Panasonic Aims to Cut Cobalt in Batteries 50% by 2020
Panasonic Corp. says it expects to slash the amount of cobalt required in its electric-car batteries 50% within three years.
Panasonic Corp. says it expects to slash the amount of cobalt required in its electric-car batteries 50% within three years.
The company tells reporters in Japan it has reached that goal in the lab but now needs to move the technology to a production-ready process. Panasonic already has lowered the cobalt content in its nickel-cobalt-aluminum cathode batteries to 10%.
Cobalt has emerged as a critical cost element in EV batteries as production volumes rise. Cobalt prices has skyrocketed 270% since the beginning of 2016 to about $80,500 today. Panasonic said previously it hopes to develop cobalt-free batteries, but it has not indicated when that could happen.
Half the world’s cobalt supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mining there is plagued by hazardous conditions, child labor and an unstable government.
RELATED CONTENT
-
When Automated Production Turning is the Low-Cost Option
For the right parts, or families of parts, an automated CNC turning cell is simply the least expensive way to produce high-quality parts. Here’s why.
-
Operator of Uber Self-Driving Car Wasn't Watching Before Fatal Crash
In-car video shows that the backup pilot of an Uber Technologies self-driving car was not watching the road just before the vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian last Sunday night.
-
On Electric Pickups, Flying Taxis, and Auto Industry Transformation
Ford goes for vertical integration, DENSO and Honeywell take to the skies, how suppliers feel about their customers, how vehicle customers feel about shopping, and insights from a software exec