CATL has announced a new generation of batteries for electric cars - they will begin production in 2023

Chinese battery giant CATL has announced a new generation of batteries for electric cars.
The batteries are called Qilin - they feature an increased energy density that will provide electric cars equipped with them with an increased range.
Mass production of the new batteries will start in 2023.Image source: catl.comThe CATL Qilin batteries will offer consumers the world's highest capacity utilization rate - it will be 72%; by comparison, the company's 2019 batteries had a capacity of 50%.
The energy density of batteries of the new generation will be 255 Wh/kg.The manufacturer has not yet reported whether there have been orders for the new generation of batteries from automakers.
Today, CATL supplies batteries for brands such as Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW and Nio.
In the first quarter, the Chinese giant reported a 24% loss of net income - problems have arisen due to a sharp rise in raw material prices.
In May, CATL reported that the results of the second quarter are expected to increase profits, as prices for products had to increase.
In the first four months, the total capacity of batteries sold by the company amounted to 41.5 GWh, which is more than twice as high as that of its nearest competitor, LG Energy Solution.Earlier it became known that CATL is currently studying the possibility of building two plants to produce batteries for electric cars in the United States.

Samsung SDI seeks partner to build battery plant in Europe

Samsung SDI's decision last month to build a $2.5 billion traction battery plant in the United States with automaker Stellantis may not be the last of its kind.
Korean media reports that formal head of Samsung Lee Jae-yong (Lee Jae-yong) during his visit to Europe may find a partner among the automakers to organize the local production of traction batteries for electric cars.Image source: Samsung SDINot for sure, as explained by Business Korea, this partner will be Stellantis, because the issue will be discussed during the visit of Samsung Electronics vice-president to Germany, where the position of the auto industry is traditionally strong.
The European subdivision Samsung SDI already has enterprises in Hungary and Austria, while the new site will have to be developed jointly with one of the interested carmakers.
The program of Samsung's European visit also includes visits to the headquarters of Siemens and Infineon Technologies.
The Korean conglomerate has a long-standing relationship with the former, and the latter could reportedly be an asset Samsung would like to buy.
Lee Jae-yong will also visit the Netherlands, Belgium, Britain and France.
In the first of these countries, he is interested in talks with ASML on the supply of lithographic equipment, and in the second, he will talk to the authorities of the united Europe about the possibility of Samsung receiving subsidies if it builds new plants in the region.

From 2024, NIO will start producing its own 800-volt traction batteries

Many electric car manufacturers see organizing their own production of traction batteries as a way to achieve better cost control, Chinese company NIO is among them.
Starting in the second half of 2024, it expects to produce 800-volt traction batteries, which will be used in new brand electric cars starting at $30,000.Image source: NIOIn the future, as Reuters explains, citing comments from NIO chairman William Li, the company will combine the use of both third-party batteries and its own.
In the second quarter of this year, NIO had to raise its costs for purchasing batteries manufactured by CATL as the latter raised its selling prices.
NIO has 400 employees working on the development of its next-generation batteries.The switch to 800 volts can speed up charging the traction battery and somewhat reduce the cost of the wiring used in an electric vehicle, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during a recent speech that the leading electric-car manufacturer believes it makes sense to switch to the 800 volt standard only for fairly large vehicles like the Cybertruck pickup and Semi truck.Korean carmakers Apparently, for NIO the choice of this standard is more dictated by the desire to achieve savings and improve usability for car owners.
NIO expects to deliver 23,000 to 25,000 electric vehicles in the second quarter, slightly less than the results of the first quarter, as the two-month lockdown in Shanghai undermined the company's ability to produce electric vehicles in the required quantity.

Samsung SDI has decided to make its new batteries the same size as the Tesla 4680

The traction battery market has already passed the stage of development when it was possible to endlessly experiment with the cell sizes used.
Samsung SDI first wanted to increase the diameter of its cylindrical lithium batteries to 40 mm, but now Korean sources say that the reference point is the diameter of similar cells from Tesla, which reaches 46 mm.Image source: Samsung SDI If you consider that the cylinder height was originally supposed to be 80 mm, then Samsung SDI can achieve full unification in size with the cylindrical cells 4680, which begin producing Tesla and its close partner, Panasonic.
However, LG Energy Solution is also experimenting with the creation of such batteries, so all three third-party manufacturers could eventually become suppliers of cells like 4680 to the Tesla assembly line.According to Business Korea, Samsung SDI now produces cylindrical lithium batteries in two sizes: 2170 and 1865, where the first two digits define the diameter of the cylinder and the second two define its height in millimeters.
Work on the standardization of the third size is coming to an end, and Samsung SDI is inclined to choose the diameter of 46 mm as a basis.
What will be the height of the cylinder, has not yet been decided, but for the purpose of unification, it will probably reach 80 mm, inherent in the products of Tesla, Panasonic and LG Energy Solution.According to SNE Research, now the cylindrical batteries account for 19% of the traction battery market, but by 2030 they will reach 26%.
The alternatives are either prismatic hard-shell batteries or packaged soft-shell batteries.
Samsung SDI is going to ramp up production of cylindrical-shaped batteries at its facilities in South Korea and Malaysia.

BMW and Ford will get Solid Power solid-state battery samples for electric cars by the end of the year

In 2017, German automaker BMW invested in the capital of a young company called Solid Power, which aims to develop and mass produce solid-state electrolyte batteries that can be used in electric cars.
Ford Motor later joined the investors, and now by the end of the year both automakers could have the first samples of Solid Power batteries for further testing.Image source: Solid PowerThis will become possible, according to a press release, with the launch of a pilot Solid Power solid electrolyte battery production line in Colorado.
This line will be able to produce 300 battery cells per week, with an annual production capacity of 15,000 units.
This should be enough to supply key customers with enough batteries for qualification tests.
BMW and Ford will start receiving samples of Solid Power cells later this year.Solid Power partners also include Hyundai, Samsung and SK On.
The latter two will certainly be able to set up mass production of corresponding batteries if necessary - all the more so as the developers point to the possibility of using existing technological equipment.
The cells developed by Solid Power contain 50% more silicon in the anode, increasing the density of energy storage and increasing the range of the electric car without changing mass.
The absence of liquid electrolyte in the cell increases operational safety and allows the battery to be charged faster.Solid Power cells can be used to create batteries with a capacity of 60 to 100A‧h.
The cost of the new batteries should be lower than that of traditional batteries, which will also contribute to the growth of their popularity.

GM expects to reduce the cost of traction batteries for electric cars by 60%

It is generally believed that this year, for the first time in the history of mass production of lithium batteries, their cost will stop decreasing, and this will have a negative effect on the rate of expansion of electric cars.
Experts explain that this effect will not be long-term, and for the foreseeable future, savings in mass production of electric cars will allow to override the impact of rising prices for traction batteries.Source image: GMS Beginning this year, as explained by Barron's, the cost of the most popular metals used to produce traction batteries has increased by 50%, which itself has caused an increase in prices of electric cars on average by $ 1500 per unit.
Tesla raised its product prices even more dramatically, counting on further cost increases throughout the year.Tim Grewe, General Motors' director of electrification, refers to the existence of the so-called Wright curve, which describes the tendency for production costs to fall every time output doubles.
GM Corporation of America aims to reduce the cost of producing traction batteries by 60% by the end of 2026 or 2027.
In a couple of years, it is possible to reduce the cost of production by 30%, but to do this, it will be necessary to double the production of batteries.
The effect will be achieved not only due to economic dependencies, but also as a result of introducing a new composition of cathodes and electrolyte.
Local companies in the U.S.
and suppliers of raw materials close to them will be counted on to develop production.
Taken together, all this will reduce the cost of electric cars by $5000 or $6000 by the end of the forecast period, more than offsetting the possible impact of rising raw material prices.
In addition, the cost of electric cars could equal the cost of cars with internal combustion engines, and this would serve as a tipping point in the transition of consumers to electric power.
At least theoretically, this is what the future scenario for the industry looks like.

A lawsuit has been filed against Samsung that could negatively affect the entire Android smartphone industry

K.
Mirza LLC, which is essentially a patent troll with licenses from major companies and scientific organizations, has filed a lawsuit against Samsung, accusing the South Korean smartphone maker of using a feature that allows algorithms to predict the remaining battery life of a gadget.
The process could have an impact on the entire Android smartphone industry.Image source: SamsungThe lawsuit was filed on May 20 - indicating that this widely used feature in Android smartphones is actually developed by the Dutch research institute Nederlandse Organisatie voor Togepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoe (TNO).According to the statement K.
Mirza, the feature provides \"a comprehensive mechanism for real-time prediction of the remaining battery life of a mobile device like a smartphone.
\"The company emphasizes that the prediction is based on algorithms that analyze user behavior.
Estimating the remaining battery life based on an analysis of user behavior is more accurate than predictions based on tests conducted during the development of devices.The lawsuit mentions Samsung's use of the technology with \"earlier versions of the Android OS.
It is likely that a different algorithm is used with newer versions of the OS, so the latest Android devices are probably not affected by the problem.That said, Samsung is not the only company using a similar technology - similar mechanisms are used in Xiaomi smartphones and Google Pixel series models.
It is possible that the lawsuit against Samsung is only a trial balloon, and, if successful, some claims may be made against other smartphone manufacturers.

In April, BYD managed to break into second place in the ranking of the largest lithium battery suppliers

Chinese company BYD developed in parallel with Tesla, but started producing electric cars after it mastered mass production of lithium batteries.
The shutdown of Tesla's assembly line in Shanghai allowed BYD to become the world's second largest producer of traction batteries in April.
The first place is still occupied by CATL with 33.7% of the market.Image source: BYDThe statistics of SNE Research presented by Business Korea traditionally focuses on the business dynamics of Korean battery manufacturers, considering the period from January to April of this year inclusive.
Korean manufacturers have made significant progress in the annual comparison, but Chinese CATL still surpassed them, increasing the volume of supply by 114.1% and securing a little more than a third of the world market.
BYD is in third place with a 224.5% increase in supply volume and has almost doubled its market share to 12.1%.
LG Energy Solution managed to increase battery sales by 19.1% in the first four months of this year, but its share has dropped from 22.9% to 14.1%, although it is still in second place in the world ranking compared to its Chinese competitors.
Korean SK On was awarded only the fifth place, although its sales increased by 141.3%, and market share grew from 5.3% to 7%.
Samsung SDI is on the sixth place with a sales increase of 26.9%, but its share for the year decreased from 5.8% to 4.0%.
Total for the first four months of this year was released by manufacturers of traction batteries with a total capacity of 122.9 GWh.
This represents an increase of 83.4% over the same period last year.
Shipments have grown steadily since the third quarter of 2020.
Japanese manufacturers, including Panasonic, have also reduced their market share this year amid the progress of Chinese and Korean competitors.

Toyota has unveiled a power storage system for home use

Toyota Motor has not yet achieved great success in mass production of electric cars, but it has been producing hybrids for a long time, and therefore has serious experience with traction batteries.
Like some other major automakers, the Japanese corporation has decided to bring to market a stationary system for storing electricity for home use - so far it will be offered only in Japan.Image source: ToyotaThe geographical specialization of the new solution for Toyota is displayed even in the system name - O-Uchi Kyuden, as well as adaptation to the local power grid standard of 100 volts.
Weatherproof battery case allows you to install it on the street, it is designed to work in the temperature range from minus 20 to plus 45 degrees Celsius.
The battery itself has overall dimensions of 1142 × 341 × 432 mm and weighs 142 kg, it has a capacity of 8.7 kW‧h and can power consumers with a combined capacity of 5.5 kW.
The system also includes a hybrid power control unit, which weighs 33 kg, a transformer weighing 9 kg for the DC network, as well as an identical weight adapter for connecting a vehicle.
The latter can be used both to charge its own traction battery and to power the house network when the centralized power supply is disconnected.
In this case, however, the power of connected household consumers can not exceed 1.1 kW.To manage the system developed and branded application for smartphones, but it is still only available in Japanese.
It will go on sale as early as August, but only in Japan.
Construction companies will distribute the system on the local market.
Recall that Tesla has been distributing its residential energy storage systems since 2015, later joined by Mercedes-Benz and Renault.
As a rule, such systems are equipped with used traction batteries, which extends their life cycle.

Panasonic sent Tesla first samples of battery cells type 4680

Japanese corporation Panasonic was originally Tesla's partner in traction battery production in Nevada, now their joint venture is capable of producing batteries with a combined capacity of 39 GW‧h annually.
The pilot production of new cells type 4680 in Japan has already yielded the first samples of batteries, which were sent to Tesla for further testing.Image source: TeslaWhat emphasizes Reuters with reference to comments from representatives of Panasonic, mass production of cells type 4680 will start at the enterprise in Japan after March next year.
In May of the current year the Japanese company managed to start mass production of prototypes of these cells that will be sent to the USA for the needs of Tesla.
In the future, Panasonic is considering organizing their production in the United States.
Rumors mention the states of Kansas and Oklahoma as the closest places to Tesla's facility in Texas, where the new Panasonic plant will be located.
Experts from the Japanese company were actively involved in the development of a new type of cell, which due to its increased size will make traction batteries cheaper with a simultaneous increase in capacity.For Tesla, the transition to the use of cells type 4680 is of strategic importance.
Such batteries should be used in the electric Cybertruck pickup and Semi truck, and now the Model Y crossovers with a new power structure of the body are already equipped with them at the plant in Texas.
Production of such crossovers will be set up in Germany, but so far the Model Y local assembly uses a transitional design with a battery based on 2170-size cells.
Tesla plans to organize independent production of cells of 4680 type not only in Texas, but also in Germany.The representatives of Panasonic said that car business should increase its share in the total revenue of the corporation from 14 to 19% by March of the next year.
Overall, global car production will have to return to pre-pandemic levels by then, but shortages of semiconductor components will persist after that.
Panasonic intends to partially compensate the growth of battery production costs by increasing prices for its products.

UK carmakers will find it difficult to rely on local production of batteries for electric vehicles

Spurred by new global environmental initiatives, the migration to electric vehicles poses serious challenges to carmakers in different countries, which cannot always be answered with standard solutions.
The UK, due to its geographical isolation and historical tradition in car production, will be painful and slow to migrate to local production of traction batteries.Image source: Bentley MotorsThe specifics of traction battery production, which are quite bulky and heavy in finished form, and quite dangerous to transport, force car manufacturers to actively move towards localization of lithium battery production in the vicinity of the car assembly plant.
In the case of Great Britain, this process is exacerbated by the need to refuse imports of batteries of Asian origin for economic reasons in some perspective.Experts predict that the British car industry will need at least six large plants for the production of traction batteries for electric cars if the current volume of vehicle production is maintained.
In order to produce about 3 million cars a year, the United Kingdom must locate on its territory by 2035 companies capable of producing traction batteries with a combined capacity of 175 GWh per year.
By the end of this decade, this figure should reach 56.9 GWh, but local companies are still very far from this level.
Nissan's Sunderland site produces batteries with a cumulative capacity of no more than 1.9 GWh per year.
In cooperation with China's Envision AESC, the Japanese automaker expects to build another plant to produce batteries with a total capacity of 9 GWh per year with the prospect of expanding to 25 GWh per year.
Britishvolt intends to localize the production of 38 GWh per year.
This is considerably less than the figures set by other countries in the region.
British automakers sell the bulk of their products in continental Europe, so from 2027 it will be difficult for them to supply this market with electric cars based on batteries that are not manufactured in Europe or Great Britain.
However, the supply of finished batteries from the UK to European car assembly plants will also not be particularly profitable, so British automakers find themselves in a difficult situation.A similar situation arises in the case of European-made batteries being exported to the UK.
Only manufacturers of expensive electric cars like Bentley, which relies on supplies of Northvolt batteries from Sweden, will be able to justify such logistics.
Representatives of the company even told Reuters that the problem of the British car industry is the diversity of the model range of cars.
Each type of electric car requires batteries of its own size, and it is not possible to localize their production in the country while maintaining profitability.
Bentley believes that it would be more reasonable to unify the sizes of its batteries following the example of French brands to produce universal power sources for electric cars in Great Britain.The second native British carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover, now owned by Indian investors, has not yet decided on a source of traction batteries, but claims that they will be supplied from India as well.
BMW is going to supply British-built Mini electric cars with batteries sourced from Germany by the end of the decade.
British carmakers provide about 170,000 jobs in the country, and if the industry fails to meet the challenges of electric migration, they could be lost.

Samsung SDI and Stellantis will build a facility in Indiana to produce traction batteries

While LG Energy Solution and SK On already have facilities in the US and are building new ones, Samsung SDI will launch its first North American site only in the first half of 2025, when it and Stellantis will build a traction battery manufacturing facility in Indiana.
The project budget will range from $2.5 to $3.1 billion.Image source: Samsung SDIIn the first phase, as explained by Bloomberg, the joint venture between Samsung SDI (51%) and Stellantis NV (49%) will be able to produce battery cells with a combined capacity of 23 GW‧h annually, but later production capacity can be increased to 33 or even 40 GW‧h per year.
The plant will employ about 1,400 people, and the location is convenient for Stellantis because transmissions and internal combustion engines for the company's cars are already manufactured nearby, and cars are assembled nearby in Ohio and Illinois.
Obviously, as Stellantis transitions to electric cars - by 2030 Stellantis expects to convert at least half of its U.S.
sales to electric power - employees will migrate from traditional to new facilities, but their rights are closely guarded by the union.
The Indiana government is ready to provide its partners with at least $186.5 million in subsidies and Kokomo municipality and other local structures will provide additional support.Stellantis itself intends to launch at least five large enterprises in Europe and North America by 2030 that could eventually produce traction batteries with a combined capacity of 400 GWh per year.
By the end of the decade, the automobile concern intends to sell 5 million electric cars per year worldwide.
By then, the entire European range of passenger cars will be converted to electric power.
In March, Stellantis reached an agreement with LG Energy Solution to build a facility to produce traction batteries in Canada.
The competitor Samsung SDI has facilities in China, South Korea and Hungary, and the Indiana plant will be its first in the United States.

The Chinese electric car BYD Seal has a body-integrated battery and a price tag starting at $32,000

For almost twenty years BYD has been producing cars, although before that it specialized in lithium batteries.
Electric cars are now for obvious reasons a strategic direction for her development, and the Seal model on a new platform demonstrates the use of the current principle of integration of the traction battery in the power structure of the body.
Orders for the car have already started at a price of $32,000.Image source: Weibo, BYD AutoAccording to Electrek, this is the first model for BYD, which implies such a layout of the traction battery.
Tesla is just about to introduce such a body structure at a plant that has opened in Germany, although progress is moving faster at the new Texas assembly line.
In the case of BYD, the new layout is claimed to increase volume efficiency by 66 percent, and the body's torsional stiffness is doubled, which has a positive effect on the car's handling.
Safety in frontal collisions is increased by 50%, the manufacturer even claims that the traction battery of this design has a high chance of surviving most road accidents.Image source: Weibo, BYD AutoIn contrast to Tesla, which uses cylindrical lithium batteries, BYD uses plate batteries of its own production.
The Seal electric car's traction battery capacity ranges from 61 to 83 kW‧h, with a range in the conditional CLTC cycle of 550 to 700 km for the rear-drive versions.
The all-wheel-drive variant with a range of more than 650 km, which will be offered for $43,576, stands apart.
There are four options available, three of which will be offered with rear-wheel drive.
Pre-orders for the new vehicle are already being taken, and at first it will be available only on the Chinese market.

Korean battery makers prepare to build 11 factories in the US

The US is immediately embarking on its own \"import substitution\" program.
South Korea's three largest electric vehicle battery companies plan to build 11 traction battery plants in the U.S.
by 2026, mostly in cooperation with U.S.
electric vehicle manufacturers.Image source: FordFor example, LG Energy Solution plans to build six production bases in the U.S.
by 2026.
It is the most active player among Korean battery manufacturers, constantly expanding its production.LG Energy Solution has already established a joint venture with General Motors Ultium Cells - construction of a plant with a production capacity of 35 GW∙h or more has already begun in Ohio, and a second plant (35 GW∙h or more) in Tennessee.
A third plant (over 50 GWh) should begin mass production in Michigan in 2025.
A plan for another plant will be discussed in detail this year.
In addition, the company is independently building a plant for cylindrical batteries in Arizona and intends to expand its own production capacity in Michigan.SK On plans to build four battery plants in the U.S.
The company is already building facilities with a total production capacity of 129 GW∙h in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Blue Oval SK joint business is being implemented together with Ford, and work is expected to begin in 2025.In addition, Sk On is building two of its own plants in Georgia.
It is known that Hyundai Motor Group plans to build an electric car plant in the same state, so it is very likely that these businesses will cooperate in this state.Samsung SDI decided to create a joint business for the production of traction batteries together with Stellantis.
The plan is to start producing battery cells in the U.S.
in 2025.
When construction is completed, the production capacity will be 23 GWh.
In the future, production will be expanded to 40 GW∙h.

The Swedish company Northvolt has started commercial deliveries of traction batteries manufactured in Europe

Europe has managed to become the second largest market for electric cars after China, ahead of the US, but without localizing production it is impossible to achieve acceptable prices, and the process itself entails organizing battery production in the vicinity of assembly lines.
Northvolt has recently started supplying its first mass-produced batteries to customers.Image source: NorthvoltThe enterprises of South Korean companies producing lithium batteries have long been present in Europe and the Chinese one under the brand CATL will soon start operating, but there have been no \"native European\" companies in this segment so far.
Thus, as Automotive News Europe explains, the Swedish company Northvolt has become the first European supplier of locally produced lithium batteries for customers in the region.
The first batches of traction batteries were shipped to customers last week, although Korean media reports claim that Northvolt's yields are not yet that high and that its equipment needs to be replaced with more reliable ones as a matter of urgency.
The company now employs about a thousand people but is adding an average of 150 each month and could eventually reach not 3,000 but the full 4,000 workforce.
Northvolt has already managed to collect $50 billion in orders from electric car manufacturers such as BMW, Volkswagen, Volvo and its subsidiary Polestar.In Norway, Northvolt simultaneously started a joint venture with Hydro to recycle end-of-life traction batteries.
It has become the largest in Europe and will be able to recycle 25,000 traction batteries each year.
The processes involved will recover for recycling a significant portion of the raw materials, which at the current rate of growth in electric vehicles will constantly become more expensive and remain in short supply.
One of the founders of Tesla, Jeffrey Brian Straubel, predicts that over time the electric car industry will be able to fully meet its needs in raw materials for traction batteries just by recycling already used batteries.
However, with an average service life of 15 years, we will have to be patient before such predictions become a reality.

\"Rosatom will build a RUB 26 billion gigafactory near Kaliningrad to produce batteries

Rosatom State Corporation is going to build a plant in the Kaliningrad region to produce batteries for electric cars, the project budget is RUB 26 billion, according to Kommersant.
Russia will be the main consumer of the products, but an export option is also being considered - by 2030 it is planned to bring sales of batteries abroad to $112 million.Image source: Mikes Photography / pixabay.comAccording to the government plan to develop energy storage systems, the output of domestic batteries for transport and industry could reach 2.5 GWh by 2025, and in 2030 it will be 6 GWh.
The industry is expected to grow significantly in its financial indicators, too: if today the annual market is 1.4 billion rubles, by 2030 it will be 93 billion rubles.
The biggest project within the framework of the above strategy will be a battery factory that Rosatom is going to build in the Kaliningrad Region - its budget amounts to 26,35 billions rubles from 2022 till 2025.
The facility which will appear on the territory of frozen Baltic Nuclear Power Plant will have to produce 4 GWh of accumulators per year (approximately for 50 thousand cars) already at the first stage and then expand up to 14 GWh for more than 200 thousand electric cars after 2030.
This would largely cover domestic market needs - the government's electric vehicle development concept talks about 71,000 electric cars coming out in 2026 and 217,000 cars in 2030.
Russia is the main market for its products, but we are already in talks with potential buyers in the CIS and other countries.
Interviewed by \"Kommersant\" Dmitry Babansky of SBS Consulting found the projected market size of 93 billion rubles by 2030 is quite realistic - it will be mainly divided between urban and commercial transport.
The expert also suggested that it would be logical to attract Chinese manufacturers of electric cars as market leaders and ensure stable demand for batteries made of Russian raw materials at their expense.
However, he was somewhat skeptical about export plans in today's environment - perhaps exporting batteries for $112 million would involve supplying them with finished products, such as electric buses for the Egyptian market.

Tesla's body-integrated battery can be replaced, but half of the car must be disassembled

One of the most popular Tesla electric cars, the Model 3 sedan contains three to four thousand type 2170 cylindrical battery cells, and replacing even a few and the associated diagnostics is a long and costly undertaking.
However, after the transition to the battery integrated into the power structure of the body, the situation is exacerbated by the fact that to replace it you have to disassemble half of the car.Image source: TeslaSuch revelations are shared by the resource Electrek with reference to the already available employees of corporate services for repair of electric cars Model Y new sample.
Recall that in parallel with the transition to the use of battery cells of size 4680, the company expects to introduce a traction battery, integrated into the power frame of the lower part of the body.
This arrangement may be more advantageous from a performance standpoint, but when repairing the battery, you would have to do at least 143 consecutive manipulations just to remove it.
Putting the battery back in place would require another 171 manipulations, and in the process of repairing almost the entire lower part of the body will be separated from the rest, along with the front seats.Image source: Tesla, ElbrickIt may make traction battery repair more difficult and more expensive, but in terms of manufacturing the new electric car will achieve up to 10% weight savings and increase range by 14%.
At the same time, the number of necessary parts will be reduced by 370 pieces.
Model Y crossovers with the new body structure will be produced at Tesla's recently opened facilities in Texas and Berlin, but the German site will temporarily use 2170-size cells before switching to 4680 cells.

Anodes with high silicon content will allow Mercedes-Benz to put an electric Gelandewagen on the assembly line by 2025

Last fall, Mercedes-Benz showed at the IAA Mobility exhibition a concept EQC, which is destined to become a precursor of the electric version of the legendary \"Gelandwagen\" - a heavy four-wheel drive vehicle, which is inferior in its overall dimensions to American competitors.
It is on this model should debut a new type of battery with a high content of silicon in the anode, which will provide the SUV sufficient range.Image source: Mercedes-BenzAs explained in a press release on the website of the German automaker, by 2025 should bring its benefits after years of cooperation with the young California company Sila Nanotechnologies, which was founded in 2011 and eight years later began receiving funding from Mercedes-Benz.
The company's developments are aimed at creating anodes for lithium batteries, which due to their high silicon content allow increasing the energy storage density by 20-40% up to 800W‧h per liter of traction battery volume.
It is in the electric version of the G-Class that such batteries will debut, which will be produced using anodes produced by Sila.The latter will set up production of the necessary components at its facility in Washington state, for the construction of which several hundred million dollars have been allocated.
This site will initially use 100 percent energy from renewable sources and will start operating in 2024.
Although Mercedes-Benz will be Sila's first commercial customer, it is unlikely to be the only one, since the startup is also working with rival BMW.
Sila was founded by a former Tesla specialist and managed to raise about $590 million in investments last year, and the startup's current capitalization is estimated at $3.3 billion.

Elon Musk met with Indonesia's president to discuss cooperation on nickel mining and processing

Indonesia, with its impressive nickel reserves, has been a focus for Tesla's leadership before, but in previous phases of negotiations the parties were unable to reach a compromise.
The government was interested in developing complex production facilities on its territory, and Tesla wanted them to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
Negotiations continued during the Indonesian president's visit to Texas.Image source: Laily Rachev, ReutersJoko Widodo visited Tesla headquarters last Saturday, according to Reuters, meeting with Elon Musk to discuss possible investments and high-tech cooperation.
The preliminary stage of negotiations had been held earlier and also discussed investment in the mining industry in Indonesia, which specializes in nickel, used in the manufacture of traction batteries for electric cars.
This year, the price of nickel has skyrocketed, and Tesla was forced to preventively raise the price of electric cars by thousands of dollars.Before that, according to a source, Tesla representatives visited Indonesia for talks on investment in traction battery production.
It should be said that Tesla's competitors are already actively exploring this territory.
LG Energy Solution and CATL have agreed to invest $9 billion each in facilities to produce lithium batteries in Indonesia, and Hyundai Motor will assemble electric cars in this country based on batteries of the Korean partner.The President of Indonesia also visited the SpaceX launch pad in Texas because he is also interested in cooperation with Elon Musk in the aerospace industry.
Earlier he offered the billionaire to use Indonesia to launch spacecraft.
At the moment, it is not reported that any contracts were signed after the meeting between Ilon Musk and Joko Widodo.

Ford is ready to use LFP batteries in the current generation of electric cars

Lithium iron phosphate batteries do not require the use of sharply more expensive nickel and cobalt, and this is becoming one of the factors attracting the attention of electric car manufacturers.
Ford Motor has not been spared from this trend, as a company executive has admitted to experimenting with using LFP-type batteries.Image source: Ford MotorThis statement, as explained by Electrek, Ford CEO Jim Farley made at a quarterly reporting conference when asked to share his thoughts on iron phosphate-based batteries.
According to him, Ford has been doing related research work for some time.
The company has come to the conclusion that the use of LFP batteries in the first generation of electric vehicles will allow it to move quickly enough to increase production volumes.In fact, this indicates that Ford is ready, if necessary, to start equipping not only the F-150 Lightning pickup trucks, but also the Mustang Mach-E crossovers with LFP batteries.
The company has to produce at least 150,000 pickups alone next year, so additional battery sources will be needed to significantly increase production volumes.
In this situation, you should not dismiss the option of using LFP-batteries, as it will create the initial versions of electric cars at a lower cost.
The rise in nickel prices has already caused price increases in the model range of most major electric car manufacturers, so shifting part of the range to LFP batteries will help maintain the price appeal of the initial configurations.