Volkswagen has concluded two memoranda of understanding with Huayou Cobalt and the Tsingshan Group in China to secure access to essential battery raw materials. The three companies are planning two joint ventures.
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In the USA, the German chemicals group Lanxess is conducting a study with Standard Lithium to examine the construction of a lithium carbonate production plant. This should be located at the Lanxess’ site in El Dorado in the state of Arkansas.
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US President Joe Biden has now officially presented his two-trillion-dollar investment plan, with which he wants to fundamentally modernise the country’s infrastructure and stimulate economic growth.
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Starting next year, the BMW Group will be purchasing lithium from a second supplier, the US company Livent. The volume of the multi-year contract is around 285 million euros. Livent will supply the lithium directly to the BMW Group’s battery cell manufacturers.
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The Renault Group will cooperate with the waste disposal and recycling specialist Veolia and the chemical group Solvay in the development of a circular economy for metals from the spent batteries of electric vehicles. The three companies have presented a declaration of intent.
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A German-American research team has studied the electrochemical processes in lithium-ion batteries in more detail. They discovered that the lithium is not evenly distributed in the battery cells – a discovery that should improve the modelling of battery cells.
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Hydrovolt has started construction of a battery recycling plant in Fredrikstad, Norway. The newly founded joint venture between the Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt and the Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro says the plant will be operational at the end of 2021.
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VW’s Group Components division has commissioned a pilot plant for recycling batteries in Salzgitter. With the plant, which is to be scalable to higher capacities, Volkswagen wants to recover valuable raw materials and use them in new batteries.
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Volkswagen’s battery partner in China, Guoxuan High-Tech, has presented a new battery cell with LFP chemistry with an energy density of 210 Wh/kg. As early as next year, the company, usually known as Gotion High-Tech, wants to achieve 260 Wh/kg.
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The Finnish state mining company Terrafame has received environmental approval for the battery materials factory it has been planning for years in Sotkamo, Finland. Production, which is mainly geared towards nickel products, is scheduled to start in April.
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The first cobalt-free battery cells announced by SVOLT are now available for order worldwide. The NMX cells will initially be offered in two sizes: a 115 Ah version with 245 Wh/kg and a 226 Ah cell variant with 240 Wh/kg.
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The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Norway’s SINTEF institute are researching cobalt-free lithium-ion batteries in the EU project HYDRA together with ten partners. They want to test an industry-ready prototype for real-world operation in a ship battery system.
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SQM (Sociedad Química and Minera de Chile) has entered into a long-term agreement to supply lithium products to LG Energy Solution, the recently independent battery division of LG Chem. The contract is expected to run through 2029.
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In response to growing global demand for electric cars, Albemarle has announced an increase in capacity at its Silver Peak lithium production facility in the US state of Nevada. Albemarle will invest $30 million to $50 million to double production there by 2025.
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Tesla has signed a contract with the Chinese Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group to supply battery-grade lithium hydroxide for the next five years. According to a report from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the contract is worth between 513 and 716 million euros.
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The EU Commission has presented its proposals for mandatory sustainability criteria for batteries. For example, the CO2 footprint for batteries used in electric vehicles is to be regulated, and recycling quotas for certain materials are to be adhered to.
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Fortum has developed a new method to recycle lithium from rechargeable batteries. The Finnish company calls it a patented “breakthrough technology and a new recovery method” designed to reduce the environmental impact of recycling lithium.
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Volkswagen has joined the Cobalt for Development initiative to promote more sustainable cobalt mining in the Congo. The project is being implemented by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and has so far been financed by BASF, BMW, Google, Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDI.
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In future, Mercedes-Benz will only buy battery cells with cobalt and lithium from certified quarries. The Stuttgart-based automaker also intends to reduce the cobalt content of the next generation of battery cells to less than ten per cent and, in the long term, to dispense with cobalt altogether.
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Lithium producer Livent says it has extended its supply contract with Tesla to 2021. Tesla wants Livent to provide higher quantities than in 2020 and a new lithium mine is to help in this respect but is fraught with risks.
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Bolstered by the investment from Volkswagen last spring, the Chinese battery manufacturer Gotion High-Tech alias Guoxuan is preparing to expand the production capacity for its cells. The talk is of 28 GWh annual capacity, which the company plans to reach this year.
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The Texas-based materials science company Momentum Technologies focuses on extracting critical metals from electronic waste, and has licensed an Oak Ridge National Laboratory process for recovering cobalt and other metals from used lithium-ion batteries.
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Several state-owned Indonesian companies are planning a joint venture for batteries for electric vehicles. The joint venture, called Indonesia Battery Holding, is to contribute to the development of the entire industry.
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To secure the supply of raw materials such as lithium or rare earth in Europe, the EU Commission launched the European Raw Materials Alliance today. ERMA already includes 150 companies as well as non-governmental organizations, associations and governments.
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Battery cell manufacturer SVOLT Energy Technology will supply its parent company Great Wall with cobalt-free cells starting next year. SVOLT President Yang Hongxin has also said that the choice of location for the European plant is in the “final phase”.
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Tesla is considering taking a stake in LG Energy Solution, LG Chem’s planned battery subsidiary reports local media. Tesla has also signed a supply contract for lithium from the USA.
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The Canadian recycling company Li-Cycle is now giving details of its announced first battery recycling plant in the USA. The company will invest more than 175 million US dollars in this plant in Rochester, New York State.
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Volkswagen has entered into a strategic partnership with RCS Global, a specialist in supply chain analysis as the Group aims to introduce greater transparency and responsibility in its raw material supply chains for batteries.
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The Swiss electric vehicle manufacturer Kyburz has put a battery recycling plant into operation in Freienstein in the canton of Zurich. According to the company, the recycling process used there recovers up to 91 per cent of the metals contained.
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So far there has been much speculation, but little official information about Redwood Materials, the recycling start-up founded by ex-Tesla CTO JB Straubel. Now Straubel has given more details about the plans of Redwood Materials in an interview.
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