Mitsubishi Chemical To Begin Mass-Production of Li-Ion Cathode Material
28 March 2008
Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. plans to begin mass-production of cathode material for lithium ion batteries with a focus on applications for hybrid and electric vehicles as well as power tools beginning in the fall of 2009.
The company will invest ¥2 billion (US$20 million) to set up a facility that can produce 600 tons of material a year at its Mizushima factory in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture.
Mitsubishi Chemical also produces Li-ion electrolytes and anodes. It plans to increase sales of its battery materials to more than ¥100 billion (US$1 billion) annually.
600 tonnes of electrode material means lots of batteries!
Posted by: clett | 28 March 2008 at 12:37 PM
For those of us whose Japanese is a little rusty (or restricted to sushi varieties) what kind of cathode material are they planning on making?
Posted by: Neil | 28 March 2008 at 01:22 PM
I am curious if the material is LiFePO4 or LiMn2O4 Spinel. Seems the carbon coated LiFePO4 is gaining favor at this point.
Posted by: Lulu | 28 March 2008 at 01:32 PM
Altairnano Nanosafe (nLTo) is best of the best imo.
http://altairnano.com/markets_energy_systems.html
Posted by: ev2g | 28 March 2008 at 02:10 PM
I can read Japanese enough to eat Sushi. Unfortunately the press release does not say what kind of cathode material they are making, only that they are for Lithium batteries.
At the end of the press release, there is a sentence stating they are going to be a total solution provider, and business is expanding, etc.
Posted by: Lulu | 28 March 2008 at 04:01 PM
Unfortunately ALTI's nLTo material is expensive and shy on energy density. Good product for the Navy's Ship-based railguns though. A123 Systems has the product that is hitting marks with the masses for vehicles. Valence is also taking off. Keep you eyes on ABAT - these guys are going to make major annoucements soon.
Posted by: daverdeam | 28 March 2008 at 10:43 PM
Looks like Mitsubishi has been working LiMnO4 for cathodes and has patents covering the technology.
Posted by: daverdeam | 28 March 2008 at 11:08 PM
It may be Li(Mn,Ni,Co)O2 for General Motors purpose with a Hitachi Vehicle Energy battery. With 6 grams per Ah, HVE could produce 100 millions Ah or 370 millions Wh (3.7V per cell) or 370,000 kWh. For a Plug-in Hybrid 10 kWh battery we can get 37,000 vehicles per year. Not so bad for a fresh starting business.
Posted by: raymond bonnaterre | 29 March 2008 at 10:32 AM