Lithium News

ION Energy, a startup energy storage company, launched UDYR, an intelligent, modular and portable 48V, 32 Ah lithium-ion battery supported by ION’s proprietary battery management system, software platform, and backend analytics. UDYR is built with NMC cells from LG Chem.

The battery is natively compatible with most electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers allowing automotive OEMs globally to use UDYR as a drop-in solution and accelerate their speed to market. In addition to developing energy storage systems, ION will also license its proprietary and chemistry-agnostic battery management systems and software applications to other battery-manufacturers and OEMs. The company formally launches at The Battery Show Europe 2018 with growing list of key customers.

Founded by a team of PhDs with more than four decades of experience in advanced electronics and battery systems, ION is building deep technology to optimize battery performance and life-extension for electric vehicles, energy storage, and connected devices.

Total cost of ownership for many electric vehicles is quickly reaching cost parity with traditional combustion engine models, but only if the asset is properly managed. Excessive or improper charging can lead to fast degradation of the lithium-ion cells, resultinging in reduced vehicle range, fewer charge cycles, and even safety liabilities. ION Energy says that its proprietary battery management system (BMS) showcased by UDYR enables enhanced performance and can increase battery-life by up to 200%.

UDYR comes equipped with Bluetooth and CAN bus communication allowing for real-time, over-the-air (OTA) data relay to both the rider or asset-owner. This data can then be seamlessly integrated into ION’s suite of software applications for advanced battery analytics, warranty tracking, and vehicle location. In combination, UDYR’s features give a preview into the future of smart charging, Vehicle-to-Grid technologies, and EV fleet management.

Earlier this year, ION Energy acquired battery management company Freemens SAS (earlier post). Freemens currently offers two main versions of its battery management software:

• FreeSafe Extended (FS-XT) is a battery management system providing high standard of security, optimal battery life-span, precise SOC (state of charge) and SOH (state of health) estimations and external data management (telemetry and onboard memory card). FreeSafe Extended has three main features: battery cells management, power line management and advanced communications functionalities.
• FreeSafe-LT is a battery management system providing a high feature density in a small form factor. This BMS is designed for applications that needs to be very cost effective but don’t want to cut on high end features such as wireless dashboard and Fleet Management. This product can be use standalone or in a Master Slave architecture.

The France-based company has completed various projects since its founding in 2011, including customized versions of its signature battery management system for clients including AirBus Safran, CarWatt, and NTN SNR. With a solid presence in Europe, ION Energy will now expand manufacturing operations for their proprietary battery management systems to India to service the Asian market.

Headquartered in New York City, ION has additional offices in Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Grenoble, France. ION Energy is backed by Shell, OMC Power, and Sattva Capital, as well as various other energy industry veterans and angel investors. The company expects to raise additional funding in 2018.

According to most people who have driven one, the Hyundai Ioniq Electric is one heckuva nice car.

Bjørn Nyland, the fellow who won two Tesla sales contests thanks to his passion for everything Tesla, took one for a drive in the middle of winter in Norway last year (who does that?) and raved about the car. In some ways, he actually preferred it to his Model S.

So, the Ioniq Electric is a great car. Sadly, however, you can’t buy one right now. The company says there is a global battery shortage that will prevent any new orders for the car from being filled. According to Green Car Reports, Hyundai dealers in Canada have received this announcement from the company:

“Due to a temporary global battery supply shortage, the sold order entry system for 18MY Ioniq EV will be closed effective immediately. The 19MY Ioniq EV will be opened at the same time to allow for pre-sale of 19My Ioniq EV, with deliveries beginning in July.”

When GCR reached out to Hyundai Motor America for more information, it was told the company is facing a global battery shortage and that the same shortage affecting buyers in Canada is likely affecting buyers in California.

All this comes at a time when Hyundai is supposed to begin offering a new version of the Ioniq Electric with more than 200 miles of range. The current model has only 124 miles of range. The spokesperson also suggested the battery shortage could affect the upcoming Kona Electric, which is scheduled to go on sale near the end of this year. That car will offer customers a choice of two batteries, with the larger option good for up to 238 miles of range.

We have often wondered whether there will be enough batteries to power all the electric cars expected to hit the roads in coming years, but this is a little ridiculous. Should we be worried?

And while Tesla critics complain or ridicule the company for not being able to produce 20,000 Model 3’s a month yet, it appears the Silicon Valley company has gotten its battery ducks in order a bit better than competitors. Hyundai seems to be stonewalled at not even a few thousand a month, and other brands with semi-popular electric cars are reportedly feeling the crunch as well. Are large automakers really prepared to produce “Tesla killers,” or are they lacking the batteries for such cars even if they had everything else in order?

The storage of electric energy on a large scale has become an area of increasing interest, especially when considering the growing demand of developing renewable energy sources that can be stored for extended periods of time. Since electricity cannot be stored directly, and must be instead be converted to other forms on energy until future conversion to electricity, current energy storage systems are limited in their ability to store an ideal quantity of energy for future use. To date, numerous energy storage systems currently exist and operate in a variety of different mechanisms to provide energy on an as needed basis.

Pumped Hydroelectric Storage

Pumped hydroelectric energy storage facilitates store energy in the form of water through the use of two reservoirs at different elevations. When the supply of energy exceeds the demand of the energy, water is pumped into the upper reservoir, however when the demand of energy exceeds the supply at the facility, water is released into the lower reservoir and run downhill through turbines that provide electricity in a manner that is similar to conventional hydropower stations1. There are currently 40 pumped hydroelectric storage projects currently taking place in the United States alone, providing approximately 20 GW of energy, or 2% of the capacity of the electrical supply system. These types of energy storage systems provide energy-balancing and stable grid options when necessary.

Battery Energy Storage Systems

Although batteries are commonly used in a wide variety of applications, these energy storage systems are required to exhibit a high energy density and power, as well as long charge-discharge cycles, high round-trip efficiency and safety, all the while maintaining a competitive cost against other battery types.

Lithium Ion Batteries

As of 2015, lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries accounted for approximately 51% of all newly developed energy storage systems (EES), and are often found in laptops, cell phones and other portable muscle devices2. As one of the most energetic rechargeable batteries that are currently available on the market, Li-ion batteries are typically composed of the lightweight yet highly reactive element lithium, which accounts for its ability to store a high amount of energy within its atomic bonds, as well as some carbon concentrations.

Zinc Bromide Flow Battery Modules (ZBM)

The zinc-bromine battery primarily stores energy by plating a zinc metal as a solid onto the anode plates within the electrochemical stack during charge, thereby allowing for the maximum energy storage capacity of the battery to be dependent upon the area of the electrode, or stack size, as well as the size of the electrolyte storage reservoirs. Originally developed by Exxon during the 1970s, this hybrid redox flow battery offers one of the highest cell voltages and energy densities as compared to other currently used flow batteries3. While useful for these properties, the zinc-bromide batteries often require highly expensive materials to withstand the highly toxic and oxidative properties of bromine, thereby limiting its practicality in many applications.

Aluminum-Ion Batteries

When considering the element aluminum on its own, it is associated with transferring energy at a more efficient rate as compared to lithium, as this element gives up its electrons to flow freely through the external wires to power a given device. As a battery, aluminum-ion batteries (AIBs) have been associated with a lower flammability and higher capacity as compared to Li-ion batteries4.

Although AIBs exhibit a reduced cathodic performance as compared to Li-ion batteries, researchers have become increasingly interested in developing AIBs of a higher density for potential applications in technological devices. For example, a team of researchers from Clemson University in South Carolina has recently developed the “few-layer graphene” energy storage device, which is a novel battery technology that combines aluminum foil with thin sheets of graphite that allows the electrode to store the electrical charge from the efficiently packed aluminum ions within the graphene layers5.

Compressed Air Energy Storage

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) systems utilize compressed air that is stored during off-peak times in underground caverns that, when necessary, is eventually fired with natural gas in a combustion turbine to generate electricity6. By utilizing only 30% of the natural gas that is required in traditional energy methods, CAES plants operate at an efficiency of approximately 70%.

Thermal Energy Storage

The storage of thermal energy is typically used to generate electricity by transforming solar power, even when the sun is not shining. Thermal energy plants capture the heat from the sun and store this thermal energy in water, molten salts or other fluids for the future generation of electricity7. Currently, thermal energy storage plants have been successfully implemented in California, Arizona and Nevada, in which a California molten salt storage plant has successfully provided power to approximately 68,000 homes. Thermal storage technologies have also been used in the reverse by freezing water at night through the use of off-peak electricity, and then releasing the stored cold energy from the ice to assist with air conditioning during the day.

The electric scooter market in India has just seen the entry of two new scooters, this time from the Coimbatore-based EV startup, Ampere Vehicles.

Since the launch of its low-cost charger for lead-acid battery scooters in May last year, the company has been working on indigenously developing electric motors, battery controllers, as well as chargers for lithium-ion battery powered scooters, two of which were launched in New Delhi on May 11.

The Ampere V48 and the Reo Li-ion models are priced at Rs 38,000 and Rs 46,000 ex-showroom, India, respectively, and there is no additional registration fee applicable as the scooters offer a maximum speed limited to 25kph. The e-scooters come powered by a 250W brushless DC motor, powered by a 48V lithium-ion battery pack. While the Ampere V48 is capable of carrying 100kg of maximum load, the Reo has a hauling capacity of 120kg. The scooters offer a range of 65-70km per charge, where one full charge time varies from 4-5 hours.

Apart from the two scooters, the company also introduced its newly developed charger for Li-ion battery packs, which was unveiled by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony organised by the Technology Development Board at the Vigyan Bhawan, on the occasion of National Technology Day being observed on May 11.

The advanced lithium-ion charger comes priced at Rs 3,000 and is designed with two-stage charging profile, wherein the charging voltage and the current’s levels can be amended based on the requirements of battery manufacturers’ recommendations. The microcontroller-based control and monitoring systems provides active battery reverse polarity protection, over temperature cut-off and output short circuit protection.

Its battery capacity rating is 48V, 20Ah or 24Ah with a charging time of 4-5 hours. Weighing 1.65kg, the input voltage range of the Li-ion charger ranges between 185Vac to 265Vac, and has the operating temperatures between zero to 50deg Centigrade. Also, the charger is enabled with input and output overvoltage protection.

The lithium-ion charger project is supported by the Technology Development Board, Ministry of Science and Technology, government of India, as part of the Make-in-India initiative towards creating charging infrastructure for the emerging EV industry in the country.

Speaking at the launch of the lithium-ion battery charger, Dr Bindu Dey, secretary, Technology Development Board, GOI, said, “Support to any development for advanced lithium technologies for electric mobility is in line with the government’s vision towards electrification, and we are happy to see Ampere’s initiative in developing this indigenously are enabling customers to commute at low-cost.”

Sales momentum picking up for electric two-wheelers

According to Hemalatha Annamalai, founder, Ampere Vehicles, “Our commitment and resolve to sustainable mobility is manifested in the consistently superior products that we have launched over the time. Our new lithium-ion charger is an extension of this commitment.”

Speaking to Autocar Professional on the sidelines of the launch, she said, “While we had launched our lead-acid charger last year, this year, we are progressing at a faster pace and are also indigenously developing a battery management system, which will be unveiled soon.”

“Now we feel that the momentum towards EVs has picked up and so, we and looking to do a lot of things in India with the pool of local talent available in the country. We have to keep in mind that we need to devise systems locally, based on India’s specific requirements of higher operating temperatures, dusty conditions and rigorous usage patterns.”

The scooters are pegged to go on sale from the company’s 150 dealers present in 14 states across the country, with a major focus being on Tier 2, 3 and 4 towns.

“While we have largely been focusing on the smaller towns with our lead-acid scooters until now, with demand for cost-effective urban mobility solutions gradually rising in the major metros, we will take these Li-ion battery scooters to the mainstream cities as well.”

The company has sold close to 35,000 scooters since it rolled out its first product in 2008. “From this year onward, we will grow quite exponentially because the market is opening out and people are willing to be comfortable with the range and charge anxiety that comes associated with an EV,” said Annamalai.

Ampere V48, Reo first made-in-India lithium-ion e-scooters

The two models could also be credited as being the first homegrown lithium-ion scooters having their key components – the electric motor, battery controller as well as the charger – all being indigenously developed at the startup’s R&D labs in Coimbatore.

While there isn’t a clear goal set about the volume expectations from the two scooters, Annamalai says that “volumes depend on how users see the comfort. We feel that if the support from the government continues, then the volumes will scale high.”

“Because of the high cost of the battery and an applicable import duty of 28 percent on getting the battery as a spare part and that of 12 percent otherwise, the government must reduce the battery duty and moreover, PSUs should develop batteries within India and then there is a fair chance of EV volumes scaling up”, she added.

“With a subsidy of Rs 17,000 for low-speed (less than 25kph) electric scooters and of Rs 22,000 for high-speed scooters, I think the government right now is supporting quite well. We also believe that lots of R&D grant should be given to develop advanced technologies and all government nodal bodies should switch their vehicle fleet to electric in order to drive the EV movement in the country”, Annamalai concluded.

Ampere Vehicles has 120 employees, with 30 percent women participation and an R&D team of 30 engineers working at its facility in Coimbatore.

We normally associate Cornwall in England with scones and cream teas … or, if we are really metal nerds, we associate the sometimes-sunny southeast country of the British Isles with mining (particularly with tin mining).

The area dominated with igneous morphology has been mined since Roman times for tin, copper and a number of other metals.

Nickel metal hydride batteries dominated the small appliance world and lead acid still served the rest. This century has seen an exponential growth in the use of lithium-ion batteries, from iPhones to electric cars to massive storage barns. The growth has been such that fears are mounting of a market shortage in the next decade, fueled in no small part by state support for electric vehicles (EVs) in Asia.

In fact, so urgent has the situation become that Chinese and Japanese battery makers are quietly buying into or buying up lithium deposits around the world to ensure they have secure supplies. Currently, Europe consumes around 25 percent of the world’s lithium, but is dependent on imports from Australia, Chile, Argentina and China.

Europe has been rather slow out of the blocks — European carmakers have ambitious plans to roll out an EV model for every one of their ranges by the end of this decade, but they have little or no security of supply over the raw material supply chain. Two AIM-listed companies are seeking to change that and create Europe’s first continental supplies.

In Cornwall, Cornish Lithium has partnered with the state-backed Satellite Applications Catapult to use satellite imaging to detect the signatures left by lithium deposits deep underground. Lithium is present in brines deep underground, up to 1 kilometer underground, according to a Telegraph article. Cornwall Cornish Lithium hopes the survey will identify economic deposits, and Innovate UK agrees, investing well over a $1 million in a pilot.

Across the Bay of Biscay in the considerably warmer but no less back of beyond northern region of Portugal, another opportunity is being created. AIM-listed Savannah Resources has announced a 52 percent upgrade to its proven resources at the Mina do Barroso lithium project in northern Portugal, The Telegraph explains.

The proposed mine would comprise a resource of 14 million tons at more than 1 percent lithium, putting it in the “high grade” category, with an expected lifespan of 30 years. 1 percent does not sound like a rich deposit — some gold reserves are more concentrated — but brines in South America typically carry 200–1,400 milligrams per litre (mg/l) Li, when pumped to the surface and concentrated by evaporation in a succession of artificial ponds. It can take between a few months and a year, depending on the climate, to reach a concentrate of 1 percent to 2 percent Li so that the solution can be further processed in a chemical plant to yield lithium carbonate and lithium metal, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

The technology for refining these hard-rock “spodumene” deposits is well established, so considering the size of the resource and its location in the heart of the E.U., funding should not be a major hurdle.

Combined, the two projects could see the E.U. become more self-reliant for lithium supplies. Plus, it would be less exposed to overseas suppliers and extended supply chains for what is becoming an increasingly important raw material.

To meet increasing demand from electric vehicles (EVs), the lithium industry will need a sizeable investment over the next decade. According to one of the sector’s biggest players, that investment will need to be more than $10 billion in order to meet the rising challenge of the supply gap.

Demand for lithium is set to grow by 600,000-800,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent over the next 10 years, says Daniel Jimenez, senior commercial Vice President of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile. The executive from the Chilean mining giant believes that global lithium investment will require between $10 billion and $12 billion to meet that surge of demand.

But where is that investment going to come from, and where will it go? In SQM’s case, the Chilean government blocked a Chinese investment that would’ve sold 30% of the lithium giant to Chinese firms.

Now Chinese investors seeking new supplies of lithium will have more incentive to invest elsewhere, including through Australian firms Galaxy Resources Limited and Orocobre Limited, or through Canadian lithium firms such as Nemaska Lithium and QMC Quantum Minerals Corp.

China has its suspicions on which countries may have intervened with its bid for a stake in SQM. “We don’t know why they did it,” said Liu Rutao, China’s trade and economic representative to Chile, when asked if he believed other countries interfered. In the meantime, Chinese capital is going elsewhere, especially towards Canada and Australia.

Because new lithium will need to come from somewhere, it’s highly likely that it’ll come through expansions of either the current biggest firms, or else the rise of Canadian explorers such as QMC Quantum Minerals or Nemaska Lithium to the production phase.

BIG LITHIUM PLAYERS OF THE FUTURE

Despite the blocking by Chilean regulators of a 30% interest in SQM, the current stakeholders (Nutrien) have signaled their continued intent to push their $4-billion sale of the stake, likely before the end of June. At the moment, the top two frontrunners appear to be Rio Tinto and China’s largest lithium producer, Tianqi.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile

Outside of its base-nation of Chile, SQM is advancing projects in other countries. Among their current activities, SQM along with partners Kidman Resources are advancing a new lithium processing plant in Western Australia. Set inside the Kwinana Strategic Industrial area, south of Perth, SQM and its JV partners plan to commission the refinery in 2021, with an initial annual nameplate capacity of 44,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide or 37,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate. A definitive feasibility study for the refinery is expected to be completed later this year.

Galaxy Resources Limited

Not wanting to make any unnecessary missteps on its Sal de Vida lithium and potash project in Argentina, Australian-based Galaxy Resources recently appointed JP Morgan Australia to evaluate its “strategic options”. In April, the company had to halt trading briefly after a report in an Australian newspaper said the developer was looking to offload its stake in the large and high quality deposit to either Chinese or Korean interests. Sal de Vida has the potential to generate total annual revenues of approximately $354 million, scaling up to 25,000 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate, and 95,000 tonnes of potassium chloride. A definitive feasibility study on the project is expected later this month.

Orocobre Limited

Another Australian company with significant Argentinean interests, Orocobre will likely have a very different look over the next decade. Recent reports from the company announced that current Managing Director and CEO, Richard Seville, is stepping down from the company sometime in the next 12 months. Seville served in the role over the last 11 years, and is handing the baton to the company’s next leader, who will embark with the company on the Phase 2 expansion of its Olaroz lithium project in Argentina, and the development of the planned Lithium Hydroxide Plant. Seville will stay on to handle the company’s relationship with Toyota Tsushu, which owns a 25% stake in the company.

Nemaska Lithium

Money seemed to flow into Nemaska Lithium’s coffers throughout April, as the company concluded a $150-million streaming agreement with Orion Mine Finance II LP. Through the announcement, Nemaska outlined the components of its overall $775-825 million financing structure to fund the construction, commissioning, working capital, and reserve funds for its Whabouchi lithium mine, and Shawinigan electrochemical plant. The company also landed another big financing deal with Japanese multinational conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp., which took a 9.9% stake in the company for gross proceeds of up to $99.08 million. Nemaska also launched a $300-350 million bond offering, with a five-year term, as the company ramps up towards the big build.

QMC Quantum Minerals Corp.

Perhaps next in line behind Nemaska in the race to produce Canadian lithium, is QMC Quantum Minerals, with its 100%-owned Irgon Lithium Mine Project. Located within the prolific Cat Lake-Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field in southeastern Manitoba, the prolific nature of QMC’s flagship project has been known since the 1950s. However, with modern modelling and analytic capabilities, the potential for QMC’s Irgon project is now higher than it’s ever been. With the latest release of a 3D model, along with historical assays, it appears that QMC is sitting on something massive—with 2.3% Li2O over 7.3 feet, and non-NI43-101 compliant ore reserves of 1.2M tons at 1.51% Li2O.

WILL IRGON BE THE NEXT BIG LITHIUM MINE?

As its fellow compatriots are ramping up funding and activities in Quebec, QMC Quantum Minerals Corp. appears to be quietly and steadily ramping up excitement in Manitoba. The Vancouver-based company seems to have uncovered a forgotten treasure in the Irgon Dike, which when discovered wasn’t in nearly as favourable of a lithium market as today’s.

Originally worked on by the Lithium Corporation of Canada, QMC’s project came with significant data already on it. However, it is finally now getting the attention it deserves. During LCOC’s channel sampling of the Irgon Dike in 1956, historical assays were obtained after the work exposed the formation underground in crosscuts on the 200-foot level.

After applying modern analysis, the potential for the project is much, much higher than it was given credit for over 60 years ago. Now, 3-D modelling demonstrates that to date, exploration and underground development has been only undertaken on the upper and central portions of the dike—leaving significant potential to quickly increase tonnage.

The Irgon Dike is open both along strike, and to depth. Hence, the company confidently believes it can not only bring the non-compliant historical resource of 1.2 million tons at 1.51% Li2O into compliance, but that it can expand upon that figure considerably. Historic metallurgical tests reported an 87% recovery, from which a concentrate averaging 5.9% Li2O was obtained.

A complete mining plant was installed at the time on site, designed to process 500 tons of ore per day, and a three-compartment shaft was sunk to a depth of 74 meters. Work was suspended on the operation in 1957, awaiting a more favourable market for lithium oxides. At today’s prices, it appears that the wait is over, and Irgon’s time for a reboot has finally come.