battery cells

The German government doesn’t like to see its local automakers rely on battery cells from Asia to build electric vehicles, which is why it announced today a 1 billion euro investment to support local battery cell production.

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Lithium-ion batteries are expensive, and large battery packs such as those in everything from electric cars to electric motorcycles and e-bikes usually make up the single largest cost of the entire vehicle. So it makes sense that you’d want to ensure your batteries live as long and happy a life as possible. Join Electrek as we take a look at why lithium-ion batteries die, and how you can increase and even double the lifespan of your batteries.

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Bosch, one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, has been exploring a plan to get into battery cell production in a big way to support the electrification of the industry.

The company announced today that it decided against the plan, but says that it still plans to “lead electromobility mass market from 2020” and it will focus on other electrical components.

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Last week, we reported on Tesla starting to take delivery of important quantities of battery cells from a new supplier: Samsung SDI. At the time, we contacted Tesla to know what the cells will be used for, the company declined to comment, but we speculated that it could be used for ‘Tesla Energy’ products.

Now prompted by a Reuters report yesterday citing Samsung SDI sources claiming that they are in negotiation with Tesla to supply batteries for its cars, Elon Musk has confirmed that Panasonic will be exclusively supplying cells for the Model 3, S and X.

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While Panasonic has been Tesla’s longtime partner for battery cell supply, the automaker confirmed last year that for the first time it approved a cell from another manufacturer, LG Chem, but only for a small contract for its Roadster 3.0 upgrade. Now we learn that Tesla started taking delivery of much larger quantities of battery cells from yet another supplier: Samsung SDI.

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During the 2016 Shareholders Meeting today, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company could triple the total planned battery output of the Gigafactory to ~105 GWh of cells and ~150 GWh of battery packs – or over 3 times the current total li-ion battery production worldwide.

The new potential total capacity would be based on the current planned factory of 13 million sq-ft – with no expansion needed. Musk revealed a few other tidbits of information about the plant during the meeting.

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According to a new report from the Reno Gazette-Journal, Tesla acquired several permits for multi-million dollar interior construction work at the Gigafactory located just outside Reno, Nevada. One of the permit is for a $10 million project of “architectural interiors”.

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The electronics and auto parts giant Bosch announced the acquisition of Seeo Inc, a California-based startup with exclusive licensing rights to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s portfolio of patents for lithium polymer battery cells.

Bosch has a long-standing interest in electric vehicles from a strategic supply partnership with Tesla Motors to their own series of charging stations, but this acquisition could represent a major step for the company’s effort in the field.

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