Category: TRANSPORTATION_BATTERIES_MN

Electric vehicles are key to a sustainable future for the planet, but while EVs continue their steady rise within the automotive industry, many drivers remain skeptical of making the major change. There are a number of factors behind consumer hesitancy, but one of the foremost concerns is just how long it takes to recharge a car’s battery. Owners can still expect between 15 and 30 minutes to re-up their EVs for another estimated 200-300 miles, while gas stations’ rates are obviously dramatically shorter—typically only a few minutes for around 400 miles.

WEIGHT IS ONE of the biggest banes for car designers and engineers. Batteries are exceedingly heavy and dense, and with the internal combustion engine rapidly pulling over for an electric future, the question of how to deal with an EV’s added battery mass is becoming all the more important.

Honda Motor Co. HMC 1.75%▲ and LG Energy Solution Ltd. 373220 2.94%▲ said Monday they plan to build a $4.4 billion electric-vehicle battery factory in the U.S., the latest tie-up between auto makers and battery suppliers seeking to expand capacity by sharing upfront costs.
The companies said they plan to begin construction of the factory early next year and start mass production by the end of 2025. The factory is planned for Ohio, the same state as Honda’s longstanding auto plant in Marysville, people familiar with the matter said. The companies didn’t name the location.

It’s cheaper, faster charging, longer lasting, safer and better for the environment than anything we currently have.

Tesla’s former head of energy is officially launching Lunar Energy, a new startup aimed at simplifying the transition to full home electrification. Kunal Girotra, who was until February 2020 Tesla’s senior director of energy operations, is chief executive of Lunar as well as its founder.

The climate bill President Biden signed into law yesterday will open up tens of billions of dollars in subsidies for high-tech electric vehicle plants across the South and the Midwest.
Why it matters: The package is a big down payment on addressing climate change and moving toward energy independence as the U.S. races to build a domestic supply chain for batteries and other critical materials.

The climate bill President Biden signed into law yesterday will open up tens of billions of dollars in subsidies for high-tech electric vehicle plants across the South and the Midwest.
Why it matters: The package is a big down payment on addressing climate change and moving toward energy independence as the U.S. races to build a domestic supply chain for batteries and other critical materials.

THE LACK OF a US supply chain for electric vehicle battery materials is often spun as a tale of inconvenient geography. In many ways, this is true. There’s cobalt from the Congo. Indonesian nickel. Latin American lithium. But there’s one critical material for which this isn’t the case: graphite. The material, which is the biggest component of battery cells by weight, isn’t a rare metal. It’s an arrangement of six carbon atoms that can be dug up basically anywhere in the world, including from large deposits in the United States and Canada. And where it isn’t found naturally, it can be made synthetically, usually from waste petroleum products. For long-lasting EV batteries, this approach is usually thought to be the best.

Experts warn that supply of a key component in electric vehicles is hurtling towards a tipping point when global demand will outstrip supply — a moment that could come as early as this year.

The U.S. Energy Department said Monday that it would lend $2.5 billion to a battery maker owned by General Motors and LG Energy Solution to build battery factories, advancing the Biden administration’s plan to promote electric vehicles and reduce dependence on China for critical components.