Bolivia may become the Saudi Arabia of lithium
The 12-volt lead-acid battery used in traditional automotive applications has given way to higher energy density batteries as the automobile industry moves toward further electrification. The advent of hybrid electric vehicles in the past decade gave way to mass production of nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries in automobiles, which have twice the energy density of lead-acid batteries. Now the demand for long range electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the coming decade is giving way to mass production of lithium-ion batteries in automobiles with twice the energy density of Ni-MH batteries. The lithium ion battery offers 100-150 Watt hours per kilogram, Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) offers 65-70 Wh/kg, and lead-acid offers 30-40 Wh/kg.
NY Times reports that almost half of the world’s lithium, the mineral needed to power plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles, is found in Bolivia. The United States Geological Survey says 5.4 million tons of lithium could potentially be extracted in Bolivia, compared with 3 million in Chile, 1.1 million in China and just 410,000 in the United States.
The majority of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles on the market use lithium-ion batteries including:
- Chevrolet Volt, to be launched in 2010 or 2011 and priced under $40,000, will uses a lithium-ion battery with an all-electric range of 40 miles produced by a full plug-in charge.
- BYD Auto’s F3DM PHEV-68, which began selling in 2008 in China, uses a lithium iron phosphate battery with an all-electric range of 68 miles.
- Ford Motor recently signed a contract with Johnson Controls-Saft to provide lithium-ion batteries for Ford plug-in hybrid vehicles. Ford announced today that it will introduce a battery-only commercial van in 2010, followed by a passenger car built on the same technology in 2011, and a plug-in vehicle by 2012.
- Toyota plans to demonstrate 150 Prius plug-in hybrids this year with several lithium-ion battery packs that will be teamed with a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine. U.S. sales of the Toyota plug-in hybrid are expected to begin sometime after 2010.
- As of last year a major battery manufacturer, A123 Systems, was accepting purchase orders for conversion kits (hybrid to plug-in hybrid) to retrofit existing nickel metal hydride powered Toyota Prius hybrids with a lithium-ion power train with all-electric range of 30 miles per fully charged battery set.
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