One way to gauge how serious an automaker is about electrification is to consider whether it’s securing supplies of the raw materials that will be required to build large quantities of EVs (as opposed to just issuing press releases about EVs). The US Inflation Reduction Act, which includes strong incentives to use raw materials sourced… Read more »
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Piedmont Lithium and partner Sayona to provide lithium to LG Chem and Tesla from Quebec mines
Lithium producers are hustling to establish production in North America, and that’s a positive thing. However, it’s not going to happen at Silicon Valley speed. The mining industry has its own complex product cycles, and its own terminology, complete with plenty of acronyms. Piedmont Lithium’s joint venture partner, Sayona Mining, has released a definitive feasibility… Read more »
EPA seeks public comments on costs and availability of electric trucks and infrastructure
The EPA is in the process of developing funding programs for electric trucks and charging infrastructure under the Inflation Reduction Act. To guide its efforts as it finalizes what is sure to be a complex set of programs and regulations, the agency is asking for public input about the availability of zero-emission technologies in the… Read more »
SK On partners with Westwater Resources to develop anode materials in US
South Korean battery manufacturer SK On has signed a joint development agreement (JDA) with US graphite company Westwater Resources (NYSE: WWR) as part of efforts to strengthen its battery raw material supply chain in North America. Under the agreement, the two companies will work together to develop environmentally responsible anode materials tailored for SK On… Read more »
Aqua Metals produces high-purity lithium hydroxide directly from recycled Li-ion batteries
Battery recycler Aqua Metals has demonstrated the recovery of high-purity lithium hydroxide from lithium-ion battery black mass at the company’s Li AquaRefining recycling facility in Nevada. “The production and availability of the first recycled lithium hydroxide at scale will help close the supply chain loop for critical battery metals in America, paving the way for… Read more »
Automakers are shifting battery plant plans from Europe to the US. Does the European Commission have a solution?
Events in the EV industry are moving so fast that, even with the best will in the world, we journalists can publish things that turn out to be out of date or just plain wrong—when we do, a correction and a mea culpa are in order. In my latest Charging Forward column, which appears in… Read more »
US Postal Service finally places an order for EVs—but there’s a catch
After a two-year campaign to avoid electrifying its fleet, the US Postal Service has announced plans to do what it should have done in 2021. The agency will purchase 9,250 off-the-shelf Ford E-Transits as a first batch of replacements for its 30-year-old Grumman LLV delivery vehicles. Delivery of the EVs is expected to begin this… Read more »
Ford to build new LFP battery plant in Michigan
Ford plans to invest $3.5 billion to build an LFP battery plant in Marshall, Michigan. BlueOval Battery Park Michigan will initially employ 2,500 people when production begins in 2026. The automaker will offer LFP (lithium iron phosphate) as a second battery chemistry option in addition to NCM (nickel cobalt manganese), allowing customers to choose an… Read more »
Redwood Materials to receive $2-billion DOE loan, begins production of anode foil
Redwood Materials, the battery recycling firm headed by Tesla alum JB Straubel, has received conditional commitment for a $2-billion loan from the DOE’s Loan Program Office as part of the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM). Redwood will draw upon this financing in tranches to support the phased construction and expansion of its battery… Read more »
This provision of the IRA could deliver much bigger results than the EV tax credits
The so-called Inflation Reduction Act includes a long list of measures intended to promote e-mobility and renewable energy. The one that’s gotten the most press is the revamped system of tax credits for EV purchases—and naturally so, because that’s the measure that most drivers can see benefitting them directly. However, as John Voelcker writes in… Read more »