Redwood Materials, the battery recycling venture founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, has signed an agreement to recycle scrap and defective battery cells for Envision AESC, which manufactures batteries for the Nissan LEAF in Smyrna, Tennessee. Recycling batteries is not only environmentally sound, but it may soon become an economic necessity, as demand for… Read more »
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Consortium of auto suppliers launches multi-material EV battery casing project
German engineering firm AZL is joining with an international consortium of automotive suppliers to develop a multi-material battery casing. The 8-month product development will start with an international market analysis and a concept study in which different multi-material component concepts and production scenarios will be developed and evaluated with regard to their costs. Finally, a… Read more »
Li-Cycle recovers usable battery-grade materials from shredded Li-ion batteries
Q&A with CEO Ajay Kochhar It’s usually one of the first objections cited by EV naysayers: batteries can’t or won’t be recycled, and they contain hazardous materials that will end up in landfills. In fact, no such sinister scenario is likely—most of the components of Li-ion batteries are valuable, and it’s quite feasible, technically and economically,… Read more »
DOE issues RFI to strengthen critical battery material supply chains
The DOE has issued a request for information (RFI) on challenges and opportunities in the upstream and midstream critical battery material supply chains. “As the demand for critical materials continues to grow, a secure and domestic upstream supply chain becomes vital,” said Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Daniel R. Simmons. “Innovation in… Read more »
Specialized motor materials and constructions (Part 2)
The previous article in this two-part series looked at specialized materials that are (or will be) used in motors; the focus this time will be on the innovative methods of construction that make motors more suitable for EV traction applications. Separating the wheat from the chaff is especially important here, because hyperbole (and outright fantasy)… Read more »
Thermal conductive materials in electrical insulation
Sponsored by ELANTAS PDG, Inc. Thermal conductive materials are increasingly important in electrical and electronic applications as heat management is critical to improving performance and efficiency of today’s modern equipment. ELANTAS provides an industry-leading, global portfolio of products to manage thermal dissipation in applications as diverse as motor impregnation, component encapsulation, gap fillers and thermal interface… Read more »
Northvolt’s battery recycling program aims to source 50% recycled material by 2030
Swedish battery maker Northvolt is launching a new program, Revolt, that is devoted to recycling lithium-ion batteries. It plans to bring a pilot recycling plant online in Västerås, Sweden, in 2020, next to its existing manufacturing plant. The plant will handle NMC and NCA Li-ion chemistries. It will serve as a platform for developing and… Read more »
Johnson Matthey secures site in Poland to produce eLNO battery cathode materials
UK technology company Johnson Matthey (JM) has secured a site in Poland for production of its battery cathode materials. It has also announced a 10-year agreement with Nemaska Lithium to supply lithium hydroxide for the cathode materials, which it calls eLNO. With these two developments, JM says it’s on track to start commercial production in… Read more »
Ionic Materials emerges as a leader in solid-state batteries by focusing on polymer science
Mike Zimmerman, CEO and founder of Ionic Materials, has this to say about his company: “Ionic will play a major role in the solution to the world’s energy problems.” That’s a pretty bold statement. But then again, Mike Zimmerman is a pretty bold man. An experienced polymer scientist, Zimmerman has worked on a number of… Read more »
Critical Materials Institute manufactures an all-American rare-earth magnet
As rare-earth magnets are used in an increasing number of modern technologies, the ability to produce them domestically could be important for national security. Now the Critical Materials Institute, a DOE Innovation Hub, has fabricated a batch of magnets entirely from domestically sourced and refined rare-earth metals. The Idaho National Laboratory sourced the raw materials… Read more »