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 »
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CATL’s new 500 Wh/kg battery could enable electrification of passenger aircraft
At this week’s Auto Shanghai, CATL announced a new battery technology that it says offers sufficient energy density to enable the electrification of passenger aircraft. CATL says its new condensed battery will offer specific energy (energy stored per unit of weight) of up to 500 Wh/kg, as well as “a high level of safety,” and… Read more »
Tesla Model Y teardown shows Toyota what it’s up against
The Tesla teardown is a staple of the EV literature. Teardown expert Sandy Munro has taken apart many a Tesla, with highly informative (and entertaining) results. Various legacy automakers have performed their own private teardowns—rumor has it that, when the Model 3 first appeared, a group of German automakers paid an enormous sum to have… Read more »
Tesla to build Semis and expand battery production at Nevada Gigafactory
Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory is quite a place—since its 2014 opening, the company has invested $6.2 billion in the region, and the 5.4-million-square-foot, 11,000-employee facility has produced some 7.3 billion battery cells, 1.5 million battery packs and 3.6 million drive units. Now Tesla has announced plans to invest an additional $3.6 billion, hire 3,000 more team… Read more »
Panasonic Energy constructing EV battery factory in Kansas
Panasonic Energy has begun construction on a facility in De Soto, Kansas, to produce 2170 cylindrical battery cells. The company plans to begin mass production by March 2025 and, after completion of the facility, hopes to maintain annual total production capacity of approximately 30 GWh. Two contractors from the Kansas City area, Emery Sapp &… Read more »
The Tesla Semi is in production at last! Pepsico will get the first deliveries.
The Tesla Semi, an electric Class 8 truck, was hailed as a game-changer when it was unveiled in 2017. However, planned production dates were pushed back repeatedly, and other companies (Kenworth, Freightliner, Volvo) beat Tesla to the market, while the erstwhile EV trend-setter pursued other priorities. Now Tesla has announced that Semi production has begun,… Read more »
BMW says its next-gen cylindrical battery cells will deliver huge performance gains
The BMW Group has confirmed that it will switch from prismatic battery cells to cylindrical cells for its next-gen Neue Klasse [New Class] architecture. The automaker says the new cell format, combined with improved chemistry and a new kind of battery pack, will deliver better performance, lower costs, and a smaller environmental footprint from battery… Read more »
Startup led by Tesla alums aims to build electric RVs
As is the case with a legacy vehicle, towing a trailer with an EV greatly reduces range—as John Voelcker found in his recent test of a Ford F-150 Lightning (see the latest issue of Charged), towing can reduce range by 40% or even more. But what if the trailer had its own electric powertrain? That’s… Read more »
CATL’s new cell-to-pack battery system to be available in 2023
CATL, a Chinese battery supplier, has launched a new cell-to-pack (CTP) battery system, and the company expects it to be available in 2023. The Qilin battery system meets the bollard test standard for safety, and includes NMC cells and an interlayer that the company says provides specific energy up to 255 Wh/kg and a volume… Read more »
Storedot says its silicon-dominant battery cells can last for 1,200 cycles
Israeli battery tech developer StoreDot says its silicon-dominant cells have achieved a lifetime of 1,200 cycles in testing. Using a specially designed testing form factor, StoreDot’s engineers have exceeded 1,200 cycles with cells that are charged to 80% of capacity in 15 minutes, then discharged for one hour. The company says the results were achieved… Read more »