2022-12-14
Tesla is currently working on a lithium refinery project that would be coming to Corpus Christi, Texas, and it sounds like the automaker is in the final stretch of its negotiations with the authorities.
In September, we learned that Tesla has a plan to build a lithium refining facility on the Gulf Coast of Texas. At the time, all we knew was that Tesla was planning on moving fast with hope to start building in Q4 2022.
The transition from ICE to electric vehicles (EVs) is necessary to decrease climate-changing emissions. As deployment increases, so will the demand for EV battery materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. These materials are primarily supplied through two sources: 1) newly mined or 2) recovered by recycling batteries.
Research shows there are enough explored or prospective reserves to electrify the global transportation sector using current technology if a high amount of battery recycling occurs. In this scenario, global demand for EVs in 2100 will amount to about 55% of cobalt reserves and 50% of lithium reserves. If recycling doesn’t ramp up, a shortage of lithium, nickel, or cobalt is likely, and it is estimated that demand would exceed what is economically accessible to extract.
2022-11-17
Randon, an Brazil-based OEM, has agreed to invest $40 million to acquire the US-based trailer manufacturer Hercules. Randon’s purchase agreement for Hercules is expected to be finalized within 120 days. Randon Implementos is the largest semi-trailer manufacturer in Latin America. The company maintains a manufacturing park in Argentina and works with partners to assemble semi-trailers at several points in Central America and Africa. It is the main Brazilian exporter in the segment, with a historical market share of 60% in exports.
The City of São Paulo has announced a partnership with Enel, an energy supplier, for its bus fleet electrification project to be completed by 2024. Under the agreement, the city will get funding for the project of R $ 8 billion. The plan calls for the replacement of the fleet of combustion buses with non-polluting models.
According to the city, Enel is one of the main stakeholders in the project and should assist companies in logistics, infrastructure and the feasibility of electric vehicles based on their experience in Latin America.
Ten years after starting operations in Brazil with the import of Trucks and plans to have a local plant, Foton Aumark do Brasil (FAB) is preparing to go to court against the Chinese brand, claiming breach of contract. The company was created by economist Luiz Carlos Mendonça de Barros, former president of BNDES and former director of the Central Bank.
Source: Automotive Business Read The Article
PSR Analysis: The volumes of Foton were always very small and the situation will not affect the market. Plans for plants and volumes were never executed and sales never ramped up. Now it is just litigation between the parties and dealers that should look for compensation after FAB. PSR
Fabio Ferraresi is Director-Business Development South America, for Power Systems Research
2022-11-16
JCB has unveiled a mobile hydrogen refueler which it says will allow on-site refueling of hydrogen powered machines in the same way that fuel bowsers are used for diesel powered equipment.
The mobile hydrogen refueller is designed to provide an easy way to refuel machines, the vast majority of which have fuel delivered to them while working on site, said the company. JCB said customers are already used to a transportable fuel system.
A new hydrogen fuel truck is being tested by the mining industry in hopes of helping to decarbonize activities that have been exceptionally challenging to mitigate. The mining industry contributes 7% of the world’s total carbon emissions per year, (according to McKinsey). This represents more than twice the carbon emissions from the global shipping industry, for example.
The hydrogen-powered vehicle is meant to replace typical mining haul vehicles, which pollute heavily.
The 653 E Electro Battery from Sennebogen is a new 50-ton battery-powered electric crane that was developed with Dutch dealer Van den Heuvel. “The new crane combines the benefits of battery technology with the proven advantages of the telescopic crawler crane design,” the company writes. “This means you work completely emission-free and retain maximum flexibility, thanks to the Dual Power Management system.”
With a 210 kWh battery, the crane is expected to be able to operate for up to 14 hours.
The de-carbonization of the transport industry is heavily dependent on the scaling up of electric vehicle production rapidly and massively, and this rests on scaling up battery mineral mining and refining. This means Lithium.
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence counts 40 lithium mines that have been in operation and producing lithium in 2022. But, by 2050, the company sees a need for 234 more lithium mines if there’s no battery recycling underway (which, of course, is completely unrealistic but is a place to start from for such an analysis).
“The long term path for lithium is set, yet the supply chain scaling challenge has just begun,” said Simon Moores, chief executive of Benchmark. “What this data shows is that we are at just the beginning of a generational challenge, not one that’s going to be solved in the 2020s.”
A new EV battery recycling plant in Alabama from Li-Cycle has just come online. It can process up to 10,000 tons of battery waste per year, enough for about 20,000 EVs per year, and helps the US move toward a zero-emission economy.
Li-Cycle’s processing method is specifically designed as a two-part system recycling battery manufacturing scrap and turns end-of-life batteries into a black mass. The black mass is then processed and used to generate battery minerals such as nickel sulfate, lithium carbonate, and cobalt sulfate, three of the most critical factors for EV batteries. According to the battery recycling company, Li-Cycle believes its new method will enable up to a 95% efficiency rate compared to the industry average of 50%.
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