The surging demand for cheaper electric vehicle batteries in China is supercharging a rally for one key raw material — lithium carbonate. For the first time since March 2018, prices of lithium carbonate in China have overtaken lithium hydroxide, driven by a resurgence in the lower-cost, power packs that use carbonate but not generally hydroxide. […]
Tesla robotaxis to justify valuation but Tesla Semi waiting for batteries
During Tesla’s fourth-quarter earnings call last Wednesday, Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, said there is a “roadmap to potentially justify” its market cap, which has topped $800bn, making it the fifth-most valuable US company. According to Musk, as Tesla’s self-driving technology continues to improve, Tesla vehicles will become self-driving robotaxis, allowing usage to increase from an […]
Batteries that can be assembled in ambient air
The honor of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to those who developed lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. These batteries have become an essential energy source for electronic devices ranging from small IT devices to electric vehicles. Tesla, a leading U.S. automaker, recently emphasized the need to establish an innovative production system and reduce battery cost. […]
General Motors Pledges a Zero-Emissions Light-Duty Vehicle Fleet by 2035
Biggest U.S. automaker will have 30 all-electric models by 2025 and zero out corporate emissions by 2040. General Motors plans to achieve companywide carbon-neutrality by 2040 and sell only carbon-emissions-free light-duty vehicles by 2035, a major step by America’s biggest automaker to align its future with the climate-change imperatives of the international Paris Agreement and […]
Sila Nano Hauls In $590 Million To Make Materials For Better Electric Car Batteries
Sila Nanotechnologies, a Silicon Valley battery materials company cofounded and led by a former Tesla engineer, raised an additional $590 million for the production of its silicon-based anodes that improve the efficiency of batteries for electric vehicles and consumer electronics. The Series F round was led by Coatue Management and boosts Sila Nano’s valuation to […]
EU approves more state aid to boost car batteries industry
The European Union has approved 2.9 billion euros in subsidies from 12 member countries for a second pan-European project to develop the electric battery industry and move away from its reliance on Asian imports. The EU’s executive commission had already cleared a 3.2 billion-euro plan subsidized by seven countries in Dec. 2019 to support research […]
Parents Pushing For Solar And Batteries Across All Australian Schools
Australian Parents for Climate Action (AP4CA) wants to see Federal funding for solar panels and batteries for every school and early childhood centre in Australia. AP4CA is a volunteer-run group of parents from around Australia advocating for a safe climate. In September last year, it kicked off an action lobbying the Federal Government to fund […]
California Sets $200M Budget for ‘Complex, Multi-Property Microgrid’ Projects
Utility funding for community resilience against fire-prevention outages doesn’t go far enough, microgrid groups argue. California regulators have approved a microgrid plan directing $200 million to help communities build networks that can supply power through the state’s extended wildfire-prevention blackouts, a task expected to take years to move from planning to completing its first projects. […]
Core design strategy for fire-resistant batteries
All-solid-state batteries are next-generation batteries that can simultaneously improve the stability and capacity of existing lithium batteries. The use of non-flammable solid cathodes and electrolytes in such batteries considerably reduces the risk of exploding or catching fire under high temperatures or external impact and facilitates high energy density, which is twice that of lithium batteries. […]
6 Out-of-the-Ordinary Energy Concepts From 2020
Even COVID-19 didn’t lock down the ingenuity of energy entrepreneurs this year. It’s been a remarkably business-as-usual year for renewables, despite the societal upheaval wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. Most of our headlines this year have still been about conventional renewable segments such as solar and energy storage. On the margins, virtual power plants have […]
