Tesla may be the first car manufacturer to use LG NCMA cells.
The Polish subsidiary of LG Energy Solution (LGES, LG En Sol) boasted that in the second half of the year the company will begin supplying new cells with [Li-] NCMA cathodes, that is, nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminum cathodes. Meanwhile, Business Korea has learned that Tesla may become their first recipient.
Editor's note www.elektrowoz.pl: Today we are on our way, the next article will be published only in the evening.
LG Energy Solution and Elements for Tesla
Table of contents
- LG Energy Solution and Elements for Tesla
- New cells and Model Y
Tesla has used NCA (Nickel-Cobalt-Aluminum) cathode cells developed by the Japanese company Panasonic for many years. Upon entering the Chinese market, the manufacturer signed additional supply agreements with LG Energy Solution (then: LG Chem) and CATL. some cells. Over time, it turned out that in the case of CATL, these are LiFePO cells.4 (lithium-iron-phosphate), and the Californian manufacturer will receive [Li-] NCM (nickel-cobalt-manganese) elements at LG.
Now Business Korea is announcing that the South Korean manufacturer will begin supplying Tesla with new cells with NCMA cathodes as early as July 2021. This will be their first commercial use. NCMA cells are products with a high nickel content (90 percent), expensive cobalt is only 5 percent, and aluminum and manganese do the rest. Their anodes are made of carbon, but as we know from other sources, they are alloyed with silicon to increase battery capacity.
The new cells were to first appear in General Motors Ultium batteries, and more specifically in the Hummer EV. However, it looks like they will first appear in the Tesla Model Y. NCMA cathodes will be used in cylindrical cells for Tesla, and later they will also appear in sachet cells, which are manufactured by LGES, among others. near Wroclaw. The latter will be slightly less - 85 percent nickel.
New cells and Model Y
The Electrek portal expects the elements to go to cars manufactured at Tesla's Shanghai, China plant, meaning that they will be in the old 2170 (21700) format. But it's worth remembering that in the second half of the year, pilot production of the Tesla Model Y is to begin in Grünheide (Giga Berlin, Germany) with 4680 cells. It is not clear if the cars will have old chemistry. and a new format, or they will also receive new cathodes.
If this latter information turns out to be true, the Y models made near Berlin will be lighter than the American variants (because the NCMA and the 4680 format allow for a higher energy density from the packaging), or there will be variants with a higher battery capacity than before (since the format 4680 has more capacity for the same bag size).
Opening photo: 21700 NCM811 LGES cells manufactured for Lucid Motors (c) Lucid Motors
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