The Volkswagen Group is investing US$10 million in the US-based startup Forge Nano Inc. with a view to reinforcing its specialist knowledge in the field of battery research. Forge Nano, formerly PneumatiCoat Technologies, is investigating processes for scaling atomic layer deposition (ALD) to create new core-shell materials, especially for battery... Read more →

California-based Motiv Power Systems, a provider of medium-duty all-electric fleet chassis for trucks and buses (earlier post), announced a supply agreement with BMW to integrate the latest (third) evolution of BMW’s passenger car lithium-ion battery packs into Motiv’s EPIC (Electric Powered Intelligent Chassis). When Motiv specs a battery for a... Read more →

Saudi Arabia-based SABIC, a global leader in diversified chemicals, has taken a majority stake in Black Diamond Structures (BDS), a nanotechnology company established in 2014. BDS produces and commercializes MOLECULAR REBAR, a proprietary technology of modified carbon nanotubes that offers potential for enhancing the performance of energy storage applications using... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz Cars will build a battery factory at the site in Jawor, Poland, and thus extend its global battery production network to nine factories. We will electrify the complete portfolio until 2022 and will be able to offer in each segment various electrified alternatives to our customers. This includes more... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation and Panasonic Corporation have concluded a business-integration contract and a joint-venture contract toward the establishment of a new joint venture related to the automotive prismatic battery business by the end of 2020 (pending approval from the competition-law authorities in the countries and regions concerned). Toyota will hold... Read more →

Magnis Energy Technologies Limited announced that the Government of India, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises advises that Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and LIBCOIN (20% owned by Magnis) are in discussions to build India’s first Li-ion battery gigafactory. BHEL is India’s largest power generation equipment manufacturer; the government... Read more →

The Nikkei said it had learned that Toyota Motor and Panasonic will set up a joint venture in 2020 to manufacture EV batteries, with a focus on cost and scale and an eye toward rising Chinese players. The Nikkei reported that the JV will be announced as soon as this... Read more →

Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced the launch of a Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize and the establishment of an associated Battery Recycling R&D Center. These efforts aim to reclaim and recycle critical materials (e.g., cobalt and lithium) from lithium-based battery technology used in consumer electronics, defense, energy storage, and transportation applications.... Read more →

Ford Motor Company, Huayou Cobalt, IBM, LG Chem and RCS Global will use blockchain technology to trace and validate ethically sourced minerals in an effort to support human rights and environmental protection while helping infuse more transparency into global mineral supply chains. The group, which includes participants at each major... Read more →

Researchers from Tsinghua University and China University of Geosciences have used an ultrathin indium sheet to construct a stabilized lithium-rich hybrid anode with fast interfacial ion transport. The artificial alloy layer demonstrates an enhanced ionic conductivity with an order of magnitude higher than that of the pristine solid electrolyte interphase.... Read more →

Researchers at Imperial College London (ICL) developed a model to determine the lifetime costs (i.e., levelized cost)—as opposed to the investment cost—of 9 electricity storage technologies for 12 different applications between 2015 and 2050. The model predicts lithium-ion batteries to be the cheapest technology in the coming decades. An open-access... Read more →

As part of $14 million in continuation grants, the California Energy Commission is awarding $450,000 in additional funding to Sepion Technologies, an Emeryville-based company developing battery membrane materials capable of supporting batteries that can power electric vehicles for 400 miles. Sepion has developed a composite membrane to replace the expensive... Read more →

Researchers in Korea have developed three-dimensional monolithic corrugated graphene on nickel foam electrode as a Li metal storage framework in carbonate electrolytes. Electrochemical tests reported in their paper in the Journal of Power Sources illustrate the effectiveness of this material design concept, which provides a new route to the development... Read more →

In a review published in the journal Chem of the technical issues generated by the mating of Li-metal anodes and solid-state electrolytes, a team from Tsinghua University concludes that such solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLMBs) have “brilliant prospects, though practically there are still many barriers to be overcome.” A solid-state... Read more →

Workhorse Group Inc., a manufacturer of electric-mobility solutions to the transportation sector (earlier post), closed a $35-million financing with Marathon Asset Management. The proceeds will be used for current working capital, parts acquisitions to fulfill existing and future customer purchase orders and contracts as well as to satisfy full repayment... Read more →

University College London and University of Illinois at Chicago researchers report a new, scalable method for making a material that can reversibly store magnesium ions at high-voltage. The study is published RSC journal Nanoscale. Chromium oxides with the spinel structure have been predicted to be promising high voltage cathode materials... Read more →

Researchers from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tohoku University and Nippon Institute of Technology at Tokyo Tech examined the mechanisms behind the resistance at the electrode-electrolyte interface of all-solid-state batteries and found that the crystallinity has a significant impact on interface resistance. Their paper is published in the journal ACS Applied... Read more →

Tsinghua University researchers have synthesized a novel layered-spinel lithium manganite hydrate for high capacity and ultrafast lithium storage. A paper on their work is published in the Journal of Power Sources. The team used a simple one-step hydrothermal lithiation process to create the material. The layered-spinel coexistence, stable intercalated water,... Read more →

Researchers at the University of Virginia (UVA) have devised a process for converting retired Li-ion battery anodes to graphene and graphene oxide (GO). A paper on the work is published in the ACS journal Nano Letters. … accompanying the booming expansion of the Li-ion battery market, a tremendous amount of... Read more →

Researchers at the Northwestern Polytechnical University and Shaanxi Joint Lab of Graphene in China have synthesized onion-like nanospheres of carbon encapsulated few-layer MoS2 nanosheets for use as an anode material in Li-ion batteries. The nanocomposite delivers a specific capacity of 1119 mAh g−1 and shows excellent rate and cycling performance. A... Read more →

Volkswagen is previewing the company’s future mobile quick charging station. The first mobile quick charging stations will be set up as early as the first half of 2019 in Wolfsburg as part of a pilot project, and will support the expansion of a charging infrastructure in the urban area. The... Read more →

Toshiba Corporation is taking its SCiB rechargeable battery business from Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation (TISS) to make it an independent business unit within Toshiba. The reorganization advances the strategy of the Toshiba Next Plan, announced on 8 November, which positions the battery business as a new growth business.... Read more →

Maxwell Technologies, Inc., a leading developer and manufacturer of energy storage and power delivery technology, has simultaneously signed and closed a definitive agreement to sell its High Voltage (HV) product line to Renaissance Investment Foundation. Under terms of the agreement, Maxwell sold all shares of its Swiss subsidiary, Maxwell Technologies... Read more →

Researchers from the University of Houston and the Toyota Research Institute of America have discovered a promising new version of high-energy magnesium batteries, with potential applications ranging from electric vehicles to battery storage for renewable energy systems. The battery, reported in the journal Joule, is the first to operate with... Read more →

Researchers at Jiangsu Normal University in China have devised a boron-doped carbon-sulfur (BCS) aerogel with consecutive “core-shell” stuctures as a binder-free cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries. In an open-access paper in the RSC journal Chemical Communications, they report achieving a high specific capacity of 1326 mAh/g, long cycling lifespan and a... Read more →

Canada-based MGX Minerals Inc. is funding a research consortium with the University of British Columbia (UBC) to develop a low-cost and scalable method for fabricating silicon-based anodes to improve the energy density of Li-ion batteries. The two-year research program will focus on 1) fabricating nanostructured silicon using low-cost metallurgical silicon... Read more →

Bolivian state-owned company Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) and the German company ACI Systems Alemania GmbH (ACISA) have formed a joint venture: YLB-ACISA. The aim of the JV is the sustainable extraction and industrialization of lithium as well as other raw materials from Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt... Read more →

A team of researchers in China has devised a simple and mass-produceable method to modify a Li metal anode to avoid the formation of an unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and the subsequent growth of Li dendrites in high-energy-density Li-S batteries. A paper on their work is published in the... Read more →

The €7.9-million (US$8.9-million), 43-month Lithium Sulfur for Safe Road Electrification (LISA) project will launch 1 January 2019 in Europe. The overall goal is to design and manufacture a lithium-sulfur technology that will enable safe electrification of EV applications. The partners involved in the LISA project are LEITAT (co-ordinators), OXIS Energy... Read more →

Lithium-chalcogen batteries—e.g., lithium-sulfur (Li-S) and lithium selenium (Li-Se) systems— are promising candidates for high energy electrical storage solution. Earlier this year, a team of researchers at the General Motors Research and Development Center in Warren, MI, with colleagues at Optimal CAE and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), reported demonstrating a... Read more →

24M, part of a team that received $3.5 million in funding from ARPA-E in 2016 to further the development of the next generation of high-energy-density, low-cost batteries (earlier post), has raised a $21.8 million Series D to accelerate the deployment of its simple, capital-efficient, low-cost manufacturing process and the development... Read more →

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd (CATL), a leading global supplier and manufacturer of lithium-ion battery products for electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage facilities, is renewing its commitment to the US market by opening its first North American sales and service facility. CATL has established partnerships with several US-based businesses... Read more →

Under current policies, home energy storage systems would also often increase carbon emissions, according to a study by a team of researchers at the University of California San Diego published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The researchers selected 16 of the largest utilities companies in the country and... Read more →

Daimler will buy more than €20 billion (US$23 billion) of battery cells for electric drive vehicles by 2030, the company announced. The suppliers are already producing battery cells in Asia and Europe and are continuing to expand in Europe and additionally in the US. Daimler currently has battery cell supply... Read more →

Next-Battery, a start-up developing high energy-density Li-ion battery technology, has secured a strategic relationship with Lvchi Automobile Technology (Shanghai) Co Ltd. LVCHI AUTO group is a whole value chain operation platform company that focuses on new electric vehicles (EV), with targeted annual production of more than 500,000 vehicles. The global... Read more →

Volvo Buses is participating in a research project in which used electric bus batteries are used as solar energy storage units. Batteries from electric bus route 55 in Gothenburg, Sweden are being used for solar energy storage in a second-life application. This is part of a research project in which... Read more →

Rechargeable fluoride-based batteries could offer very high energy density. However, current fluoride batteries use molten salt electrolytes, and thus need to operate at high temperatures. Now, a team of researchers from Caltech, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (managed by Caltech for NASA), the Honda Research Institute and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory... Read more →

Nova Scotia-based Elcora Advanced Materials Corp. has been awarded a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)-ENGAGE grant with Dr. Heather Andreas, an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Dalhousie University. The project will focus on studying Elcora’s high-quality graphene as an electrode material for supercapacitors.... Read more →

Amprius, Inc., a manufacturer and developer of high energy and high capacity lithium-ion batteries, announced that the company is supplying advanced lithium-ion cells to the Airbus Defence and Space Zephyr Program. Using Amprius’ cells, which contain a 100% silicon anode, the Zephyr S flew more than 25 days, setting a... Read more →

South Korea-based SK Innovation, a developer of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, will invest $1.67 billion to build a new electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing plant in Georgia. SK innovation is fitted with the entire value chain for mid/large-sized battery production from electrodes and separators to battery cells and packs.... Read more →

SiNode Systems, a Chicago-based advanced materials company developing silicon-graphene materials for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries (earlier post), and JNC Corporation, a Tokyo-based specialty chemical manufacturer, have formed NanoGraf Corporation—a joint venture focused on commercializing asvanced materials for the Lithium-ion battery industry—with a $4.5-million investment. SiNode is now remaned... Read more →

As part of a cross-industry initiative, the BMW Group, BASF SE, Samsung SDI and Samsung Electronics have launched a joint cobalt pilot project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A contract to this effect between the companies, together with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, will aim... Read more →

Project partners thyssenkrupp System Engineering GmbH, IAV GmbH, Daimler AG and the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS are developing bipolar Li-ion batteries and processes for their fabrication in the EMBATT-goes-FAB project sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. With the EMBATT battery, the... Read more →

Johnson Controls Power Solutions and Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation have partnered to deliver low-voltage lithium-ion solutions to meet automaker demands for improved efficiency, lower costs and less complexity. Under the agreement, Johnson Controls will collaborate with Toshiba to develop and manufacture lithium-ion batteries at its Holland, MI, plant... Read more →

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin are proposing a novel approach to suppress the “polysulfide shuttle” in Li-S batteries—a freestanding, three-dimensional graphene/1T MoS2 (3DG/TM) heterostructure with highly efficient electrocatalysis for lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). Cells with 3DG/TM exhibit outstanding electrochemical performance, with a high reversible discharge capacity of 1181... Read more →

Researchers from Western University, Canadian Light Source, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have proposed a novel solid-phase Li-S transformation mechanism that enables high energy Li-S batteries in conventional Li-ion carbonate electrolytes. An open-access paper on their work is published in Nature Communications. Schematic of a lithium sulfur battery in... Read more →

ADEME, France’s Environment and Energy Management Agency, carried out a study with IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) on the dynamics of lithium supply and demand, based on different scenarios for the electrification of the global car fleet by 2050. The lithium market continues to grow; in 2015, the market grew by... Read more →

AVEVAI, a new B2B e-mobility and logistics solutions and technology provider based in Singapore, launched its range of IONA electric light commercial vehicles (e-LCVs) at the 5th Guangzhou International Electric Vehicles Show in China (16-25 November 2018). The electric vehicles—in van and truck configurations—are designed specifically for use by delivery... Read more →

The coming electric vehicle boom will significantly increase the demand for cobalt in the EU and globally. As a result, demand is expected to exceed supply already in 2020 and the EU must take steps to boost supply and curb demand without hindering the growth in electric vehicles, according to... Read more →

Albemarle Corporation, a leader in the global specialty chemicals industry, signed an Exclusivity Agreement (Agreement) with Mineral Resources Limited in relation to the potential creation of a 50/50 joint venture (JV) to own and operate the Wodgina hard rock lithium mine and ultimately develop an integrated lithium hydroxide operation at... Read more →