Lithium News

Energy storage solutions provider Exicom has partnered with Kinetic Green, country’s leading manufacturer of government-approved electric three-wheeler vehicles, to provide them advanced Lithium-Ion (Li-ion) batteries for their E-Rickshaws.

E-Rickshaws are expected to become the backbone of Indian transport system as they provide noise and pollution free first and last mile connectivity in the most economical manner.

The features of Exicom Li-ion batteries for E-Rickshaws include: high energy density leading to low weight (thereby operating for more kilometers between charges), fast charging time of 2 hours, long life of 1,500 + cycles, low self-discharge, higher efficiency (i.e. 25 percent low charging cost), zero maintenance, no requirements for water top- up, options of 2 cycles per day among others.

This partnership between Exicom and Kinetic Green represents a commitment from both organizations to provide pollution free green mode of transportation that is best in safety, reliability and efficiency. Kinetic Green’s E-three wheeler Kinetic Safar has been approved by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to meet all government safety norms as per Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR).

Anant Nahata, the managing director of Exicom said in a media statement, “Kinetic Green’s selection of Exicom as its partner is a testament of our world-class battery and charging infrastructure solutions. We’re thrilled to play a significant role in our country’s transformation towards electric mobility.”

In an exclusive interview with Mercom recently, Nahata had noted India’s renewable energy sector needs a strong backbone in the form of a robust energy storage industry in order to sustain its growth trajectory.

Recently, Mercom reported that Exicom won a contract to provide 1,080 AC chargers and 100 DC fast chargers to Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL). The chargers will be used to power TATA Tigor and Mahindra e-Verito cars procured by EESL.

Only 2% of litihium-ion batteries are currently being recycled in Australia, so reveals a new report published by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). An estimated 3300 tonnes of discarded li-ion batteries are recycled across the nation annually.

Battery recycling in Australia is in need of a make-over, CSIRO data has demonstrated. As much as 98% (or 150 000 tonnes) of lead-acid batteries were already recycled back in 2010, while only 3300 tonnes and 2% of li-ion batteries are recycled today.

It is urged that up to 95% of li-ion battery components can be converted into new batteries or serve other high-end industries. Not least, the li-ion waste stream is growing rapidly; said to be up by 20% per year to exceed 137 000 tonnes by 2036.

Millions wasted

CSIRO laments that the lion’s share of Australia’s end-of-life batteries is shipped overseas while a significant portion of the waste ends up in landfill. Moreover, it is believed that between AU$ 813m and AU$ 3 billion worth of valuable components are still being dumped in landfill. Besides wasting materials, this practice also poses fire risks and cause contamination to the environment.

It is pointed out that there were approximately 12 million end-of-life mobile phones in Australia in 2014, and an additional 22.3 million old mobile phones were being kept in storage. In 2015-16, MobileMuster collected around 76 tonnes of mobile phones which included 16 500 kg of (mostly li-ion) batteries.

‘The use of large energy storage batteries is rapidly emerging in Australia, most widely highlighted by the South Australian 100 MW installation in 2017. This is currently the largest energy storage installation of its kind in the world,’ the report underlines.

The number one issue

‘Australia suffers from the often quoted tyranny of distance to markets and a distributed population’, warns CSIRO battery research leader Dr Anand Bhatt. He believes it is not too late to turn the situation around. ‘Australia could become a world leader in the re-use and recycling of lithium-ion batteries,’ he declares.

‘The lack of consumer awareness of recycling options is the number one issue that must be addressed in order to increase Australia’s battery collection rate,’ Bhatt recommends. A nation-wide targeted consumer awareness campaign and education programme will bridge any ‘information gaps’, boost collection results and spark investments in recycling technology.

Sulfur vs. cobalt and nickel

CSIRO says it is currently investigating the development of new battery materials such as sulfur cathodes as well as evaluation of next generation batteries. ‘Using the knowledge gained from these activities, will determine the impact on recycling processes if cobalt and nickel are removed,’ the organisation explains.

The data will then feed into the development of technical processes for battery recycling. The goal is to develop a recycling process that is flexible instead of dependent on a single li-ion battery chemistry type – and that enables economic value to still be extracted.

Realising a circular economy in Australia would result in an increase of 25 000 jobs and a 27 % decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to a business as usual scenario.

OPEN a toolbox, pull out a spanner and you may be holding a bit of the answer to global warming: vanadium, a metal named after Vanadis, the Scandinavian goddess of beauty. Used mostly in alloys to strengthen steel, its appearance may not live up to the romance of its name. Yet vanadium could become a vital ingredient in large clean-energy batteries, in which case it will shine a lot brighter.

Its price has already been rising faster than cobalt, copper and nickel, all of which are used in lithium-ion batteries. The main reason for the run-up is prosaic. About nine-tenths of the world’s vanadium is used to harden steel; China has tightened standards on the strength of rebar to make buildings more earthquake-proof. Mark Smith, boss of Largo Resources, which mines high-purity vanadium in Brazil, says this alone should increase demand for the metal by up to 15,000 tonnes in 2018-19. Last year total production was 83,000 tonnes.

But adding oomph is the incipient demand for vanadium pentoxide, a compound that is used as an electrolyte in vanadium redox flow batteries (VRBs). These batteries are as big as shipping containers and may be better at storing large amounts of wind and solar energy than stacks of lithium-ion batteries. VRBs house the electrolyte in tanks separate from the battery cell and can be charged and discharged almost inexhaustibly over 20 years (indeed, this gives the electrolyte enough residual value that it can be leased). Some analysts reckon that could make them cost-competitive with their lithium equivalents, and safer and more scalable to boot.

They currently use only 1-2% of the global vanadium supply, but the potential growth is producing a halo effect on vanadium prices. “The market just thinks VRBs are sexy,” Mr Smith says. Although the flow batteries are too bulky for use in electric vehicles, they may be ideal for stationary storage. China’s National Development and Reform Commission, a state planner, has called for lots of 100 megawatt (MW) VRBs to be built to help manage the fluctuations of wind and solar energy. A 200MW one billed as the world’s most powerful battery is being built in northeastern China—it is twice the size of a lithium-ion one installed in Australia with much fanfare by Tesla in December.

Some worry that the run-up in vanadium prices will kill VRBs in their infancy. But the metal is abundant; resources total about 63m tonnes. Most of it comes as a by-product from the use of iron in steelmaking, especially in China; some of it is mined in South Africa and Brazil.

The main bottleneck, says Fortune Mojapelo, boss of Bushveld Minerals, a South African vanadium miner, is processing capacity. His firm plans to produce vanadium pentoxide in South Africa to be used in VRBs that Bushveld hopes to erect across Africa. A trend toward vertical integration—from raw material to battery—is also evident in news that VRB Energy, a Canadian flow-battery manufacturer, has set up a long-term agreement with a Chinese electrolyte supplier, Pangang Group Vanadium and Titanium Resources, which may also buy a stake in VRB Energy.

If VRBs are as yet little known, that may be because they lack a flashy promoter, such as Tesla’s Elon Musk. But vanadium has at least two backers with considerable clout. One is Glencore, the world’s biggest commodities trader, which mines it in South Africa. The other is Robert Friedland, a canny billionaire who controls VRB Energy. Both are also leading developers of cobalt. They are betting big on the beauty of batteries.

The BMW i3 has mainly seen relatively small incremental upgrades and big battery cell updates since its launch back in 2013.

Now the all-electric car is rumored to get another battery cell upgrade to push the range over 200 miles.

The news comes from BMW-focused German website BimmerToday, which has released exclusive information in the past.

They reported this week:

According to our information, intensive preparations are underway in the background for the debut of a BMW i3 120Ah , which promises even greater coverage with an even larger lithium-ion battery. The more powerful battery could increase the standard range according to NEDC to over 350 kilometers and thus also appease the last range doubters.

As previously mentioned, BMW hasn’t done any major upgrades to the i3 including updating its powertrain architecture.

In order to increase the range over the years, the automaker worked with its battery cell supplier Samsung SDI to validate power energy dense battery cells which it introduced in the existing battery pack to achieve a longer range in the same packaging.

The last upgrade happened in 2016 when it went from 60 Ah cells to 94 Ah cells for an overall battery pack upgrade from 22 kWh to 33 kWh.

With new 120 Ah cells, the new battery pack would have a total energy capacity of about 42 kWh.

Now it’s unclear how that would amount to “350 km NEDC” as reported by BimmerToday.

BMW shouldn’t be using the NEDC cycle anymore. That said, 350 km (217 miles) NEDC would make sense for a 42 kWh pack on the i3.

When talking about the real-world range though, it would be surprising if the vehicle got anything close to 200 miles on a charge.

The current BMW i3 is rated at 114 miles of range. More realistically, the new pack would push the range to around 150 miles on a single charge.

The report suggests that BMW could validate the new cells by the end of the year for the upgrade to go into production shortly after.

As we recently reported, BMW is currently working on its next-gen electric powertrain technology coming in the iX3 first in 2020.

It will feature a complete redo of the automaker’s electric powertrain architecture with new battery packs and electric motors instead of just new cells.

Speaking of cells, BMW recently confirmed signing a massive battery cell supply contract with CATL, China’s biggest battery maker, to supply cells for the German automaker’s future EVs.

Nextant Aerospace, builders of the 400XTi, G90XT, remanufactured aircraft, and Challenger 604XT upgrade, is pleased to announce it has received a new Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for installation of a True Blue PowerTM Lithium-ion emergency power supply as a direct replacement for the existing 24 VDC sealed lead-acid battery on Textron Aviation model 400A and 400T, more commonly known as the Beechjet 400A/Hawker 400XP.

“We are proud to reach this STC milestone, and even more delighted to be able to offer this replacement option to Beechjet and Nextant aircraft owners,” stated Derek Morris, Nextant Aerospace Engineering Manager. “The installation of the True Blue PowerTM model is a great solution that does not require any wiring changes, so it is an easy change-out and can reduce down time for scheduled maintenance.”

The TS835 True Blue PowerTM model features the most sophisticated Nanophosphate® Lithium-ion cell chemistry available. It automatically provides 24.5 VDC power for critical or standby equipment in the event of aircraft power failure. Additional benefits include integrated 3.0-5.5 VDC adjustable output, significantly lighter weight, reduced maintenance costs and an improved 10-year life expectancy.

The London Metal Exchange has asked companies that assess prices of battery-grade lithium to submit proposals to supply a reference for the cash-settled contracts it plans to launch next year, the exchange said.

Interest in battery metals such as cobalt, nickel and lithium has soared over the past year on the automotive industry’s ambitious plans to produce electric cars and cut noxious fumes from vehicles powered by fossil fuels.

“We have issued an RFP to a number of price reporting agencies,” a spokeswoman for the exchange said.

“(We) aim to invite shortlisted candidates to present their proposals at the LME’s electric vehicle metals advisory group on 10 October to facilitate the participation of industry users in the selection of the global reference price for lithium.”

The Request for Proposal (RFP) sent out on Monday to firms that collect and publish prices of lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and hydroxide, asks for a response by Sept. 17, sources familiar with the matter said.

“They want a dollar reference price for an international audience, not a domestic Chinese price for a contract to be launched (next year),” one source said.

“They want a price that can be used for daily settlement, which is interesting because as far as I know daily lithium prices are not available.”

Sources say the LME hopes to make a decision on the reference price provider by the end of the year.

The exchange is planning to launch a suite of contracts including lithium, hot rolled coil steel and alumina next year.

China dominates the production of electric vehicle chemicals and batteries.

The European Commission, keen to capture a European car battery value chain that will be worth an estimated 250 billion euros by 2025, launched an alliance of local companies last year, aiming to build 10-20 huge battery factories.

Lithium compounds are used to make rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, a fast-growing sector of the auto market.

Lithium hydroxide is a smaller market as it is used for the nickel-cobalt-aluminium batteries produced by Panasonic for Tesla cars and in nickel-cobalt-manganese batteries using the 8:1:1 formula, being tested by battery makers.

“8:1:1 is if you like the holy grail, but it is still many years away,” a lithium industry source source said.

Electric vehicle batteries used by most car makers typically use nickel-cobalt-manganese ratios of 5:3:2 or 6:2:2 and are made with lithium carbonate, the source said. “These batteries are a much bigger part of the lithium market.”

Lithium price providers include Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, set up four years ago to provide prices and analysis for battery raw materials which also include cobalt and graphite.

Argus Media and Platts also assess and publish lithium prices.

Global automakers plan to invest at least $90 billion in electric cars and batteries, the most expensive component in the vehicles, to finance hundreds of new models over the next five years.