Tech
Tesla patents new chemistry for better, longer-lasting and cheaper batteries – Electrek
Tesla has made a lot of battery moves this year and it is closing the year by filing a patent on a new chemistry for better, longer-lasting and cheaper batteries.
Earlier this year, we reported on Tesla’s battery research partner, Jeff Dahn and his team at Dalhousie University, unveiling the impressive results of tests on a new battery cell that could last over 1 million miles in an electric vehicle.
The new battery tested is a Li-Ion battery cell with a next-generation “single crystal” NMC cathode and a new advanced electrolyte.
Since then, Tesla has been filing US and international patents on the new battery chemistry.
The automaker, through its ‘Tesla Motors Canada’ subsidiary, filed a new international patent called ‘Dioxazolones and nitrile sulfites as electrolyte additives for lithium-ion batteries’.
They wrote in the patent application:
“This disclosure covers novel battery systems with fewer operative, electrolyte additives that may be used in different energy storage applications, for example, in vehicle and grid-storage. More specifically, this disclosure includes additive electrolyte systems that enhance performance and lifetime of lithium-ion batteries, while reducing costs from other systems that rely on more or other additives.”
Tesla wrote in the conclusion of the patent application for the new battery chemistry:
“This work characterizes the high temperature storage and long-term cycling performance of lithium-ion NMC/graphite pouch cells prepared with a recently developed electrolyte additive, MDO, and two new additives, PDO and BS. Differential capacity versus voltage indicates that both MDO and PDO form passive SEI layers on the graphite electrode surface during cell formation, whereas BS does not. The reduction features are generally consistent with DFT-predicted values, although the presence of multiple reduction peaks requires additional study to rationalize. As individual additives, PDO-containing cells show the best performance although these are nonetheless out-performed by VC-containing cells. The additives were also tested in binary blends with VC, DTD, and LFO. In long-term cycling tests, cells prepared with 2%PDO/l%DTD and 2%PDO/l%LFO additive blends outperform VC-containing cells. However, the high temperature storage behavior of 2%PDO/l%LFO is superior than that of the 2%PDO/l%DTD blend. A person of skill in the art will understand that compositions described herein may be further optimized, for example, by adjusting the ratio of primary and secondary additives or through introducing ternary blends.”
The patent application says that the new two-additive mixtures in an electrolyte solvent can be used with lithium nickel manganese cobalt compounds, also known as an NMC battery chemistry.
It is commonly used in electric vehicles by many automakers, but not by Tesla. The company used the technology in its stationary energy storage systems, but it uses NCA for its vehicle battery cells.
The patent filed by Tesla’s battery research group mentions that the technology would be useful for both electric vehicles and grid-storage.
Interestingly, Tesla has been rumored to be switching to NCM battery cells for Chinese Model 3 vehicles.
Tesla has been filing new battery patents as it has also been making moves toward building its own battery cells.
Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that they built Model 3 to last as long as a commercial truck, a million miles, and the battery modules should last between 300,000 miles and 500,000 miles.
However, the CEO claimed that Tesla has a new battery coming up next year that will last a million miles.
Here’s Tesla’s full patent application:
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.
|
|
Britain is in talks with six companies about building gigafactories to produce batteries for electric vehicles (EV), the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people briefed on the discussions.
Car makers Ford Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co Ltd, conglomerates LG Corp and Samsung, and start-ups Britishvolt and InoBat Auto are in talks with the British government or local authorities about locations for potential factories and financial support, the report added .
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
|
|
EBay will sell its South Korean business to retailer Shinsegae Group and e-commerce firm Naver for about 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion), local newspapers reported on Wednesday.
EBay Korea is the country’s third-largest e-commerce firm with market share of about 12.8% in 2020, according to Euromonitor. It operates the platforms Gmarket, Auction and G9.
Shinsegae, Naver and eBay Korea declined to comment.
Lotte Shopping had also been in the running, the Korea Economic Daily and other newspapers said, citing unnamed investment banking sources.
South Korea represents the world’s fourth largest e-commerce market. Driven by the coronavirus pandemic, e-commerce has soared to account for 35.8% of the retail market in 2020 compared with 28.6% in 2019, according to Euromonitor data.
Shinsegae and Naver formed a retail and e-commerce partnership in March by taking stakes worth 250 billion won in each other’s affiliates.
($1 = 1,117.7000 won)
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
|
|
Canada is set to begin a hotly anticipated auction of the mobile telecommunications bandwidth necessary for 5G rollout, one that was delayed more than a year by the pandemic.
The 3,500 MHz is a spectrum companies need to provide 5G, which requires more bandwidth to expand internet capabilities.The auction, initially scheduled for June 2020, is expected to take several weeks with Canadian government selling off 1,504 licenses in 172 service areas.
Smaller operators are going into the auction complaining that recent regulatory rulings have further tilted the scales in the favour of the country’s three biggest telecoms companies – BCE, Telus and Rogers Communications Inc – which together control around 90% of the market as a share of revenue.
Canadian mobile and internet consumers, meanwhile, have complained for years that their bills are among the world’s steepest. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has threatened to take action if the providers did not cut bills by 25%.
The last auction of the 600 MHz spectrum raised C$3.5 billion ($2.87 billion) for the government.
The companies have defended themselves, saying the prices they charge are falling.
Some 23 bidders including regional players such as Cogeco and Quebec’s Videotron are participating in the process. Shaw Communications did not apply to participate due to a $16 billion takeover bid from Rogers. Lawmakers and analysts have warned that market concentration will intensify if that acquisition proceeds.
In May, after Canada‘s telecoms regulator issued a ruling largely in favour of the big three on pricing for smaller companies’ access to broadband networks, internet service provider TekSavvy Inc withdrew from the auction, citing the decision.
Some experts say the government has been trying to level the playing field with its decision to set aside a proportion of spectrum in certain areas for smaller companies.
Gregory Taylor, a spectrum expert and associate professor at the University of Calgary, said he was pleased the government was auctioning off smaller geographic areas of coverage.
In previous auctions where the license covered whole provinces, “small providers could not participate because they could not hope to cover the range that was required in the license,” Taylor said.
Smaller geographic areas mean they have a better chance of fulfilling the requirements for the license, such as providing service to 90% of the population within five years of the issuance date.
The auction has no scheduled end date, although the federal ministry in charge of the spectrum auction has said winners would be announced within five days of bidding completion.
($1 = 1.2181 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Vancouver; Editing by David Gregorio)
TD Bank CFO Ahmed to head securities unit, move seen as CEO succession play
Teamsters votes to fund and support Amazon workers
Citigroup names new sales head for Treasury and Trade Solutions unit
-
News11 hours agoIndigenous group finds 751 unmarked graves at former residential school in Saskatchewan
-
News11 hours agoEU imposes broad economic sanctions on Belarus over Ryanair incident
-
News11 hours agoCitigroup names new sales head for Treasury and Trade Solutions unit
-
News3 hours ago
Teamsters votes to fund and support Amazon workers
-
Business2 hours agoTD Bank CFO Ahmed to head securities unit, move seen as CEO succession play
