I posted the below on the NMT thread this morning, which is potentially relevant to HNR also. All IMO & DYOR.
Anyone else notice Daimler (Mercedes Benz) popping up quite a bit? A while back Chris Reed was named in the 50 Global Leaders series alongside the head of Daimler Mercedes Benz Olla Kallenius (market cap of Daimler is 74b Euro), which I thought was great but a bit odd. Interestingly TBD Media Group (that did the 50 global leaders series) seem to do other work for Daimler also. Links below for the 50 global leaders segment:
I originally thought VW was the most likely German carmaker that NMT would be aligned with (may still be the case) but I am now leaning towards Daimler. The recent article in the Australian also highlighted Daimler:
“All the carmakers have followed Elon (Musk) in wanting to build their own battery plants,” says Reed. In July Mercedes Benz maker Daimler announced a $47bn investment by 2030 in EVs, including eight battery plants. “Volkswagen, Daimler, Stellantis – they are all going to do 240 gigawatts or 200 gigawatts. So all of a sudden they will need two million tonnes of battery recycling capacity at the end of life for one of those.”
Of the 3 major German automakers (BMW, Daimler & VW), BMW has indicated their recycling partnership will be with a company called Duesenfeld. VW has indicated they will recycle in-house and they are also closely aligned (and a major shareholder) of NorthVolt with proposed recycling operations called Hydro Volt / Northvolt Revolt. Daimler have not announced anything for recycling only that they will be reliant on experienced partnerships:
Do we need the support of service providers for this, namely recycling partners?
Yes, experienced partners are important. It is crucial for us that we work with service providers to tailor the recycling process specifically to our batteries. Throwing everything into the same pot with mowing robots or cordless screwdrivers does not achieve the goal. Ideally, the recycler must know and understand the exact contents and construction of the battery. If you think a little bit further, for example, a database could help, which, similar to a car, provides information about the disassembly and individual components. This is the only way we can achieve the recycling and reuse rates we are aiming for interns of the sense of a circular economy - and plan our capacities precisely.
In the latest video presentation that Chris did last week at New World Metals, he indicates that the most likely battery chemistry will be NMC811. This also fits with what Daimler are proposing IMO. Mercedes is a premium brand and therefor IMO less likely to go with an LFP chemistry that is faboured for lower range / cheaper cars (VW will likely do this IMO). This suits our recycling ambitions given LFP doesn't contain 2 of the 3 key recyling payables that we need (nickel and cobalt).
At the end of the latest announcement vanadium announcement today, Mercedes (and SMS) pop up again:
Earlier this year, the Company closed its initial funding series A-round at approximately USD 105 million from a group of investors for the H2 Green Steel plant, including Mercedes -Benz AG, SMS Group and Scania amongst other. The Company is founded by Vargas, which also co-founded Swedish battery company Northvolt.
On another note, one of our other MOU partners in the battery recycling Itochu, recently came out with the following news:
ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter "ITOCHU") announced today it has acquired new shares as lead investor in a Series E private placement conducted by 24M Technologies, Inc (headquartered in Massachusetts, USA; Naoki Ota, President & CEO; hereinafter "24M"), a company developing and commercializing the SemiSolid lithium-ion battery technology. Other investors in the round included the “Mirai Creation Fund II” operated by SPARX Group Co., Ltd. Through this investment, 24M became ITOCHU’s equity method affiliate, and the companies will jointly promote the global manufacturing of SemiSolid lithium-ion batteries.
24M has developed and is now commercializing the SemiSolid battery technology that outperforms conventional lithium-ion batteries with regard to safety, energy density, recyclability, and manufacturing cost. 24M’s proprietary and patented SemiSolid technology reduces the number of manufacturing steps and greatly simplifies the manufacturing process of lithium-ion batteries, thereby substantially reducing the capital and operating costs while simultaneously improving battery performance, recyclability and safety.
24M has licensed the technology to several manufacturing partners, including Kyocera Corporation who started commercial production in 2020, Global Power Synergy PCL (GPSC) in Thailand who is building a mass production plant that is expected to begin commercial production in 2021, and FREYR AS in Norway.
There are currently 4 gigafactories earmarked for the nordic region - Freyr is one. Could this be the potential collaborations that Hannans may be used as a shell for? Freyr also have big plans for the US and it's been speculated that Stellantis could be the partner there:
On the table is "at least 50 GWh" of battery cell production by 2030, which sounds like a lot. That alone makes us wonder how serious the plans are, as there would have to be a big EV manufacturer involved to utilize such high capacity. Tesla is going its own way, Ford and GM appear to go together with respectively SK Innovation and LG Chem's LG Energy Solution, so maybe Stellantis?
