Some of these articles get facts all screwed up. Lithium is cheap $6000 a ton. It's the manufacturing of the battery that costs so much. All the raw materials inside are low cost.
Sent from my iPhone > On Aug 15, 2015, at 2:19 AM, brucedp5 via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/09/the-innovators-cheaper-batteries-could-help-electric-cars-hit-the-mainstream > The innovators: cheaper batteries could help electric cars hit the > mainstream > Shane Hickey 9 August 2015 > > [image > http://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/8/9/1439117621038/5da77da9-522a-453e-80ad-aad5c0119bd3-2060x1236.jpeg?w=300&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=500a126f3d29c7e558206ada13db2125 > Chris Wright, the chairman of Faradion, with the sodium-ion electric car > battery developed by the company. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt > ] > > Sheffield-based Faradion has developed a sodium-ion battery that looks and > performs in the same way as a regular lithium-ion battery but is 30% cheaper > > There was a surge in the sale of electric cars last year but the number > leaving the forecourts is still dwarfed by traditional gas-guzzlers at a > ratio of almost 50 to one. The high cost of the batteries that power the > vehicles is a prime reason. > > Sheffield-based Faradion believes it has found a solution – new battery > technology, the development of which has been spearheaded in the UK. > > “For an electric car, the cost of a battery is crudely the same as the cost > of the rest. That is quite the wrong proportion for it to take off. So > people are desperate to find ways to supply cheaper batteries,” Faradion > chairman, Chris Wright, said. > > In 2010, Wright and some colleagues pondered why large batteries used for > electric cars and for energy storage from solar panels in the home were so > expensive. The problem lay in the materials used to make them – > specifically, those that contain lithium, of which there is a scarcity that > drives up price. Wright said his team “would be on to a winner” if they > could find a material that contained a comparable but cheaper material to > make the equivalent of lithium-ion batteries such as those used in mobile > phones. > > The answer, they thought, was to use sodium, which has a similar chemistry > to lithium. The base materials needed to produce a sodium-ion battery are > significantly easier to source than those for lithium-ion batteries. > > Battery performance has really lagged behind the ambition and vision of > people who are making other products > Chris Wright, Faradion > > The market for systems that use large-scale batteries is expected to grow as > demand increases for home storage units for the energy generated from solar > panels as well as for electric cars. > > “We set out to make sodium materials that worked in a simple electrochemical > (battery) cell that behaved as well as if not better than some of the > lithium systems. We were able to produce material which outperformed > lithium-ion phosphate, which has until recently been the workhorse in > automotive batteries.” > > Last May Faradion revealed what it claims to be one of the most advanced > sodium-ion batteries on the market, costing about 30% less than a > lithium-ion equivalent. The company demonstrated the new technology in May > at the headquarters of Williams Advanced Engineering in Oxfordshire using an > electric bike. To the casual observer, the battery looks and performs in the > same way as a lithium-ion battery. > > As well as being cheaper, sodium-ion batteries are easier to transport. > Strict guidelines surround the transport of lithium-ion batteries because > they can cause explosions if they short circuit. Last month Boeing warned > passenger airlines against carrying bulk shipments of lithium-ion batteries. > > The sodium-ion batteries could be transported more quickly and easily > without the safety concerns and logistical costs. > > Cheaper batteries could lead to goods such as electric cars and energy > storage units falling in price, Wright said. “Things will become available > which weren’t available before. People are very frequently annoyed with > their batteries. Battery performance has really lagged behind the ambition > and vision of people who are making other products. There is a lot of > potential for batteries which tick the right boxes.” > > After starting in the area with relatively few players, the sector is > booming, said Wright. Faradion is now on trying to licence the technology. > > The problem with getting the batteries into cars is that it can take eight > years from when the deal is done to vehicles going on sale, Wright said. For > energy storage units however, the technology could be installed much > quicker. > > The innovators: how smaller batteries give more power to UK solar households > > Home energy generation has blossomed in the UK over the past four years, > with an estimated 670,000 homes fitted with solar panels. Companies such as > Elon Musk’s Tesla aim to capitalise on this trend with Powerwall home energy > storage batteries and a planned “gigafactory” in Nevada that will be the > largest producer of lithium-ion batteries in the world by 2017. This is > expected to force other battery manufacturers to seek alternatives in case > they are priced out of the market, which is where Faradion aims to come in. > > “(Other battery producers) are a natural target for us because they can use > our materials and reduce their materials cost and find themselves able to > compete with Tesla who have a large-scale plant,” Wright said. A decade ago, > solar panels for the home were prohibitively expensive but the reduction in > costs now mean they have proliferated. “I can see the same thing happen with > energy storage,” he said. > Electric cars in the UK > > The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said in Janaury that sales of > alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFVs) – including electric cars and hybrids > – rose by 58% in 2014, with 51,739 new AFVs registered. AFV sales accounted > for a market share of 2.1% in 2014 – up from 1.4% a year earlier. > [© 2015 Guardian News and Media] > ... > http://www.faradion.co.uk/technology/sodium-ion-technology/ > Faradion Sodium-ion Technology ... high energy density sodium ion (Na-ion) > batteries ... Sodium-ion cathode materials Faradion is building 3 Ah > prismatic cells as part of ... Faradion's novel cell chemistry, are being > incorporated into battery packs ... > http://www.faradion.co.uk/applications/sodium-technology/ > ... > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium-ion_battery > Sodium-ion batteries are a type of reusable battery that uses sodium ions as > ... Faradion, offered for license a range of low-cost sodium-ion materials, > which are ... > > > > > For EVLN posts use: > http://evdl.org/evln/ > > http://www.huhmagazine.co.uk/10217/walkcar-is-the-worlds-smallest-electric-vehicle > Walkcar Is "The World's Smallest Electric Vehicle" > > http://ajw.asahi.com/article/business/AJ201508070054 > 7andi.com install 3380 EVSE @Jp supermarkets, shopping centers, + > + > EVLN: Battle of the <$30k <80mi EVs > > > {brucedp.150m.com} > > > > -- > View this message in context: > http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-30-cheaper-faradion-co-uk-Na-ion-packs-4EVs-energy-storage-tp4677163.html > Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at > Nabble.com. > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA > (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
