The worldwide debate around transportation electrification is intensifying，Governments are also setting stricter battery storage standards.
To enable a new, zero-emissions world, automakers have developed a wide variety of electric vehicle models, and every mode of transportation, from airplanes to ships to cars, is examining the path to electrification. With the electrification of transportation and the increasing use of batteries in energy storage applications, the battery supply chain for equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and utilities has undergone fundamental changes.
Wood Mackenzie (Wood Mackenzie) predicts that electric vehicles will reach 15 million by 2030, which some even believe is a more conservative growth rate. The electrified future is no small challenge for battery technology, and the following are five questions that broadly answer the electric vehicle battery supply chain sector.
1. What are the main components of an EV battery?
Battery energy density is critical to the success of electric vehicles, and innovations in battery technology are enabling consumers to use lighter, more energy efficient, cheaper, and longer range vehicles. As a result, demand for high-energy density lithium-ion batteries will soar in parallel with demand for electric vehicles themselves. Lithium-ion batteries require a large number of key metal substances, of which lithium, cobalt and nickel are the most critical. Of course, in China, lithium iron phosphate batteries without cobalt and nickel are more commonly used in specific transportation areas as well as in energy storage.
2. Can the supply of battery raw materials keep up with the demand for electric vehicles?
The electrification of transportation is changing the demand and supply of battery raw materials. In fact, battery raw materials are expected to see double-digit growth rates in the next decade. A recent study by Wood Mackenzie suggests that by the mid-2020s, battery raw materials could face a supply crunch, increasing pressure on the supply chain.
3. Where will the supply of lithium resources come from?
Many of the world's basic resources are supplied from areas of particularly high political, social and environmental risk, such as the recent outbreak of anti-American wave of Iraq, its oil reserves ranked fourth in the world, but the instability of the political environment affects the export of oil. Such risks are also present in the supply of raw materials for lithium batteries, which adds to the complexity of procurement for OEMs. The exception in this regard is Australia, which has become the world's largest source of lithium metal supply and is not currently generating significant changes in the supply of its lithium resources.
4. What are the potential threats to lithium mining?
Traditional brine operations in the lithium triangle of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia are the biggest challenge to lithium supply. Can these water-intensive operations be scaled up and not cause lasting damage to the surrounding environment?
For cobalt, the supply situation is even tougher. in 2018, 72% of global primary cobalt production came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a war-torn country better known for poverty, corruption and danger, and even a recent outbreak of Ebola and increased violence, which has had a significant impact on companies from various countries mining and shipping cobalt in the country. It is understood that BMW (BMW) has pledged not to use cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the company's cobalt feedstock will come from Australia and Morocco.
5. What are the alternatives to lithium-ion batteries?
In the first half of 2019, technology and transportation companies, including Tesla and Samsung, have made significant investments in alternative lithium-ion battery chemistry, noting the development of low-cobalt cathodes, solid-state electrolytes, silicon-based anodes and more. Many battery companies are seeking alternative batteries that do not contain rare metals and have performance comparable to lithium-ion batteries, but such batteries are still largely in the laboratory development stage. Over time, some of these new technologies will begin to be commercialized to meet the growing demand for electric vehicles.
