Chinese battery manufacturer and German chemical supplier BASF jointly announced on September 16 that they have signed a strategic framework agreement to collaborate on battery recycling and production of cathode active materials (CAMs). This partnership will support not only CATL in its localization efforts in Europe but also BASF in its global expansion. ...  more

Automotive giant VW held an event celebrating the opening of its new EV battery R&D center in the German city of Salzgitter on September 13. In its press release about the event, the company also announced that it will be committing more resources into building up its expertise in battery technologies so as to progress forward in developing its own powertrain systems for EVs. ...  more

A little sprinkle of salt adds flavor to dishes. Will adding salt to batteries ascend it to a brand new realm? CATL recently released the first sodium-ion battery for EVs, and claims that the energy density has arrived at 160Wh/kg, where a power of 80% can be achieved by a charging time of merely 15 minutes. The battery operates normally under a low temperature environment, and is able to maintain 90% capacity under -20°C. ...  more

Various energy news websites have reported that construction started in June for Spain’s first GW-scale production base for lithium battery cells. The base is located in Noblejas, a municipality in the province of Toledo and within the autonomous region of Castilla-La Mancha. The main developer of this project is Phi4Tech, a company specializing in graphene-related technologies. The base is scheduled to begin pilot production before the end of this year. ...  more

Park Jinyong, Asia marketing manager for LG Energy Solution, said that his company is currently developing a polymer lithium-sulfur battery. This new generation of all-solid-state battery technology, which is expected to offer even higher energy density, lower weight, and greater safety, could be applied to electric vehicles, drones, and remote-controlled crafts. ...  more

The official ceremony to herald the start of the operation of Shangluo New Material and Battery Industrial Park was held on May 31. The new industry cluster is situated in the High-Tech Development Zone of Shangluo, a city in the Chinese province of Shaanxi. The total investment in this project is estimated to amount to around RMB 1.09 billion. ...  more

At a recent event hosted by the Minerals Council of Australia, Robyn Denholm, chairperson of Tesla, said her company plans to spend more than USD 1 billion a year to procure raw materials from Australia. Tesla especially wants to tap into the country’s rich reserves of lithium and nickel. Presently, Tesla sources three-fourths of its lithium and over a one-third of its nickel from the country. ...  more

After several battery fire incidents, LG Energy Solution has announced on the recalling of energy storage system (ESS) batteries manufactured between April 2017 and September 2018, and will be offering free replacements. LG Energy Solution is expected to lose $350 million accordingly.  ...  more

Competition in the global EV battery market has been intensifying. Case in point, according to Korean energy research consultancy SNE Research, the three major Korean EV battery manufacturers saw their market shares plummet in January and February this year under mounting pressure from Chinese competitors, among which CATL and BYD saw significant growths. ...  more

Automotive lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery has hit record high in energy density, and the demand has amplified alongside the production expansion of Tesla. Guoxuan High-Tech plans to manufacture the new batteries starting from the end of 2021, and the Chinese leader in lithium battery, CATL, once again added another RMB 1.8 billion for the factory expansion in Yibin or Sichuan, with a potential production capacity of 80K tons. ...  more