Samsung SDI is already producing high-nickel content battery cells
At the InterBattery 2021 event in Seoul, South Korea, Samsung SDI finally announced that it’s already producing high-nickel content battery cells. Moreover, Samsung SDI confirmed that its new cylindrical and prismatic cells have different nickel concentrations.
Nickel concentration in cathode of new Samsung SDI battery cells
- Cylindrical form: 91 % – 670 Wh/L
- Prismatic form: 88 % – 630 Wh/L
Samsung SDI cylindrical battery cell
With the cylindrical battery cells Samsung SDI is probably aiming to supply Tesla in China, while the Gen 5 prismatic battery cells will likely be used first in Europe later this year.
The Gen 5 prismatic battery cells are already being produced in Europe (Hungary) and could be used to give the BMW i3 its long awaited range upgrade. The FIAT 500 that currently uses the same 120 Ah cells as the BMW i3 could also benefit from an upgrade to the more energy dense Gen 5 cells. With the upgrade both electric cars could surpass 400 km of WLTP range and get a faster charging rate (above 100 kW).
Actually, prismatic battery cells with a volumetric energy density of 630 Wh/L could give the BMW i3 and the FIAT 500 a battery upgrade from 42 to 58 kWh. It would make possible a WLTP range around 440 km for the FIAT 500 and 490 km for the BMW i3, which is more than enough for small A-segment electric cars.
Previously, it was expected that Samsung would adopt NCM 811 as its next step, as we can see from its roadmap below.
Samsung SDI battery cell roadmap
Anyway, it’s curious that Korean battery cell makers adopted different high-nickel content battery chemistries.
SK Innovation chose NCM 90, Samsung SDI adopted NCA 88/91 and LG Chem went with NCMA, which is a combination of both battery technologies and delivers the best performance – at least on paper.
Performance of different advanced battery cell cathodes
Looking forward to see these more energy dense, but also cheaper – with low-cobalt content – battery cells in electric cars soon.
More info:
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20210608004200320
http://www.thelec.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=2916
https://www.kedglobal.com/newsView/ked202106090011
https://www.samsungsdi.com/column/technology/detail/56458.html
Pedro, Do you know if the cell voltage (I typically see a nominal voltage of 3.66 or 3.7 V for a NCM 1:1:1 cell) is different for these high nickel content cells? Thanks!
Hi Barry. The voltage is the same.
High-manganese content battery cells will have higher voltage.
Only HV-spinel though, not layered oxides with high manganese contents — both being in development by different players.
Now bring on the silicon anodes for faster charging (under 20 minutes) and finally kill ICE cars.
Looks like Enevate is close to it now:
Hi Rok.
I just checked the website and it seems that mass production begins next year. Thanks for the heads up.
According to the German YouTube channel NextMove, they have received information that the i3 will cease it’s production this coming fall 2021.It’s a respectable channel so i trust their claim. It might make more sense for BMW to release their LWB 3-series that they are going to sell in China, also in Europe, as i3 eDrive40 and i3 M50. As an i3s owner since almost one year, it makes me sad to hear this as i was hoping for an update, and an update like you mentioned above would be amazing, i really love that car! I will most likely be ordering the i4 M50 this autumn with deliveries in my country starting February-March.
Thanks for the heads up John.
That’s a shame. The MINI Electric will become the only small electric car of the BMW Group.
So WHAT’s the WH/KG for this new one?
Cheers
Mike
Hi Mike. As far as I know Samsung SDI only announced the volumetric energy density (Wh/L).
am told 256 wh/kgs
True, I heard those too, but also true is, that BMW i3 firmware already has 150 Ah battery in its innards and ISTA.
The NCM89/90/A comparison is interesting – does the NCMA design have any drawbacks that aren’t represented in the chart? The difference in cycle life, especially at 45°, is pretty extreme.
Also – is Samsung basically just skipping NCM 811? The difference over the BMW i3 120Ah’s 622s looks like more than one generational shift.
The comparison chart was taken from a research paper, commercial cells will definitely have higher cycle life. We need data sheets from cells with different high-nickel content battery chemistries to know the differences in more detail.
Yes, it seems that Samsung SDI is skipping NCM 811.
Hearing that Samsung is already dropping 811 in favour of a more advanced cathode brings me back to the early microproccessor development era of the 80-90s, when your new desk computer and graphic card was obsolete in 6 months. The speed of innovation on batteries in the last 10 years amazes me.
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