China: Tesla Approved To Produce Model 3 With LFP Batteries LFP...

China: Tesla Approved To Produce Model 3 With LFP Batteries

LFP batteries may be used in the Standard Range Plus version.

Tesla was recently approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to produce in China the Model 3, equipped with lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries.

It's assumed (but not confirmed) that the no-cobalt LFP chemistry, in the new cell-to-pack design, will be supplied by CATL, which previously confirmed the agreement with Tesla without sharing details.

According to Moneyball, which provides more details from the MIIT site, the MIC Model 3 LFP will have a range of 468 km (291 miles) NEDC, which is slightly more than the current Model 3 Standard Range Plus 445 km (277 miles).

Moreover, the energy density on a pack level is declared at 125 Wh/kg. Here are more numbers:

• range of 468 km (291 miles) NEDC
• battery pack capacity N/A
• battery pack energy density 125 Wh/kg
• energy consumption of 12.6 kWh/100 km (NEDC)
• top speed of 225 km/h (140 mph)
• 202 kW and 404 Nm electric motor
• curb weight of 1,745 kg

We can only guess that the LFP version will allow Tesla to lower the cost of entry-level Standard Range Plus version, while the higher-range versions will be still using higher-energy dense NCA/NCM chemistries, depending on markets.

Tesla wins China approval to build Model 3 vehicles with LFP batteries: ministry

BEIJING (Reuters) - Tesla Inc has received government approval to build Model 3 vehicles in China equipped with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, a document on Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website showed.

Reuters exclusively reported in February that Tesla was in advanced talks to use LFP batteries from CATL that contain no cobalt - one of the most expensive metals in electric vehicle (EV) batteries - in cars made at its plant in China.

The document does not provide the name of the battery maker. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

www.reuters.com

Tesla Model 3 Is Leading in Luxembourg With More Than 2X of The 2nd Place

The Tesla Model 3 became the best-selling electric car in Luxembourg in May 2020.

Luxembourg is a small European country with a population of only about 630,000.

However, this did not prevent the Model 3 from becoming the best-selling electric vehicle in the country.

According to EV Sales, currently 1,136 PEVs are registered in the country, which is 57% more compared to the same period last year, while the share of plug-ins is now a record 7% (3.1% of which BEV), whereas in the past month share reached a record 8.2%.

Under such conditions, there is every reason to believe that their share may reach 10% by the end of 2020.

Tesla has already received three best seller awards in Luxembourg.

In 2016 and 2017, Model S received the awards, and in 2019 it was Model 3.

In May, Tesla again leads the way with Model 3.

Over the past five months of 2020, Tesla sold more than twice as many Models 3s as its closest competitor Renault Zoe.

Most of the presented models belong to the highest class of the automobile echelon, and only #2 Renault Zoe and #4 VW e-Golf represent a cheaper segment.

Regarding the manufacturer’s ranking, Tesla is the absolute leader with a 16% share, while BMW is #2 with 13%, followed by #3 Volvo (10%) and #4 Mercedes (9%), Porsche and Volkswagen, both with 7% are still far from the podium race.


CATL's 2-Million Kilometer Battery Has No Connection To Tesla


The company told InsideEVs it is based on “CATL’s unique self-healing long-life technology.”

We warned you back on May 15 that Reuters did not get its million-mile battery story right.

That article confused the deal Tesla made with CATL for LFP batteries with the high-tech cell with an incredible lifespan.

When Bloomberg announced CATL would sell a 2-million-km (1.24-million-mi) battery, some insisted that it was Tesla's battery.

We asked CATL about it and it confirmed what we told you before: the 2-million-km cell is based on "CATL's unique self-healing long-life technology."

Elaine Huang, from CATL's marketing department, told us this minutes ago.

She was also kind enough to provide more explanations on what this new battery involves.
“The key to this long-life technology is to reduce the capacity decaying rate by controlling the consumption rate of active lithium content.”

But how does CATL managed to do that? According to Huang, the company took precautions both about the cathode and the anode.
“In the cathode, with the application of self-dormant passivation interface technology, the activity of lithium ions is reduced during storage, which will be reactivated when the battery is used. By this means, the side reactions on the cathode are massively reduced during cycles and storage.

In the anode, the application of low-lithium consumption technology helps to reduce the consumption rate of active lithium content when the battery is working, which is critical for satisfying the performance requirement of an ultra-long life.”



As you can see, the key was to tame lithium, so to speak.

By preventing any activity when it is not necessary, CATL avoided the formation of dendrites. But there is more to these fantastic batteries.

“Meanwhile, bionic electrolyte technology enables the battery cell to exhibit a self-adaptive protection ability in different life cycles according to different requirements for the formation of electrode-protecting films, which further improves the cycling and storage performances of the battery.

As a result, the combination of this set of technologies effectively restrains side reactions in the battery and massively extends the battery life.”
SVolt also spoke of a protective layer for the single-crystal structure of its "almost million-mile" battery to protects the electrode.

Curiously, this seems to be the only common element between the two technologies.

The most surprising part of Huang's explanation is that this technology can be applied not only to NMC chemistry but also to LFP.

In the end, Tesla may be able to buy a 2-million-km battery for the Model 3 made in China, but it had nothing to do with its development.

CATL is currently discussing the sale of these new supercells with automakers.

That was another reason for us to suspect this technology had nothing to do with the one that may be announced at the Tesla Battery Day.

Due to confidentiality agreements, Huang was not able to tell us which these manufacturers are. What she allowed us to know was that "OEMs are still needed to set up an operation model" related to "requirements of battery secondary usage regulations."

Some of our readers mentioned a 2-million-km battery might exceed by a large margin the regular use of any vehicle. That is true, but only if you think an electric car will only be used for transportation purposes.

What if it also helps keep power grids stable, with compatibility with smart grids?

In current electric cars, charging and discharging just to keep the grid stable may reduce the lifespan of battery packs.

If you remember Hansjörg Eberhard von Gemmingen's Tesla, which already ran more than one million kilometers, it is in its third battery pack already.

With the CATL batteries, it would still be with the first one.

Will these new batteries make a lot of people wait before they buy their new electric cars?

Honestly, we wouldn't blame them: these new cells promise to be a revolution in EV adoption.

We'll be in touch with CATL to bring you more details of its battery –

CATL's and CATL's alone.


https://insideevs.com/news/428508/catl-2-million-km-battery-not-tesla/


*To Remind,

GM to work closely with CATL in EV push

SHANGHAI -- General Motors will "work very closely" with Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology as it ramps up electric vehicle production in the world's biggest auto market, a senior executive said.

The automaker has said it would invest $20 billion by 2025 in electric and automated vehicles.

"We have already established a good working relationship and supply agreement with CATL," said Julian Blissett, GM's China president.

"We will work very closely with CATL in the future."

Cooperation with GM would help cement Ningde-based CATL's dominant position in the Chinese EV battery market, where it competes with smaller players like BYD and Guoxuan High-tech.

The group already has supply deals with Tesla and Volkswagen.

www.autonews.com/china/gm-work-closely-catl-ev-push


*To Remind

With Tesla deal set, Chinese battery maker CATL makes plans to quadruple output

https://electrek.co/2020/02/28/with...y-maker-catl-makes-plans-to-quadruple-output/





Food for thought

Frank