Chinese automotive battery company Svolt has unveiled two cobalt-free batteries, in a bid to reduce reliance on scarce and sometimes controversially sourced resources, while also providing longer cycle life, better safety, and higher energy density.
The Jiangsu-based Svolt, which describes itself as “a rising automotive battery supplier,” announced the new cobalt-free automotive batteries on May 18 via a livestream. The company was spun out of the Great Wall Motor Company and is now a division of Honeycomb Energy Technology.
Svolt has not made much information available in English, making it tricky to nail down many of the specifics of the new batteries. What is known is that one of them – the L6 cobalt-free long cell battery – will be adapted to a high-end model produced by Chinese automotive manufacturer Great Wall Motors.
According to the official press release, “With its matrix PACK design, this vehicle could reach a driving range of 880km” – which is equivalent to that of any ICE vehicle.
Separately, it is believed the new battery will have a maximum energy density of 590wh/L and be made with nano-coating and single crystalline cathode technologies. It will also use a stacking process in which the cathode, separator, and anode materials stacked together. The second battery is smaller, with an energy density of 575wh/L and a range of 600 kilometres.
Expected to go on sale throughout 2021, separate reports add that it will come with a 1.2-million-kilometre/15-year warranty
“If this driving range can truly be realized, SVOLT’s cobalt-free batteries would undoubtedly have created a new product category for automotive batteries,” the official press announcement reads.
“It will improve the competitive advantage of BEVs greatly relative to ICE vehicles, eliminate range anxiety of end-users about existing BEVs, increase consumers’ confidence in choosing BEVs, and speed up the process of replacement of ICE vehicles with BEVs.”
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Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.