Fiat Chrysler (FCA) recently joined forces with the Responsible Sourcing Blockchain Network in a move to improve its sustainability efforts. The automaker will begin using blockchain technology to help ensure sustainable sourcing and production practices through audits that map the mining history of its raw cobalt supply. The first of these blockchain-powered audits is set… Read more »
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Nickel, cobalt, and manganese use continues to grow, despite slowdown in global EV market
After China reduced EV incentives earlier this year, the global monthly drop in EV sales continued into October, which saw a 19% reduction in passenger EV sales versus the same month the year prior, according to Adamas Intelligence. On top of this downturn, the global sales-weighted average passenger EV’s battery capacity, a metric that has… Read more »
Tesla’s “responsible sourcing” policy for cobalt and other exotics
How do you solve a problem like cobalt? The blue metallic element is used in significant quantities in EV batteries, but half the world’s supply of comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a war-torn land in which child labor is common. Several automakers are already taking steps to reduce their use of the costly… Read more »
Critical Materials Institute to address lithium and cobalt demand
As the market for plug-in vehicles grows, so does the demand for the materials associated with production, particularly lithium and cobalt, which are used in Li-on batteries. The DOE’s Critical Materials Institute (CMI) is focused on recycling and reducing the demand for rare metals that may experience shortages in the future. The agency is also… Read more »
Tesla on the way to eliminating cobalt from its batteries
Battery makers are keen to reduce their use of costly and controversial cobalt. Half the world’s supply of the metallic element comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a war-torn land in which child labor is common. Worse yet, the stuff is getting expensive – cobalt prices have climbed to their highest level in a… Read more »
New report analyzes global market for recycled lithium and cobalt
In a new analysis of the global end-of-life value chain for lithium-ion batteries, consultancy Creation Inn predicts that the total amount of recycled lithium could reach 5,800 tons (30,000 tons lithium carbonate equivalent) in 2025, 9 percent of the total lithium battery supply, while the amount of cobalt from recycled batteries is expected to reach… Read more »
BMW takes steps to ensure more responsible production of cobalt
And the dirty little secret of EVs is…cobalt. The metallic element is used in significant quantities in EV batteries. Unfortunately, about half the world’s cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a war-torn land in which working conditions are bad, and child labor is common. In 2014, as many as 40,000 children worked… Read more »
Analyzing heat-driven decay in nickel-cobalt-aluminum batteries
A set of three recent studies funded by the Korean government investigated a family of lithium-ion batteries composed of nickel, cobalt and aluminum. NCA batteries offer high energy density, but degrade significantly with each charge/discharge cycle. The high heat of vehicle environments can intensify the degradation, and even cause complete battery failure. Researchers at the… Read more »
Ascend Elements wins $320-million grant to build pCAM battery materials plant in Poland
Poland’s Ministry of Economic Development and Technology has offered Ascend Elements up to 1.22 billion Polish złoty ($320 million US) to support construction of a precursor cathode active material (pCAM) manufacturing facility in the country. pCAM is a high-value, precisely engineered material used in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. Ascend Elements plans to commercialize its… Read more »
GM says its new LMR batteries will “change the outlook for the EV market”
GM and its battery partner LG Energy Solution have introduced a new type of battery cell that they say will enable EVs with “an attractive combination of long range and low cost.” The GM/LG joint venture Ultium Cells aims to start commercial production of LMR (lithium-manganese-rich) prismatic cells in the US in 2028, and GM… Read more »