교통

추운 기후 전기차가 차량 옵션이 될 수 있을까?

게시일 2025년 1월 14일

업데이트일 2026년 5월 30일

작성자

Jonathan Schramm

Securities.io를 Google의 선호 소스에 추가

전기차 채택률 둔화

Electrification is a trend taking over the world. This is true for EVs, as well as for heating and industrial processes. However, not all is perfect yet, as classical lithium-ion batteries suffer a severe drop in performance in cold temperatures. So, while this is not really an issue in California or China, two hot spots of EV adoption, it can be a serious one in northern latitudes.

이러한 제한에도 불구하고, 노르웨이와 같이 전기차 비중이 높은 국가(전기차 72%, 하이브리드 14%)에서는 전기차 전환에 대한 강한 준비성을 보여주고 있습니다.

출처: Roland Berger

하지만 노르웨이 이웃 국가들의 사례는, 노르웨이와 같은 대규모 보조금이 없으면 해당 지역에서 채택률이 50% 이하에서 정체될 수 있음을 시사합니다.

배터리 시스템이 저온에서 성능을 개선한다면, 해당 지역 및 유사 국가들은 배터리 전기차(BEV) 100% 달성에 가장 먼저 도달할 수 있는 국가가 될 수 있습니다.

지금까지 저온 성능 향상의 주요 기대는 나트륨이온 배터리였으며, 특히 중국 기업 CATL이 이룬 견고한 진전이 있었습니다(해당 보고서는 링크를 따라가세요). 하지만 새로운 개념이 리튬이온 배터리를 특히 저온 환경에 맞게 적응시킬 수 있는 길을 열어줄 수 있습니다.

It was investigated by Chinese researchers at the Donghua University (China), Fudan University, Qingdao University, and Inner Mongolia University. They recently published their result in Angewandte Chemie under the title “Negative Thermal Expansion Behavior Enabling Good Electrochemical-Energy-Storage Performance at Low Temperatures¹”.

리튬이온 배터리의 저온 문제

Lithium-ion batteries are still the most powerful and energy-dense form of batteries available today at the scale required for EVs. This might change in the future with solid-state batteries. Or maybe improved lithium-ion batteries like honeycomb batteries will be as efficient as solid-state technologies.

하지만 두 경우 모두 저온 성능 문제가 지속됩니다. 그 이유는 영하의 온도, 특히 영하에서는 전극 물질 내 리튬 이온의 확산이 느려지기 때문입니다. 현재까지 이는 기술의 근본적인 한계로 여겨져 왔으며, 리튬이온이 저온에서 반응하는 물리학에 의해 좌우됩니다.

The only alternatives in EVs have been to use the battery energy to keep it warm (wasting power) or install large enough battery packs that the range loss is acceptable for the user. At least until now.

음의 열팽창(NTE) 전극

The key concept used by the researchers is to use a characteristic called negative thermal expansion for the electrode material, or NTE. These are materials that expand when they are cooling, going in the opposite direction of most materials, especially metals.

An example in everyday life is water, which expands when freezing, making ice less dense than liquid water.

The tests were conducted using lithium titanium phosphate LiTi2(PO4)3 or “LTP”.

LTP

This material is formed of a crystal structure forming a 3D lattice of TiO6 octahedra and PO4 tetrahedra. This creates an open, flexible structure that contains both “cavities” and “channels,” where lithium ions can lodge.

출처: Angewandte Chemie

냉각되면 결정 구조가 하나의 결정 축을 따라 늘어나며, 이는 산소 원자 사이 거리를 증가시켜 격자 내 공극을 넓히게 됩니다.

The larger space in cold crystals facilitates the storage and transport of the lithium ions.

강력한 저온 성능

The increasing size of the cavities does not fully negate the lower mobility of lithium ions, but it helps a lot. The researchers found that at −10 °C, lithium ions’ diffusion rate was still at 84% of the value obtained at 25 °C. They also tested how efficient & stable such a battery would be.

Electrochemical tests on carbon-coated LTP at −10 °C showed good electrochemical performance with high capacity and a high rate capability. The battery durability was also high, with no significant degradation of retention capacity over 1000 charge/discharge cycles (96.8 % capacity retention).

미래 적용 분야

This new type of electrode will need to be investigated for its potential in custom-built cold-climate EVs.

이는 캐나다, 스칸디나비아, 러시아, 산악 지역 등 혹독한 겨울을 겪는 지역에서 운행해야 하는 전기차에 대한 필수 조건이 될 가능성이 높습니다. 최소한 표준이 되기 위해서는 부유층 운전자를 위한 부가 옵션이 아니라 반드시 필요해야 합니다.

또한 다른 음의 열팽창 전극 물질이 존재하여 더욱 우수한 전기화학적 특성을 보일 가능성도 있습니다. 따라서 이상적인 저온 전극 물질을 찾기 위해서는 추가 연구가 필요할 것으로 보입니다.

In the long run, such technology might also have important applications in space exploration, with vehicles and energy storage systems operating in orbit, the Moon, or Mars likely to require strong performance even in brutally cold environments.

첨단 배터리 기술에 투자하기

Batteries are at the center of the trend of electrification, itself a major multi-trillion-dollar endeavor looking to remove fossil fuels from our power sources.

여러 중개업자를 통해 배터리 관련 기업에 투자할 수 있으며, 여기 securities.io에서 미국USA, 캐나다, 호주, 영국, 및 기타 여러 국가의 최고의 중개업체에 대한 추천을 확인할 수 있습니다.

If you are not interested in picking specific battery companies, you can also look into battery ETFs like Amplify Lithium & Battery Technology ETF (BATT), Global X’s Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT), or the WisdomTree Battery Solutions UCITS ETF (WT ), which will provide a more diversified exposure to capitalize on the growing battery industry.

CATL (300750.SZ)

As discussed, CATL is a technological leader with advanced honeycomb lithium-ion batteries and sodium-ion designs.

The company is the global leader in battery manufacturing, producing more than half of the global battery volume. It is present at every step of the battery manufacturing supply chain.

This is true for lithium-ion batteries, where the company has been a long-established leader for a long time. It is also strong in LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) battery, with the recently announced improved design that can add 600km of range in just 10 minutes. In total the driving range could be above 1,000 km (600 miles), totally removing all “anxiety range” for future EV owners.

In parallel, CATL has also announced in the past impressive progress on many battery types :

출처: CATL

CATL은 중국에서 배터리 재활용 설비에 32억 5천만 달러를 투자했습니다. It has notably achieved a remarkable recovery rate of 99.6% for nickel, cobalt, manganese, and 91% for lithium.

Thanks to its scale, focus, and R&D achievements, CATL is likely to be at the forefront of battery innovation, manufacturing, and recycling.

This makes it a key partner for EV manufacturers, including Tesla (TSLA ), NIO, Ford, Stellantis, etc, with Hyundai recently added to CATL’s growing roster of strategic alliances.

In addition, the lessons learned in one chemistry can be applicable in another. So the discovery discussed in this article could be the origin of surprising combinations, for example, we can imagine a few new ideas:

벌집 구조로 만든 음의 열팽창 전극.
음의 열팽창을 나트륨이온 기술에 적용하여 궁극적인 저온 저항 배터리를 만들기.
CATL의 초안정 유틸리티 규모 배터리에 음의 열팽창을 적용하여 추운 국가들의 전력망 시장을 장악하기.

The economies of scale of already producing half of the world’s batteries are also likely applicable to the whole company, regardless of the specific technology used in an individual product.

따라서 배터리 기술 전반에 대한 진전이 클수록 CATL이 기존 설계에 이를 통합하여 수요를 확대하고, 이는 다시 규모의 경제를 증대시키는 긍정적인 피드백 루프를 형성합니다.

Lastly, investors should be aware of the growing rift between the USA and China, with CATL a potentially collateral victim. It has been added to the US Department of Defense’s Chinese Military Company (CMC) list.

CATL said in a statement that it had never engaged in any military-related business or activities, and that its addition to the CMC list was “a mistake.”

The company noted that it doesn’t expect any substantially adverse impact on its business, and that it was engaging with the US Department of Defense to address the situation, including by legal action if necessary.

Fast Market

This determination doesn’t impose any immediate sanctions on CATL or other companies on the list, but could still impact the stock price and CATL’s future exports to Western markets.

(You can also read our longer report from 2024년 9월, entirely dedicated to CATL, for a deeper dive into the company’s history and technology).

연구 참고문헌:

^{1. Li, Q., Yang, L., Liang, G., Yu, J., Huang, S., Wu, L., Lin, C., & Che, R. (2024). 저온에서 우수한 전기화학 에너지 저장 성능을 가능하게 하는 음의 열팽창 거동. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202419300}