cobalt

Training of artisanal miners has begun in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as part of a cross-industry initiative to develop an independent, ethical and sustainable cobalt supply for the lithium-ion battery industry.

Training of twelve artisanal mining cooperatives involving more than 1,500 miners in Kolwezi, DRC, begun last month as part of the ‘Cobalt for Development’ initiative launched by vehicle OEM BMW and lithium-ion battery makers Samsung and BASF.

Key lithium-ion, lead-acid and vanadium redox flow battery materials have been placed on the 2020 Battery Critical Raw Materials list by the European Commission.

Lithium, antimony, cobalt, natural graphite, and vanadium have all been placed on the list, which is composed every three years following a review of raw materials for their economic importance and concerns over supply risk.

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Tesla’s long-term battery partner aims to increase the energy density of its 2170 cells by 20% within five years and commercialise a cobalt-free version within three years.

The bold claims by the head of Japan’s Panasonic’s US EV battery business, Yasuaki Takamoto, were reported by global news agency Reuters.

Mercedes-Benz, a subsidiary of Daimler, is researching ways to design cobalt and other “critical” materials like lithium out of lithium-ion batteries.

The German vehicle OEM is looking at a variety of post-lithium-ion batteries— mainly based on manganese— that use less critical resources as it investigates ways of increasing energy density of its technology.

German vehicle OEM Volkswagen is moving to a NMC 811 cell format in its electric vehicle battery packs with the “medium to long term” goal of one day producing cobalt free cells.

The company is following Tesla’s lead in moving to the NMC 811 cell format, which VW’s China battery supplier CATL believes gives better performance capabilities over its previous NCM 523 cells.