The removal of lead from car batteries, many from the United States, at recycling plants in northern Mexico has led to high levels of lead contamination, a new report found.
Tag Archives: batteries
Falling Lithium Prices Are Making Electric Cars More Affordable
An unexpected decline in the price of an essential battery material, along with those of other commodities, is good news for buyers. But experts disagree on how long low prices will last.
Toxic Chemical Rules Pose Test for Biden
Key industries — including some that the White House is backing through other policies — are lobbying to water down the first major new rules in a generation on chemicals that pose risks to humans.
A Hungarian Town Seethes Over a Giant Chinese Battery Plant
A $7.8 billion factory planned by a Chinese company in eastern Hungary has become divisive even within the party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who championed it.
Meeting the Inflation Reduction Act’s EV battery requirements will be hard
Enlarge / Lithium ore sits waiting for processing. (credit: Bloomberg Creative Photos)
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has some car troubles. One of President Joe Biden’s major initiatives, the law was intended to foster activities that are both good for the economy and green. As such, it contains stipulations about the manufacturing of EVs—particularly that their batteries come from local sources or free-trade partners. But there are some issues with the availability of critical minerals that meet the “local” criteria and some vagueness on important terminology, according to a recent paper.
Higher standards
The IRA was signed into law in August of last year. It includes a provision that gives tax credits to producers that use critical minerals that come from the US or some of its close trade partners. In particular, to get the credits, an electric vehicle—which needs to be fully electric—would need to have a battery in which 80 percent of the market value of its critical minerals is sourced from within the US. Alternatively, this benchmark could be reached using minerals sourced from free-trade partners, or the minerals could hail from elsewhere but be processed in the US.
This is an increase over the requirements (40 percent) for receiving previous incentives. In theory, purchasing one of the vehicles eligible for a tax credit would be more affordable for many consumers.
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U.S. and Europe Angle for New Deal to Resolve Climate Spat
American and European officials are trying to reach agreement on the outlines of a limited trade deal that could help resolve a major rift over America’s new climate legislation.
Clean Energy Is Suddenly Less Polarizing Than You Think
G.O.P. elites are simply lagging behind their states.
E-Bikes Are Convenient. They Can Also Catch Fire and Destroy Buildings.
Three years after New York legalized micro-mobility bikes and scooters, lawmakers and building managers are grappling with how to make them safer in the wake of numerous fires, some fatal.
As Oil Companies Stay Lean, Workers Move to Renewable Energy
Solar, wind, geothermal, battery and other alternative-energy businesses are adding workers from fossil fuel companies, where employment has fallen.
The big reuse: 25 MWh of ex-car batteries go on the grid in California
Enlarge / Each of those white structures contains lots of batteries that were built for cars. (credit: B2U)
Last week, a company called B2U Storage Solutions announced that it had started operations at a 25 Megawatt-hour battery facility in California. On its own, that isn’t really news, as California is adding a lot of battery power. But in this case, the source of the batteries was unusual: Many of them had spent an earlier life powering electric vehicles.
The idea of repurposing electric vehicle batteries has been around for a while. To work in a car, the batteries need to be able to meet certain standards in terms of capacity and rate of discharge, but that performance declines with use. Even after a battery no longer meets the needs of a car, however, it can still store enough energy to be useful on the electric grid. So it was suggested that grid storage might be an intermediate destination between vehicles and recycling.
But there are some significant technical and economic challenges to implementing the idea. So we talked with B2U’s CEO, Freeman Hall, to find out why the company decided it was the right time to put the concept into action.
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Electric Vehicles Could Match Gasoline Cars on Price This Year
Competition, government incentives and falling raw material prices are making battery-powered cars more affordable sooner than expected.
Does Your Home Have Backup Power? We Want to Hear From You.
Sales of generators and home batteries are up as people look to protect themselves from power outages, which are becoming more common.
New battery seems to offer it all: lithium-metal/lithium-air electrodes
Enlarge (credit: Chanakarn Phinakan)
Current lithium-based batteries are based on intercalation—lithium ions squeeze into spaces within electrode materials such as graphite. As a result, most of the battery’s volume and bulk is dedicated to things that don’t contribute to carrying charges between the electrodes, which sets a limit on the sorts of energy densities that these technologies can reach.
As a result, a lot of research has gone into finding ways of getting rid of one these electrode materials. People have tried pairing lithium-metal electrodes with various materials, while other efforts have tried using electrodes where lithium reacts with air to form lithium-oxygen compounds. While these worked by some measures, they tended to have problems that drastically shortened their useful lifetimes.
But a recent paper describes a battery that uses lithium metal at one electrode and lithium air for the second. By some measures, the battery has decent performance out to over 1,000 charge/discharge cycles.
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Do You Work in the Auto Industry? We Want to Hear From You.
Sales of electric vehicles are growing fast, and automakers are investing billions of dollars in new technology and factories. We want to know how jobs are changing.
How to control your smart home without yelling at a dumb voice assistant
Enlarge / We don’t have to rely on megacorp obelisks to operate the things we buy. We don’t have to learn their language. We can break free. (credit: PonyWang/Getty Images)
For many people, an automated smart home is about little things that add up to big conveniences over time. Lights turning on when you pull into the driveway, a downstairs thermostat adjustable from your upstairs bedroom, a robot vacuum working while you’re at the grocery store—you put in a bit of setup work and your life gets easier.
What most smart homes also include, however, is a voice assistant, the opposite of a quiet, unseen convenience. Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant: They demand that you learn specific device names and structures for commands, while they frequently get even the most simple command astoundingly wrong. And they are, of course, an always-listening corporate microphone you’re allowing inside your home.
There are ways to keep that smart home convenience while cutting out the conversation. Some involve your phone, some dedicated devices, but none of them involve saying a device’s name. Here’s an overview of the best options available.
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A Copper Mine Could Advance Green Energy but Scar Sacred Land
Tribal groups are fighting an Arizona project whose backers say increasing the supply of copper, crucial to batteries, would reduce fossil-fuel use.
Climate Change May Bring New Era of Trade Wars, as E.U. and U.S. Spar
Countries are pursuing new solutions to try to mitigate climate change. More trade fights are likely to come hand in hand.
Electric Cars Are Taking Off, but When Will Battery Recycling Follow?
Many companies and investors are eager to recycle batteries but it could take a decade or more before enough used lithium-ion batteries become available.
California Reduces Subsidies for Homes With Rooftop Solar
The decision, which would reduce the incentive for homeowners to install solar panels, could influence other states to make similar changes.
Lithium-Ion Batteries in E-Bikes and Other Devices Pose Fire Risks
The batteries, also found in phones, laptops, toothbrushes and other items, have caused about 200 fires and six deaths in New York City this year, fire officials say. Here’s what to know about safety.
Electric Vehicles Start to Enter the Car-Buying Mainstream
While sales are still skewed toward affluent buyers, more people are choosing electric vehicles to save money.
Smartphones Are Like Cars. So Why Don’t We Maintain Them?
Regularly replacing our phones takes a toll on our wallets and the environment. We should instead take care of them as we do our cars.
China Is Burning More Coal, a Growing Climate Challenge
The country’s emissions of greenhouse gases rose last year at the fastest pace in a decade. Beijing is looking for alternatives.
E.V.s Start With a Bigger Carbon Footprint. But That Doesn’t Last.
The manufacturing and disposal of electric vehicles result in more greenhouse gases than nonelectric models, but that difference will eventually disappear altogether.
Biden Expands Effort to Lower Gas Prices and Secure Energy Independence
Draining of emergency oil reserves draws criticism that the White House is trying to lower gas prices with midterm election politics in mind.
E.V. Bonanza Flows to Red States That Denounce Biden Climate Policies
No Republican in Congress voted for the Inflation Reduction Act. But their districts and states will greatly benefit from the investments spurred by the law.
Solar + batteries at home can provide backup power during disasters
Lights went out as Hurricane Fiona devastated areas from the Caribbean to Canada, and Hurricane Ian has done the same. Hurricanes, along with other natural disasters like wildfires and winter storms, can leave people without access to electricity.
However, new research out of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory suggests that added solar capacity, paired with batteries, can help address this problem. The study makes use of historic long-term power outages (caused by disasters) and models the performance of behind-the-meter solar and energy storage systems functioning as a kind of backup source of power during long-term power interruptions.
Behind-the-meter refers to solar systems that are installed on a customer’s residence—on the customer side of the electricity meter. The more common term for this is “roof-top solar,” according to Galen Barbose, research scientist with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and one of the paper’s authors. “It’s more customer-sided solar,” he told Ars.
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Report pushes ‘big-tent’ approach for the future of batteries
Enlarge (credit: Javier Zayas Photography)
In the world of renewables, Lithium-ion batteries are storage kings, making up around 70 percent of electric vehicle (EV) and 90 percent of grid batteries around the globe. As such, they’re becoming increasingly important in a world that’s trying to reduce its carbon emissions by electrifying homes, cars, and more. (Not that mining for lithium or the various rare earth metals in battery production is carbon-free.)
However, there are some problems with lithium-ion batteries, according to a recent Atlantic Council report. For one, existing supply chains for the minerals used for batteries are likely to be pushed to their limits as the world transitions to renewable energy.
But there are also geopolitical factors that could disrupt these supply chains. For instance, many of the minerals tied to the production of these batteries are either obtained or processed in Russia and China. For the United States, this might mean that the security of the supply chains for these batteries is put at risk by geopolitical conflicts. For instance, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine saw the price of nickel—a core component in EV batteries—skyrocket.
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How a Quebec Lithium Mine May Help Make Electric Cars Affordable
The project also illustrates how difficult it is to get lithium out of the ground and break China’s dominance in processing the metal and turning it into batteries.
Nuclear Power Still Doesn’t Make Much Sense
There’s a lot of new enthusiasm around nuclear power. It isn’t warranted.
Apple raises iPhone 14 battery costs above pre-Batterygate levels
Enlarge / While the iPhone 14 battery will seemingly be much the same as the iPhone 13 (pictured), the cost to replace it goes up 43 percent. (credit: iFixit)
While the iPhone 14 hardware lineup costs largely the same as the previous generation, the cost of replacing the battery has gone up considerably, surpassing the prices Apple was charging before its 2016/2017 “Batterygate” reckoning.
Replacing the battery in any of the iPhone 14 models will cost $99, up from the $69 Apple charges for the 13, 12, 11, and X lines. The newest iPhone SE and iPhones in the 8 and older series cost $49. Those prices are for out-of-warranty and non-AppleCare+ replacements at an Apple Store, while prices at authorized Apple repair stores may vary.
Apple typically only replaces a battery within AppleCare+ service if the device’s battery health is at 80 percent or lower. Apple states that its batteries are rated to last 500 cycles before hitting 80 percent, though factors like temperature, leaving the battery at low charge, and others can decrease battery lifespan quickly.
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Did You Recently Buy an Electric Vehicle? We Want to Hear About It.
Sales of electric cars are surging as more people become interested in the technology and grow concerned about climate change.
Clean Energy Projects Surge After Climate Bill Passage
Investments in battery factories, solar panel manufacturing and mining will help the Biden administration meet targets for reducing greenhouse gases.
India’s Electric Vehicle Push Is Riding on Mopeds and Rickshaws
The country’s success with two- and three-wheeled vehicles that sell for as little as $1,000 could be a template for other developing countries.
A Solar Firm Plans to Build Off-Grid Neighborhoods in California
Sunnova Energy is seeking permission from state regulators to develop microgrids for new housing developments that would not be reliant on established electric utilities.
This Remote Mine Could Foretell the Future of America’s Electric Car Industry
Hiding a thousand feet below the earth’s surface in this patch of northern Minnesota wetlands are ancient mineral deposits that some view as critical to fueling America’s clean energy future.
We Can’t Just Throw Bigger Batteries at Electric Vehicles
There are better ways to use batteries than putting them in premium EVs.
Here Are the Challenges Ahead for California’s Ban on Gas Cars
Enforcement could be complex and legal challenges are likely. But ultimately, experts say, success or failure will depend on steady supply and buyers’ appetite.
New aluminum-sulfur battery tech offers full charging in under a minute
Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)
There’s a classic irony with new technology, that adopters are forced to limit themselves to two of the three things everyone wants: fast, cheap, and good. When the tech is batteries, adoption is even more challenging. Cheap and fast (charging) still matter, but “good” can mean different things, such as light weight, low volume, or long life span, depending on your needs. Still, the same sorts of tradeoffs are involved. If you want really fast charging, you’re probably going to have to give up some capacity.
Those tradeoffs keep research into alternate battery chemistries going despite the massive lead lithium has in terms of technology and manufacturing capabilities—there’s still the hope that some other chemistry could provide a big drop in price or a big boost in some measure of performance.
Today, a paper is being published that appears to offer low price combined with a big boost in several of those measures. The aluminum-sulfur batteries it describes offer low-priced raw materials, competitive size, and more capacity per weight than lithium-ion—with the big plus of fully charging cells in far less than a minute. The one obvious problem it has right now is that it needs to be at 90° C (nearly the boiling point of water) to work.
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Expansion of Clean Energy Loans Is ‘Sleeping Giant’ of Climate Bill
The bill President Biden signed into law recently will greatly expand government loans and loan guarantees for clean energy and automotive projects and businesses.
A Frustrating Hassle Holding Electric Cars Back: Broken Chargers
Owners of battery-powered cars sometimes struggle to refuel on longer trips because public chargers don’t work or malfunction while cars are plugged in.
Can the F-150 Lightning Make Everyone Want a Truck That Plugs In?
Welcome to Commerce, Ga., the Battery Belt.
For Electric Vehicle Makers, Winners and Losers in Climate Bill
Carmakers may need several years to revamp their supply chains to meet new rules, but the legislation is still seen as a win for electric vehicles.
The Climate Bill Isn’t Perfect, but It’s Still a Major Victory
There may be better ways to slow global warming, but this legislation is a big step forward.
Climate Bill ‘Transformative’ for Auto and Energy Industries
The Senate’s proposal aims to accelerate electric car sales and promote domestic battery manufacturing at China’s expense.
Surprise Deal Would Be Most Ambitious Climate Action Undertaken by U.S.
The announcement Wednesday of an agreement in the Senate almost instantly reset the role of the United States in the global effort to fight climate change.
In a Twist, Old Coal Plants Help Deliver Renewable Power. Here’s How.
The sites, once a source of greenhouse gases, have a useful feature: They’re wired to the electricity grid. For new ventures like solar farms, that can save a lot of time and money.
Electric Car Sales Climb Sharply Despite Shortages
A scarcity of semiconductors and raw materials held back production, but buyers remain enthusiastic.
Advanced Batteries Move From Labs to Mass Production
Makers of batteries that could charge in a few minutes are setting up assembly lines, bringing the technology a big step closer to auto showrooms.
Researchers seem to stumble across an electrolyte for a sodium battery
Enlarge / Sodium metal will react with something in just about any environment it encounters on Earth. Here, a fresh cut shows how extensive its reactions with air are. (credit: Getty Images)
Lithium-based batteries are great, with different electrode chemistries allowing them to be slotted into a variety of use cases. The problem with them has nothing to do with their performance. The challenge we face is that we want to make a lot of batteries; if all of them use lithium, we’re undoubtedly going to face supply crunches.
One potential solution to that is to simply replace the lithium with a different ion. Alternative batteries may not be as good as lithium variants in all the different places we currently use them. They just have to be good enough at one task to take away some of the need to stick lithium everywhere.
That’s the reasoning behind some interest in sodium-based batteries. Sodium is very plentiful and correspondingly cheap and can be made to behave a bit like lithium when used in a battery. But sodium batteries always carry risks associated with sodium’s tendency to react explosively. But a recently developed solid electrolyte suggests that at least some of the challenges associated with sodium could be overcome.
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