Electric vehicles are environmentally friendly as they do not produce tailpipe emissions. However, electric vehicles rely on their batteries, which often use a component, cobalt that is rare. Many battery companies are trying to drop the use of cobalt but a Chinese company, SVOLT, claims to have done so.
SVOLT is reported to have eliminated cobalt from its Lithium-ion battery, as it showcased a Great Wall Motors car, the ORA Cherry Cat, with the said battery. It has an 82.5 kWh capacity and an energy density of 170 Wh/kg. SVOLT says the battery is capable of 373 miles or 600 km on a single charge. The car is capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in under five seconds.
According to SVOLT, the battery pack has passed comprehensive performance tests and safety tests, and test data such as thermal runaway far exceeds national standard requirements. It will soon be used in Chinese electric vehicles, although there is no timeline as to when that will be.
The battery has aerospace-grade thermal insulation materials and is lightweight. The company says it has spent more than 77 million dollars on research and development, with a staff strength of 1,200.
Other companies are also working on cobalt-free batteries. Tesla, for example, has announced it was developing such a battery for its Model 3 cars that will be made in China. Tesla is taking a second approach of reducing its dependence on the mining of cobalt by making its battery recycling process more efficient and it can now recycle up to 92 percent of its battery cell materials.
Another battery giant, Panasonic, has revealed it will soon commercialize cobalt-free batteries in partnership with Tesla.
SVOLT was spun off from Chinese automaker, Great Wall Motor.