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 »
Search Results Found For: "cobalt"
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 »
LG Energy Solution, Tesla build LFP battery plants in the US
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries are all the rage these days. Although they offer lower energy density than batteries based on NMC (lithium nickel manganese cobalt) chemistries, they tend to be cheaper, and their ingredients are more readily available, less toxic and less controversial. Automakers including Ford and Stellantis are steadily building production capacity for… Read more »
Auction announced for Lion Electric’s Mirabel EV battery facility with 1.7 GWh production line
Workingman Capital, in partnership with Hilco Commercial Industrial, has announced the auction of Lion Electric’s EV battery manufacturing facility in Mirabel, Quebec. The facility features a high-output battery production line with an annual capacity of 1.7 GWh, scalable to 5.0 GWh. Online Timed Auction: Monday, July 8, 2025 – 11:00 AM ETInspection: Sunday, July 7,… Read more »
