The road separating EV batteries from hydrogen-fueled mobility is getting thinner, and Stellantis offers a great instance. Final yr the worldwide automaker made some large strikes within the gasoline cell truck space and threw down a cool $200 million for a stake within the US battery startup Factorial Power, too. Stellantis is already showcasing Factorial’s new solid-state EV batteries this yr, which leads one to marvel if they’ve any new gasoline cell information up their sleeves for 2023, too.
The Search For Excellent EV Batteries
Lithium-ion remains to be the expertise of alternative for EV batteries. Nevertheless, automakers are at all times searching for the following large factor. Solid-state energy storage is within the operating as a result of it affords efficiency and security benefits over the liquid electrolyte utilized in standard lithium-ion batteries.
Eco-friendliness is one other attraction. In recent times, automakers have been courting favor with the environmentally delicate members of the car-buying public. They’re leaning on their provide chains to make use of extra sustainable supplies, cut back greenhouse fuel emissions, and observe moral enterprise practices.
Stable-state EV batteries typically use extra lithium than standard batteries, which may increase some sustainability points relying on how and where the lithium is obtained. On the plus facet, some automakers see an improved potential for recycling solid-state EV batteries, serving to to alleviate stress on virgin sources. Stable-state expertise additionally makes use of considerably much less graphite and cobalt, each of that are fraught with environmental and moral points.
Specifically, the US Division of Power has raised the alarm on cobalt. “Proper now, Co could make as much as 20% of the burden of the cathode in lithium ion EV batteries. There are economic, security, and societal drivers to cut back Co content material,” the Power Division explains.
“Cobalt is mined as a secondary materials from combined nickel (Ni) and copper ores. This implies the availability shouldn’t be impartial of different commodity companies and introducing new restoration initiatives is pricey,” they add. “Furthermore, the USA doesn’t have massive reserves for Co, and the extraction and early stage processing is concentrated in a small variety of international locations outdoors the USA.”
The Diversification Resolution
Equally, gasoline cell electrical automobiles should not off the availability chain hook. That’s partly as a result of virtually the whole international provide of hydrogen comes from pure fuel, together with different fossil sources to a lesser extent.
The surging green hydrogen market is starting to tamp down that fireside. A lot of the inexperienced hydrogen exercise facilities round deploying renewable energy to push hydrogen fuel from water. Landfill fuel and different types of renewable waste are additionally in use.
Inexperienced hydrogen or not, different sustainability pitfalls stay. A new fuel cell supply chain assessment launched by the US Division of Power final February describes them intimately.
However, legacy automakers are starting to pivot into fuel cell EVs as well as battery EVs. That’s partly as a result of gasoline cells have an edge within the truck market and different heavy-duty makes use of. Automakers might have additionally noticed alternatives to unfold out their provide chain dangers.
The UK startup Tevva illustrates one other rising choice. The corporate’s lengthy vary, zero emission truck uses a battery pack for its major energy supply, and it additionally incorporates a gasoline cell vary extender.
Higher EV Batteries For Passenger Automobiles
Regardless of a surge of curiosity in gasoline cells for heavy responsibility automobiles, gasoline cells have but to crack the passenger automotive market within the US. With that in thoughts, let’s check out Stellantis’ dedication to Factorial Power’s solid-state EV batteries.
Factorial Energy got here throughout the CleanTechnica radar in 2021, when Stellantis and Daimler staked a declare on the corporate shortly after it broke into the limelight.
“Apparently Factorial has achieved sufficient progress to draw the large bucks. The corporate emerged from stealth mode in April, and simply few months later, in October, it gathered Kia and Hyundai into its investor fold. Now right here comes Stellantis (Dodge, Fiat, Chrysler, and so on.) and Daimler (the Mercedes-Benz people) piling on, with nice enthusiasm,” we noticed.
The Stellantis funding got here with the signing of a joint growth settlement for Factorial’s solid-state battery technology.
“Our funding in Factorial and different extremely acknowledged battery companions boosts the velocity and agility wanted to offer cutting-edge expertise for our electrical car portfolio,” mentioned Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares on the time. “Initiatives like these will yield a sooner time to market and cheaper transition to solid-state expertise.”
“Factorial has developed breakthrough solid-state expertise that addresses key points holding again wide-scale client adoption of electrical automobiles: driving vary and security,” Stellantis added.
Stellantis introduced everybody up to the mark at CES in Las Vegas final week, previewing a 100 Amp-hour model of Factorial’s “next-generation solid-state battery cells.”
“After already efficiently creating automotive related sized cells of 40 Ah capability, Factorial is introducing even bigger format cells to satisfy the important thing efficiency necessities from their international main automotive OEM companions,” Stellantis defined.
Tavares emphasised that the newest iteration of the solid-state battery weighs much less, makes use of much less cobalt, and delivers as much as 30% extra power density compared with standard lithium-ion EV batteries.
Stellantis additionally chipped in with a reminder that the brand new battery prices much less to provide and takes much less time to provide, too.
Whither Hydrogen Gas Cells?
That results in the following query, which is what are Stellantis’s plans for hydrogen gasoline cell EVs?
That’s a great query. If all goes based on plan, someday this yr Stellantis will announce the closing of a take care of Faurecia (of Group FORVIA) and Michelin to amass a “substantial stake” of their three way partnership Symbio, which Stellantis describes as “a pacesetter in zero-emission hydrogen mobility.”
“Symbio’s technical roadmap completely matches with Stellantis’ hydrogen roll-out plans in Europe and within the U.S.,” Tavares defined.
“This transfer will foster the velocity of growth to deliver low emission merchandise to our prospects, past conventional electrical automobiles,” he emphasised.
Gas cell skeptics needn’t freak out simply but. For now, Stellantis plans to construct on its previous fuel cell work with Symbio, which resulted within the launch of a mid-sized van final yr. A scaled-up model of the van is within the works, and Stellantis additionally states that it’s trying into the heavy-duty hydrogen gasoline cell truck market.
The deal with the light- and heavy-duty industrial market lands Stellantis throughout the rising gasoline cell consensus amongst auto makers, which concentrates on extra on bigger automobiles.
As for gasoline cell passenger automobiles, the US market reveals little signal of splitting open any time quickly. Hold your eye on fleet car operators, although. Fleet managers have helped to push the marketplace for battery-powered EVs, and so they may do the identical for hydrogen. If gasoline cell automobiles have any sort of future within the US, fleets could possibly be the primary signal of motion.
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Picture (cropped): Stable-state EV batteries courtesy of Factorial.
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