Alternative Power | Power Systems Research

2024-02-27

Shell To Exit Light Duty FCEV Market in California

NORTH AMERICA REPORT

As of Feb. 6, 2024, Shell permanently closed its seven light duty hydrogen fuel stations in California citing “hydrogen supply complications and other external market factors” for this decision. According to the below MOTORTREND article, this leaves 17 stations operational (although several are offline at the time of this writing) in the Bay Area, and just one in the Sacramento area.

Shell had already told industry outlet Hydrogen Insight that it would stop building any of the 48 new California stations it had planned—a significant number for the state—and that the company “made the decision to permanently close its light duty station network in California in early 2024.”

Categories: Fuel Cells, Hydrogen, North America, Passenger Cars, Minivans, and SUVs, Production

Office: United States Offices

Alternative Power Report, February 2024

Guy Youngs

Alternative Power Report – Feb 2024 Download

The February issue of the Alternative Power Report produced by Power Systems Research contains articles on China battery production and Chinese EV market share gains in Thailand. There’s also news about CATL’s wind power project and several articles about EV heavy truck development.

Categories: Alternative Power Reports, AltPwr, Batteries, Commercial Vehicles, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen, Passenger Cars, Minivans, and SUVs

Office: United States Offices

2024-01-23

GM, Komatsu Plan Hydrogen Fuel Cells for EV Mining Truck

Guy Youngs

ALTERNATIVE POWER REPORT

General Motors and mining and construction equipment giant Komatsu plan to jointly design and validate the hydrogen fuel cell technology for the 930E electric drive mining truck. GM has been conducting hydrogen fuel cell research and product development for more than 50 years and has developed platforms for both lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen fuel cells.

Mining trucks typically operate at a single mine throughout their life, a situation that simplifies the challenge of rolling out hydrogen refueling stations. GM and Komatsu plan to test the prototype HYDROTEC-powered mining vehicle in the mid-2020s at Komatsu’s Arizona Proving Grounds research and development facility. The prototype mining truck will be powered by more than 2 megawatts of HYDROTEC power cubes.

Categories: AltPwr, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen, Industrial, Partnerships, Production

Office: United States Offices

Drivers of Heavy, Dirty Cars Pay Stiff Penalty Tax in France

Guy Youngs

As of Jan. 1, 2024, the French government has revised its “malus écologique”, a one-time penalty tax for registering bulky, CO2-emitting cars, to include many more ICE vehicles, even some of the most popular budget models.

Drivers of cars emitting 118 g/km of CO2 pay €50 (about $55), and this increases rapidly with higher CO2 emissions, with a maximum ceiling for vehicles reaching €60,000 ($65,590). Vehicles weighing 1,600 kg/1.6 tons or more will have to pay between €10 and €30 per additional kilo.

Categories: AltPwr, Emissions, Europe, Legislation, Passenger Cars, Minivans, and SUVs

Office: United States Offices

Survey: EV Range Anxiety Slips in Importance

Guy Youngs

Euromonitor International has released the results of its Electric Vehicle Readiness Index for 2023 survey, which evaluates the most prepared countries which can support widespread EV adoption.

Norway, Switzerland and Sweden ranked at the top of the index, due to EV market maturity and consumer buying power. Brazil, South Africa and India were ranked at the bottom, owing to limited government incentives, low incomes and the undersupply of public charging stations

Categories: AltPwr, Electrification, Global, Passenger Cars, Minivans, and SUVs

Office: United States Offices

Cathode Material for Cheaper, More Sustainable EVs Developed

Guy Youngs

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have invented and patented a new cathode material that replaces lithium ions with sodium and that would be significantly cheaper to produce. The cathode is one of the main parts of any battery. It is the site of the chemical reaction that creates the flow of electricity that propels a vehicle. Estimates suggest that a sodium-ion battery would cost one-third less than a lithium-ion one.

Categories: AltPwr, Batteries, Electrification, North America, Production

Office: United States Offices

2024-01-22

Deutz AG To Sell Torqeedo Shares To Yamaha

Natasa Mulahalilovic

Deutz AG signed an agreement Jan. 19, 2024, to sell its shares in Torqeedo to Yamaha Motor Co Ltd. The sale of Torqeedo’s shares were planned and announced at the Deutz Annual General Meeting held in April 2023.

Torqeedo is a market leader in developing and manufacturing advanced marine electric engines and propulsion systems.

Categories: AltPwr, Batteries, Electrification, Europe, Marine, Mergers & Acquisitions, Publications

Office: Europe Office

BYD Seeks To Acquire Lithium Mining Operation

Fabio Ferraresi

BRAZIL/SOUTH AMERICA REPORT

BYD is negotiating to acquire Sigma Lithium, the largest lithium mining entity in Brazil, according to the Financial Times. The potential agreement could be valued at US$ 5 billion (R$ 14.3 billion). Sigma Lithium operates a lithium mining facility in the Jequitinhonha Valley in the state of Minas Gerais. The strategic intent behind this acquisition by the Chinese manufacturer is to secure a stable supply of raw materials essential for the production of batteries to power its electric vehicles.

BYD has expanded its presence in Brazil through the acquisition of the Ford plant in Camaçari (BA). This facility is earmarked for the production of light vehicles. Additionally, BYD operates a manufacturing plant in Campinas (SP), specializing in the production of bus chassis and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PhEV) panels.

Source: Financial Times Read The Article

PSR Analysis. After Tesla demonstrated interest in the same company, BYD advances its negotiations. It is in line with BYD’s strategy of verticalization and helps to solve one of the strategic bottlenecks of EV production, minerals availability and price. PSR

Fabio Ferraresi is Director Business Development South America for Power Systems Research

Categories: AltPwr, Batteries, Central/South America, Mergers & Acquisitions, Production

Office: Brazil Office

Thailand Lithium Deposit World’s Third Largest

Akihiro Komuro

THAILAND REPORT

The Thai government has announced the discovery of a large lithium deposit, calling the deposit the third largest in the world after Bolivia and Argentina. It has estimated reserves of approximately 14.8 million tons. The deposit was found at two sites in the southern province of Phang Nga. However, it will take some time to find out how much of the discovered resources can be used.

Thailand is keen to become the center of EV production in Southeast Asia, leveraging its experience in assembling conventional cars, and the discovery of the lithium deposit will give the country a boost in achieving this goal.

Source: AFPBB

Categories: Alternative Power, Batteries, Electrification, eMobility, Production, Thailand

Office: Japan Office

2024-01-19

Silicon Powder Yields 10X Battery Improvements

Guy Youngs

Sila’s Titan Silicon anode powder consists of tiny particles of nano-structured silicon that replaces graphite in traditional lithium ion batteries. Compared to graphite, silicon stores up to 10 times more energy, so using it instead of graphite for anodes — which release electrons when a battery discharges — can significantly improve a battery’s energy density.

However, the material swells during repeated charging, with the resulting cracks radically reducing battery life. The Sila technology allows for this expansion by using nano-scale carbon “scaffolding” to keep the silicon in check.

The silicon powder has several advantages. With it, EVs could soon be able to travel up to 500 miles without stopping to charge. When the need does arise to recharge, the Sila batteries could do so in about 10 minutes.

Source: CleanTechnica: Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Using silicon powder does not require new manufacturing techniques so the technology is proven and should be relatively cheap (but this wasn’t mentioned in the article) and it bypasses the virtual Chinese monopoly on purified graphite (China currently supplies 96% of the purified graphite used by the world’s battery makers). PSR

Guy Youngs, is Forecast & Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research

Categories: AltPwr, Batteries, Production

Office: United States Offices

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Thailand Lithium Deposit World’s Third Largest

THAILAND REPORT

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