Electric vehicle batteries set to be mass-produced in New York in partnership with Australian company Magnis Energy Technologies have been touted as “potentially the greenest” in the north-eastern US market, based on the findings of a government-backed report.
Magnis said in a statement on Monday that the report by Abt Associates had assessed the lifecycle impact of the Generation 1 Charge CCCV (C4V) lithium-ion batteries set to be manufactured at a gigawatt-scale factory in New York, starting next year.
The Endicott giga-factory, called the iM3NY, is roughly 58% owned by Magnis in partnership with C4V, and is expected to be followed closely by another heavy acronym, the iM3TSV, an Australian 18GWh facility planned for Townsville in Queensland.
Magnis said the US study, commissioned by the New York State Energy Development and Research Authority (NYSERDA), had tested the CV4 batteries for their lifecycle impact, taking into account factors including acidification, ecotoxicity, ozone depletion, and respiratory effects.
The report found that the bio-mineralised lithium-mixed-metal-phosphate batteries fell within the lower end of the expected range of lifecycle impacts generated by the manufacture of li-ion battery cells, largely because the New York factory would be powered mostly by renewable energy.
“The main contributor to this result is that C4V assembles its lithium-ion battery cell in the north-eastern United States, where about half the electricity is generated by carbon-free sources,” the report said.
“Additionally, the C4V battery cell appears to use fewer metals and less-toxic materials than comparable modelled lithium-ion battery cells with higher impacts,” the report continued.
The green seal of approval comes just one month after the Magnis Energy announced that C4V had successfully tested a lithium-ion cell with a six-minute charge time, labelling it a “potential game changer” for EV makers.
Magnis said it could produce a battery with the extra-fast charging (EFC) capability in Australia, presumably at the proposed Townsville facility.
C4V president Shailesh Upreti this week welcomed the lifecycle report’s findings, saying on Monday that the company’s claims of greenest battery were now ready for public review “with the facts, evaluation and data analysis completed by a world-renowned group.”
“The C4V team is determined to bring transformative technologies in the energy storage market and is driven by its material science knowledge, technology manufacturability, a balance between cost and performance, and all with minimal impact on our planet,” Upreti said.
“We are an organisation that would like to be known as the greenest battery technology company ever, and we are very close to demonstrating this at a large scale.”
The findings bode well for the consortium’s Australian plans, which just last week secured state government approval for a feasibility study for the $A3 billion Imperium3 Townsville (iM3TSV) lithium-ion battery gigafactory.
This progress coincided with iM3TSV board – made up of partners from the Imperium3 consortium including Magnis, Charge CCCV (C4V), and Boston Energy and Innovation – formally approving the investment decision to proceed with the next stage of the project development.
In a statement on Monday, Magnis chair Frank Poullas said the findings of the US report demonstrated the consortium’s commitment to producing the “greenest batteries in the marketplace.
“In the last for weeks … we have received many approaches from many overseas OEMs to local and global funds,” Poullas said.
“We look forward to providing further updates in the future,” he said.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.