Rising above the waters of the Mittelland Canal in Wolfsburg, Germany, four iconic smokestacks cut through an otherwise sparse skyline. These are the most recognizable – and among the last – vestiges of the original Volkswagen factory from 1938. Symbolically, however, the smokestacks represent much more than the symbols of a power plant that –… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "cobalt"
New joint venture will produce Li-ion cathode active materials
Chemicals giant BASF and metal oxide specialist Toda Kogyo have agreed to form a joint venture for Li-ion cathode active materials (CAM). The firms will combine their respective CAM businesses, intellectual property and production assets in Japan. The new venture, BASF Toda Battery Materials, will produce a broad range of cathode materials, including Nickel Cobalt… Read more »
Voltabox begins building Li-ion battery packs in Texas
Three Li-ion battery chemistries, the speed of its software and hardware systems configuration and the automotive legacy of Voltabox make this newly-landed American spin-off company a player in the realm of rechargeable batteries for public transit and heavy industrial vehicles. Austin, Texas is known for many things: music festivals, barbequed ribs, the Texas Longhorns, filmmaker… Read more »
Freudenberg Group’s new line of Li-ion battery separators
The separator is a critical component of a battery. It provides a barrier between the anode and the cathode while enabling the exchange of ionic charge carriers from one side to the other. For over 40 years, the Freudenberg Group has been producing separators for nickel-based batteries, such as the nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) cells widely… Read more »
Nissan to shutter US battery plant?
Is Nissan is thinking of closing its US and British battery plants? According to Reuters (via Green Car Reports), the company may end up sourcing cells from South Korea’s LG Chem. Nissan currently produces its own batteries through a joint venture with NEC. With the help of governments eager to aid domestic manufacturing, it built battery plants in… Read more »
A closer look at how batteries fail
A lot of research has been done to improve lithium-ion battery safety, cycle life and power output over a range of high and low temperatures, yet understanding the fundamental processes and degradation mechanisms in Li-ion batteries remains a challenge. To understand the degradation processes of lithium-ion batteries, it is important to understand how they operate…. Read more »
BMW and Samsung expand supply agreement for battery cells
BMW and Samsung SDI plan to expand their supply relationship for EV battery cells. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding that includes an increase in quantities delivered as well as further technological development of battery cells. BMW produces high-voltage batteries for the i3, i8 and other future hybrid vehicles at its plant… Read more »
Wildcat’s new copper fluoride cathode material offers 2.5x more capacity than today’s battery tech
The current generation of lithium-ion battery materials is quickly approaching its theoretical limit. In commercial layered oxide cathodes, like the popular nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC), there is only one lithium ion for every metal. So, the most energy you could possibly store with those materials is one full lithium in and out, or about 300 mAh per… Read more »
VW: e-Golf battery pack doesn’t need a liquid cooling system
Does an EV battery pack need a liquid cooling system? Automakers have different opinions. The Tesla Roadster and Model S have ‘em, the Nissan LEAF does not. Volkswagen initially designed its e-Golf with a liquid-cooled battery, but the production e-Golf, which is now on sale in Germany, and will arrive in selected US markets during… Read more »
Scientists discover the secret of aging (of lithium-ion batteries)
Aging is an inescapable fact of life, not only for people, but for batteries as well. Researchers at the Helmholtz Center Berlin (HZB) recently identified a major reason why Li-ion batteries degrade with time. They have directly observed atomic rearrangements occurring in cathode materials during charge and discharge processes, which lead to the breakdown of the… Read more »
