Campbell was one of Tesla’s earliest engineers, joining the company in 2006 when it was a small startup planning to launch the Roadster, an electric sports car. As Tesla grew from a startup to one of the world’s largest companies, Campbell rose through the ranks of the powertrain team, becoming director of power electronics engineering in 2016, and then quickly promoted to senior director, responsible for all powertrain development, including electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering for high-power electronics, motors, transmissions, battery packs, and charging systems.

Most recently, he served as Tesla’s vice president of powertrain, but he’s now announcing his departure from the company after 17 years on the job. Campbell announced today on Collab that he will join Redwood as chief technology officer after leaving Tesla.

Campbell will be working alongside his longtime colleague JB Straubel, who was Tesla’s co-founder and longtime CTO before leaving in 2019 to start Redwood, a company that seeks to create a North American battery supply chain by producing and recycling positive and negative electrode materials.

According to Campbell, “I had an incredible 17 years at Tesla, and as an engineer, I can’t begin to summarize the number of valuable technical challenges I encountered in building exciting, safe, reliable and increasingly affordable electric vehicles. My time at the company began when we barely had a viable concept and ended with millions of Teslas on the road around the world. Not only did we have an impact on global emissions, but we changed the way the world views transportation forever and helped shape the product roadmaps of nearly every other automaker. It’s been more rewarding and memorable than I could have ever imagined.”

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▲ Photo source Pexels

According to Wu Kai, the new electrolyte can improve charging efficiency by 50% in extremely cold conditions of -20°C and by 43% in normal temperatures.

Winter weather conditions can be challenging for electric vehicles because the cold slows down the reactions within the electrolyte solution, which transfers charge between the battery’s two electrodes. In cold conditions, the battery must also perform additional work to heat the electric vehicle, which further drags down the range.

Wu Kai said Ningde Times will be able to mass produce batteries with a range of 400 kilometers in 10 minutes of charging this year. He also said Ningde Times’ next goal is to reduce the charging time to five to seven minutes for a 400-kilometer range.

Toyota said last month that it had overcome the durability problem of solid-state batteries and would put them into production as soon as 2027. In response, Wu Kai said he was skeptical that solid-state batteries are ready for mass production and have the ability to reduce costs.

I can say for sure that no company in the industry has been able to mass produce solid-state batteries yet,” Wu noted. They claim to be able to cut costs in half, which is very exciting and would be very disruptive, but I would like to know what the basis of their comparison is.”

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▲ Photo by Panasonic Energy

In March, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and trade groups, including the Battery Supply Chain Association, detailed plans to train 30,000 battery-related workers by 2030, compared to the current 10,000 battery-related workers in Japan. Both Panasonic and Toyota are members of the Battery Supply Chain Association.

As a first step in the program, about 40 students will take a pilot class on battery technology starting this December at Osaka Prefectural University’s Technical College, a five-year vocational school. Next year, similar classes will be offered at vocational schools, high schools and universities in other parts of Japan.

Masaru Miki, chief human resources officer at Panasonic Energy, said the company hired 50 students from vocational schools and high schools this year but will need more talent. Panasonic Energy plans to hire 5,000 employees worldwide by 2026, with about 3,000 in North America.

Miki also revealed that in addition to Japan, Panasonic Energy has been in talks with several U.S. community colleges to help train workers for its planned new battery plants in the U.S., including the one in DeSoto, Kansas. “If we want to do this in depth, we may need to create a ‘Matsushita off-duty’.”

It was previously reported that Panasonic Energy is currently the main supplier of Tesla batteries. At Tesla’s request, Panasonic has confirmed it will build a third battery factory in the U.S. and plans to triple its battery capacity in the U.S. by 2030.

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The battery pack uses EVE’s automotive-grade 46 large cylindrical cells with full lug technology, equipped with the latest “π system”, claimed to have an ultra-high energy density, with ultra-low internal resistance structure, matching the light power needs.

It is understood that the “π system” adopts π-type three-sided liquid-cooling technology, which can solve the problem of fast charging and realize the “extremely fast charging” of the battery system; based on CTP integration technology, with new materials to reduce the weight of the system by 10%, realizing “Small space, low weight, high range”.

The exhibition to get, EVE show 18650, 21700, 33140, 40135 and other cylindrical battery comprehensive solutions, that can match the electric two-wheeled vehicles, electric bicycles, electric motorcycles, scooters, balance car and other types of light traffic scenarios application needs.

It is worth mentioning that EVE 4695 large cylindrical battery will be delivered in mass production in the third quarter of this year, adopting 3-4C fast charging core and large surface liquid cooling homogenization technology to support ultra-fast charging; combined with a full lug structure and nickel + silicon carbon material system, it can achieve a high energy density of 350Wh/kg.

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Ningde era will mass produce sodium-ion batteries

Sodium-ion batteries may be one of the most intensely contested technologies in the post-lithium-ion era . Japanese media’s analysis of its patents also shows that China maintains a leading position in this technology over Japan and the United States. Chinese companies are expected to start mass producing sodium-ion batteries this year. While Japan and the U.S. are also rushing to develop cheap alternatives to resource-constrained batteries to decarbonize, progress has lagged China.

Japan’s Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Strategic Research Institute used the patent analysis tool of LexisNexis, an American intellectual property information service provider, to analyze alternative technologies in the post-lithium-ion battery era. The results showed that as of December last year, the number of active patents for these alternative technologies was 9,862, an eleven-fold increase over the past decade.

If these companies and scientific research institutes with valid patents are ranked according to the country, China ranks first with 5,486 patents, accounting for more than 50% of the total patents. Japan, which ranked first until 2015, is now in second place with 1,192 patents, followed by the US with 719, South Korea with 595 and France with 128. Ranking the number of patents by institution, China also takes the lead. The analysis showed that seven Chinese institutions entered the top 10, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ningde Times.

Mitsui Research Institute assessed not only the number of patents, but also a composite index that takes “quality” into account. LexisNexis’ index scores these battery patents based on factors such as the number of citations to other patents. As a result, China ranked first with 4930 points, and the United States ranked second with 2630 points. Japan, which topped the list until 2017, came in third with 2,260 points.

Na-ion battery

Japanese media pointed out that China is particularly strong in the patent field of sodium-ion batteries, which are expected to replace today’s lithium-ion batteries in future electronic products . Sodium is an abundant resource that could reduce the use of scarce industrial materials such as lithium. Although their capacity will be lower than lithium-ion batteries, the cost will be reduced by 60% to 70%.

CATL, the world’s largest car battery maker, has announced plans to mass-produce and supply sodium-ion batteries for electric vehicles by 2023. Other companies are also eager to commercialize the technology.

In terms of sodium-ion battery-related patents, China’s overall index has increased by 108 times in the past 10 years, which is two to three times that of the United States and Japan. China is also No. 1 in zinc-ion batteries, another next-generation battery pack that is expected to be very safe.

Japan has previously led the world in the race to develop today’s mainstream lithium-ion batteries. According to a 2020 report prepared by the European Patent Office and the International Energy Agency, 40% of patents related to lithium-ion batteries originated in Japan between 2014 and 2018. Of all the batteries used in electric vehicles, Japan holds the majority of patents.

The lithium and cobalt used in current batteries are mainly produced in South America and Africa. Lithium and cobalt prices have skyrocketed due to increased demand for electric vehicles. In China, the development of batteries produced from abundant resources such as sodium is accelerating as electric vehicles and renewable energy are being rapidly adopted. Meanwhile, the Chinese government is promoting the development of next-generation batteries to expand the use of renewable energy and electric vehicles. The 14th Five-Year Plan for Technological Innovation in the Energy Sector calls for a focus on research into sodium-ion batteries, a technology development that is expected to help reduce peaking in grid demand and promote the use of renewable energy.

While Japan and the U.S. lag behind in overall patent numbers, they still have an edge. Japan ranks first in the comprehensive evaluation of patents related to fluorine-ion batteries, and the United States ranks first in magnesium-ion batteries. Fluoride-ion batteries may have 10 times the capacity of Li-ion batteries.

The Japanese government is supporting research projects in industry and academia, including those being undertaken by Toyota, Nissan and Kyoto University. Some believe that the commercialization of next-generation batteries will arrive in the 2030s.

The post Japanese media: China leads the competition in the post-lithium-ion battery era, accounting for half of the world’s patents appeared first on TechGoing.

Ganfeng Lithium pointed out in the report that the main reasons for the year-on-year increase in performance for the period include.

Benefiting from the rapid development of the global new energy industry and strong growth in demand for lithium salts from downstream customers, the sales price of the Company’s lithium salt products in 2022 increased significantly compared to the same period in 2021.

The rapid release of production capacity of the company’s lithium battery segment and the significant increase in sales.

Ganfeng Lithium’s report that at the end of the reporting period, Ganfeng Lithium’s total assets were 79.135 billion yuan, up 102.61% from the beginning of the year. The owner’s equity attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 44.017 billion yuan, up 101.05% from the beginning of the year, the share capital was 2.017 billion shares, up 40.32% from the beginning of the year, and the net asset per share attributable to shares of the listed company was 21.82 yuan, up 43.27% from the beginning of the year.

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On January 9, Shanghai Steel Association data show that the average spot price of battery-grade lithium carbonate fell 10,000 RMB/ ton to 492,500 RMB/ ton, falling below the 500,000 RMB/ ton mark, down about 5% from last week, but also since the high fall in September last year, the largest single-day decline.

Today, some lithium materials offer continued to fall, battery-grade lithium carbonate fell by 7,500 RMB/ton, an average price of 485,000 RMB/ ton; industrial-grade lithium carbonate fell by 7,500 RMB/ ton, with an average price of 452,500 RMB/ ton.

It is worth mentioning that lithium carbonate is currently one of the main lithium salt products, and is an important raw material for lithium batteries, mainly used in lithium iron phosphate, lithium cobaltate and part of the ternary lithium anode material.

So, if lithium carbonate fell below 500,000 on the midstream battery manufacturers what impact? BYD said it is not good to judge whether lithium carbonate will continue to fall, but from a long-term perspective, the price decline is the trend, but the final battery capacity depends on the relationship between supply and demand, the current price of lithium carbonate still accounts for more than half of the battery cost.

As of IT House, BYD A shares quoted 266.66 RMB, a market value of 678.333 billion yuan; Hong Kong shares quoted 208.20 Hong Kong dollars, up 3.38%, a market value of 792.487 billion Hong Kong dollars.

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10Ah all-solid-state lithium-ion soft pack battery
According to Red Flag, all-solid-state cells have the advantages of high safety and high specific energy and are the first choice for next-generation power batteries. However, there are still many key scientific and process issues that need to be solved now, such as poor material structure stability, large volume expansion, and material interface contact failure.

In order to improve the energy density of battery cells, the team has developed a new type of high-specific energy cathode, cathode and high conductivity, high air stability sulfide electrolyte material, and the capacity of the cathode is about 10 times higher than that of conventional graphite cathode. The cathode capacity is about 10 times higher than that of conventional graphite cathode, the capacity of cathode material can play the level of a liquid battery, and the performance of an all-solid principle battery is excellent, and the cycle has exceeded 2000 times.

The development team has made important breakthroughs in the core technology of all-solid-state battery cells by developing innovative processes such as gravure printing and isostatic pressing and has applied for more than 40 patents for all-solid-state batteries. We have applied for more than 40 patents for all-solid-state batteries, laying a solid foundation for achieving the target of 350Wh/kg energy density.

By tackling the key materials, solid-solid interface, cell structure, cell manufacturing process and high-capacity cell development and evaluation means, the development team has successfully assembled a 10Ah high-capacity all-solid-state cell, achieving a milestone victory.

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BYD’s Xiangyang Industrial Park has two modules and 16 production lines, which will produce blade batteries in long and flat shapes, with sizes that can be customized to fit a wide range of models, from 600 mm to 2,500 mm, the power blade batteries produced by the production line will be supplied to BYD’s full range of new energy models.

According to BYD, the first phase of production of power blade batteries with super safety, super range, super low-temperature performance, and other seven advantages, and ordinary lithium iron phosphate batteries compared to its volume utilization rate increased by more than 50%, which means that the battery range will be increased by more than 50%, reaching the same level of high energy density ternary lithium batteries.

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The technology converts paper into pure carbon through a process called carbonization. Nanyang Technological University researchers turned the paper’s fibers into electrodes that could be made into rechargeable batteries to power mobile phones, medical devices and electric vehicles.

To carbonize the paper, the team exposed the paper to high temperatures, reducing it to pure carbon, water vapor and oil. Since carbonization takes place in the absence of oxygen, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted is negligible, and the process is more environmentally friendly than disposing of kraft paper through incineration, which produces large amounts of greenhouse gases.

Carbon anodes produced in this way also exhibit excellent durability, flexibility, and electrochemical properties. Laboratory tests have shown that the anode can be charged and discharged 1,200 times, which is at least twice as durable as the anode of current mobile phone batteries. Batteries using NTU-made anodes are also able to withstand more physical stress than comparable products, absorbing stress five times better than similar products.

The method developed at NTU also uses less energy-intensive processes and heavy metals than current industrial methods for making battery anodes. Since the anode accounts for 10% to 15% of the total cost of a lithium-ion battery, this latest method, using low-cost scrap, is also expected to reduce the cost of making the battery.

The findings were published in the scientific peer-reviewed journal Rapid Manufacturing in October.

Data shows that paper waste, including discarded paper bags, cardboard, newspapers and other paper packaging, accounted for nearly one-fifth of the waste generated in Singapore in 2020.

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