In 2019, over 59,000 tons of nickel and 14,400 tons of cobalt were deployed globally in passenger EV batteries, a one-year increase of 39% and 34%, respectively, according to data from Adamas Intelligence’s EV Battery Capacity and Battery Metals Tracker. Panasonic used 51% of the global market share of nickel (down from 56% in 2018),… Read more »
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Tesla to reduce operations in Nevada, build ventilators in Buffalo
Tesla plans to drastically reduce staffing at its Nevada Gigafactory due to the coronavirus crisis, the local county manager said on Thursday. “Tesla has informed us that the Gigafactory in Storey County is reducing on-site staff by roughly 75% in the coming days,” Austin Osborne said in a post on the county’s web site. A… Read more »
Does Tesla have a game-changing new battery cell in the pipeline?
There’s little dispute that Tesla has a substantial head start in terms of battery tech vis a vis the legacy automakers. Now Electrek has reported that Tesla has a secret project called “Roadrunner” that could soon enable the company to produce much cheaper battery cells on a massive scale. For some time, it’s been apparent… Read more »
Tesla to buy batteries from CATL for China market
Recently, Tesla has indicated that it plans to diversify its battery supply for the Asian market, moving away from its near-total reliance on Panasonic. Now Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), China’s largest EV battery-maker, has confirmed the signing of a two-year supplier agreement with Tesla. The agreement does not specify the volume of cells to be… Read more »
Altair adds virtual battery software to Hyperworks simulation platform
Software specialist Altair has added a new battery simulation software, Sendyne’s CellMod Virtual Battery, to the Altair Partner Alliance (APA), its suite of 3rd-party software products available to customers of its Hyperworks product simulation platform. CellMod is a virtual lithium-ion battery that can predict cell and pack behavior, including thermal behavior It accepts inputs including… Read more »
Tesla’s acquisition of battery manufacturer Hibar points to new plans to build battery cells
Tesla has quietly acquired Ontario-based Hibar Systems, which specializes in battery manufacturing. The California carmaker has made no official announcement, but Electric Autonomy Canada learned from federal lobby registration documents that Hibar became a subsidiary of Tesla sometime between July and October. Hibar Systems was founded in the early 1970s to make small cell batteries,… Read more »
Fraunhofer’s dry coating process for electrodes could make cell production in Europe economical
Researchers at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS have developed a new battery cell production process that coats electrodes with a dry film instead of liquid chemicals. This simplified process saves energy and eliminates toxic solvents. The Fraunhofer researchers, with colleagues from Samsung, describe their findings in a new paper, “Overcoming binder… Read more »
Toyota accelerates its electrification plans, teases six new EVs
EV advocates have long been puzzled by the policies of Toyota. The company that initiated vehicle electrification in 1997 with the Prius, and that currently makes the second-best-selling plug-in vehicle in the US (the Prius Prime) has consistently dismissed the benefits of pure EVs, insisting that hybrids are superior, and diverting resources to fuel cell… Read more »
Battery testing start-up Novonix has spun off PUREgraphite to manufacture anode material in the US
Batteries are ubiquitous in our modern lives. Take a look around you and count how many items need be plugged in and recharged. If you’re at your desk, the answer might be four or five. If you’re out for a run, perhaps two or three. If you’re in a garage, there may only be one,… Read more »
Maxwell’s Teflon-fibrilizing electrode process could save Tesla big bucks on battery manufacture
Tesla has completed the acquisition of Maxwell Technologies, a company that’s known for its pioneering work with supercapacitors. However, Electrek’s Fred Lambert and others have noted that Tesla’s interest in Maxwell probably has less to do with supercapacitors than with the company’s “dry electrode” technology. Randy Carlson, in an article posted on Seeking Alpha, provides… Read more »