Industry news

9
Jan

Tesla’s New Lithium-Ion Patent Brings Company Closer to Promised 1 Million-Mile Battery

In an important New Year development, Tesla Motors, in partnership with physicists from Canada’s Dalhousie University, filed a patent on December 26 for a new Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) battery technology. The patented design claims to significantly outperform the existing Li-Ion batteries widely used in electric vehicles and other energy storage applications today. The new and improved tech is likely connected to an

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13
Dec

Batteries: Post-lithium technology

High-energy-density polymeric cathode for fast-charge sodium- and multivalent-ion batteries Summary: Next-generation batteries will probably see the replacement of lithium ions by more abundant and environmentally benign alkali metal or multivalent ions. A major challenge, however, is the development of stable electrodes that combine high energy densities with fast charge and discharge rates. Scientists now report a high-performance cathode made of

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12
Dec

European batteries: Opel, PSA & Saft build for 64 GWh

This week, the EU Commission gave the go-ahead for what is being called “the battery alliance” in seven European countries. Subsidies were approved for 32 GWh battery cell production with PSA and Saft at the Opel factory in Kaiserslautern, Germany and an identical plant in France, making a total production capacity of 64 GWh. At the same time, Varta from

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10
Dec

Airbus-Amprius partnership to boost Zephyr project

Airbus Defence and Space has invested in US-based battery technology company Amprius, to boost the development of new generation batteries based on silicon nanowire anode technology. The investment will help drive the development of higher volume production capacity, and cells with higher energy density for programmes such as the Zephyr high altitude pseudo satellite and Urban Air Mobility innovation initiatives.

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28
Nov

BMW orders more than 10 billion euros’ worth of battery cells

BERLIN (Reuters) – German carmaker BMW (BMWG.DE) on Thursday said it had ordered more than 10 billion euros’ ($11.07 billion) worth of battery cells from Chinese battery cell maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL) (300750.SZ) and Samsung SDI (006400.KS). BMW said it had boosted its order with CATL to 7.3 billion euros from an original booking announced in mid-2018 that

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25
Nov

Researchers discover an origin of dendrite growth in lithium-metal batteries

Three pioneers of lithium-ion batteries shared the 2019 Nobel Prize for Chemistry but after four decades of research, the implementation of the batteries has not been without obstacles. Lithium metal, an ideal anode material for its high energy density, was used in the earliest lithium battery prototypes. However, this design has been shelved due to insurmountable safety issues. Needle-like structures called dendrites

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18
Nov

Beyond lithium: alternative materials for the battery boom

While lithium has long been touted as the future of advanced batteries, the technology’s limitations and accidents at lithium facilities have encouraged manufacturers to consider alternatives to power the battery revolution. Umar Ali profiles alternative battery materials with significant potential. Zinc Over the past seven years, 110 villages in Africa and Asia have received power from batteries that use zinc

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14
Nov

Go with the flow: Scientists design new grid batteries for renewable energy

How do you store renewable energy so it’s there when you need it, even when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing? Giant batteries designed for the electrical grid — called flow batteries, which store electricity in tanks of liquid electrolyte — could be the answer, but so far utilities have yet to find a cost-effective battery that

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12
Nov

Lithium price: Worst may be over for Australian producers

Investment in battery and electric vehicle manufacturing continues apace around the world, with Tesla already producing units on a trial basis at its giant Shanghai gigafactory despite only breaking ground this year. But the breakneck expansion of the EV industry, where lithium-ion batteries dominate, has not been enough to lift prices for the raw material, which continued to decline, according

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7
Nov

BYD, Toyota Agree to Establish Joint Company for Battery Electric Vehicle Research and Development

Toyota City, Japan, November 7, 2019―BYD Company Ltd. (BYD) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announced today that they have signed an agreement to establish a joint company to research and development for battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The new R&D company, which will work on designing and developing BEVs (including platform) and its related parts, is anticipated to be established in

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