Dongfeng Motors delivers its first 50 solid-state-battery EVs

Dongfeng Motor, a Chinese automaker, announced today that the company has delivered 50 of its first electric vehicles (EVs), equipped with solid-state lithium batteries. These vehicles were jointly developed by Ganfeng Lithium in Xinyu, Jiangxi province.

According to Dongfeng, these E70 vehicles will be used in demonstrations in Jiangxi’s cab market in Jiangzhou, Guangzhou, and Zhejiang. Ganfeng Lithium is the largest lithium producer in the world, with a solid-state cell that powers the EV.

According to Dongfeng, the battery is made from solid-state flexible diaphragm technology. The individual cells have passed puncture, 50 percent crush deformation, and were subjected to hotbox conditions at 180 degrees Celsius without any abnormalities.

According to the company, the battery module is made from aluminum alloy with high-precision seam welding technology. It achieves a pack efficiency greater than 86 percent.

Dongfeng didn’t announce the model’s range or the energy density.

Ganfeng Lithium, which is a solid-liquid hybrid lithium-ion battery manufacturer, had in December announced that the battery would be its first-generation solid-state battery.

The battery uses graphite as the negative electrode and an oxide electrolyte. The diaphragm is present, but it uses Ganfeng Lithium’s solid electrolyte diaphragm.

Ganfeng Lithium said that it is developing a second-generation all-solid-state battery with a higher energy density than 360Wh/kg. However, they did not mention the energy density for the current generation.

Ganfeng Lithium is able to operate a battery production line with high volume production. It currently produces 0.3 GWh of lithium and it will increase in the future, as previously stated.

Ganfeng Lithium, a Chinese lithium producer, announced that it had started up its 10 GWh/year lithium battery project in Xinyu on January 22nd. It includes a hard shell cell production line for lithium iron phosphate square, a soft-pack cell production line, and a solid-state cell production line.

Dongfeng began to set up its solid-state battery project in 2018. In July 2018, it began working with Ganfeng lithium on the development and production of first-generation solid-state batteries.

Dongfeng and Ganfeng Lithium signed a strategic partnership agreement in June 2021 to establish a demonstration project for solid-state batteries.

The Dongfeng E70 model is primarily targeted at the taxi market. It sold more than 35,000 units last year.