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Wondering where VW is going to source raw materials for all this

Tagbert 4y ago
Australia is the largest producer of lithium with Chile second. https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/stories/2020/03/lithium-mining-what-you-should-know-about-the-contentious-issue.html https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/stories/2020/03/lithium...
- lysp 4y ago
  Big issue in Australia is we like to dig things up and essentially give them away internationally. Fossil fuel companies have a very big say in government decisions. There is a recent change of government, so they'll have slightly less of a say - but still a large amount. What we really need to do, if we were forward-thinking enough, is value-add our resources. Instead of sending away lithium and buying back batteries, we should develop the capability locally.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  Do Australia or Chile have material processing capacity? There is a world of difference between lithium and the sorts of refined powders battery makers use to produce the finished product. Besides Redwood Materials in the U.S., I think that refining capacity is almost entirely in China.
alkonaut 4y ago
Any ”Gigafactory” built these days likely has a plan for producing raw materials through recycling old batteries. There have been cells produced already with nickel/cobalt/manganese from old cells. Lithium will also be recycled into batteries. See e.g the “Revolt ett” plant in Sweden. https://northvolt.com/articles/recycled-battery/ https://northvolt.com/articles/recycled-battery/ I haven’t heard anything about this plant but I’m assuming something similar for this plant.
MilaM 4y ago
I have no knowledge if they have all the raw materials secured for the planned capacity. But at least they are publicly on record thinking about it: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volkswagen-seeks-partnerships-battery-materials-race-2021-06-15/ https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volksw...

Australia is the largest producer of lithium with Chile second. https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/stories/2020/03/lithium-mining-what-you-should-know-about-the-contentious-issue.html https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/stories/2020/03/lithium...

lysp 4y ago
Big issue in Australia is we like to dig things up and essentially give them away internationally. Fossil fuel companies have a very big say in government decisions. There is a recent change of government, so they'll have slightly less of a say - but still a large amount. What we really need to do, if we were forward-thinking enough, is value-add our resources. Instead of sending away lithium and buying back batteries, we should develop the capability locally.
JumpCrisscross 4y ago
Do Australia or Chile have material processing capacity? There is a world of difference between lithium and the sorts of refined powders battery makers use to produce the finished product. Besides Redwood Materials in the U.S., I think that refining capacity is almost entirely in China.

alkonaut 4y ago

Any ”Gigafactory” built these days likely has a plan for producing raw materials through recycling old batteries. There have been cells produced already with nickel/cobalt/manganese from old cells. Lithium will also be recycled into batteries. See e.g the “Revolt ett” plant in Sweden. https://northvolt.com/articles/recycled-battery/ https://northvolt.com/articles/recycled-battery/ I haven’t heard anything about this plant but I’m assuming something similar for this plant.

MilaM 4y ago

I have no knowledge if they have all the raw materials secured for the planned capacity. But at least they are publicly on record thinking about it: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volkswagen-seeks-partnerships-battery-materials-race-2021-06-15/ https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volksw...