Automotive Engineering - October 2023 - 8

TECHNOLOGY REPORT
ONE claims the Aries II beats competing NCM packs with a
34 percent energy density improvement to 263 Wh/L.
Chinese companies have provided some exceptions,
but LFP packs remain uncommon compared
to nickel cobalt manganese chemistries.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) found
that lithium NCM batteries made up 60% of the
global market in 2022, while LFP batteries
made up just under 30%. The number of LFP
batteries in EVs has been growing in recent
years thanks to the preferences of Chinese automakers,
IEA said, with around 95% of the LFP
batteries for electric vehicles going into EVs
built in China. Only about 3% of EVs with LFP
batteries were manufactured in the United
States in 2022. ONE claims that the energy density
of the Aries II LFP pack is 263 Wh/L and
162 Wh/kg, which represents improvements of
34% and 23%, respectively, compared to the competition's leading
LFP packs and is good enough to " [close] the gap in range
and mass to within six percent of the leading benchmark NCM
pack used in electric passenger vehicles, " the company said.
Our Next Energy employees move a ONE battery in the lab.
The earth's crust has abundant iron and manganes, Ijaz said,
which makes it easier and safer to acquire these raw materials
than those used in nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) batteries.
The fact that there is more iron and manganese available than
nickel and cobalt should mean more stable prices in the future,
too. In fact, Ijaz said he spent time during the pandemic thinking
about our electric future and realized that if he could make
LFP batteries work, he'd solve multiple problems simultaneously.
A more stable supply of raw materials is the first. The
second is the inherent anti-thermal runaway properties of LFP
chemistry because there's no oxygen bound up in the phosphate
to get released when a fire starts.
" [If] we take the top-tier nickel cobalt batteries that are in
the market, we've closed the gap using LFP, " Ijaz said. " [It]
doesn't combust, [it's] lower-cost because iron is more abundant
for the supply chain. It's more durable, with about twice
the cycle life capability of a nickel-cobalt battery. [By] matching
the energy density of nickel cobalt, we believe this is an
important way for the industry to progress. "
Despite these benefits, the auto industry has mostly stayed
away from LFP batteries because they have lower energy density
than today's EV packs and, consequently, offer less range.
8 October 2023
Gemini still on the horizon
ONE's upcoming Gemini pack uses LFP, just like Aries, for its
main battery, but the pack also includes a smaller lithium-rich
manganese nickel oxide (LRMNO) battery that functions as a
high-energy density range extender in the same housing. The
LRMNO chemistry evolved from the work ONE has done to
delete cobalt and minimize nickel in the cells. The manganese
has been over-lithiated to get to more lithium in the system,
Ijaz said, which helps ONE improve both energy density and
cycle life. ONE's current predictions say the Gemini battery,
which uses prismatic anode-free cells, will have a pack volumetric
energy density of around 385 Wh/L. In June 2022,
BMW signed up to become ONE's joint development partner
to test Gemini batteries in an all-electric BMW iX, something
Ijaz characterized as a " very substantial program. "
" Gemini is projected to be not only the highest-energy battery
but also the lowest cost-per-kilowatt hour combination of cells
because we are driving more energy for less mass, " he said.
Ijaz's confidence won't protect the engineers from encountering
unforeseen problems. When Ijaz spoke with SAE in early
2022, he said the Gemini would provide up to 750 miles of range.
To reach that level, ONE would have had to hit an energy density
level of 450 watt-hours per liter. In September 2022, ONE said its
first-generation Gemini test cell provided 1007 Wh/L.
ONE currently has 350 full-time employees in Michigan and
California, with the Fremont, CA, location working on cell research
and materials development. Ijaz said ONE plans to reach
an EBITDA-positive financial situation by 2026. ONE has said it
anticipates its production facility for the Aries II batteries will
be in full IRA compliance when production begins in late 2024
in Van Buren Township, Michigan. The factory will be a 20-gigawatt
hour factory when at full capacity and Ijaz aid it will be
running at 10-megawatt hour level by the end of 2023.
Sebastian Blanco
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
BOTH IMAGES: ONE
Automotive Engineering - October 2023

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