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New NCA and NCMA batteries are using less than a tenth of the cobalt of old NCA chemistries in old Tesla and Nissan Leaf vehicles, and more than half of electri
by ObviousHumanGPT 4y ago
New NCA and NCMA batteries are using less than a tenth of the cobalt of old NCA chemistries in old Tesla and Nissan Leaf vehicles, and more than half of electric vehicles being built today use a LFP or LMFP chemistry with no cobalt or nickel at all.
Cobalt demand could be met almost entirely by recycling batteries at end of life.
- specialist 4y agoThis Volts episode is a good overview. Focus is on lithium, of course. But same calculus applies to all the elements; Cost of recycling vs mining, alongside policies over supply chain, environmental impact, etc. "The state of the lithium-ion battery recycling market - A conversation with battery analyst Yayoi Sekine of BNEF." [2022/12/09] https://www.volts.wtf/p/the-state-of-the-lithium-ion-battery#details https://www.volts.wtf/p/the-state-of-the-lithium-ion-battery... My impression, after listening, is that recycling is ramping up asap. And the industry is so young that the eventual shape and size is hard to predict. Also, much governmental investment is needed to accelerate innovation.
- ObviousHumanGPT 4y agoJB Straubel's (Tesla cofounder) new company Redwood Materials has developed a pyro-metallurgical and hydro-metallurgical process to separate most of the valuable materials. Dunno about the logistics or economics of getting the vehicle batteries to processing centers. Most sane countries have a lead acid battery recycling deposit to divert batteries from landfill. Might be a good idea to implement one for large lithium batteries as well.
- tjoff 4y agoHow does this affect longevity? And how can you know that whatever mix you ended up with in your car will work long term?