OlaKaellenius, a Daimler board member in charge of research and development, said Tuesday that the auto industry is moving in the direction of making high-nickel batteries for electric cars, foreign media reported.
The high price of high-cobalt batteries has been prompting manufacturers to reformulate batteries for electric cars to use less cobalt and more nickel.
Each electric car battery uses between eight and 12 kilograms of cobalt. More than half of the annual cobalt supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Carmakers are also trying to increase the range of electric vehicles by experimenting with the ratio of nickel, cobalt and manganese in the battery, Mr Kerenius says.
"The most important trend right now is toward NMC formulations," Kellenius said. NMC refers to the three metals nickel, manganese and cobalt. "The first formula we saw was 1:1:1, then it grew to 6:2:2, and now some suppliers are even changing it to 9:0:0.5," he said.
The automotive industry currently has a range of different battery formulations, the biggest difference being the cathode material.
One formula, NCA or lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide, is made by Panasonic and is used in Tesla's electric cars; Competing formulations are NMC or lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide.
Chinese manufacturers use a synthetic called LFP, which is less energy-dense but also cobalt free; Japanese automakers use LMO or lithium manganese oxide, the same formula used by Nissan and LG Chemical.
Manly Battery
A leading Lithium battery manufacturer over 12 years ,pls feel free to send email to info@manly
batteries.com
