Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 162

Expansion talk wipes billions off lithium miners – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – January 19, 2018)

January 19, 2018

http://www.afr.com/

Whichever narrative you choose to believe about the supply and demand outlook for lithium, there was something to suit your argument this past week.

If you’re convinced the world’s auto manufacturers will have an insatiable demand for the battery commodity, Ford’s announcement that it would more than double investment in electric vehicles over the next five years would have been music to your ears.

If you’re concerned about an oversupply of lithium coming from the salt lakes of South America, look no further than the royalty settlement struck by Chilean producer SQM, which gave the company permission to more than triple production over the next seven years.

WoodMac urges automakers to ‘get out their chequebooks’, secure energy metal supplies – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – January 17, 2018)

January 18, 2018

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Auto manufacturers are ramping up strategies to cash in on the accelerating worldwide acceptance and demand for electric vehicles (EVs), prompting advice from research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie for automakers to ‘get out their chequebooks’ and take stakes in mines or new mine projects to lock-in future supply.

WoodMac issued a statement on Tuesday, following news that Ford will boost its investment in EVs to $11-billion between 2015 and 2022 – a sharply higher figure than a previously announced target of $4.5-billion by 2020.

Ford also revealed plans to expand its electrified portfolio to include 40 electrified vehicles globally, including 16 full-battery EVs by 2022. It outlined plans to accelerate investment in EVs and sportd utility vehicles (SUVs).

Top China Nickel Producer Joins BHP in Prepping for EV Boom (Bloomberg News – January 18, 2018)

January 18, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

China’s top nickel supplier aims to boost output of a material used in car batteries by 40 percent this year, joining the ranks of global producers ramping up operations to meet demand from electric vehicles.

Jinchuan Group Co. expects to raise production of nickel sulphate to 70,000 metric tons from 50,000 tons in 2017, Simon Bao, vice general manager of its marketing unit, said in an interview in Shanghai. The country is already the world’s largest automotive market and sales of new-energy vehicles may hit 1 million in 2018 after topping 700,000 last year, according to manufacturers.

“While physical demand hasn’t picked up too significantly yet, it may surge in about two years,” Bao said Tuesday. The company is able to raise sulphate production without any technical barriers, he said, adding that nickel cathode output will be kept at 135,000 tons this year. Cathode is used in stainless steel.

Car makers may need to take a stake in mines: Wood Mackenzie (Mining Journal – January 17, 2018)

January 17, 2018

http://www.mining-journal.com/

Car makers may need to “get out their chequebooks” and take a stake in mines to guarantee materials for their shift to electric vehicles, according to research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie.

The comments follow automotive giant Ford’s announcement yesterday it would invest US$11 billion by 2022 in electrification, and expand its line-up to 40 EVs globally including 16 full battery EVs by 2022.

Wood Mackenzie director metals markets Gavin Montgomery said Ford planned to use NMC lithium-ion batteries in its EVs and it would be a challenge securing supply of the key raw materials, namely lithium, nickel and cobalt.

Lithium wave near peak as Australian exports soar – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – January 15, 2018)

January 15, 2018

http://www.afr.com/

Lithium prices will peak in 2018 as a wave of new supply from Australian mines outstrips short-term demand, according to business intelligence firm Roskill.

Australian miners have been the fastest responders to recent rises in lithium prices amid optimism around demand for lithium-ion batteries, and at least three more Australian mines are expected to start exporting lithium-rich spodumene in 2018.

Roskill managing director Robert Baylis said the flurry of new mines risked swamping a market that was still small despite its growing profile. “The big issue is this wave of spodumene supply from Australia, where is it going to get processed and what is going to happen in terms of competition between producers?” he said.

Column: Why cobalt will struggle to free itself from the DRC – by Andy Home (Reuters – January 15, 2018)

January 15, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – The cobalt market will record a supply surplus both this year and next, according to heavyweight commodities research house CRU. This might seem a little surprising, given all the bullish hype surrounding a metal that more than doubled in price last year.

CRU itself has drastically revised its original assessment of a sustained supply shortfall due to strong demand growth from the battery sector. What has changed its mind?

In short, it’s the return of the Katanga mine after two years of suspended activities. Once fully operational, Katanga will be the “largest cobalt-producing mining project in the world”. (CRU Insight, Jan. 4 2018)

Hype Meets Reality as Electric Car Dreams Run Into Metal Crunch – by Elisabeth Behrmann, Jack Farchy and Sam Dodge (Bloomberg News – January 11, 2018)

January 12, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

When BMW AG revealed it was designing electric versions of its X3 SUV and Mini, the going rate for 21 kilograms of cobalt—the amount of the metal needed to power typical car batteries—was under $600. Only 16 months later, the price tag is approaching $1,700 and climbing by the day.

For carmakers vying to fill their fleets with electric vehicles, the spike has been a rude awakening as to how much their success is riding on the scarce silvery-blue mineral found predominantly in one of the world’s most corrupt and underdeveloped countries.

“It’s gotten more hectic over the past year,” said Markus Duesmann, BMW’s head of procurement, who’s responsible for securing raw materials used in lithium-ion batteries, such as cobalt, manganese and nickel. “We need to keep a close eye, especially on lithium and cobalt, because of the danger of supply scarcity.”

Congo May More Than Double Tax on Critical Cobalt Supply – by William Clowes and Thomas Wilson (Bloomberg News – January 10, 2018)

January 10, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The Democratic Republic of Congo is preparing to more than double a tax on two-thirds of global cobalt supply, potentially increasing the cost of the critical battery metal just as the world begins to embrace electric vehicles.

Congo, the world’s biggest cobalt producer, will increase the royalty miners pay on exports of the metal to 5 percent from 2 percent if it opts to categorize cobalt as a “strategic substance,” Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu told the country’s Senate last week.

The new classification is part of an overhaul of mining legislation that is fiercely opposed by the industry, which says the law may deter future investment. Under the revised code, backed by the government and being scrutinized by parliament, the tax on base metals including copper and cobalt will increase to 3.5 percent from 2 percent.

Beyond lithium — the search for a better battery – by Nic Fildes(Financial Times – January 7, 2018)

January 8, 2018

https://www.ft.com/

As the world’s power needs grow, the search is on for better battery technology — not just to keep smartphones charged for longer, but to run electric cars and to store energy produced by solar and wind power.

For the last 25 years, the lithium-ion battery, has held sway. Packing a large amount of energy into a relatively small space and weight, these are in greater demand than ever for mobile phones and electric cars. In fact, 2017 has been, in the words of HSBC’s Paul Bloxham, a nirvana for lithium.

The price of the commodity has been driven 240 per cent higher. Batteries accounted for 35 per cent of lithium use in 2015, up from 25 per cent in 2007, with electric vehicles, phones and personal computers accounting for 60 per cent of that market.

Coal dwarfs battery metals in mining deals despite war on pollution – by Clara Denina and Barbara Lewis (Reuters U.S. -January 5, 2018)

January 8, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Coal and iron ore dominated mining takeovers in 2017, Thomson Reuters data shows, with buyers favoring the heavily polluting devil they know over the uncertainties of a battery-powered future.

While the biggest deal was in Brazil, China was a top player despite planning to reduce domestic coal and steel-making to tackle smog in its cities. Elsewhere, miners haunted by the overpriced mega-purchases they made before the commodities crash of 2015 hesitated on deals involving the metals needed to run electric cars.

Mining deals totaled $96.8 billion, based on 2,109 mostly modestly-sized transactions in the past year, Thomson Reuters Deals Intelligence showed. That marked a 10 percent increase in value from 2016 but fell far short of $150-$200 billion totals in the boom years, after which miners had to write billions of dollars off the value of their assets.

The future of our technology and our planet depends on one thing: the battery – by Jamie Carter (Techradar.com – January 6, 2018)

January 8, 2018

http://www.techradar.com/

The lithium-ion battery is growing to power the electric car era, but solid-state batteries are incoming

Most of us are running on empty. Since the mobile phone spawned a smartphone-first world, we’ve all been tending to the needs of batteries.

The daily or nightly charge of the smartphone is the most prevalent, but laptops, tablets, drones, wireless headphones, smartwatches and other wearable devices are becoming more common.

We are constantly recharging batteries, there are some attempts to create fast-charging batteries and, of course, a new generation of wireless charging devices, but they’re just about convenience.

Trump’s order on critical minerals could be a boon for juniors – by William Clarke (Industrial Minerals – January 5, 2018)

January 5, 2018

http://www.indmin.com/

A drive to secure supplies of materials used in the defense sector offers opportunities for new miners, but obstacles with permitting must still be overcome.

Unites States President Donald Trump has called for an end to the country’s reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals, including battery materials and rare earths, in a move which could be boon to mining juniors.

The US should increase efforts to identify and exploit domestic resources of critical minerals, Trump said in an executive order signed on December 20, 2017. “It shall be the policy of the Federal government to reduce the nation’s vulnerability to disruptions in the supply of critical minerals, which constitutes a strategic vulnerability for the security and prosperity of the United States,” the order said.

Cobalt price bulls’ worst fears may just have been confirmed – by Frik Els (Mining.com – January 4, 2018)

January 5, 2018

http://www.mining.com/

Cobalt prices went ballistic in 2017 with the metal quoted on the LME ending the year at $75,500, a 129% annual surge sparked by intensifying supply fears and an expected demand spike from battery markets. Measured from its record low hit in February 2016, the metal is more than $50,000 more expensive.

Given these lofty levels – and considering that the volatile commodity topped $100,000 a tonne a decade ago – battery makers and energy storage researchers have been working hard to find a substitute for cobalt, or at least reduce the required loading.

Now that breakthrough may just have been made.

Backed by the US Department of Energy, researchers at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering led by professor of materials science and engineering Christopher Wolverton, have developed a lithium battery which replaces cobalt with iron (iron ore was priced at $76 a tonne on Thursday).

Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow – by Neil Strauss (Rolling Stone – November 15, 2017)

January 5, 2018

https://www.rollingstone.com/

Inside the inventor’s world-changing plans to inhabit outer space, revolutionize high-speed transportation, reinvent cars – and hopefully find love along the way

It’s mid-afternoon on a Friday at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and three of Elon Musk’s children are gathered around him – one of his triplets, both of his twins.

Musk is wearing a gray T-shirt and sitting in a swivel chair at his desk, which is not in a private office behind a closed door, but in an accessible corner cubicle festooned with outer-space novelty items, photos of his rockets, and mementos from Tesla and his other companies.

Most tellingly, there’s a framed poster of a shooting star with a caption underneath it that reads, “When you wish upon a falling star, your dreams can come true. Unless it’s really a meteor hurtling to the Earth which will destroy all life. Then you’re pretty much hosed, no matter what you wish for. Unless it’s death by meteorite.”

Electric vehicles: Toyota could become Tesla’s next big headache – by Jon LeSage (Oilprice.com/U.S.A. Today – December 23, 2018)

January 5, 2018

https://www.usatoday.com/

Toyota Motor Corp. is making a serious commitment to bringing electrified vehicles into its fleet. The move goes against the widely held perception that the Japanese automaker was taking a very different path than other global automakers striving to become “Tesla-competitive.”

Toyota announced on December 18 that it will be offering electric versions of every model of its vehicles by 2025, and hitting a target of selling 5.5 million electrified vehicles by 2030. That will include 1 million zero-emission vehicles — battery electric vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles similar to the Toyota Mirai.

By 2025, the automaker will have every Toyota and Lexus model available as a dedicated electrified vehicle, or it will have an electrified option available. Electrified options include all-electric, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell, or hybrid.