Lithium News

Solar cells are considered to be an environmentally friendly source of power generation that can effectively reduce the impact of pollution on the environment. In particular, perovskite quantum dot solar cells have drawn significant attention from the academic community due to their lower production cost and their ability to be applied to flexible materials, which conventional silicon solar cells lack.

The efficiency of perovskite quantum dot solar cells is largely dependent on the performance of hole transport materials that are responsible for charge transportation. However, the use of conventional hole transport materials in perovskite cells can result in rapid degradation due to dopants. As a result, there has been a need to research alternative hole transport materials that do not require dopants.

The research team led by Professor Taiho Park and Ph.D. candidates Dae Hwan Lee and Seyeong Lim from the Department of Chemical Engineering at POSTECH has fabricated a new design of polymeric hole transport materials that constitute a crucial element in perovskite quantum dot solar cells, leading to significant increase in their efficiency. The research findings have been published in ACS Energy Letters.

The team designed hole transport materials that include polymers based on sulfur and selenium compounds. These polymers exhibit structural features, such as planarization and locking of intermolecular arrangements, which increase charge mobility. Furthermore, asymmetric alkyl substituents of the polymers facilitate molecular interactions, thereby complementing the electrical properties of cells.

The effectiveness of the newly designed polymers was evaluated through tests using a control group. The results indicate that solar cells employing hole transport materials containing selenium compounds achieved 15.2% of power conversion efficiency (PCE), maintaining 80% of their initial PCE even after 40 days.

The findings of this research demonstrate that the newly designed hole transport materials can effectively increase charge mobility without the use of dopants, resulting in the highest PCE and increased stability in dopant-free perovskite quantum dot solar cells.

Professor Taiho Park who led the research explained, “The research findings represent a paradigm shift from conventional charge transport materials and are expected to be used in future research on solar cell devices.”

People contemplating buying an electric car want an answer to two questions — how far will it go on a single charge and how long does it take to charge? Saving the planet is all well and good, but if it means spending more time recharging a battery than filling a gas tank, some people aren’t interested. We can argue until we are blue in the face about the lower operating costs or the absence of tailpipe emissions from driving an electric car. Many people don’t want to hear it. Ample says the answer to those concerns is battery swapping.

On its website, the company says its mission is “to accelerate the transition to electric mobility by offering an energy delivery solution that is as fast, as convenient, and as cheap as gas while being powered by 100% renewable energy. We are a team of technologists, designers, and environmental enthusiasts who believe that this problem is among one of the most critical challenges of our time.”

About Ample

Battery swapping for electric cars has never been popular in the United States. Tesla experimented with it in 2014 and even got a patent for battery swapping technology back in 2017, but it never caught on. Yet in China, the idea is very popular. Nio now has over 1320 swap stations in operation in that country and is bringing the technology to Norway. It says its latest stations can perform more than 320 swaps a day. Not to be outdone, CATL has now decided to jump into the battery swap game itself.

At first blush, the idea of swapping batteries seems fraught with technical challenges. Battery packs come in many shapes and sizes. There also are a myriad of high-voltage wires and cooling lines to be disconnected and reconnected. It’s one thing to swap batteries in cars from one manufacturer, but doing it for cars from multiple manufacturers seems like a daunting task.

Ample’s Next-Gen Battery Swap Stations

Ample has attracted significant new investments that have allowed it to develop its second-generation swap stations, which it says required thousands of swaps and more than a million electric miles driven behind the scenes to make possible. It has partnered with Uber and other ride-hailing services to perfect the technology.

In addition, Ample has worked with last-mile delivery companies in order to understand the impact of battery swapping on their use cases. Those fleet operators complained that their drivers could spend as much as 12 hours a week charging their vehicles. Cities also complain there is a lack of reliable EV charging for city dwellers who don’t have access to garages and the option of overnight charging.

Ample says its second-generation battery swapping stations are designed to address all that and then some. “By design, we’ve invented our system to facilitate a lateral move from gas to be just as fast, as simple, and as cheap, all while being a completely green solution. As we scale and bring more EVs to more drivers, streamlining and simplifying the experience becomes crucial, especially when we support not only consumers but also fleets. So far, the EV experience has asked too much of drivers, with serious friction points and compromises that will not only hinder but be a deterrent to mass adoption.”

Ample says its new swap station design allows it cut swap times in half — from 10 minutes to 5 minutes. It is also able to service the needs of both small passenger cars and large delivery trucks. The streamlined drive-through design is more user friendly and safer. A whole platform raises with the car to allow passengers to enter and exit the car while a swap is in progress.

In addition, the new stations can be deployed more quickly. They need only 3 days to install, which could potentially allow the company to set up enough battery swapping stations to serve an entire metropolitan area in just a few weeks. The stations are delivered to a job site in pre-built sections which are then assembled into a finished swap facility. Deploying a station requires no digging, and swap stations can be easily added to a location so that multiple vehicles can swap simultaneously.

The Ample battery swapping stations are more robust, making them suitable for use in different cities with different climates. The stations have been field tested to withstand extreme temperatures and weather conditions. At the same time, Ample has continued to pursue innovations for its shoebox-sized modular batteries, making them safer and smarter, with the ability to be integrated into any modern EV. Along with the station, every component can be remotely monitored and controlled to ensure proper and efficient functioning.

“We’re incredibly excited about this new chapter in our mission to make EVs accessible to all and we invite more car makers, fleets, and cities to join us in the quest to electrify,” the company said in a blog post.

The Advantages of Battery Swapping

Battery swapping is really taking off for electric bicycles and scooters. Gogoro is leading the way toward swappable batteries for electric scooters, while Honda is also providing battery swap stations for its electric motorcycle customers. Honda has joined with Yamaha, Piaggio, and KTM to develop universal batteries that will fit the two-wheeled electric vehicles from all four manufacturers.

There are many potential benefits to battery swapping. First, drivers can always have a fully charged battery available at the nearest swap station. Second, drivers enjoy a choice that allows them to select the battery that fits their needs. If they only commute a few miles a day, they might make do with a 30 kWh battery for less money. If they are taking the family on vacation, they can opt for a 100 kWh battery to make their travels easier.

Third, swapped in batteries are always the latest technology. There are no concerns about buying a car that has a last-generation battery permanently installed. Fourth, there are no battery degradation or warranty concerns, both of which are high on the list of things potential EV buyers worry about. Fifth, drivers may find it cheaper to buy an EV and lease the battery separately, which could make EVs affordable for more people.

Will the Ample battery swapping system attract enough drivers to become successful? In the US, for passenger cars, perhaps not. But in other markets and for commercial vehicles, it very well might.

On May 19, Gotion High Tech launched its L600 Astroinno LMFP battery cell and pack at the 12th Gotion Technology Conference in Hefei, China. The manganese-doped LMFP Astroinno battery is capable of powering an electric car for up to 1000 kilometers, the company says. (Of course, any car can travel 1000 km without charging if you stuff enough batteries into it.)

Dr. Cheng Qian, executive president for international business at Gotion High Tech, told the audience in Hefei: “In recent years, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology has regained the recognition of the market with market share continuing to increase. Meanwhile, the energy density growth of mass produced LFP batteries has encountered bottlenecks and further improvement requires an upgrade of the chemical system, so LFP batteries doped with manganese were developed.”

In a press release, Cheng said, “Our Astroinno L600 LMFP battery cell, which has passed all safety tests, has a weight energy density of 240 Wh/kg, a volume energy density of 525 Wh/L, a cycle life of 4000 times at room temperature, and a cycle life of 1800 times at high temperatures. The the volumetric cell to pack ratio has reached 76% after adopting the L600 cell, and the system energy density has reached 190Wh/kg, surpassing the pack energy density of current mass produced NCM cells. It is due to the high energy density of Astroinno battery that we can enable a range of 1000 km without relying on NCM materials.”

According to Cheng, after ten years of in-house research on lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate (LMFP) materials, Gotion High Tech has solved the challenges of manganese dissolution at high temperatures, low conductivity, and low compaction density through utilizing co-precipitation doping encapsulation technology, new granulation technology, and new electrolyte additives.

The company’s research center in Cleveland, Ohio, has developed a new electrolyte for LMFP batteries which has greatly improved the cycle and storage performance at high temperatures. Production of the L600 battery cells is expected to begin in 2024.

According to Cheng, in addition to the upgrade and innovation of the battery material system, there are also several technical breakthroughs and innovations concerning the Astroinno battery pack developed based on the new battery cell. It uses a double-sided liquid cooling sandwich and a minimalist design approach to reduce the number of structural parts in the battery pack by 45%. Those techniques also lower the weight of structural parts by 32%. The wiring harness for the battery pack drops from 303 meters to 80 meters. The pack energy density has reached 190 Wh/kg, which exceeds the energy density of many NCM battery packs currently on the market.

The Astroinno battery pack uses thermal insulation materials than can withstand temperatures up to 1200°C and provide four layers of rapid heat exhausting channels. It has passed all penetration, hot box, overcharge, over-discharge, thermal runaway, crush, and short circuit tests based on the latest standards.

Volkswagen Group owns 26% of the shares in Gotion High Tech, whose wholly owned subsidiary, Hefei Gotion High Tech Power Energy Co, has received a procurement letter from Volkswagen saying it is now a designated supplier for VW’s overseas markets.

Gotion & Xenophobia

Gotion is planning to build a $2.3 billion battery factory in northern Michigan. The state has ponied up a long-term package of incentives to promote the idea, partly because the factory would add about 2,300 jobs to an area where employment opportunities are limited. But battery factories have become a flash point in the culture wars that are being promoted by xenophobic Americans.

According to MLive, last month a group of concerned citizens gathered in the rain to protest the proposed factory. “We’re wanting to push back because we don’t want this company here,” said Lori Brock, 58, who hosted the rally at her Majestic Friesians Horse Farm, which is near the proposed factory site. The land where the factory will be built has been zoned commercial for the past two decades.

Residents and Michigan Republicans have mobilized against the project citing concerns about Gotion ties to China and the possible environmental impact of a 500 acre battery park. “I don’t like communism. That’s a big thing. I don’t want our rivers to be polluted. I don’t want our air to be polluted. This is beautiful country; I don’t want it torn down,” said Dick Clark, who lives nearby. Chris Ward from Green Charter Township said she’s concerned about “the effects on the environment, the water and the politics of it all.”

Michigan GOP chair Kristina Karamo told the protesters, “To think they (China) will set up a battery factory in our state and they will just play by the rules, that makes no sense whatsoever.” Hard to argue with that, eh?

 Mining & Fracking In Michigan

And who wouldn’t be worried? Those scary battery factories are a blight, unlike the mines that have operated in the state for 150 years. According to the State of Michigan, copper resources were first mined by Native Americans around 3000 B.C. Michigan’s iron mining began when the Marquette Range opened in 1845, followed by the Menominee Range with their first shipment of ore dating 1877, and finally the Gogebic Range in 1883. In the early 1870s, Michigan’s ore production passed the 1 million ton mark with production peaking in 1920. Today, two iron mines remain active in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula — the Tilden Mine and the Empire Mine — both of which are in the Marquette Range.

Industrial copper mining began in the 1860s. During the earlier years of the copper mining era, Michigan produced up to 90 percent of the nation’s copper. Copper ranges opening in the west caused competition for the Michigan mines and in 1916, copper mining reached its peak in the Upper Peninsula with the production of almost 267 million pounds of copper.

Recently, Michigan has seen an increase in mining interest for nonferrous minerals. This shift is due to new technology and higher metal prices. Currently, there are multiple exploration efforts underway in the Upper Peninsula. These efforts are focused on the discovery of major copper, nickel, gold, zinc, platinum, palladium, uranium, and cobalt ore bodies. Fortunately, none of those activities cause any environmental damage at all.

Nor do any of the 12,000 fracked wells in the state that have been injected with chemical-laden water deep underground to release the oil and methane buried there. They are as pure as the driven snow, apparently. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. Communists? No. Permanently poisoning the groundwater? Yes, please. Can we have some more?

The Beating Of Gotion Goes On

In a letter sent last week to Aaron Keatley, acting director of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, eight GOP lawmakers said because of concerns about the project, it’s necessary to provide documents about water withdrawals and “any other reviews or assessments that have been conducted by the local, state or federal governments.”

“We trust that fulfilling this request will not be a time consuming or difficult endeavor as these all would seem to be commonsense inquiries to perform and documentation to create ahead of committing significant natural and fiscal resources of Michiganders to such a large and controversial project,” the lawmakers’ letter said. The GOP lawmakers said Gotion representatives have “admitted in open hearings that the facility will be withdrawing approximately 715,000 gallons of Michigan groundwater per day.”

Hugh McDiarmid Jr., spokesman for the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, said the agency hasn’t yet received any permit requests for the project and the documents that relate to the permits, when they come, would be open to public inspection.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has touted the Gotion battery factory as “the biggest ever economic development project in Northern Michigan.” Our readers will recall that the State of Virginia recently said “No thank you” to a proposal by CATL to build a battery factory with Ford in that state. That project — and the employment opportunities it brings — was then moved to Michigan.

The people opposed to the Gotion factory are apparently blissfully unaware that Michigan is hemorrhaging manufacturing jobs as companies move their operations to southern states where unions are nonexistent, wages are low, and moves are afoot to weaken child labor laws that have been in effect for nearly a century.

The Takeaway

The United States and China are locked in a titanic struggle to see who will dominate the global economy in the years to come. We are not unaware of Chinese spy balloons wafting across America or reports of secret Chinese police stations operating in US cities. We know the dangers of TikTok. We are not saying there are no issues raised by China’s domination of battery technology. But these are concerns that deserve the attention of our national leaders, not a sodden collection of malcontents in a muddy field in northern Michigan.

Not to put too fine a point on it, this xenophobic fear of “the other” is precisely the kind of thinking that led to the internment of tens of thousands of American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II. Have we learned nothing from the horrors of McCarthyism? Apparently not. Our primary products today are fear and rage. Neither is in the best interests of America.

Global nickel prices are poised to decline over the next few years as top producer Indonesia ramps up supplies and production costs fall, industry watchers predicted at metals conferences this week.

Indonesia, which made up 38% of global supply in 2021, is set to quadruple its nickel capacity to 1.2 million tonnes between 2021 and 2025, said Chen Yan, head of basic materials and engineering research at CICC.

As production growth outpaces demand, the benchmark three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange is likely to fall 7.5% this year to $23,741 a tonne and sink below $20,000 a tonne in 2024, according to Ellie Wang, a Shanghai-based analyst at CRU Group.

Indonesia mainly produces nickel pig iron (NPI), nickel matte and Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP), an intermediate product used in nickel sulphate production for making lithium-ion batteries.

“The planned incremental capacity from Indonesia would significantly relieve the supply bottleneck in nickel sulphate in the next three years,” Chen said.

Indonesia’s supply of MHP is forecast to grow fourfold to nearly 600,000 tonnes between 2022 and 2027, with projects being developed by PT Lygend, PT QMB, Huayou and Huafei, according to CRU’s Wang.

Meanwhile, supply of NPI in Indonesia will climb to 201,800 tonnes in 2025 from 114,700 tonnes in 2022, said Wang Yanchen, managing director at SMM UK.

Globally, refined nickel production will rise to 99,800 tonnes by 2025, from 83,400 tones in 2022, according to Shanghai Metals Market (SMM).

Nickel is traditionally used in stainless steel but is increasingly being used in the battery sector as adoption of electric vehicles expands.

Stainless steel-led demand is expected to hit 2.4 million tonnes in 2025, rising from 2.1 million tonnes in 2022, according to CICC’s Chen.

Demand from the lithium-iron battery sector will climb to 868,000 tonnes over the same period, more than doubling from 342,000 tonnes in 2022, according to Chen.

In addition to softening market fundamentals, lower costs will further drive down nickel prices, Chen said.

“The development of laterite (ore) would alleviate the supply shortage and bring down production costs, leading to a fall in NPI prices and nickel sulphate,” he said.

Japan’s Panasonic Holdings aims to ramp up production of battery cells used in electric vehicles by building at least two new factories in North America, it said on Thursday.

The company, whose energy unit makes batteries for Tesla, seeks to boost its auto battery capacity to 200 gigawatt hours per year by March 2031, about four times its level at the end of March, it said in a presentation on its website.

Panasonic plans to build at least two new factories for 4680 battery production in North America by 2030, a spokesperson confirmed to Reuters.

Panasonic has yet to decide where in North America it will add the production capacity, said the company’s Group Chief Executive Officer Yuki Kusumi.

“It could be Nevada, it could be Kansas or it could be somewhere else,” Kusumi said during a press conference after giving a presentation about the company’s strategy.

Panasonic and trading house Marubeni will build out a delivery network in Japan that will use small electric vans, the Nikkei newspaper said later on Thursday.

The firms will form a joint venture around June that will be tasked with issues ranging from installing charging units to managing vehicle batteries, Nikkei said, adding they will deploy hundreds of EV commercial vans in about two years.

A spokesperson for Panasonic could not immediately comment on the report. Marubeni declined to comment.

Panasonic is running a pilot 4680 production line at its Wakayama factory in Japan, while Tesla is already producing the 4680 battery cells, which Tesla CEO Elon Musk has touted as being key to making cheaper and compelling electric cars.

Panasonic will also set up two other new sites to deepen its battery know-how in Japan over the next two years.

One is a production technology facility it will establish in Osaka city in 2024, and the other is a site for development of new and next-generation batteries that it plans to set up in 2025 in neighboring Kadoma city.

Battery swap startup Ample publicly unveiled its second-generation station design in San Francisco today. This next chapter in US battery swaps is the culmination of thousands of previous swaps performed by Ample, which has now cut its processes down to a mere five minutes.

Ample is a California-based startup that has tasked itself with helping get 1 billion electric vehicles on roads around to world. To assist in this, Ample has developed modular battery swap stations that not only alleviate some grid dependency but can get EVs back on roads more quickly. Per its website:

Ample’s mission is to accelerate the transition to electric mobility by offering an energy delivery solution that is as fast, as convenient, and as cheap as gas while being powered by 100% renewable energy. We are a team of technologists, designers, and environmental enthusiasts who believe that this problem is among one of the most critical challenges of our time.

Others believe in Ample’s technology as well. To date the startup has raised over $270 million in funding to support its development, including $31 million in Series A funding from Shell back in 2018.

In March of 2021, Ample began deploying its first generation of autonomous battery swapping stations around San Francisco. Today, the startup has shown The Golden City what it can expect to see in its next generation of swap stations – designed to be installed more quickly and function even more efficiently.

Ample’s battery swap station supports a variety of EVs

Leveraging its experience working with rideshare companies like Uber and last-mile delivery startup Sally, Ample has been able to not only test its modular battery swap technology but also gather plenty of data to address client needs.

The startup states that electric last-mile fleet vehicles, in particular, can spend upward of 10-12 hours of a work week sitting at a charging station. For passenger EV drivers in crowded cities like San Francisco, Ample says it has recognized that there is a lack of reliable EV charging, especially for those who don’t have access to garages to replenish overnight.

Ample’s solution is its second-generation swap station, designed the support all of the EV types mentioned above, with the goal of converting more drivers to electric by offering a lateral “refueling” solution on par with a trip to the gas station. Per Ample:

Approaching the Ample station, the car is recognized by the station and its door is automatically raised. Once perfectly parked inside, the driver initiates the swap from the Ample app on her phone. Five minutes later, the driver is back on the road resuming her work day. While it may sound simple, the next generation of our EV battery swapping system is a major feat that took years of R&D, thousands of swaps and more than a million electric miles driven behind the scenes to make it possible.

Ample’s modular battery technology not only expands swap capabilities beyond passenger EVs to last-mile delivery vehicles, but its latest swap station cuts its entire process down from ten to five minutes.

Additionally, Ample states that its new stations are even easier to implement and can be installed and operational in three days. The station is delivered as a few pre-built sections that are erected on site, all without the need for any digging – just like Ample’s first-generation design. The stations can also be stacked side-by-side so that multiple EVs can receive swaps simultaneously.

Ample relayed that its new generation of stations have been “battle-tested” to endure extreme temperatures and weather conditions, allowing the startup to deploy its technology in more inclement cities around the US.

We hope to check out its second-generation station up close soon. In the meantime, here’s a video of Ample’s original swap station design.