Panasonic has developed new '2170' lithium-ion battery technology that Tesla produces and supplies, a change that improves energy density by 5% and reduces expensive cobalt content.
The new high energy dense 2170 cells will be manufactured by Panasonic at the Tesla factory in Sparks, Nevada, the company said Thursday. Panasonic is updating its battery lines with production starting in September. The company operates 13 lines in the factory with a capacity to produce 35 gigawatt hours of batteries every year. All 13 lines will ultimately make the new technology work, said Panasonic Energy North America president Allan Swan without providing a timeline of when the entire system will be updated.
"We are going to take another leap forward," Swan said in a recent interview. "It's a little exciting from Panasonic's point of view; we are driving towards free cobalt and we are driving towards high energy density batteries, which offer our customers a choice of how they want to use it. "
The structure in which these new battery cells will be produced is known as Gigafactory 1, a key component of Tesla's plan to expand global battery capacity and reduce the cost of electric vehicles. Panasonic was its most important partner in that project, which on the basis of a recent agreement is expected to last at least until 2023. Panasonic manufactures the 2170 cells on Gigafactory 1, which Tesla uses to produce battery packs for Model 3. The 2170 cells are also used in Tesla newer vehicle, model Y.
Here is a quick primer. A battery contains two electrodes. There is an (negative) anode on one side and a (positive) cathode on the other. An electrolyte is located in the middle and acts as a courier that moves the ions between the electrodes during charging and discharging.
A cell with a higher energy density means that the engineers have come up with a way to store more energy in that space. The 5% improvement in energy density in the cells should result in the same gains in Tesla's battery packs. The result: Tesla's model 3 and Y model could see improvements in the range. Reducing the content of cobalt, a rare expensive chemical element with social and environmental costs, could also help reduce the price of cells.
Panasonic factories in Japan produce "18650" lithium ion cylindrical cells, which are used to power Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles. Panasonic has already improved 18650 cells, resulting in a reduction in cobalt and improved energy density.
Panasonic uses NCA or nickel-cobalt-aluminum cathodic chemistry in its battery cells. Panasonic would not disclose the amount of cobalt used today or go into the details of its technology. However, Celina Mikolajczak, Panasonic Energy's vice president of battery technology from North America, said that the total amount of cobalt used in Panasonic automotive cylindrical batteries is less than 2% of global demand.
Mikolajczak said this NCA uses less cobalt than NCM or nickel-manganese cobalt oxide. NCA cathode chemistry has been further developed to reduce cobalt, he added.
The company aims for zero cobalt in the battery cells, said Mikolajczak. Panasonic has already managed this venture in its research and development laboratory. The the plan is to market cobalt-free batteries in a few years.
