Musk's latest announcement that Tesla sees potential in manganese-based cathodes in battery chemistry. Musk said the auto industry needs to pay more attention to the battery supply chain, even including minerals.
Tesla
According to reports, Musk's latest announcement that Tesla sees potential in manganese-based cathodes in battery chemistry.
Musk said the auto industry needs to pay more attention to the battery supply chain, even including minerals.
After delivering the first Model Y at Tesla's Berlin Gigafactory, Musk was asked about graphene batteries in a speech to employees.
Musk said he was skeptical because of the complexity of making graphene, but revealed that Tesla is indeed making batteries out of more materials.
For a long time to come, Tesla, like the rest of the industry, will focus on nickel-based chemicals for long-range vehicles, and iron phosphate for short-range vehicles.
But Musk made a brief but interesting comment on manganese batteries: "I think manganese has potential."
It is reported that Tesla has been exploring the use of more manganese in batteries.
Musk once said at Tesla Battery Day in 2020: "It is relatively simple to use two-thirds nickel and one-third manganese as a cathode, which will allow us to use the same amount of nickel. More than 50% more battery capacity is produced.”
Several research groups have now published papers on manganese-rich cathode batteries, which can offer higher energy densities than iron phosphate batteries and potentially lower prices than nickel-rich batteries.
