TESLA

Company will soon present to the market cobalt-free batteries

Lithium battery giants LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation are eagerly awaiting Tesla Battery Day on September 22, South Korean sources said. It is rumored that Tesla will launch revolutionary high-capacity traction batteries without cobalt. If that happens, the world of battery manufacturers will literally turn upside down.
The only mass-produced lithium batteries without cobalt (in the cathode material) are lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. At the same time, in terms of stored energy density and, consequently, the mass and range of the path under a single charge, LFP batteries are noticeably inferior to batteries in cathodes that use cobalt. Because of this, LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation see no perspective on LFP batteries and rely on NMC (nickel, manganese, cobalt) or NCA (nickel, cobalt, aluminum) batteries.
Tesla, in contrast, is increasing its purchases of LFP batteries from Chinese manufacturer CATL. This confuses the same company LG Chem, considered the largest supplier of batteries for Tesla's electric vehicles. LG Chem still can't understand why more and more batteries are being purchased for the Tesla Model 3 with an obviously worse aggregate of features? The answer to that question is due to be heard on September 22, Tesla Battery Day, in case the event is not rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While the experts are lost: either Tesla is getting significantly improved LFP batteries, which are no longer inferior in terms of energy density stored to batteries with cobalt electrodes, or Tesla or its partners have developed some kind of revolutionary technology to significantly reduce the volume of cobalt in the cathodes. In any case, in the new world of cobalt-free batteries, betting on cobalt-containing batteries could cost South Korean manufacturers a loss in top positions in the battery market and a new rise for Chinese manufacturers.

AVnews