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  • Rending of the completed Tesla Gigafactory Nevada in the desert near Sparks.

    Giga-expansion of Gigafactory Nevada

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 3, 2024

    Tesla's 140 GWh plant will produce batteries for 1.5M EVs per year; need globally significant mineral supplies. Tesla Inc. set the standard for giga-scale lithium-ion battery manufacturing with the startup of its 35 gigawatt-hour-per-year Gigafactory in Nevada in 2016. Now, the pioneering company is setting a new benchmark for electric vehicle battery production with a massive 100 GWh expansion of its world-changing factory. The news that Tesla has committed to investing heavi...

  • Computer generated graphic depicting the metrics of an EV battery being charged.

    Scientists: EV battery range can double

    Rose Ragsdale, For Metal Tech News|Updated Mar 9, 2024

    Stanford researchers identify low-cost method to extend the life of lithium-metal batteries and increase range of EVs by up to 600 miles. Electric vehicles may soon run on lithium-metal (Li-metal) batteries with ranges that could double the capacity of batteries currently used by EV manufacturers, according to a recent study completed by Stanford University researchers. The scientists published an article about their discovery, "Recovery of isolated lithium through discharged...

  • Team of researchers presenting carbon graphics in a curve-screened theater.

    Waste carbon into battery-grade graphite

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Mar 9, 2024

    A startup launched by students out of Curtin University's Accelerate program creates graphite from waste carbon. High-purity graphite is substantially sought-after for graphene production and is in heavy demand for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. A new technology developed through Curtin University's Accelerate program in Australia, coined RapidGraphite, transforms waste carbon into battery-grade graphite within seconds. The Accelerate program supports early-stage...

  • Artist’s rendering of a battery containing liquid and an electric charge.

    Solid-state vs. liquid-metal batteries

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Feb 6, 2024

    A new room-temperature liquid-metal battery of the University of Texas may provide more power than lithium-ion batteries while competing with solid-state batteries for their chance under the hood of the electric vehicle of the future. A report published in the journal Advanced Materials, describes a design which combines the strengths of both solid-state and liquid-state batteries while circumventing several of their disadvantages. This new battery has increased energy...

  • Close-up of Lamborghini Lanzador electric concept car.

    Lamborghini funds a cobalt-free battery

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Feb 5, 2024

    Researchers at MIT have demonstrated a lithium-ion battery cathode made with organic materials, offering a more sustainable way to power electric vehicles, and Lamborghini is all-in. "I think this material could have a big impact because it works really well," said Mircea Dincă, W.M. Keck Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper on the findings published in the journal ACS Central Science. "It is already competitive with incumbent technologies, and it can save...

  • Rows of Tiamat-branded sodium-ion batteries on display.

    Stellantis invests in Tiamat sodium-ion

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Jan 24, 2024

    Aluminum-sulfur, iron-phosphate, nickel-hydride, solid-state, redox flow, molten-salt, the growing list of potential alternatives to lithium-ion batteries has exploded onto the scene in the past few years as experts quickly determined a single battery technology could not withstand the torrent of technologies vital to power a future of clean, sustainable energy. One of the most promising contenders is sodium-ion batteries, and with support from automaker giant Stellantis, it...

  • Two roughly AA-sized sodium-ion batteries on top of a pile of table salt.

    Sodium-ion batteries promise potential

    Rose Ragsdale, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jan 20, 2024

    The world's transition away from fossil fuels to sustainable green energy sources is rapidly increasing the demand for economical storage methods that has thus far centered on lithium-ion batteries. The limited availability in the West of lithium and other critical metals, such as cobalt and rare earth elements, raises significant concern about the sustainability of the lithium-ion technology. One potential alternative may be the sodium-ion battery. According to the European...

  • Closeup of a QuantumScape solid-state battery cell.

    VW's solid-state 'forever' EV battery

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Jan 15, 2024

    The current industry standard for electric vehicle batteries targets a 20% capacity loss over 700 charging cycles, which means an EV that rolls off the lot with a 250-mile range could end its life with a range of 50 fewer miles per charge by the time the odometer clicks to around 150,000 miles. (For some vehicles like the Tesla Model S, the pricier 100-kilowatt-hour batteries degrade faster than 85- and 70-kWh options.) Meanwhile, U.S. company QuantumScape's solid-state cell...

  • Outside photo of American Battery Solutions’ ABMC in Springboro, Ohio.

    Komatsu to buy American Battery Solutions

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 29, 2023

    Komatsu will use ABS batteries in its expanding line of electric mining equipment; ABS will operate as a separate entity. In a significant move for future battery manufacturing in the United States, Komatsu Ltd., through its United States-based subsidiary Komatsu America, has cut a deal to acquire American Battery Solutions Inc. Located in the heart of the U.S. automotive industry, American Battery Solutions was founded in 2019 by long-time battery industry pioneer Subhash...

  • Closeup of a Factorial 100 ampere-hour lithium-metal solid-state battery cell.

    Factorial ships solid-state battery cells

    K. Warner, For Metal Tech News|Updated Oct 26, 2023

    Massachusetts-based battery tech company Factorial Energy has spent the last six years focused on solid-state electric vehicle batteries that are safer and have up to 50% higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries, all while driving down costs to be competitive with conventional EV battery pricing. The company's flagship product is its proprietary Factorial Electrolyte System Technology (FEST), which utilizes a solid-state electrolyte designed to perform safely and relia...

  • Two CONSOL Energy employees standing in an operations room.

    C-BATT JV to advance coal-based batteries

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Oct 24, 2023

    X-BATT and CONSOL Energy subsidiary join hands to develop next-gen clean energy tech. A pioneer in advanced battery materials, X-BATT has been reimagining lithium-ion batteries through the use of unconventional materials and a method that can rejuvenate spent anode material. To accelerate development of its coal-based anode technology, X-BATT has forged a partnership with CONSOL Innovations LLC to form C-BATT Innovations LLC, a joint venture focused on commercializing...

  • An EV plugged into a battery charger on a sunny day.

    DOE invests $16M in solid battery tech

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Sep 22, 2023

    To accelerate the commercialization of solid-state battery tech for EVs; redox flow batteries for grid-scale renewable energy storage. To speed the commercialization of emerging battery technologies, the U.S. Department of Energy is investing $11 million into solid-state batteries that promise to extend the range and reduce the fire risk of electric vehicles, and $5 million into flow batteries that can serve as a buffer between intermittent renewable power sources and...

  • CGI image of solid-state lithium battery on a computer circuit board.

    Why solid-state lithium batteries fail

    Rose Ragsdale, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 4, 2023

    Researchers from the University of Oxford have figured out how lithium solid-state batteries fail, an advance that could lead to the development of more efficient batteries for electric vehicles and aviation. Scientists at the Faraday Institution in Oxford's Departments of Materials, Chemistry, and Engineering Science used advanced imaging techniques to determine the causes of failure in Li-SSBs, according to a study described in the June 7 edition of Nature. Unlike...

  • Artist depiction of the BlueOval City EV battery, recycling, and assembly plant.

    Historic $9 billion DOE loan to BlueOval

    K. Warner, For Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 4, 2023

    Loan will support the building of 3 Ford-SK battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee. In another sweeping step in support of the transportation industry's e-mobility transition and domestic infrastructure for electric vehicle and battery production, the U.S. Department of Energy has committed a loan of up to $9.2 billion to BlueOval SK LLC for the construction of three manufacturing plants to produce batteries for Ford Motor Company's future Ford and Lincoln EVs. "The DOE's...

  • Prototype 18650 coal batteries developed by X-BATT.

    Coal anode 18650 lithium-ion X-BATTeries

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Jun 20, 2023

    Exploring the potential of alternative anode materials in lithium-ion batteries, X-BATT announced the successful completion of a project that demonstrates its coal material can hold its own amidst conventional graphite in lithium battery anodes. "We are excited to have completed this project, which has the potential to make a huge impact," said X-BATT CEO Bill Easter. "The use of coal as a value-added material not only provides a domestic source for anodes but creates a new...

  • 3D rendering of Volkswagen’s future Salzgitter gigafactory.

    Ontario new home to VW gigafactory

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Jun 8, 2023

    Setting up in one of North America's fastest-growing lithium-ion battery development zones, Volkswagen Group has foreseen the potential and has opted to build its next gigafactory outside of Europe in the city of St. Thomas, Ontario. The St. Thomas factory is a joint venture between VW and PowerCo SE, a new independent company created by the automaker to oversee its massive $20 billion battery initiatives. With two other gigafactories currently in development, this latest...

  • Prototype oxygen-ion battery made with ceramic and lanthanum.

    Air to power future long storage batteries

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 21, 2023

    While lithium-ion batteries have become omnipresent for nearly all portable energy needs, we have quickly found that they are ultimately limited in what they are capable of. Enter Vienna University of Technology, where German scientists have found a way to harness the most abundant element on earth to breathe new life into the future of energy storage. Exploring new battery chemistries for the green energy transition, researchers at Vienna University of Technology, or TU Wien,...

  • Photo of an EV chassis complete with battery pack and electric drive motors.

    LG invests 5.5 billion to build batteries

    K. Warner, For Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 21, 2023

    Top electric vehicle battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution, which supplies Tesla and other automakers, announced on March 24 that it will invest approximately $5.5 billion in a complex in Queen Creek, Arizona. This investment marks the largest ever made for a stand-alone battery manufacturing facility in North America. Construction of the complex will break ground on two facilities this year; with $3.2 billion of the company's investment going to build a cylindrical EV...

  • A Microvast engineer studying General Motors' Ultium battery pack.

    GM doubles down on battery separator tech

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 16, 2023

    Being supported by a $200 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Battey Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing initiative, General Motors has partnered with battery manufacturer Microvast to develop specialized electric vehicle battery separator technology along with a coinciding plant. Separators are safety-critical EV battery components that serve to separate the anode from the cathode, allowing ion transfer. Contributing its cutting-edge separator and...

  • Authors of the paper detailing the discovery of solid state battery failure.

    Solid-state battery problem discovered

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Feb 7, 2023

    In the pursuit of improving portable power, new lithium metal batteries with solid electrolytes tick off every box in next-gen battery technology – lightweight, higher capacity, faster charging, and inflammable. This game-changing tech, however, has been slow to develop due to a mysterious failure that causes it to short-circuit. Now, researchers at Stanford University and the school's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory say they have discovered the culprit. Turns out, s...

  • The front of BMW's next-generation of EVs or NEUE KLASSE.

    BMW committed to solid-state batteries

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Feb 2, 2023

    Deepens alliance with Solid Power to commercialize next-gen cell tech. Under an expanded joint development agreement, BMW Group and Solid Power have added a research and development license as a basis for their common next steps, showing how much the luxury car maker believes in this next-gen technology of solid-state batteries. Spun out of a program at the University of Colorado in 2011, Solid Power is a U.S.-based battery developer that has been advancing solid-state...

  • A battery pouch made from lithium-sulfide solid-state chemistries.

    Solid Power awarded $5.6M DOE funding

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Jan 24, 2023

    Seeking to achieve the next echelon of battery, Solid Power announced it has been awarded US$5.6 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue developing its ground-breaking solid-state battery technology, which could significantly help lower the price of batteries across the board. Spun out of a program at the University of Colorado in 2011, Solid Power is a U.S.-based battery developer that specializes in solid-state, sulfide-based electrolyte technology...

  • A rendering of conventional li-ion battery chemistry and the new ORNL chemistry.

    ORNL process for cleaner cathode material

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 13, 2022

    Exploring new chemistries to reduce the necessity for critical metals needed for renewable energy, especially in the form of batteries, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a method for producing lithium-ion batteries without the need for cobalt. With the future expectantly being powered with batteries, all walks of studious life have been knuckling down to improve a nearly half-century-old technology that, until recently, was good enough – given the imperative need t...

  • Close-up of FastLion battery to be manufactured by EC Power.

    Team develops fast-charging tech for EVs

    Rose Ragsdale, For Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 14, 2022

    A team of researchers at Pennsylvania State University has developed a technology that enables electric vehicle batteries to obtain a full charge in just 10 minutes. The breakthrough in EV battery design, reported in the Oct. 12 edition of the journal Nature, produced a record-breaking combination of a shorter charge time and more energy acquired for a longer travel range. "The need for smaller, faster-charging batteries is greater than ever," said Chao-Yang Wang, the William...

  • A rendering of synapses in the brain with neurons firing through them.

    Quantum computers power VW research

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 1, 2022

    Branching into the edge field of quantum computing, Volkswagen Group has partnered with Canadian quantum technology company Xanadu to answer a single question: can quantum computers help design batteries? As the known world and its elemental makeup have been thoroughly dissected, humanity has reached the point where it is slightly cumbersome to discover new ways to utilize the elements on the periodic table. Existing classical methods have been the cornerstone of...

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