Half of Teslas produced now made with cobalt-free battery chemistries

[dan_b]

https://electrek.co/2022/04/22/tesla-us ... -produced/

This is quite impressive really - that's all the standard range Model 3s and Ys coming from China, and shortly to be Made-in-Fremont standard range vehicles too.

[GarethC]

My understanding is it's hard to see through to building as many EVs as we need to fully displace ICE vehicles with Cobalt and Nickel based chemistries, and it's that, as much as the lower cost of LFP, which makes them a great thing.

PushEVs is a great site for explaining the different chemistry pros and cons. They also track improvements in cell energy density, and what's quite exciting is that LFP cells with yet higher energy densities are in the offing. Be great when 80kWh LFP batteries can be squeezed into average sized cars. Think the best I've seen so far is about 55-60kWh.

[Mart]

If I remember correctly, Tesla has managed to almost halve the amount of Cobalt in their Cobalt batts over the years, so it all helps. Though the outrage against BEV's for Cobalt, apparently fostered by the FF industry (to knock BEV's) is rather galling given that they use it in the refining process for low sulphur petrol and diesel - hypocrites.

Mind you, if you want a tesla in the UK, with or without Cobalt it's now gonna be a long wait, with orders for Y's now predicting Sept, and 3's May (May 2023). But you can shave a month or so off by speccing up paint and wheels.

I think this BEV thing is catching on.

[nowty]

This story is something we've already known for quite some time.

That is standard range Tesla's are being fitted with lithium Iron Phosphate batteries to make them cheaper. Their energy density is less so they can still fit them in the same space for standard range car versions.