Bit old but quite relevant what we expect in 2022 for Townsville...

Bit old but quite relevant what we expect in 2022 for Townsville factory with $3.1 million grant from Queensland government

Six-minute EV battery couldbe made at mooted $3 billion Australian gigafactory

· JULY 28, 2020

· 8 COMMENTS

· 3 MINUTE READ

· BRIDIESCHMIDT

An electric vehiclebattery that its proponents say could recharge to 85% in just six minutes couldbe made at a Townsville factory being planned by Australian company MagnisEnergy Technologies.

Magnis Energy saysin a statement that its partner Charge CCCV (C4V) has successfully tested alithium-ion cell with a six minute charge time, labelling it a “potential gamechanger” for EV makers.

Magnis also says itcould produce a battery with the extra-fact charging (EFC) capability inAustralia, presumably from its planned $3 billion “Giga-scale” factory inAustralia, for which it has received $3.1 million in grants from the Queenslandgovernment.

Australia is richin natural resources that are used in the manufacture of electric vehiclebatteries, a fact highlighted by Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk onSaturday when he tweeted that Australia is the source for lithium used in Teslacar batteries.

If Magnis succeedsin producing very fast charging batteries at scale in Australia it could putAustralia – which is currently a laggard in terms of EV development,manufacture and sales – at the forefront of the EV industry.

Electric vehicles(EVs) face a number of hurdles, one of them being breaking down the barrier ofcharging time. While EVs can be charged at home overnight, much like amobile phone, there will always be times when a quick “top up” is required whenout and about.

The “extra fast”charging time announced by Magnis was achieved using a 25kWh battery – aboutthe same size as early model Nissan Leafs – but differs in the fact that whilefast charging batteries typically degrade very quickly, this one can cycle 650times before hitting 80% energy capacity.

To achieve this,the C4V cell is made of a “bio-mineralised lithium-mixed-metal-phosphate”(BM-LMP) cathode and anode. The company has performed the tests on unoptimisedcells and plans to conduct “end use system level” tests in coming months.“Fastcharging is equally synonymous with batteries degrading quickly, howevertoday’s results using an unoptimised cell are exciting and will improve furtheras the cell is optimised,” said Magnis chair Frank Poullas in a statement.

“Today’s resultsare very exciting and our potential partners in the automobile industry havebeen highly encouraged by the data produced so far,” C4V president Dr ShaileshUpreti said.

Upreti says thatthe company will undertake to deliver a 25kWh battery with the extra-factcharging (EFC) capability to an EV maker although it did not announce atimeline for this, but confirmed the C4V team is developing a 25-50kWh batteryfor demonstration purposes when the program ends.

Magnis submitteda feasability study to the Queensland government for the Townsville gigafactory, which will be built in Woodstock about 40km from the port of Townsville, in October 2019.