More details on Ford partner's lithium-ion battery plant in Michigan
Ford's battery partner, Johnson Controls-Saft, recently announced plans to build a lithium-ion battery factory in Holland, Michigan. The batteries will power Ford's upcoming all-EV and plug-in hybrid models: the pure battery electric Transit Connect commercial van in 2010, an EV passenger car developed jointly with Magna International by 2011 and a plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) and next-generation hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) by 2012. Jonhson Controls-Saft received a combination of tax credits and incentives from the state of Michigan totaling $148.5 million towards the construction of the plant. The initial capacity of the plant is expected to be 15 million li-ion cells.
Gallery: Washington 2009: Ford Escape PHEV
[Source: Ford]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mike 11:27AM (4/17/2009)
Am I the only one who finds it amusing and weird that all those star trek ships were powered by dilithium crystals and now everybody is scrambling to master the lithium battery for the next big thing post the age of internal combustion engines?
- mike
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al 12:27PM (4/17/2009)
Sorry to put this here, just I have a question and this seems to be somewhat linked.
I know that li-ion batteries degrade over time, capacity gets worse etc. But can they be recycled and reprossed to make them new again? melting the bits inside down or whatever?
Or is it once the battery has degraded nothing can be done to restore its capacity etc
thanks for an answer
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nardvark 12:40PM (4/17/2009)
Lithium can be recycled. For example, the Li-Ion batteries in laptops have been recycled for years. It takes energy, but there is a finite amount of lithium, and if we start putting Li-Ion battery packs into cars, the value of reclaimed lithium will make it worthwhile for someone to process old batteries.
Speculawyer 3:08PM (4/17/2009)
First, used batteries that have decreased capacity can still be used. It is largely assumed that automotive lithium batteries that have lost 20% or so of their capacity will be re-sold to electrical utilities to be used to for grid smoothing & back-up power.
A recycling program will be developed once there is a sufficient volume of these batteries to worry about . . . right now the numbers are pretty small.
But the really good news is that there are no really toxic chemicals in good lithium iron phosphate batteries. To emphasize the point, an executive at BYD corporation drinks the electrolyte they use in their battery. (See the Businessweek article about BYD & Warren Buffet.)
Chris M 4:03PM (4/17/2009)
A battery at the end of its lifespan has all the elements that was there when the battery is new, the loss of capacity is caused by a breakdown of the internal structure and the formation of inactive substances. Therefore, it is technically possible to fully recycle the battery into brand new batteries. Of course, some components might turn out to be too common and cheap to bother recycling.
bob 6:14PM (4/17/2009)
Here's a quote from Chris M, that sounds a little "Gorrish"
"A battery at the end of its lifespan has all the elements that was there when the battery is new"
Whadya stoopid or something Mr. 2,700 comments?
Here's another quote where Chris M picks on Gorr for bad grammar:
"Speaking of "only brain that nobody understand", your posts just keep getting more and more incomprehensible. Using bad grammar and adding irrelevant bits that sound like an insane cult doesn't help any."
Hey, nobody's perfect, but everyone ain't no hypocrite neither......
Chris M 6:50PM (4/28/2009)
Oh, My! So I used a "was" when I should have used a "were". Call the Grammar Police!
But wait a minute - did anyone fail to understand what I was trying to say? Clarity in speech is more important than grammatical rules, in my opinion, and most grammatical rules exist to maintain clarity and understanding.
sp 12:59PM (4/17/2009)
Lithium batteries can be recycled, but often are not. Those who recycle them do it to get the other more valueable elements such as Cobalt, not the lithium as it is still so cheap that recycling is not yet worthwhile. It is to bad no one has come up with a better way to manufacture batteries so recycling is easier and cheaper.
The reason this matters is all those wonderful new cells like BYDs that are environmentally friendly are not worthwhile to recycle as they contain only cheap stuff like iron and lithium.
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Stan Wellaway 1:58PM (4/17/2009)
The report above says these Johnson-Saft batteries will be used for vehicles that include the 2010 all-electric Transit Connect van.
Is that correct?
I ask because Ford's partner SEVUS (Smith Electric Vehicles US Corp) this week confirmed they will be working with Kokam as their battery supplier. Of course it may be that SEVUS will working with two suppliers -- using Kokam batteries in the larger Smith Newton truck, and Johnson-Saft batteries in the Connie.
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Randy S 4:29PM (4/17/2009)
Stan, I asked the same question too, but I think the answer is no, the short blurb portion by ABG is misleading and the whole story is not available after the jump as it so often is???
But if you click on the [Source: Ford] link you'll get the full article which doesn't imply the use of Saft's batteries for all projects listed, but distinctly says diffrent applications will require different solutions and that Saft will be a key player with whom they have partnered with for their PHEV scheduled for 2012.
So the BEV's with Magna and Smith Electric are still open...
Herm 7:08PM (4/17/2009)
Lithium is so abundant that no one bothers recycling it, same for iron and manganese in the latest cells.. cobalt used in the older cells is more valuable and thus could be recycled, but it wont be used in future cells anyway.
Everything in a lithium cell is recycable, and nothing is really toxic... no heavy metals at all.
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Bill 6:03AM (4/20/2009)
I'd love to be able to buy, say, a 20kWh battery that is considered "end-of-life" when it's lost only 20% capacity.
That would make a great "whole-house UPS" in the event of a power failure.
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Ben 5:48PM (4/28/2009)
Anyone who thinks America isn't viable for producing Lithium Ion batteries -
I just bought a battery for my Dell laptop computer from Fastbatts.com - and yes, it's an American company. I emailed them, spoke to an American.
Seems we're doing alright.
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Paul 10:27AM (5/07/2009)
Hate to burst your bubble, but I guarantee you if you take that "battery" apart the cells were made in either Japan or China. Yes, there are American companies that buy the cells from Asia and assemble them into battery packs, but that is very low tech compared to actually producing the cells. So no, when it comes to producing a critical component for fuel efficient vehicles (plug-in or battery electric) we are NOT doing alright.