Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

JKenH

Lithium find in Cornwall spurs hopes of regeneration

On Thursday, a Cornish-based company announced that it had found lithium – a component in electric car batteries – of a “globally significant” grade just north of Redruth.

The company said the lithium in hot salty springs deep underground had the potential to turn Cornwall into the UK’s hub for battery materials and create hundreds of jobs. It even said there could be enough lithium in Cornwall to meet all the UK’s demand if and when the country moves from fossil fuel vehicles to electric ones.

The company, Cornish Lithium, believes that commercial production could start within three to five years, and claims the find could lead to a string of battery plants being built in the far south-west of England.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/17/significant-lithium-find-spurs-hopes-of-cornwall-regeneration?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

EVandPV

A Canadian man has been charged with dangerous driving for allegedly taking a nap while his self-driving Tesla car clocked up more than 90mph (150km/h).

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54197344

DiggerUK

JKenH said:

How long will the lithium supply last? This was a bit of a surprise. 

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/09/15/how-long-will-the-lithium-supply-last/

John Peterson at Seeking Alpha did a lot of earlier research showing it would be impossible to provide non lead batteries in the quantities needed to do a one for one exchange with fossil fuel vehicles (FFV) let alone cope with future rises in world demand for all vehicle needs.
He eventually persuaded me that a future world of electric vehicles (EV) was impossible to achieve, even with 100% recycling of their redundant batteries.

This article article from Energy Matters  helps put more meat on the bones..._

ABrass

DiggerUK said:

JKenH said:

How long will the lithium supply last? This was a bit of a surprise. 

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/09/15/how-long-will-the-lithium-supply-last/

John Peterson at Seeking Alpha did a lot of earlier research showing it would be impossible to provide non lead batteries in the quantities needed to do a one for one exchange with fossil fuel vehicles (FFV) let alone cope with future rises in world demand for all vehicle needs.
He eventually persuaded me that a future world of electric vehicles (EV) was impossible to achieve, even with 100% recycling of their redundant batteries.

This article article from Energy Matters  helps put more meat on the bones..._

Oh, he's the cobalt will run out guy, or is he the lithium will run out guy, or maybe the nickel will run out. It's hard to keep them all straight.

The difficulty in expanding  Cobalt production is real, which is why everyone is trying to reduce it and avoid it entirely. Like LFP batteries and the move to other lower cobalt chemistries.

DiggerUK

Running out of the raw materials to retrieve is not such a pinch point as the lack of a sustainable supply chain to provide those raw materials.
Its more an availability at the point of manufacture than an availability at source problem. Logistics is everything in globally integrated markets..._

ABrass

DiggerUK said:

Running out of the raw materials to retrieve is not such a pinch point as the lack of a sustainable supply chain to provide those raw materials.
Its more an availability at the point of manufacture than an availability at source problem. Logistics is everything in globally integrated markets..._

... and?

DiggerUK

ABrass said:

DiggerUK said:

Running out of the raw materials to retrieve is not such a pinch point as the lack of a sustainable supply chain to provide those raw materials.
Its more an availability at the point of manufacture than an availability at source problem. Logistics is everything in globally integrated markets..._

... and?

"... and?"......It means we have a good enough supply and a good enough supply chain to meet current needs, but not enough to convert the planet off fossil fuel vehicles and on to vehicles requiring batteries in their power source..._

Coastalwatch

A bit qwerky maybe, not unlike balsa wood and membrane gliders of yesteryear perhaps but some impressive achieviments all the same. 22 km up in the stratosphere, -70 degrees C, low pressure of approx 0.6 psi and a flight time of seven hours!

Not sure what practical use it may have but you've got to start somewhere I guess.

Solar-powered unmanned airplane with lithium-sulfur battery

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute has conducted a high-altitude test flight of solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle EAV-3, which features a lithium-sulfur battery from Korean manufacturer LG Chem.

The battery company said, in a press release, the small aircraft was conceived for long flights at a stratospheric altitude of 12km or more. The airplane engine is powered by solar cells on the 20m-long wings and 9m body. “During the daytime, it flies utilizing a solar cell and battery power as a source of energy and, during the night time, it utilizes battery power charged during the day time,” said LG Chem.

The flight test was conducted in Korean airspace from 08:36 a.m. to 09:47 p.m. at an altitude of around 22km. “It flew for seven hours, out of a total of 13 flight hours, with a stable output in the stratospheric altitude of 12-22km, where a general aircraft cannot fly,” said LG Chem.

The company said EAV-3’s energy storage system had to endure difficult atmospheric conditions including temperatures of near -70 degrees Celsius and low pressure of a 25th of one atmosphere, for an environment the company described as almost a vacuum. “LG Chem plans to demonstrate a long-endurance flight that lasts more than a number of days by producing additional trial products of lithium-sulfur batteries in the future,” said the battery supplier. “Moreover, it plans to mass produce a lithium-sulfur battery that has an energy density more than twice that of the present lithium-ion battery, after 2025.”

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/09/18/solar-powered-unmanned-airplane-with-lithium-sulfur-battery/

Martyn1981

Another article on the 'bi-polar' damage/benefits of PHEV's. If you don't plug them in they are a very bad idea, and even undermine the benefits of PEV's. But plug them in, and use them appropriately, and they do their job very well.
I think the issue here is not to criticise the PHEV* but the folk who can't be bothered, or aren't interested in using them correctly nor for the job/role they were designed.
*Personally, I think it's time to go BEV, but I understand that's not possible for everyone, and supply is constrained, so PHEV's are an excellent alternative and hopefully 'gateway drug' to help the transition away from ICE's completely.

Shocking News! Plug-In Hybrids Are No Damn Good If You Don’t Plug Them In!

Greenpeace and Transport and Environment have conducted a study of how owners of plug-in hybrid cars use them in  real world driving and come to a startling conclusion — plug-in hybrids are no damn good at lowering emissions if drivers don’t plug them in. This revelation is intended to convince UK regulators to include PHEVs in their proposed ban of gasoline and diesel powered cars by 2030. Whoa. Who’da thunk it, huh? A car with a plug needs to be plugged in! That is shocking news.

In testing, manufacturers claim PHEVs average just 44 grams per kilometer of carbon dioxide but in real world driving those cars actually emit an average of 117 grams per kilometer according to data compiled on usage by 20,000 plug-in hybrid drivers who have chosen to record their mileage and fuel consumption for surveys or who drive company or leased vehicles whose fuel efficiency is recorded. By comparison, conventional cars emit about 165 grams of CO2 per kilometer.

According to the data, lifetime emissions of a PHEV average 28 tonnes of CO2, according to a BBC report. By comparison, the average petrol or diesel car is estimated to emit between 39 and 41 tonnes of CO2 from fuel during its lifetime and a conventional hybrid would typically emit 33 tonnes.

Why the discrepancy? Part of it can be explained by the fact that many PHEV owners don’t bother to plug their cars in at the end of the day, especially if the car is part of a fleet. Some readers may recall the US government bought a bunch of early Chevy Volts and was shocked to learn they didn’t get nearly the mileage expected. Come to find out, many of them never got plugged in. Some drivers were shocked to find out their cars even had a plug! As Wired said at the time, “The whole point of a plug-in hybrid is to plug it in!

EVandPV

Watching a documentary on the National Geographic channel right now about a Tesla Models S factory.
Interesting stuff !