Ioniq released on the 23rd by Hyundai Motor Company 5. (Photo = Hyundai Motor Company)
Hyundai Motor Company, which surpasses the’electric vehicle empire’, opens the era of’high nickel batteries’ in earnest with SK Innovation and Chinese CATL. Ionic 5 is produced in the E-GMP (Electric-Global Modular Platform) method, which is Hyundai Motor’s electric vehicle platform. Ionic 5 is produced in a form optimized for electric vehicles from the body to the production method. It is also meaningful in that Hyundai Motor Company is equipped with a’high nickel (battery with a nickel proportion of more than 80%) battery’ for the first time.
On the afternoon of the 23rd, Hyundai Motor Company first unveiled Ionic (IONIQ) 5 through YouTube. The Ioniq 5 is a model that Hyundai Motor Company has launched ambitiously to seize the dominance of the global electric vehicle market. We are interested in whether Hyundai Motor, which has the fourth largest market share in the global electric vehicle market, can increase its market share in the global market, starting with Ioniq 5.
The Ioniq 5 is a remarkably advanced model compared to the previous Ionic model. When fully charged, the Ioniq 5 can reach 410-430 km. The time it takes to charge more than 80% is 18 minutes, reducing the charging time by about half. It can run about 100km on a 5-minute charge.
The driving range of the Ioniq 1st generation is 200km and the 2nd generation is 230km. Compared to the previous model, the mileage has increased by more than 40%. It can go farther than Hyundai’s’big hit’ model Kona Electric.
In terms of performance, it is by far the best among Hyundai Motor’s electric car lineup. The reason why Hyundai Motor Company was able to dramatically improve electric vehicle performance in the Ioniq 5 model is due to the battery.
SK Innovation’s battery cell. (Photo = SK Innovation)
Hyundai Motor Company introduced a high-nickel battery for the first time in the Ioniq 5 model. A high-nickel battery is a battery with a positive electrode material with a nickel ratio of 80% or more. The battery supplied by SK Innovation to the Ioniq 5 model is the NCM 811 series, with nickel, cobalt, and manganese content of ‘8:1:1’.
Typically, the performance of the battery is accomplished through a suitable combination of positive electrode active materials. The more nickel a battery, the more energy it can store. Batteries suitable for electric vehicles are mainly NCM (nickel, cobalt, manganese combination), NCA (nickel, cobalt, aluminum combination), and NCMA (nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum).
The output and capacity of the battery are determined by what active material is used for the positive electrode. Depending on how the active material is blended, the number of stored electrons varies and the capacity and voltage of the battery vary. Nickel is associated with high capacity, and manganese and cobalt are associated with safety. When the content of nickel increases, the number of lithium that can enter the lithium layer increases more than twice as compared to other metals. The higher the nickel specific gravity, the higher the energy density and the better the electric vehicle’s performance.
Comparison of nickel and cobalt prices. (Source = Samsung SDI blog)
High-nickel batteries also have the advantage of lowering production costs. Among battery materials, cobalt is the highest cost. Cobalt accounts for 10-20% of the cathode material, and its cost is higher than that of nickel and manganese combined. It is because of cobalt that cathode materials account for more than 30% of the battery cost. For this reason, lowering the cobalt content can reduce the cost of the battery and can be relatively free from cost fluctuations. One of the reasons consumers hesitate to purchase electric vehicles is price, which is why they can secure price competitiveness.
However, there is a disadvantage that the stability of the battery decreases when the specific gravity of nickel is increased. When high-nickel batteries are exposed to air for an extended period of time, impurities can form and corrode. Lithium remaining in the battery can generate gas and cause an explosion. The high-nickel battery also has a short lifespan due to structural instability.
Battery companies such as SK Innovation and LG Chem developed high-nickel battery technology early, but did not commercialize it. Since last year, sales of electric vehicles surged, and the era of electric vehicles began in earnest, and automakers and battery makers began to commercialize high-nickel batteries.
Hyundai Motor Company has dramatically improved the electric vehicle’s performance with the Ioniq 5. It is unknown whether the battery’s stability has been secured. Earlier, Hyundai Motor Company’s safety issues were raised as Kona Electric’s fire accidents occurred one after another. It is explained that the use of SK Innovation’s battery instead of LG Chem’s battery on the Ioniq 5 is based on safety and brand image.
The automaker industry was concerned that Hyundai Motor’s brand image could be greatly damaged if safety issues arise from the Ioniq 5 model. In electric vehicles, the possibility of fire remains due to structurally unstable problems of secondary batteries. For this reason, it is important to minimize the possibility of fire.
According to SK Innovation, the quality of’Ceramic Coated Separator (CCS)’ has been improved to the next level to minimize the possibility of high nickel fire. The membrane of SK Innovation is equipped with products produced by SK I Technology, an affiliate. CCS is a product with greatly improved heat resistance and penetrability, and there is little risk of fire because short circuit does not occur even when the temperature of the battery increases. It is 4 micrometers thick, which is about 1 in 25 of the hair, and it is said to be excellent in durability.
An official from SK Innovation said, “We secured the safety of high-nickel batteries with our proprietary battery technology, and added the safety of the separator with CCS coating technology.”
The attention of the automaker and the battery industry is drawing attention to whether Hyundai Motor Company will be able to capture both the performance and safety’two rabbits’ of the Ionic 5. Currently, Hyundai-Kia Motors owns about 7% of the global electric vehicle market. After Tesla, Volkswagen and Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi Alliance, it ranks fourth in the world. The gap with the third place is around 1%, but the gap with Volkswagen is about 5% wide.
For this reason, Hyundai needs a’big hit’ model in the global market to raise its share of the electric vehicle market. The Ionic 5 is expected to attract consumers who hesitate to purchase electric vehicles in terms of price and performance. If the individual consumption tax benefits and purchase subsidies are combined, they can be purchased at the end of 30 million won, which is said to be excellent in cost performance. There are two trims for the Ionic 5, with the exclusive price in the early 50 million won range and the prestige in the mid 50 million won range.