INTERVIEW-Nissan to use 4kg of lithium per battery at UK plant
by Reuters News on 24 August 2009, 18:02 PM
communities.thomsonreuters.com
* Lithium supply problems "a myth"
* Other electric vehicle makers to eventually use lithium
(Adds details)
By Michael Taylor
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Japan's No.3 automaker Nissan Motor <7201.T> will use about 4 kg of lithium in each electric car battery produced at its new UK plant, a company manager told Reuters on Monday.
The figure gives investors an idea of demand for lithium, as automakers vie to be the first to make and sell mass-produced environmentally friendly electric cars.
Nissan said last month it would invest more than 200 million pounds ($328.6 million) in a new UK plant to produce 60,000 lithium-ion batteries per year over the next five years, for electric cars. [ID:nLK86156]
"Not every electric car has the same sized battery," said Florian Wunsch, Nissan's business development manager for electric vehicles in Europe, said in an interview. "You will see different people with different sizes and shapes."
"The Nissan LEAF battery will have a capacity of 24 kilowatt hours and uses roughly around 4 kilograms of lithium." This month, Nissan took the wraps off its much-awaited electric car, naming the hatchback "LEAF" and taking a step towards its goal of leading the industry in the zero-emissions field. [ID:nT31006]
But the auto industry is far from united on whether lithium ion or nickel metal hydride batteries will help power the electric cars of the future. [ID:nLL70422]
Nissan's investment came less than a week after Toyota <7203.T> said it will produce its first European-built hybrid car in Britain from 2010. [ID:nLG406219]
"There is a lot of conversation about lithium ion batteries out there in the market," said Wunsch. "Very few automakers seem to be able to produce a fully electric car profitably."
Lithium batteries are already used in mobile phones, digital cameras and laptop PCs. [ID:nT230151] "You get a better capacity for the weight and performance with a lithium battery," Wunsch added.
SUPPLIES
Wunsch also believes there are ample supplies of lithium to cater for increased demand for lithium batteries.
Bolivia, a poor but resource-rich country, has about 50 percent of the world's lithium deposits at about 5.4 million tonnes. [ID:nLR152958]
"There is a bit of a myth out there regarding the lithium supply for Bolivia. If you really wanted or had to, you could extract lithium from many regions including sea water."
"The lithium resources known today but not industrialized ... would be sufficient for 2 to 300 years of automotive production," he said. "Lithium is available also in other regions ... There is no global bottle-neck in the availability of the material as such." Global lithium carbonate supply was about 100,000 tonnes in 2008, up 2,000 tonnes from 2007, while consumption was a little higher at 105,000 tonnes -- up 2 percent year-on-year.
Prices for lithium carbonate are currently about $6 a kg.
Although Wunsch did not know Nissan's long-term plans on securing lithium supplies, he said any pick up in demand for lithium and electric cars was unlikely to result in a spike in prices for the metal.
"There should be significant time and money to get (supplies) sorted out," he said. (Editing by Sue Thomas) |
