Automotive News Canada - May 2022 - 21

* MAY 2022
21
suppliers
finished battery packs.
Gray declined to say whether the plant - which
will be capable of producing cells to power 450,000
EVs a year, assuming 100 kilowatt-hour battery
packs - will supply businesses other than
Stellantis.
SPINOFFS FOR SUPPLIERS
Stephen MacKenzie, CEO of Invest
WindsorEssex, said the agency is looking to attract
new suppliers for the battery plant. But it also plans
to work with existing parts makers to help them
gain a foothold in the EV ecosystem.
" We
are planning workshops to
help them make the transition; to
help them identify future opportunities
and the areas in need of
investment. "
In addition to wiring, metal and
plastic parts that piece together battery
modules, traditional parts suppliers
can lend their expertise when
modules are combined into battery
packs.
Battery-management systems,
cooling systems and lightweight
enclosures that shield fully assembled
batteries from the elements
are several examples of components
that auto suppliers are likely to be
called on to build.
As with front-end modules for
vehicles with internal-combustion
engines, battery enclosures will typMacKenzie:
Planning
workshops
to
help
existing
parts makers
transition to
supplying
the LGStellantis
battery
plant.
PHOTO:
LINKEDIN
ically be produced close to assembly plants, Robinet
said.
" You don't want to be transporting something
as large as a battery box hundreds of miles. You're
basically shipping air. "
As suppliers cluster around the new Windsor
battery plant, a network of EV makers focused on
parts further downstream is likely to grow out from
there, Layson said. He cited suppliers that build
e-axles, electric-motor subassemblies and other
parts with looser ties to EV batteries as likely to
establish a presence in relative proximity.
" With this battery plant in place, " Layson said,
" it sets Windsor and the environs up for other key
component manufacturers to look at Windsor in a
new light. " - ANC
New lithium-ion chemistry
has positives, negatives
The less costly
alternative to current
chemistry could also be
safer, but it trades off
long range for EVs
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
TUCKED BENEATH THE FLOOR
of most electric vehicles today is a
nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion
battery. The chemistry has
had a dominant run as EVs have proliferated
because of
its ability to hold an
ample charge.
But NMC is being
challenged, experts
say, as lithium iron
phosphate (LFP)
batteries provide
a cheaper alternative
that trades some
range.
" LFP, from a manufacturer
standpoint,
is a great
compromise, " said
Conrad Layson,
senior alternative-propulsion
analyst
at AutoForecast
Solutions, a U.S.based
global consultancy
and forecasting
firm.
" From a user
standpoint, it might
be too much of a
compromise. We
won't know that yet
until it really propagates
out here in the
Western market. "
LFP batteries,
while those that clear quality control are ready to be
packaged into modules or sold individually, depending
on customer needs.
EV integration
To be fitted into EVs, individual battery cells from
the new Windsor plant will first be packaged into
modules. Sets of modules are then combined with
energy management and cooling systems to form a
completed battery pack.
There is no fixed number of cells in a module or
modules in a pack, Gray said. That means the exact
configuration of Stellantis' batteries will be left up to
the automaker. - ANC
BATTERY BREAKDOWN
* Battery cell: The basic lithium-ion building block,
consisting of a cathode, separator, anode and electrolyte.
*
Battery module: A series of connected cells in protective
packaging
* Battery pack: A set of battery modules connected
to a battery management system and ready to be
installed in an EV.
which fall under the
lithium-ion umbrella,
are already powering
a substantial
number of EVs in
China. But they have
not reached Canada
or the United States
in any appreciable
volume, said
Dan Blondal, CEO
replaced in the LFP formula by relatively
cheap iron and phosphate,
letting automakers cut battery and
overall EV costs.
Blondal: The
ingredients
for lithium
iron
phosphate
batteries
are easier
to procure,
which
puts less
stress on
the supply
chain.
FILE PHOTO
Through 2021, LFP battery cells
cost about 30 per cent less than NMC
cells, according to BloombergNEF.
But the cost equation fluctuates.
LFP has typically been cheaper
than NMC, said Yayoi Sekine, head
of energy storage at BloombergNEF,
but recent spikes in the price of
lithium, which both battery types
require, have narrowed the gap.
" It actually matters more for LFP
than it does for the other chemistries
because as a percentage of the total
weight, LFP does have a higher percentage "
of lithium, Sekine said.
In Canada and the United States,
EV range might prove to be a greater
liability for LFP. The chemistry
cannot match the energy density of
NMC, Layson said. And unless consumers
here show a willingness to
compromise on range, he remains
skeptical about widespread LFP
uptake.
LFP IS COMING, BUT . . .
" People used to zipping into a gas
station, filling up and going in under
five minutes, they're going to resist
this, and that's the majority of drivers
on the road today, " Layson said.
Despite the mixed value proposition,
LFP-powered vehicles are coming.
Tesla's
Shanghai-built Model 3,
sold mainly in China, uses LFP batteries
produced by Contemporary
Amperex Technology Co. (CATL),
Layson said.
Sekine:
Regardless
of the
battery
chemistry,
" a lot of
investment "
will be
necessary to
build it out.
PHOTO:
LINKEDIN
of Nano One Materials Corp., a
Vancouver-based battery technology
firm.
Blondal does not expect LFP to
supplant NMC entirely, but he sees it
being used in lower-cost models.
" There's never going to be a winning
chemistry because they all have
different strengths and weaknesses. "
He estimates that LFP battery
packs up to 60 kilowatt-hours and
vehicles with ranges of about 400
kilometres mark the high point of its
capabilities.
COOLER, SAFER, CHEAPER
The cooler running temperature
and better safety credentials - with
slim to no chance of bursting into
flames - have helped LFP batteries
gain ground on NMC in China, said
Layson.
Cost and availability of resources
are among LFP's other relative benefits,
Blondal said. The expensive
nickel and cobalt required in NMC is
" I think we will see a CATL battery
manufacturing facility here in
North America to satisfy Tesla with
their LFP-powered Model 3s, and
those will be coming out of Austin
(Texas). "
Other automakers are also working
to apply LFP, though Europe
will typically be the initial stopping
point before the technology reaches
North America, Layson said. He
pointed to Renault Group's low-cost
Dacia Spring as one example already
on sale, adding that BMW, MercedesBenz
and Volkswagen are working
with LFP as well.
As with the Dacia Spring, low-cost
vehicles with relatively limited range
are likely to be the first converts.
SUPPLY CHAIN NEEDS TO CATCH UP
The new battery option, Sekine
said, should provide EV customers
more choice, letting them prioritize
cost or range.
" There's still space for automakers
to offer different models that have
higher range and lower range and
potentially use LFP for lower-range
COMPARING
CHEMISTRIES
Nickel manganese cobalt
* Dominant in EVs in Canada
and the United States
* Higher energy density than
lithium iron phosphate, allowing
for longer EV range
* Operates at a high temperature,
potentially leading to
safety issues
* Some North American cell
manufacturing capacity is
already online
Lithium iron phosphate
* Gaining market share in EVs
in China
* Lower energy density, translating
into less range
* Cells were about 30 per cent
cheaper than nickel manganese
cobalt in 2021
* Better cycling ability, leading to
longer life span
vehicles [and] NMC and other chemistries
for higher range, " she said.
The evolution in batteries makes
it an " exciting and tumultuous time "
to be designing EVs, Sekine said. But
she warned that the supply chain has
a lot of catching up to do before locally
produced materials can support
one, let alone two, chemistries.
" North America, generally speaking,
lacks a lot of the actual process
of the materials and mining of the
materials, " Sekine said. " What it
would take to build out any chemistry
is a lot of investment. "
Yet Blondal thinks the supply-chain
challenge is one more
mark in LFP's favour.
Canada and the United States
would need to build both mining and
refining capacity for the materials in
NMC batteries, he said. For LFP, suppliers
could rely on large, existing
streams of iron and phosphate and
focus solely on the refining part of
the equation.
" With iron and phosphorous,
it's not as handcuffed because the
volumes there are already large, "
Blondal said. " It's a matter of just
putting the right refineries in
place. " - ANC
Tesla's Shanghai-built
Model 3, sold mainly in China, uses lithium iron
phosphate batteries. These are generally cheaper than the more
common nickel manganese cobalt versions but also don't provide
the same range. PHOTO: TESLA
Automotive News Canada - May 2022

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