The 2026 World Power Battery Conference held its exclusive technical symposium, the Global Advanced Battery Forward-Looking Technology Conference, on September 4th. Organized by the China All-Solid-State Battery Industry-Academia-Research Collaborative Innovation Platform and the Ouyang Minggao Academician Workstation, the event maintained its hallmark of high standards and strong leadership. Centered on the theme of "Frontier Breakthroughs in Advanced Battery Technology Across Full Operating Conditions and Diverse Scenarios," the discussions explored four key directions: whole-process safety, all-climate fast charging, all-solid-state batteries, and full-operating-condition efficiency.

Bringing together over 600 leading corporate experts and top academic figures, the conference continued to offer cutting-edge industry judgments, cementing its status as a barometer for frontier technology in the global power battery sector. The session was moderated by Huang Xuejie, a researcher at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The conference commenced with opening addresses from Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University professor, and Luo Wenquan, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology.

In his speech, Academician Ouyang Minggao highlighted that the role of battery cells in the new energy revolution parallels that of chips in the artificial intelligence era, noting that today's world is driven by the twin engines of the green energy revolution and the intelligent AI revolution. As global leaders, we must accelerate technological breakthroughs with a sense of urgency, continuously creating disruptive new technologies to solidify and expand our technological advantages. The opening ceremony unveiled eight benchmark innovative achievements representing industry-leading technology at an international level, all of which have achieved large-scale industrialization and signify major industry progress.

China's power battery industry maintains its position as the world's largest. Looking toward 2030, industry shipments and scale are poised for further growth, with vast development space and sustained momentum. The industry has reached the highest global development level, possessing the industrial foundation, technological accumulation, and supply chain advantages necessary to lead the world. Moving forward, the sector must strengthen confidence, focus on innovation, continually break through core technologies, improve the industrial ecosystem, and shape industry standards to consolidate its global leadership and drive high-quality development across the global power battery industry.

Multi-Scenario Applications Drive Systematic Advancement

The power battery industry is currently focusing on multi-scenario and full-operating-condition applications, transitioning from single-point breakthroughs to systematic and collaborative innovation. CATL and BYD shared their frontier practices and solutions, addressing key technologies for niche applications and systematic, multi-layered innovation alongside lifecycle ecosystem construction. Wu Kai, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chief Scientist at CATL, stated that the global power battery market has entered the TWh era, with per-kilowatt-hour costs dropping to $100, expanding electrification across diverse applications.

Wu Kai emphasized that different scenarios require tailored technologies—heavy-duty trucks, ships, robots, and eVTOL face distinct challenges including regulatory compliance, reliability, standardization gaps, and thermal safety. He recommended leveraging AI for materials R&D, strengthening cross-sector standard coordination, and fostering a low-carbon industrial loop to facilitate all-scenario electrification. Sun Huajun, CTO of BYD's battery division, noted that the industry has entered deep-water innovation territory where energy density, comprehensive safety, and ultra-fast charging present significant hurdles. He stressed that resolving these challenges requires systematic, multi-layered innovation rather than isolated technical breakthroughs.

Sun Huajun summarized the underlying innovation of the blade battery through three fundamental mindsets: strategic persistence guided by long-termism, systematic thinking for holistic restructuring, and first-principles thinking returning to physical and chemical fundamentals. BYD adheres to the LFP (lithium iron phosphate) route, leveraging the material's inherent safety advantages and relying on abundant domestic phosphorus and iron resources for supply chain security. Innovation spans six dimensions simultaneously—materials, structure, process, system, ecosystem, and AI-driven battery R&D. Technologies like CTP and CTB enable deep integration between batteries and vehicles, while intelligent process control ensures large-scale manufacturing reliability. The company has connected the entire chain from electrochemistry to vehicle integration and charging infrastructure, using AI to reshape the battery development paradigm.

Currently, the second-generation blade battery has overcome flash-charging and low-temperature adaptation challenges, achieving 5-minute fast charging at room temperature and a full charge in 9 minutes. In low-temperature conditions, charging time increases by only 3 minutes, balancing fast-charging performance with battery longevity. The product has passed stringent tests including post-flash-charge nail penetration, multi-cell thermal runaway, and bottom impact tests exceeding national standards. Supported by a "source-prevention-management-control" safety system, it ensures whole-process safety and has been validated through millions of installations. This technology covers passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and energy storage applications, with plans to integrate with a "Flash-Charge China" charging ecosystem to support the new energy industry's growth and offer China's solution for the global energy transition.

Innovative Technology Routes Expand Battery Application Boundaries

The industry continues to focus on performance improvement, safety assurance, and commercial scale-up, with OEMs and battery manufacturers sharing insights on framework building, technology path selection, and forward-looking development. Gu Chunshan, Vice President of Chery Automobile Co Ltd, presented the Rhinoceros Battery's all-scenario safety system. Chery plans battery demand exceeding 300GWh annually by 2030, with cumulative investments surpassing RMB 50 billion. The company has established its own manufacturing base, Deyi Energy, strictly controlling cell quality, and has built a safety protection framework through materials, system structure, and vehicle-cloud coordination covering all extreme conditions.

He Wei, Vice President of EVE Energy Co Ltd, pointed out that under C2V (Cell to Vehicle) integration technology, prismatic LFP batteries have become the market mainstream due to cost and safety advantages. Large cylindrical batteries, characterized by "standardization, zero swelling, and high strength," can be reused across models and scenarios with zero swelling throughout their lifecycle and superior thermal runaway protection. These attributes make them ideal carriers for new materials like high-nickel and high-silicon chemistries. EVE Energy's large cylindrical batteries have been installed in over 150,000 vehicles, with applications expanded to eVTOL and embodied robotics.

Advancing Frontier Engineering: Materials and Solid-State Progress

Addressing core solid-state battery challenges requires coordinated breakthroughs across materials, processes, systems, and standards to steadily advance industrial adoption. Wang Fang, Chief Scientist at the China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co Ltd, noted from a testing and evaluation perspective that while solid-state batteries promise energy density leaps and enhanced safety, they introduce new challenges distinct from liquid batteries, including solid-solid interface contact issues, side reactions, and manufacturing obstacles related to impedance and porosity. However, standardization efforts are progressing, with multiple national standards, industry standards, and international standards advancing steadily to provide scientific evaluation support for all-scenario applications.

Wang Jiantao, Deputy General Manager of Guolian Automotive Power Battery Research Institute Co Ltd, presented the company's solid-state battery efforts. Leveraging national-level R&D platforms, the institute is iterating on core technologies including thick electrode high-rate manufacturing, electrolyte thin-film transfer printing, high-reliability short-circuit prevention, and bidirectional integrated molding. They have completed upgrades to lithium-rich manganese-based cathodes and silicon-based anodes, while advancing sulfide-halide electrolyte engineering. Future efforts will focus on interface challenges and pressure equipment technology to enable high-energy-density solid-state battery industrialization.

Yang Min, Chairman of Sichuan Huayi Qingchuang New Materials Technology Co Ltd and General Manager of Yibin Puhua New Materials Technology Co Ltd, introduced a novel bio-based porous carbon derived from distillers' grains. Through strain engineering and secondary fermentation for bio-chemical pore formation, coupled with biocatalytic enzyme processes, the material achieves 90% high graphitization at 800°C, overcoming the industry challenge of high-temperature graphitization pore closure. The material offers low cost, high strength, and high purity, and has achieved tens-of-tons-scale shipments as a premium porous carbon framework solution for next-generation power batteries.

Roundtable Dialogue: Systematic Innovation and Frontier Breakthroughs in Power Batteries

The roundtable discussion, moderated by Xiao Chengwei, Professor at Hebei University of Technology and Deputy Secretary-General of the China Chemical and Physical Power Sources Association, featured key speakers: Miao Lixiao, General Manager of Changan Automobile's Advanced Battery Research Institute; Yuan Wenjing, Deputy Dean of BAIC Motor's Research Institute; Hou Min, Vice President of Rept Battero Energy Co Ltd; Li Xue, Executive Deputy Dean of the R&D Technology Center of Zhongqi Xinneng Battery Technology Co Ltd; and Qian Yunxian, Vice President of Shenzhen Capchem Technology Co Ltd. Together, they explored collaborative innovation pathways from vehicle application, battery manufacturing, and materials development perspectives.

During the conference, the China All-Solid-State Battery Industry-Academia-Research Collaborative Innovation Platform, together with the Next-Generation Power Battery Intellectual Property Alliance, released the "Forward-Looking Power Battery Technologies and IP Strategies" think tank research report. Now in its fifth consecutive year, the Global Advanced Battery Forward-Looking Technology Conference has become a recognized technology barometer for the industry. This year's session closely aligned with the critical window for high-quality industrial upgrading during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, precisely identifying technology iteration trends and providing an essential exchange platform to help China's power battery industry maintain global leadership and achieve high-quality development.