Lithium-ion battery

Tesla is reportedly in talks with mining giant Glencore to secure a supply of cobalt, a controversial mineral used to produce Li-ion batteries used in most electric vehicles today.
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In July it was announced that LG Chem was working on a potential new billion-dollar US battery cell factory for electric cars. Today in a security filing in South Korea, LG Chem confirmed that investment, and that GM will invest another billion.

Reuters reports that the location is expected to be in the area of Lordstown, Ohio, where GM (pictured in Detroit) recently sold its factory to an EV startup affiliated with Workhorse. This follows news earlier this week that Piedmont Lithium received an important federal permit to proceed with its lithium mine in Gaston County, North Carolina — the second in North America. Looks like Interstate 77 will be America’s hot new lithium corridor.

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Volvo Cars announced today that it would become the first carmaker to implement global traceability of cobalt by applying blockchain technology. The Swedish carmaker said that it reached an agreement with its two global battery suppliers, CATL of China and LG Chem of South Korea, to trace cobalt supplies starting this year.

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

• Chemistry Nobel Prize win for lithium-ion batteries is a win for green energy.
• US interior secretary criticized Green New Deal at a New Mexico oil and gas conference.
• PG&E is cutting electricity to around 800,000 homes and businesses in Northern California to prevent wildfires.
• Five great green jobs on the rise according to BLS projections to 2026.

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John B Goodenough of the University of Texas at Austin, M. Stanley Whittingham of SUNY Binghamton University, and Akira Yoshino of Meijo University have won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm today for the development of lithium-ion batteries.

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Range and recharge times are perhaps the two biggest issues currently facing electric vehicles. But StoreDot is ready to solve at least one of those. The company just showed off its fast charging batteries by topping up an empty electric scooter battery in just 5 minutes.

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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy is looking to potentially extract large amounts of lithium from its Salton Sea geothermal plants and Tesla is reportedly in talks to be a customer.
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I like the idea of doing lawn work. Through all of the sweat and heat, there’s a deep sense of satisfaction once the job is completed. I think I enjoy it primarily because it’s the antithesis of my daily routine as a tech blogger.

Sadly, there are some things that make it hard to enjoy the traditional lawn care routine. The putrid smell of gasoline, the allergies, dealing with mowers that won’t start, the deafening noise, the numbing vibrations of the handle, running out of gas, etc.

The very idea of an alternative-powered lawn mower always appealed to me, but their shortcomings were too much for me to seriously consider one…until now.
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Panasonic confirmed being a partner in Tesla’s battery factory early in the development of the project, but other than some estimates from Tesla, the electronic giant never committed to a dollar amount in investment until today.

Tesla made clear its plan to remain in control of the project and to contribute the majority of the estimated $4 billion to $5 billion investment required to build its massive battery factory. Panasonic confirmed today that it plans to invest between $1.5 billion and $1.6 billion in the Gigafactory.
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Local South African news is reporting that Tesla is planning to open an office in the country in early 2016. The company will first aim at developing the market for its ‘Tesla Energy’ products: the Powerwall and Powerpack.

There’s currently no word on Tesla bringing its vehicles to South Africa. 
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Navigant Research recently named LG Chem the #1 leading supplier of batteries for electric vehicles. The company has been a longtime partner of GM for the production of the Chevy Volt and it recently attracted interest from other electric vehicle makers such as Nissan and Tesla.

Those manufacturers plan to introduce several mass market electric vehicles in the coming years and if LG wants to keep its lead, it will need to significantly increase its battery production output. And the Korea-based electronic giant is counting on its Michigan battery plant to keep up with the auto market. 
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Between established automakers accelerating their electric vehicle programs and the newcomers in the EV industry – like Apple, Faraday Future or Atieva – engineers with battery experience are not short on employment opportunities. Earlier this year, Apple poached several battery tech experts from A123 Systems and we also reported that about 1 in 8 of Faraday Future’s ~400 employees is formerly from Tesla Motors.

From an executive’s standpoint, retaining talent in a specific field can be challenging on its own, but for Elon Musk, CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, it can be even more complex when both companies he’s managing require talent in the same field…
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Following yesterday’s announcement that GM is expanding its partnership with LG and will source a significant percentage of the parts for the Chevy Bolt from the electronic giant, LG is now announcing that it is accelerating battery production at the Holland plant in Michigan.

In a press release for the announcement, LG Chem Michigan President Nick Kassanos takes a swipe at Tesla, or at least at the media attention the company has been receiving for its own battery factory project: the Gigafactory.
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Zero Motorcycles, a maker of battery-powered motorcycles, is at the American International Motorcycle Expo in Orlando, Florida today to unveil its 2016 lineup and announce 2 new models.

On top of the new models, the company is also presenting a new motor design, a faster charging infrastructure, a new lithium-ion cell chemistry for more capacity and efficiency, and it will lower the price on two base models while adding more features and performance throughout its lineup.
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This year electronics and auto parts giant Bosch has been heavily investing the auto industry’s transition to electric powertrain. Earlier this summer, Bosch bought the solid-state battery start-up Seeo Inc. and has since been sparsely revealing details about its plan to bring new battery technologies to market by 2020.

During the company’s recent inauguration of its Renningen research campus, head of battery technology R&D Dr. Thorsten Ochs revealed more information about the company’s goals for Seeo’s solid-state battery. The Germany-based part maker is aiming for a 50 kWh pack to weight only 190 kg.
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SolarCity announced today a new project with the Temecula Valley Unified School District to install 6 MW of solar energy capacity and 2.6 MWh of energy storage at a total of 19 schools in the district. The solar installations will mainly consist of carports using the company’s ZS Beam system (see picture above).
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Tesla Motors confirmed to Electrek that the company is now installing the Powerwall, a new home energy storage system, for “pilot customers”:

“We are currently in production and have started installing Powerwalls with pilot customers. Over the next few weeks we will continue to ramp up volume production,” Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson said.
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At the Frankfurt Motor Show this week Volkswagen introduced its first plug-in hybrid SUV: the Tiguan GTE. The German automaker revisited each trim of the gas-powered Tiguan and unveiled a new plug-in one, although unfortunately only as a “concept”.

The GTE is equipped with a 13 KWh lithium-ion high-voltage battery pack allowing for an all-electric range of 50 km (31 miles), then the direct-injection gas engine takes over.
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In a new note issued today, Jefferies analyst Dan Dolev increased his price target on Tesla Motors to $365 following a new analysis on the company’s battery business. When Tesla first announced its “Gigafactory“, it forecasted a ~30% reduction in battery cost through economy of scale and improved chemistry, but since then Tesla executives revealed that 30% might have been conservative and Jefferies seems to agree.
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