Commodity advisers Barron’s took an intriguing angle on recent nickel price hikes on March 20, 2022. They suggest we could we see moves away from nickel metal completely, in favor of different technologies. Especially as the cost of a basket of metals in lithium-ion batteries has surged 64% this year.
Moves Away from Nickel Metal Could Happen Soon
Steadily rising metal prices have been nudging electric vehicle costs higher. The 64% more expensive basket translates to around an extra $2,000 per vehicle, according to Barron’s. The commodity specialists advise Tesla and Rivian have already increased their retail prices.
However, they can’t do this indefinitely without losing market share to their competition. And so they will have to do something more proactive. Barron’s has noticed several other auto makers shifting to nickel-free chemistries already. But there are some downsides to this decision.
It’s one thing to move away from nickel metal chemistries. However, an electric vehicle could lose one third of the energy in its battery cells as a result. Another alternative involves cutting across to pure lithium anodes instead.
More About Pure Lithium Anode Technology
Lithium-ion battery anodes are currently mostly graphite, while the cathodes are often nickel. Lithium ions shuttle between these two during battery charging and recharging. Barron’s believes a pure lithium anode “can boost the energy density of an iron-based battery chemistry all the way to a comparable nickel-based cell”.
However, this technology is not available yet. Moreover, lithium consumes large amounts of natural water during extraction, and lithium batteries are proving hard to recycle. Euro News suggested several alternatives on February 9, 2022.
They believe salt, or sodium could be the most viable alternative because it is “a close cousin” of lithium. But the technology is heavier, and the batteries may be less powerful. So it appears likely EV makers and their customers may have to ‘bite the bullet’ for a while. This is not great news for renewable energy!
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