SVOLT unveils its second-generation L600 short blade battery

SVOLT unveils its second-generation L600 short blade battery
SVOLT unveils its second-generation L600 short blade battery

Right now SVOLT seems to be the only major battery cell maker that aims to provide a good alternative to the popular BYD Blade Battery, by introducing its own long prismatic cobalt-free battery cells to be used in simple module-less battery packs.

 

The prototype of the second generation SVOLT L600 short blade battery cell has the following specs:

 

  • Model: L600 (second gen)
  • Capacity: 196 Ah (first generation was 184 Ah)
  • Voltage: 3,2 V
  • Energy: 627,2 Wh
  • Gravimetric energy density: 185 Wh/kg
  • Volumetric energy density: 430 Wh/L
  • Chemistry: LFP (LiFePO4)
  • Start of production: Q3 2022

 

By adopting a 100s1p configuration (100 cells in series), battery packs would have a capacity of 62,72 kWh. I think that 60 kWh is the sweet spot for affordable mainstream electric cars.

 

Considering a GCTP (gravimetric cell-to-pack) ratio of 90 %, the gravimetric energy density of a module-less battery pack should be around 176 Wh/kg.

Considering a VCTP (volumetric cell-to-pack) ratio of 60 %, the volumetric energy density of a module-less battery pack should be around 258 Wh/L.

 

Right now, the BYD Blade Battery only reaches 150 Wh/kg at the pack level.

 

While the current L600 battery cell prototype reaches 185 Wh/kg, SVOLT aims to reach 200 Wh/kg already next year, as we can see in the roadmap below. Therefore, the second-generation L600 battery cell could be more energy dense by the time it enters into production in Q3 2022.

 

SVOLT battery roadmap

SVOLT battery roadmap

 

Now imagine how popular would be a super-mini like the Renault ZOE with a 60 kWh LFP battery if sold for the same price of a Clio, without needing any government subsidies. Unfortunately Renault’s latest strategy is to focus on NCM battery chemistry alone.

Fortunately, SVOLT already signed battery supply contracts with another European carmaker (Stellantis), so the next generation of the Peugeot e-208, might get such battery pack in a not so distant future.

 

If I was in charge of SVOLT I would try to put a 55-60 kWh battery in a BYD Dolphin just to show off the superiority of my battery technology…

Anyway, by next year BYD will probably release a more energy dense BYD Blade battery, so it can remain the best battery pack available for electric cars.

 

 

More info:

https://www.d1ev.com/news/qiye/161780

Pedro Lima

My interest in electric transportation is mostly political. I’m tired of coups and wars for oil. My expectation is that the adoption of electric transportation will be a factor for peace and democracy all over the world.

41 Responses

  1. Benedetto says:

    My favourite EV website, the only one that goes deep into battery tech.

    Glad I activated the notifications.

    Always great interesting content.

  2. Frederico Matias says:

    On that 100s you would get only 3,2×100=320volts right?.. wouldn’t you need some additional cells to make it at least 400v?

    • Pedro Lima says:

      Most EV (NCM) battery packs have a 96s configuration with a nominal voltage of 350 V (96 x 3,65 V) and charge up to 400 V.

      But it doesn’t have to be this way, some EV packs have lower nominal voltages, while others have higher.

      For example, the first generation Volkswagen e-Golf had a battery with 264 cells in a 88s3p configuration (around 321 V).

      Of course you can have a LFP battery pack in a 110s1p configuration to get a more mainstream nominal voltage of 352 V (110 x 3,2 V).

      Anything between 100 and 110 cells in series will be inside the expected voltage range for a LFP EV battery pack.

  3. Flo says:

    Is Svolt even bringing their LFP cells to Europe? I thought, they were focusing on NMX here, see https://svolt-eu.com/en/svolt-and-stellantis-announce-battery-partnership/

    My bet would be on BMW and the new China build MINI-E, which will be produced in cooperation with Great Wall starting in 2023…

  4. sola says:

    “Right now, the BYD Blade Battery only reaches 150 Wh/kg at the pack level.”

    Which is already very competitive with Tesla NCA, if true (sounds a bit high though, what is the cell level density for this?).

  5. yoyo says:

    Darwin will come knocking for the EU business that don’t adapt to the correct chemistries, correct prices and correct models…
    Tesla and the Chinese should thank them…

    Over here at comedy central there is no telling if our clown in the little white play house will block the Chinese to support the US unions…
    This clown hates Tesla and launched the largest oil and gas leasing in US history two days after starting that America is going green at COP26…
    Or copout 26 for that many years of failure and fraud…

    Or a these ladies from Australia state…
    And ditto for the US .
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QIyKmqEdgR4

    • Pedro Lima says:

      That video is both funny and depressing at the same time.

      Billionaires run our governments and mainstream media. Politicians in power are just puppets.

      Institutions that concentrate a lot of power tend to get easily corrupted. The US and EU should be dismantled and their states regain independence.

      Countries should cooperate through confederations (voluntary association), not federations (authoritarian by nature).

      The only country right now that seems decent is New Zealand.

      By the way do you watch “The Jimmy Dore Show” on YouTube? Nowadays it seems the only media channel that worth watching for real news from the US. It seems that only comedians are allowed to speak the truth…

      https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3M7l8ved_rYQ45AVzS0RGA

      • Benedetto says:

        “The US and EU should be dismantled and their states regain independence.”

        Pedro,

        When comes to EV tech I admire you.
        When comes to politics I’m horrified by your ideas, no offense intended at all.

        But I am, horrified, Independence is just another name for autarchy.

        You are defending nationalism.

        “EU should be dismantled” as a fellow Italian and European I say : “hopefully not”, cooperation is way better than competition between nations and prevents war.

        To cooperate is to unite and to unite is to cooperate.

        Anything going in the opposite direction is to me totally wrong and I’ll always fight for a more united, cooperating, world.

        I’m totally against political fragmentation.

        It is just my opinion of course but I had to write it, otherwise you may think that all the readers automatically agree with and share your political vision.

        Sorry, but I don’t. At all.

        It is not a criticism, luckily for us you’re not the president of any country (again, no offense intended at all, but just the idea is frightening), it is just for you to know.

        • Pedro Lima says:

          Hi Benedetto. I welcome different opinions, you’re always welcome to contradict me here. Only when we listen to different opinions we can evolve and test our believes. The only people that I refuse to have a conversation with are hateful people, like racists and fascists.

          We can discuss politics politely and learn from each other. Only the elites don’t want the plebs to talk about politics or religion, otherwise they might start questioning the status quo.

          When I was graduating in Sociology I had to read many different authors, from Karl Marx to Adam Smith. That helped me to form my own opinions and start questioning the status quo.

          I consider myself a libertarian socialist. By socialism I don’t mean big governments, I just believe in democracy everywhere, even at the workplace, where workers should own the means of production – like in cooperatives. Big vertical corporations/institutions always generate unfair inequality and produce tyrants.

          Right now the notion of democracy is only applied to politics, not economy. Our economy is extremely unfair and unbalanced. I want democracy not only in politics but also in economy.

          Big countries always mean huge armies and war.

          Have you noticed that the USA is always at war?

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States

          While I criticize Europe a lot, I recognize this is still the best place to live. We still have some kind of social democracy, but I don’t know for how long.

          People in the US are paying taxes without getting nothing in return in terms of healthcare, safety or education. Most of their taxes are used to send poor people to kill other poor people in remotes areas for profit of the 0,1 %.

          This is also why I think that without fossil companies the world will become much safer. Right now most wars are fought for oil to enrich corporate donors, disguised as wars for “democracy”.

          • Frederico Matias says:

            “This is also why I think that without fossil companies the world will become much safer. Right now most wars are fought for oil to enrich corporate donors, disguised as wars for “democracy”.”

            Unfortunately there will always be the next big thing after gold, diamants, oil, transportation….just another dependency….at the moment believe the biggest world dependency is probably not only oil but manufacturing as a big part of world manufacturing is concentrated in a small minority of states (PRC, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodja, India) concentrated geographically wise….

            Regarding politics… i just see it as politicians looking only at their bellybuttons…from left to right wing…. there is unfortunately very few people with power with a real sense of besy for the community (society).

            Just my 2 cents

          • Pedro Lima says:

            I fear that the next big wars will be for clean water and air.

          • Benedetto says:

            I get your point, but big isn’t necessarily bad, it is a bias, an understandable bias since the few big countries we have on our planet or not necessarily good, I also criticise US about several things, believe me, but I still prefer being somehow influenced by the American democracy over the Chinese dictatorship (another example of “bad” big country).

            To me, the Chinese dictatorship (not the country per se) is the evil materialized.

            Still, in order to switch the world to an electrical mobility I am being realistic and accept making business with the devil.

            That’s realpolitik. That’s being realistic, we need the Chinese for this transition, for now.

            What about Canada? Big country but not so bad. Europe can be the first “good” big “country”. You shouldn’t be so pessimistic nor fatalistic. So? Have I succeed in making you having some doubts about the cons of being “devided”?

            Devided we are more easily ruled by other big nations.

            Also, as a proletarian (I’m centrist but I know my background), I hated for so long our dependence from oil, I hated OPEC that harmed us western working poors so much, for transportation, for goods (when the price of oil rises so does the goods transported).

            That’s the kind of independence I’m happy to talk about, energetic independence.

            That’s why I also have a lot of faith in renewable energies, we have plenty of sun in southern Europe to power the whole continent!

            No more oil dependence and blackmail by the oil countries.

            But again, we need more cooperation, more union, nor less, of course the quality and the terms of the union do matter a lot.

            Apes, together, strong ; )

          • Pedro Lima says:

            I think that your view about the US is very naive and Eurocentric. I understand it, because the US helped us in our darkest moments to win the war against fascism, but so did Stalin and yet we all agree that Stalinism was horrible.

            However, people in Latin America, Africa and Asia don’t have that romanticized perspective of US foreign policy – as we privileged white Europeans have.

            https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/05/us-threat-democracy-russia-china-global-poll

            CIA backs regime changes to install dictators regularly, only to benefit the billionaire class.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change

            US foreign policy doesn’t care about human rights. Saudi Arabia that stones people to death for apostasy and murders journalists is a good old pal of the US. As a leftist atheist I would be tortured and killed in that country.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RmEsPE7iq0

            While I hate the lack of democracy in China and Russia, I don’t see them as threats to world peace yet, as much as the USA is.

            However, there is a rising of the billionaire class in China and that worries me a lot. If China starts losing its economic power, it might be willing to try imperialism.

            We can agree on that last statement. Apes, together, strong!

          • Benedetto says:

            Maybe I am naive, or just egoistic because I don’t really care about US foreign policy towards countries outside Europe.

            Or maybe I’m just OK with what US is doing.

            Apart from Italian and english I’m also fluent in spanish, I have dear friends from Venezuela that escaped and now live here in Italy. You can guess what I think about Maduro, Latin American populist socialism and so on.

            Maybe we’re both naive ; )

            To resume my political thinking :

            Free market with a good welfare system to protect workers from the problems caused by (unavoidable) automation. I’ve red Rifkin long ago, so I’m also a big fan of the universal basic income.

            Latin American socialist populists just keep nationalizing everything (I don’t even want to mention fake elections, total rape of democracy, political killings and so on), destroying the economy. I am for capitalism and competition, with some limitations.

            But I already imagine that you would say that I am wrong and those are wonderful democracies (Venezuela, Bolivia and so on).

            And the arguments that you would write are arguments that I’ve already read, and read and read, again and again.

            So that’s no point me trying to convince you, neither you explaining to me why I am wrong, because I’m not, and nothing will make me change opinion, luckily.

            I value my time, and also yours, don’t waste it to persuade me into views I’m strongly against since so long ; )

            Let’s just agree that we desagree.

            We both care a lot about the transition to electric mobility though, even though for different reasons.

            As for me, it is more about saving the planet, breathing better air and stop oil dependence.

            Those are my motives.

            To you, is more a political motivation, and I guess that you also care about the environment of course.

            At the end of the journey our motivation doesn’t really matter, the important thing is the goal.

            Allow me to apologize to have dragged you into this conversation, I was impulsive, I can’t hold expressing my opinion, too often.

            But I’m not a fool and I can recognise when I cannot convince my interlocutor.

            Looking forward to the next post, as always.

          • Pedro Lima says:

            No problem mate. You’re always welcome to share your opinions in here.

            I truly value your comments, especially when we don’t agree 😉

            What I like the most about the comment section on this website is that we have smart people that can disagree sometimes and yet are polite and respect each other. I hate toxic comment sections where people offend who thinks differently.

      • yoyo says:

        Hi…

        I have not listed to him or heard of him (I will give him a listen) as I generally avoid real news (aside from cars) in an effort to keep sane as the US is a demonocracy and I am surrounded and out numbered by mindless voters of the two party us vs them system which keeps people from thinking and only follow their party
        George Washington even warned the country about political parties 200 years ago and in the US it is deepening…
        https://www.unitedvoice.com/george-washingtons-warning-against-political-parties/
        Those ladies have another funny video of Australia two party system which kinda mirrors the US sadly enough again…
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bleyX4oMCgM

        Largely agree with what you are saying and America is spiraling in the wrong direction…
        Yes I have noticed the US is always at war as that is what Empires do and the list of US war involvement is not even remotely close to all we have done (hello CIA and NSA covert ops) and also hidden behind the scenes…
        Like Hawaii which was an unwilling volunteer in joining the US as those ladies point out…
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfAiB2ZoRhM

        America did not become the richest most powerful nation on earth because it is full of or run by good people 🙁
        But America does have the greatest group psychology and propaganda machine the world has ever seen and doesn’t even realize… it is called Hollywood and its reach across the world is mind boggling…

        • Pedro Lima says:

          Indeed, mainstream media and Hollywood are responsible for people to believe that empires fight wars for peace and democracy.

          Another example of the power that Hollywood has, is that it popularized smoking very quickly. We all remember that all the cool dudes in movies smoked and independent women had to smoke too.

  6. chai says:

    I read Chinese news that the reason why Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea did not build LFP plants is not patents and technology, but their lack of phosphate rock resources and phosphate rock refining plants. In addition, most cobalt and nickel recovery plants have been established in Europe, which makes the investment cost of LFP very high. This also explains why LFP battery manufacturers have invested in China’s phosphate rock cities. This is the main reason why China monopolizes LFP batteries.

  7. Rodri says:

    SVOLT is building two cell factories in Germany plus a cathode manufacturing plant. Maybe LFP?

    https://www.electrive.com/2020/11/17/svolt-to-build-24-gwh-battery-factory-in-german-saarland/

    • Pedro Lima says:

      Could be.

      CATL is also about to start battery cell production in Germany. Hopefully LFP…

      • Pedro Alberto Ribas Ventura says:

        I like lfp but maybe the difference is not crazy high when we get to pack level with heating and etc, Renault will be at 85$ cell level and 100$ pack in 2024,

  8. Famlin says:

    Good to see another LFP, another prismatic (blade) battery. 185 Wh/kg is excellent for LFP.
    I guess the pouch will slowly give way to prismatic. Hope GM makes the switch.

    Meanwhile 325.646 plugins were sold in China in 2021-10. A record high considering the fact that many Teslas were exported with only a small %age sold in local market.
    https://cleantechnica.com/2021/11/24/16-plugin-vehicle-share-in-chinese-auto-market/

    • Pedro Lima says:

      Indeed. I don’t see much future for pouch cells either.

      CTP (cell-to-pack) battery packs made with long prismatic cells is the way to go.

  9. Maximilian Holland says:

    Great work by S-Volt. Anything near (or over) 160 Wh/kg at pack level is more-than-enough for most road transport applications.

    Very positive to see several large players now pushing to have the best LFP technology, continuously improving. Thanks Pedro!

    • Pedro Lima says:

      Indeed.

      Next step: sodium-ion long prismatic battery cells.

      • Pedro Alberto Ribas Ventura says:

        If they can make it 200wh/kg it’s probably a end game in terms of pricing, all thing’s being equal in terms of cycle life/cold behavior vs lfp

  10. Hans Marius says:

    Nice, thank you Pedro.

    Could you please write some kind of comparison between LFP and NCMA sometime?

Leave a Reply to Pedro Lima Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *