4 ms·

Good to hear about more domestic battery production coming online. I wonder what kind of cells these will be? They're partnering with SK Innovation, which app

by elihu 5y ago

Good to hear about more domestic battery production coming online. I wonder what kind of cells these will be? They're partnering with SK Innovation, which appears to be a major battery manufacturer, but I haven't found anything about what kind of cells they make. I keep hoping we get more lithium iron phosphate production going in the U.S.. The energy density is a bit lower than other lithium ion chemistries, but it's been improving with new technology, and we really need more low-cost long-life cells to put in mass-market vehicles. LFP doesn't require cobalt or nickel, so it can be produced in higher volume than chemistries that do without running into resource bottlenecks. Tesla's approach is fine if you want to make a million cars. To make a hundred million cars requires a different approach, and that's the scale we should be thinking about.

nickik 5y ago
I don't have knowledge about this other then watching the industry closely. I would bet being pouch style cells using NCM811 or a further evolution there-off. > LFP doesn't require cobalt or nickel, so it can be produced in higher volume than chemistries that do without running into resource bottlenecks. I don't think raw resource availability is the major problem. Lithium refinement and cathode and anode production is more likely to cause issues. > Tesla's approach is fine if you want to make a million cars. Not sure what you are referring to here. Tesla uses the second most LFP cells as far as I know. Tesla already uses NCA, NCM and LFP and they are buying from the 3 largest suppliers, Panasonic, CATL and LG. In addition to that they will also produce their own cells with their own high nickel, and nickel-manganese chemistry. They are absolutely thinking how to make many millions of cars, be diversifying suppliers (including themselves), diversifying chemistries while trying to unify the format.

by elihu 5y ago

nickik 5y ago

I don't have knowledge about this other then watching the industry closely. I would bet being pouch style cells using NCM811 or a further evolution there-off. > LFP doesn't require cobalt or nickel, so it can be produced in higher volume than chemistries that do without running into resource bottlenecks. I don't think raw resource availability is the major problem. Lithium refinement and cathode and anode production is more likely to cause issues. > Tesla's approach is fine if you want to make a million cars. Not sure what you are referring to here. Tesla uses the second most LFP cells as far as I know. Tesla already uses NCA, NCM and LFP and they are buying from the 3 largest suppliers, Panasonic, CATL and LG. In addition to that they will also produce their own cells with their own high nickel, and nickel-manganese chemistry. They are absolutely thinking how to make many millions of cars, be diversifying suppliers (including themselves), diversifying chemistries while trying to unify the format.