Learn more about the latest in new battery technology and discover the next generation in battery and energy storage with expert analysis by Power Systems Research analysts.
VWCO will increase the offer of homologated chargers and now it can be charged in more than 10 different wall boxes. In addition to the new chargers, VW is starting the sale effort in Colombia in agreement with Porsche Colombia, with versions of 11 and 14 tons.
PSR Analysis: Colombia is a market with high acceptance for EV and alternative propulsion and sales of this vehicle should grow fast. Total cost of ownership is still an issue for this product in Brazil, but many companies are investing in these products to associate the green and environmental appeal to its brands. PSR
Fabio Ferraresi is Director Business Development South America, for Power Systems Research
The São Paulo Government has announced the start of a BRT line, going through cities surrounding the São Paulo capital city with plans to be operating in 2023. This line has 17 km of extension and will use 82 Battery Electric Articulated 23 meter buses.
PSR Analysis: The cities surrounding São Paulo Capital have started deploying the initiatives of the main city, as expected. São Paulo City has a more aggressive plan for using BE Buses with 800 for 2022 and the average of 1600 per year from 2023 to 2032. PSR
Fabio Ferraresi is Director Business Development South America, for Power Systems Research
Q. What is the current state of electric vehicle technology globally as well as the U.S.? A. From a medium and heavy truck perspective, electric trucks are still in the early stages of testing, and it will still be a few years before we know if the current technology will be effective. Transit or city buses are much further along in the process since these are largely not for profit vehicles and have more dedicated routes that allow for more consistent recharge.
China is probably the furthest along with electric bus adoption with almost half of all medium and heavy buses produced being electric. While electrified bus adoption in North America and Europe is not nearly as strong as China, demand is increasing. In North America, natural gas buses (CNG and Propane) are currently the alternative fuel of choice. However, government mandates will likely force bus electrification over the next decade or so.
LG Chem says it will build a cathode material plant for automotive battery materials in Gumi, central South Korea. LG Chem has the second largest automotive battery business in the world. They will continue to invest in increasing production in the materials field to meet the increasing demand and plans to start mass production by 2025 and will build a dedicated line for cathode materials with high nickel content, called NCMA, which can increase the output of batteries.
LG Chem’s new plant will be its fourth; it has two cathode material plants in operation in Korea and one in China. The current production capacity is 80,000 tons. LG Chemical produces its own cathode materials, separation membranes, and adhesives, and supplies them to LG Energy Solution, its battery subsidiary. LG Chem is working with Toray Industries, Inc. to secure the amount of separation membrane to be procured.
Soon after the recent launch of the Peugeot e-Expert, Stellantis announced the Citroën e-Jumpy on Friday Nov. 12. Price, drives, batteries configuration, autonomy have not been announced yet. However it announced the growth expectations from 1.2% Market Share to 4% with the new electric launches.
PSR Analysis: Although it has not been announced, the most likely scenario is that Citroën e-Jumpy will use the same configuration as its European product, the Peugeot e-208 GT. European Battery has 75kWh with Autonomy for 330 km per charge over the EMP2 platform. PSR
Fabio Ferraresi is Director-Business Development South America for Power Systems Research
Volkswagen Truck and Bus, part of the Traton Group, and CBMM, a Brazilian giant of niobium mining, announced an agreement to develop batteries with Niobium for Electric Vehicles. It promises to recharge a Truck Battery in less than 10 minutes and provide a traveling higher range. Volkswagen will start tests in 2022 to develop a functional vehicle with Niobium batteries by the end of 2022.
PSR Analysis: Primarily used to improve the strength of high grade steels, Niobium is also used for super conductors and has been tested by CBMM and Toshiba in batteries for three years with positive results. The solution applied for MHV may put Brazil in a strong position in MHV EV segment, since 97% of the Niobium reserves in the world are in Brazil.
Fabio Ferraresi is Director Business Development , South America, for Power Systems Research
Toyota Motor Corporation has announced that it will invest 1.5 trillion yen in automotive batteries by 2030. Of this amount, 1 trillion yen will be used to increase the production capacity to 200 GWh, 33 times the current level. This is an increase of more than 10% over the previous target.
The company also announced that it will invest 500 billion yen in research and development, with the goal of reducing the cost of batteries per electric vehicle by more than half. As demand for electric vehicles is sure to grow, the battle for leadership among manufacturers will intensify.
Toyota’s investment in batteries was 80 billion yen in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021, and it is calculated to continue to exceed 100 billion yen per year until 2030. The total amount of capital investment is expected to be 1.35 trillion yen in the fiscal year ending March 2022, of which more than 10% will be allocated to batteries.
Automaker VinFast is partnering with China’s Gotion High-Tech to research and produce batteries for electric vehicles as part of its vision to become a global brand.
According to a statement released by Vingroup, VinFast’s parent company, the two companies are planning to build Vietnam’s first lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery plant. LFP is an iron-based battery that does not rely on rare raw materials such as cobalt or nickel. That makes LFP batteries much cheaper, although they have lower energy density than nickel-based chemistries.
According to Vingroup, Gotion is the leading manufacturer of LFP batteries in China, with eight research and development centers worldwide and 10 manufacturing facilities in China. Thai Thi Thanh Hai, vice chairman of Vingroup, said the partnership is key to VinFast’s ability to achieve supply chain autonomy.
The way we deliver products from point A to point B is changing. This transformation is creating new partnerships, with implications affecting more than just the transportation industry.
Our team at Power Systems Research provides market intelligence to companies working in and around transportation and mobility functions.
Ford Motor Company, Argo AI, and Walmart are working together to launch an autonomous vehicle delivery service in Miami, Austin, Texas, and Washington, D.C. — Walmart’s first multi-city autonomous delivery collaboration in the U.S. The last-mile delivery service will use Ford self-driving test vehicles equipped with the Argo AI Self-Driving System to deliver Walmart orders.
The collaboration brings together a self-driving technology provider with an automotive manufacturer able to integrate that technology with vehicles at scale, plus the world’s largest retailer.
Hyundai Motor and LG Chem have announced they will build a battery plant for EVs in Indonesia. The investment of $1.1 billion will be shared equally. The plant will mass produce batteries in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest reserves of nickel, and supply them to Hyundai Motor and Kia’s complete vehicle plants around the world. The new plant will be established on a 330,000 square meter site in an industrial park in the Karawang region, about 65 kilometers southeast of central Jakarta. Construction will begin by the end of this year and mass production will begin in 2024.
The plant will have an annual production capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours, enough to supply batteries for 150,000 EVs. Hyundai and Kia have a plan to launch a total of 23 new EV models in the next five years. In order to expand the range to include sedans, SUVs, and the Genesis luxury brand, stable procurement of batteries, a key component, has been an issue. The company’s first joint venture plant will lead to a long-term shift to EVs.
