Tianqi Lithium Corporation(002466) on January 11, it was announced that the joint-stock company SES holdings PTE. Ltd (hereinafter referred to as SES) received a notice on January 10 that its business merger with Ivanhoe capital acquisition Corp (NYSE: Ivan, Ivanhoe capital acquisition company, hereinafter referred to as Ivanhoe) has been approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
It is reported that the business merger is expected to be completed at the same time as the private placement and non-public offering of common shares of about US $275 million. The parties expect that the class a common shares and warrants of the merged company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock codes “SES” and “sesw”, respectively.
Lithium metal batteries and solid-state batteries have always been regarded as challengers of liquid lithium-ion batteries, with stronger safety and stability. Weilai, Ganfeng Lithium Co.Ltd(002460) and other enterprises have already laid out their layout, and Tianqi Lithium Corporation(002466) will also take advantage of SES listing to seize the first opportunity in the lithium metal battery market.
quick listing by spac
Statistics show that SES, the full name of solid energy system, is a manufacturer of hybrid lithium metal batteries for electric vehicles, while Ivanhoe is a publicly listed special purpose acquisition company. In July 2021, SES announced its merger with Ivanhoe and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the help of SPAC mode. Ivanhoe will hold an extraordinary general meeting on February 1, 2022 Eastern time to consider the business merger between the two sides. SES will be officially listed after it is considered and approved by the extraordinary general meeting.
It is understood that spac usually refers to a “special purpose company” with only cash and no business that directly applies for listing. Its sponsors promise to find one or more non listed companies with high growth and development prospects (hereinafter referred to as the target enterprise) after listing, combine them with the funds raised by listing, and transfer spac’s cash and listing status to the target enterprise, Finally, the target enterprise can obtain financing and go public.
The announcement said that the merger of SES and Ivanhoe in the business field will create better conditions for them to implement longer-term strategic planning in the future, so as to further accelerate the commercialization process of lithium metal batteries and lay a solid foundation for their market development and development in relevant business fields.
It is worth noting that the investors of SES include general motors, Hyundai Motor, Kia, Geely Holding Group, SAIC, Tianqi Lithium Corporation(002466) , Foxconn, etc. Lithium giant Tianqi Lithium Corporation(002466) holds shares in SES, accounting for 9.34% of its total share capital before issuance, which also means that Tianqi Lithium Corporation(002466) takes the lead in the field of metal lithium batteries by SES.
lithium metal battery manufacturer with the largest monomer capacity
In November 2021, SES released a lithium metal battery called Apollo, which shocked the whole lithium battery industry. It is reported that the capacity of Apollo lithium metal battery is 107ah, the weight is only 0.982kg, and the energy density is 417wh / kg and 935wh / L. it is said that it is the world’s first public display of single lithium metal battery exceeding 100Ah, and it is also known that the single lithium metal battery with the largest capacity in the world.
Industry insiders pointed out that at this stage, the energy density of ternary lithium battery used in electric vehicles is generally about 160wh / kg, and only a small amount has exceeded 200wh / kg Apollo lithium metal battery has made great technological breakthroughs in energy density and volume.
According to Hu Qichao, founder and CEO of SES, the Apollo battery showed extremely high capacity and energy density after 10 hours, 3 hours and 1 hour discharge tests at room temperature. Hu Qichao said that from the data, the performance of hybrid lithium metal batteries is far better than that of solid-state batteries.
SES said that lithium metal batteries use the same materials on the cathode and diaphragm as lithium-ion batteries. However, on the negative electrode, lithium metal batteries use special electrolyte and lithium metal. Compared with lithium-ion battery, hybrid lithium metal battery technology can not only improve energy density, but also improve safety.
SES expects to provide lithium metal a sample of electric vehicles in 2022, C sample in 2024 and put into operation in 2025.
several companies are trying to get ahead of others
Solid state batteries and metal lithium batteries are regarded as challengers of liquid lithium-ion batteries. The rapid development of the new energy vehicle market has driven the increase in the demand for lithium batteries. Many companies have long made layout in solid-state battery and metal lithium battery tracks, and strive to seize the first opportunity.
Weilai once released a 150kwh solid-state battery pack product with a single energy density of 360wh / kg at the “2020 NiO days” activity, and announced that the solid-state battery will be assembled on its mass production vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2022. It is understood that the solid-state lithium battery technology uses the glass compound made of lithium and sodium as the conductive material to replace the previous liquid electrolyte of lithium battery, and there is no need for diaphragm at the same time.
Another giant of “lithium mine giants” Ganfeng Lithium Co.Ltd(002460) also has a layout in solid-state batteries. China Securities News · China Securities Taurus reporter learned exclusively from Ganfeng Lithium Co.Ltd(002460) that on December 10, 2021, the first Dongfeng E70 equipped with Ganfeng mixed solid-liquid lithium-ion battery was tested in Xinyu, Jiangxi Province. It is expected that the model will be delivered before the Spring Festival in 2022. At present, Ganfeng lithium battery, a subsidiary of Ganfeng Lithium Co.Ltd(002460) , has built a 0.3gwh mixed solid-liquid lithium ion battery production line and put it into use. It has mass production capacity and is constantly improving its production capacity.
Ganfeng Lithium Co.Ltd(002460) the relevant person in charge said that the company has realized the loading of mixed solid-liquid lithium-ion battery based on flexible solid-state diaphragm. On the basis of excellent electrochemical performance, the battery can pass abuse tests higher than the national standard, including acupuncture, extrusion, overcharge and high-temperature heat box.
China Securities Co.Ltd(601066) indicates that the Apollo lithium metal battery of SES adopts composite polymer coating, but it is not an all solid-state battery, which does not affect the use of diaphragm. At present, the solid-state battery companies with mass production schedule are semi-solid products. There are many difficulties in mass production of all solid-state batteries, and there are still many problems to be solved, such as interface conductivity, battery consistency and so on.
(source: China Securities Journal)
