EVs and batteries

Issue #190, Feb 27, 2023

No talk about electric vehicles (EVs) is complete without mentioning batteries. Semisolid batteries are a new type, waiting to take off on a large scale in Japan. Panasonic has shared some of its lessons learnt from large scale battery making at its Tesla factory in Nevada, US. Vertical integration is an option for car makers to source metals required for battery making, as they compete with traditional miners for control over mines. Contract manufacturing is a business approach for leading EV makers to capture market share in growing markets like India. In a recent article, Siemens is of the opinion that the driving range of EVs is sufficient for the average distance driven daily in the US and Europe. It is the charging infrastructure including fast charging that is a bottleneck for EV adoption. EVs look green at the last mile of their usage. But the supply chain of the materials that go into it are key, all the way to its source. Aluminum used in some EVs are alleged to impact the Amazon forests in Brazil from where they are mined. Below are some updates in the EV world, specifically in battery making.

Semisolid batteries

A new type of battery known for its safety, long life and lower environmental impact has begun mass production, with Japanese companies leading the way. Kyocera in 2021 became the world's first company to mass-produce so-called semisolid batteries. The Kyoto-based manufacturer has the capacity to produce 200 megawatt-hours per year -- the equivalent of 20,000 residential energy storage systems. Production is now running at around half capacity. - Nikkei Asia

Lessons in battery making

Tesla's partner for batteries Panasonic describes challenges on path to profitability as federal subsidies attract newcomers. Panasonic started building what would become America’s first large-scale EV-battery plant in 2015, at a site owned by Tesla in the rolling hills outside Reno, Nevada. The battery-production lines now run around the clock churning out some two billion finger-size battery cells a year in a facility the size of 90 football fields. One of the biggest issues is training workers in the finicky art of battery making, where the slightest exposure to moisture might mean a whole batch has to be thrown out. Equipment can’t necessarily be shipped from Asia and plopped onto an American assembly line, given different safety regulations and operating conditions. - WSJ

Automakers and mining

Automakers compete with miners as battery metals demand soars. Top automakers including Tesla, General Motors, and Ford are heading out on the mining conference circuit as soaring demand for metals used in EVs ignites a scramble to lock in long-term supplies. Those major US firms, along with Rivian Automotive Inc. and European counterparts Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar Land Rover, will be mingling with the crowds of mining industry executives attending a major metals conference in Florida next week, according to multiple attendees who received a list of the event’s guests. - Bloomberg

Contract manufacturing for EVs

Chinese EV company BYD is setting its sights on a potential boom in the Indian market and exploring contract manufacturing partnerships to build passenger EVs in the country. - Live Mint

Range anxiety - facts and fiction

According to Siemens, the driving range of EVs acting as a constraint for their adoption is not a fact. Current EV ranges are sufficient for our daily trips, considering the average daily distance covered in the US and Europe. And car makers are working on improving them. Lack of charging infrastructure and public fast charging stations are a fact. - Forbes

The aluminum trail to EVs

For consumers seeking to lower their carbon footprints, the environmental and social costs of EVs may be greater than they realize. The human toll from the extraction of minerals used in batteries has been well-documented: cobalt and copper from the Democratic Republic of Congo, lithium from Chile, nickel from Indonesia. But the damage along the aluminum supply chain has been largely unexamined. It was only after Hydro and other companies announced last year that they were supplying aluminum parts for the F-150 EV that the trail back to Brazil became traceable. - Bloomberg