Chinese battery manufacturing company Greater Bay Technology (GBT) has successfully converted a lithium-ion battery production line to manufacture its solid-state cells and started production at a commercial scale at its facility in Guangzhou, China. Instead of building an entirely new manufacturing facility, GBT converted a portion of an existing 4 GWh liquid-electrolyte lithium-ion production line to yield an initial 1 GWh of solid-state capacity with 3 GWh more available for future conversion. This set-up can also switch back to liquid cells if required.
To manufacture solid-state battery cells, the company used the liquid precursor injection method which utilises a proprietary organic-inorganic deep-eutectic composite solid electrolyte rather than complex and rigid sulphide-based dry processing techniques. This method offers several potential advantages in the manufacturing process such as lower manufacturing investment, a simpler production process, compatibility with existing equipment, greater production flexibility, and improved contact between the electrolyte and electrodes.
Scaling Production for Electric Mobility
Transferring solid-state battery development to series production for electric vehicles from laboratory tests is still a major challenge. It is important that the company provides quality cells with improved performance and comparable cost while addressing challenges such as interface resistance, material compatibility, and production yields.
The commercial success of this manufacturing process will be determined by production yields, cell durability, development costs, and successful integration into vehicle battery packs.
