EV batteries

A recent report out of China cites documentation that major battery supplier BYD intends to raise the prices of its lithium battery cells by at least 20% beginning November 1. BYD notes market changes surrounding the limits of raw materials for lithium batteries as the reason for the price hike. With global supply chains stifled, BYD will need to up the price of its battery cells to compensate for its own comprehensive price increases.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Hexicon’s tilted towers floating wind power platform earns a European patent.
• The Solar Energy Industries Association launches a new diversity certification program.
• The Argonne National Laboratory is offering a free 15-minute webinar about threats to rare earth minerals.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

Zambian president-elect Hakainde Hichilema won a landslide victory in the country’s election last week, beating the incumbent, Edgar Lungu. Hichilema’s plan is to ramp up mining in particular to jump-start Zambia’s economy – and provide the rapidly growing electric vehicle battery industry with crucial cobalt and copper.

General Motors (GM) has announced a strategic investment and commercial collaboration with Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) to secure lower-cost lithium in the US for the development of its next generation of EV batteries. The legacy automaker hopes this collaboration will garner more environmentally friendly methods of obtaining precious lithium while simultaneously help lower the price of its EVs.

Studies have shown that EV range can drop by as much as 40% when temperatures drop below 20°F and the heater is running. Tesla and others might dispute the exact amount of lost range, but there’s broad agreement that cold weather has a meaningful impact. That challenge led the US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to award $480,000 to Professor Brett Lucht to study how to improve battery performance in low temperatures.

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While California represents the majority of EV sales in the US, the American South is the auto manufacturing powerhouse of the country. Yet, southern states have been among the slowest to adopt electric vehicles. That needs to change, argues Gerald Allen, a Republican member of the Alabama State Senate.

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The Lexus UX 300e, the luxury brand’s first EV, is on sale in China now and hits Europe later this year. Lexus in Europe announced today that the crossover’s air-cooled 54.3-kilowatt-hour battery will come with a 10-year, 1 million-kilometer (621,000-mile) warranty. The Lexus UX300e joins the Nissan Leaf as one of the few EVs with air-cooled batteries, which are considered not as robust.

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Toronto-based First Cobalt said today it would become North America’s first producer of cobalt sulphate, which is crucial for EV batteries. By the end of next year, its Ontario refinery could produce enough cobalt for at least 335,000 electric vehicles by the end of next year.

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Two research institutes at the University of California, Berkeley, today released a research brief about the global supply of batteries for electric vehicles. Many millions of batteries will be needed for EVs in the coming decades. Here’s the overarching question: How can the supply of those batteries meet that demand in a sustainable way?

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The EV industry was already finding ways to reduce its dependence on cobalt before the coronavirus hit. Now the supply of the expensive metal is being disrupted as Congo imposes a two-day lockdown in Haut-Katanga, where two people tested positive for the coronavirus.

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While Tesla is certainly leading the way in increasing the global battery production capacity with its 150 GWh ‘Gigafactory’ in Nevada, some established battery manufacturers are also increasing their capacity. Now Samsung SDI announced its own large battery factory in Hungary.
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