Future-proofing battery manufacturing is critical to sustainable electrification.
On the road to a 2050 net-zero objective, the electrification of transportation is vital to achieving the emissions reduction targets, as electric vehicles can save up to 60% on carbon emissions compared to similar fuel-based cars. Global leaders and automotive manufacturers are aligned in efforts to reduce known roadblocks to EV adoption, like cost and range limitations.
These factors depend heavily on the lithium-ion batteries used to power EVs. Battery innovations are taking place rapidly in a race to find the battery chemistry that strikes the perfect balance between capacity, availability and affordability. However, to achieve a true climate-positive outcome, we need better battery manufacturing, not just better batteries.
Achieving net-zero means reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from vehicles on the road and those in production – including the GHG impacts of manufacturing EVs and batteries.
The manufacturing impact is critical, as projections for U.S. EV purchases jumped from 43 percent to more than 50 percent of all new car sales by 2030 following the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). These numbers indicate the need to scale up domestic production rapidly. For this reason, we must enact sustainable manufacturing solutions now to meet our decarbonization targets.
Addressing domestic battery supply chain gaps
The IRA’s $7,500 point-of-sale consumer tax credit for EVs requires battery raw materials to be sourced from North America or a U.S. free-trade agreement partner and vehicle battery components (such as cathode and anode material) to be manufactured or assembled in North America.
The government intends to bridge critical domestic battery supply chain gaps by adding these manufacturing requirements. Previously the U.S. heavily relied on international markets for battery raw materials and components manufacturing, with China being the dominant worldwide supplier. Now, automotive manufacturers are investing in U.S. battery production, but demand will continue to outpace the supply for some time.
Additionally, an immense gap exists in domestically sourced raw material supply and component production. Benchmark Minerals reports that North American cathode production only has the ability to meet 4 percent of demand by 2030. This supply and demand gap further drives the importance of investing in innovations that meet today’s requirements and are also resilient long-term solutions.
With billions of dollars being deployed, we cannot be short-sighted in our developments. We can simultaneously meet the domestic supply chain requirements for battery materials and components while ensuring that the manufacturing we invest in is built for future success.
Challenges with conventional EV battery manufacturing
Lithium-ion battery manufacturers must address areas in which the conventional process is counter to decarbonization goals. In particular, the cathode active material (CAM) is the most expensive and carbon-intensive component in today’s lithium-ion battery by a significant margin. Due to high emissions, waste, and cost, conventional li-ion battery cathode manufacturing methods cannot support climate goals.
Upwards of 60 percent of CAM processing materials are disposed of as waste in the form of sulfuric acid, which has to be transported and disposed of properly, carrying a high cost and carbon burden. Moreover, current cathode manufacturing techniques require billions of gallons of water annually, which not only needs to be remediated but will also deplete another critical natural resource as we advance.
Further, each manufacturing facility can produce only one type of battery chemistry, which will be problematic as battery technology changes. We have already seen numerous advancements in battery chemistry, both in terms of finding more efficient and longer-lasting chemistries and in terms of efforts to curtail the sourcing of limited critical minerals.
Introducing optionality, the ability to produce multiple chemistries from the same asset, to cathode manufacturing ensures that U.S. EV production stays viable and environmentally sound in a landscape of shifting technologies and scarcity of materials.
The role of recycling in battery sustainability
It is worth noting that today’s battery manufacturing headlines often focus on recycling, which is frequently cited as the answer to reducing costs and creating a more sustainable EV supply chain. Supply chain constraints for critical minerals used in lithium-ion batteries are a substantial risk, and recycling both increases available minerals and helps further decarbonization. However, there are some key considerations when utilizing these recycled materials.
The cathode is already in its mixed metal state in a used battery, meaning that lithium and other metals are intermingled. Recyclers are individually reprocessing the metals into their separate states as conventional cathode manufacturers enact a multi-step process to bind them together.
As battery recycling increases, there is excellent potential for a one-step manufacturing method that eliminates the need to separate the metals, thus eliminating steps within the recycling process and furthering reductions in costs and carbon emissions.
While EV battery recycling is a vital piece of the bigger net-zero challenge, ample material supply from recyclers will likely not be available for at least a decade, as that is the average lifespan of a battery. We are only now reaching a threshold of EV use that will provide a source from which to recycle, but waiting for recycling to take hold is not an option. We can make battery manufacturing greener today – starting with the cathode.
The next generation of cathode production must be future-proof
Future-proofing cathode production means ensuring the manufacturing process is built to withstand the market demands of today and the advancements of tomorrow. To do that, the next generation of CAM production should incorporate cleaner, more efficient technologies. For example, using less processed material inputs – metal oxides and hydroxides instead of metal sulfates removes sulfuric acid from the production process, virtually eliminating waste.
Working with metal oxides and hydroxides also broadens the range of precursor material inputs, meaning a more expansive catalog of critical minerals can be used. This is one immediate way to ease the pressure on limited mining resources, like nickel and cobalt. .
A one-step process that eliminates water is also more eco-friendly and drastically reduces the footprint needed. The smaller facility could mean as much as a 40 percent reduction in plant capital, promoting localized production, which reduces transportation costs and further shrinks the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process. Innovations like these are essential to achieving a lower-cost, more sustainably manufactured EV in the near term.
While EV usage is fundamental to achieving climate goals, the importance of ensuring less environmental impact throughout the EV value chain cannot be overstated. Employing future-proofed next-generation cathode manufacturing processes will help the domestic EV market grow and remain competitive while boosting local economies. The purpose of the electrification movement is decarbonization, so we must make this transition as sustainably as possible.
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Future-Proofing Battery Manufacturing is Critical to Sustainable Electrification, March 21, 2023
