device, and related pole chip technology layout;Honeycomb Energy in the composite fluid collection battery electrode welding methods, welding equipment and core core-forming device to develop technical support;Guoxun has developed the integrated equipment and the method of welding die cutting.In 2022, Haichen Energy Storage applied for the patent of composite collector fluid and its preparation method and application, which is in the stage of substantive review.