Found this on another forum, thought I'd share it here to give us an idea of the costs of various materials in a Li battery. It relates to a comment on this forum about the increase in price of graphite facilitated by tariffs in North America and how it would impact E.V costs.
WRT graphite, I read the below graphs as an increase in the total value of graphite being deployed in the E.V industry over the previous 12 months but a reduction in the cost of graphite being used per E.V for same period to $24. This graphite as we know is being produced in China and AFAIK contains a combination of natural and synthetic.
Northern Graphite is requesting a 920% tariff effectively increasing the cost of graphite in an EV from ~$24 to ~$220 which appears to level the graphite material cost with Lithium.
According to mining dot com, an E.V battery contains 10 to 15 times more graphite (~90kg) than Lithium. I transpose these numbers to assume that 90Kg of spherical coated anode material would cost circa $220 and that the final costing (once inside a battery) would cost ~$2.4k/metric tonne.
from mining dot com link: https://www.mining.com/web/graphite-deficit-starting-this-year-as-demand-for-ev-battery-anode-ingredient-exceeds-supply/
According to mining dot com, C fines were $723/tonne - note, this is pre PSG state costs.
From westwaterresources dot com link: https://westwaterresources.net/minerals-portfolio/graphite-market/
Coated natural SPG costs between $8 and $11K USD/tonne.
TBH, I do not know which number is correct, mining dot com says (natural graphite tonnes - USD) fines costs $723, westwater say coated costs ~$10K. If both numbers are accurate, the cost to coat a tonne of graphite is ~$9.3K which doesn't seem reasonable. BTW, westwater says it takes 10 to 30 times more graphite than Lithium to produce a battery.
That's the backstory. My assumption is mining dot com is possibly more accurate to costs (in 2022 when published) but taking the first graphs as reference, the cost of CSPG in Li batteries would rise from ~$24 to ~$220; a $200 difference in the cost of an EV which in North America are roughly $24K USD equating to 0.9% difference in cost to consumer.
After many years of being invested in graphite, I still cannot find current accurate or non conflicting prices for the material. Suggestions have been made for an LME type facility which should remove the opaqueness in pricing.
Enjoy
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