The dispute in Europe highlights how sensitive international supply chains may become. When Elon Musk tweaks battery policy at Tesla, that’s a clear sign we need to take it seriously. Electrek published their take on the current situation on March 22, 2022. We found it sufficiently interesting to share.
What’s Elon Musk Tweaking in His Battery Policy?
Elon Musk held a question-and-answer session at his gigafactory in Berlin when an employee asked a leading question. The entrepreneur replied he was still skeptical about the complexity of making graphene batteries. Although he was in favor of diversifying materials meaning he presumably has an open mind.
He added an interesting comment “I think there’s an interesting potential for manganese” which is in line with previous thinking. This supports an earlier remark “It is relatively straightforward to do a cathode that’s two-third nickel and one-third manganese, which will allow us to make 50% more cell volume with the same amount of nickel.”
However, It Seems Nickel Business as Usual at Tesla
Elon Musk added a rider when discussing tweaks to battery policy in Berlin. This was he would need “tens, maybe hundreds of millions of tons of material ultimately”. We gained the impression he may not consider manganese supply a runner for a while. Perhaps that’s why he outlined his plans for the immediate future as follows:
1… Focus on nickel-based chemistries for long-range vehicles.
2… Favor iron-phosphate chemistry for shorter-range vehicles.
Electrek comments manganese-rich cathodes feature in a number of recent research papers. Some of these agree they might offer higher density storage than iron-phosphate technology, and turn out cheaper.
We guess small-scale experiments are easier to achieve than turning a production line around at a giant battery gigafactory. Therefore, Elon Musk is probably perfectly correct from an up-and-running business perspective.
Breaking News
Could We See Moves Away from Nickel Metal?
