Q&A with MP Materials’ Matt Sloustcher. There’s much hand-wringing in the press these days about battery raw materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel. However, save some of your anxiety for rare earth materials. These elements (which are not particularly rare, but seemed so to the scientists who named them back in the 18th century)… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "cobalt"
GM says equipping the next-gen Chevy Bolt EV with LFP batteries will save billions
EV enthusiasts were disappointed at GM’s decision to discontinue the popular (if a bit dull) Chevy Bolt EV last year. In hindsight, the move may have been premature—the new Ultium EVs that were supposed to replace the Bolt in GM’s lineup have been delayed, causing the company to post embarrassingly low EV sales figures for… Read more »
Stellantis Ventures invests in Tiamat’s sodium-ion battery technology
Stellantis Ventures has made a strategic investment in France-based sodium-ion battery developer Tiamat. Tiamat says its sodium-ion technology is lithium- and cobalt-free and cheaper per kilowatt hour (kWh) when compared with lithium-ion batteries. The wide availability of sodium boosts sustainability and material sovereignty. Tiamat will use the new funding to start construction of a sodium-ion… Read more »
Layered oxide cathode could make sodium-ion batteries an attractive option for EVs
Researchers at the US Department of Energy (DOE)’s Argonne National Laboratory have invented and patented a new battery cathode material that replaces lithium ions with sodium and could be significantly cheaper. The research team has developed a layered oxide cathode for sodium-ion batteries. A layered sodium nickel-manganese-iron (NMF) oxide cathode efficiently inserts and extracts sodium,… Read more »
2024 Dodge Charger Daytona: the ‘Brotherhood of Muscle’ goes electric
The Charger sedan and Challenger coupe exuded testosterone, courtesy of snarling V-8s. Dodge says the EVs that replace them will be just as noisy. The 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona is a Detroit anomaly: it’s a passenger car in an age of trucks and SUVs, it’s battery-electric when U.S. makers seem to be in an EV… Read more »
LFP batteries responsible for 36% of global EV graphite demand
According to Adamas Intelligence, 493,472 tons of graphite were deployed globally in the batteries of all newly marketed passenger EVs and hybrids from January to October 2023, up 45% or 153,034 tons from the same period in 2022. Over the same period, passenger EV unit sales rose 33% and sales-weighted average battery capacity in kWh… Read more »
Chinese team uses paired electrolysis to recover spent electrode materials
A team of Chinese researchers have presented a study proposing a paired electrolysis approach to recover spent lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) and lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) electrode materials more efficiently. They published an open-access paper in the RSC journal Green Chemistry. The researchers vacuum-pyrolyzed spent LCO and LFP cathodes to extract active components from aluminum… Read more »
New survey finds myths and misinformation about EVs are deeply embedded
It won’t be news to regular Charged readers that myths and misconceptions about EVs have taken deep root among the populace. When I tell a new acquaintance that I write about EVs, as often as not their reply is some sound bite that could be a direct quote from an oil industry social media feed…. Read more »
How Umicore is ensuring sustainability in the North American EV battery chain
Q&A with Umicore’s Robert Privette Umicore traces its roots to a Belgian mining company formed in 1906. Since then, it has moved on from mining to a variety of high-tech pursuits including refining, recycling and the manufacture of specialized metal products. Today it’s one of Belgium’s largest companies, and has a strong presence in e-mobility,… Read more »
Kinterra’s NiVolt advances battery raw materials facility in Quebec
Kinterra Capital, a Canadian private equity firm, has announced that portfolio company NiVolt Technologies has demonstrated production of high-quality nickel and cobalt products for the battery supply chain. NiVolt has produced mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) containing over 45% nickel plus cobalt with low impurities and is conducting a feasibility study for a Quebec hydrometallurgical facility…. Read more »