The aerogel felt can be made into various composite products, which can be used for the power battery of new energy vehicles and the fire insulation system of the whole vehicle. With the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry, the thermal safety of the power battery has attracted the attention of relevant departments: high temperature, overcharge, internal short circuit and mechanical damage may cause the thermal runaway of the power battery pack, causing fire and even explosion, threatening the safety of drivers and passengers.

In May 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the Safety Requirements for Power Batteries for Electric Vehicles, which proposed that after the thermal runaway of the battery cell, the battery system should not fire or explode within 5 minutes, providing time for the safe escape of passengers. The battery factory and the main engine factory generally use fireproof and thermal insulation materials between the cells and the upper cover of the module and the PACK to delay or prevent the thermal diffusion of the battery pack and the spread of the flame.

At present, the commonly used fire insulation materials include: glass fiber cotton, aluminum silicate cotton, composite heat insulation board, etc. However, the traditional fireproof and thermal insulation materials have many defects, such as high thermal conductivity, large thickness, general fireproof and waterproof performance, and fast attenuation of thermal insulation performance. According to the paper of University of Science and Technology of China, "Silica aerogel and its application progress in the field of thermal insulation": compared with traditional thermal insulation materials, silica aerogel gel only needs 1/5~1/3 of the thickness to achieve the same thermal insulation effect, saving more space for power batteries and vehicles.

Figure 1 Aerogel composite products can be used for fire and heat insulation of power batteries

Figure 2 Aerogel products can be used for fire and heat insulation system of new energy vehicles

Table 1 Aerogel felt can be made into various composite products, which can be used in the fire and heat insulation system of new energy vehicle core modules, PACK and the whole vehicle

Price: According to the 2021 annual report issued by Aspen Aerogel, a leading global aerogel enterprise, the average sales price of Aspen Aerogel gel aerogel products in 2021 will be about 3.46 dollars per square foot. If 1 square meter=10.7639 square feet, the average sales price of Aspen Aerogel gel products in 2021 will be about 240 yuan per square meter.

Consumption: According to the 2022 Aerogel Industry Research Report issued by the National New Material Industry Development Strategy Advisory Committee, an average of 2-5 square meters of aerogel composite materials are required for each new energy vehicle. If the median value is 3 square meters per vehicle, the value of aerogel products in new energy vehicles is about 720 yuan per vehicle.

Demand: According to Wind statistics, the domestic production of new energy vehicles will be about 7.219 million in 2022. If the penetration rate of aerogel products in the domestic new energy vehicle field is assumed to be 10% in 2022, the demand for aerogel products in the domestic new energy vehicle industry will be about 3.25 million square meters in 2022, and the market size will be about 780 million yuan.

According to the prediction of the global new energy network, the sales volume of new energy vehicles in China is expected to reach 12 million in 2025. If the penetration rate of aerogel products in the domestic new energy vehicle field is increased to 50% in 2025, the demand for aerogel products in the domestic new energy vehicle industry will grow to 18 million square meters in 2025, and the market size will reach 4.32 billion yuan.

Table 2 Taking 2025 as an example, the increase of the penetration rate of aerogel products in the domestic new energy vehicle field will drive the rapid growth of its market scale