According to a report by Bloomberg, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a conference call: Tesla has mastered the technology to reduce the amount of cobalt metal in lithium-ion batteries. The original words were: We think we can get cobalt to almost nothing.

　　According to a report by Bloomberg, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a conference call: Tesla has mastered the technology to reduce the amount of cobalt metal in lithium-ion batteries. The original words were: We think we can get cobalt to almost nothing. Tesla is currently mass-producing Model 3 models, which are powered by lithium-ion battery packs.

　　What kind of message does Musk’s statement convey?

　　At present, cobalt is an important metal in the production of lithium-ion batteries, and is mainly used as a cathode material for batteries, such as lithium cobalt oxide, lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (NCM), and so on. According to estimates by eCobalt Solutions, a manufacturer of cobalt salts for batteries, by 2020, 75% of lithium batteries will use cobalt because cobalt has the effect of increasing the endurance of electric vehicles. However, about half of the world’s cobalt comes from the war-torn Zaire (Republic of the Congo). Many people worry about the stability of the cobalt supply. Coupled with the vigorous development of pure electric vehicles in various countries, the demand for cobalt has soared. The price of cobalt has The trend of exponential growth. Therefore, reducing the amount of cobalt in lithium-ion batteries has very practical significance.

　　So how should the amount of cobalt be reduced? The general technical solution is to increase the amount of nickel used, and the main function of nickel is also to increase the energy density of the battery. This research direction is called high nickel ternary materials (such as 622/811, etc., these three numbers represent the ratio of nickel, cobalt, and manganese). However, an increase in the amount of nickel will lead to a decrease in the structural stability of the corresponding electrode material, resulting in a significant decrease in battery cycle life and safety. In addition, different material systems need to match electrolytes with different formulations. Due to the many impurities on the surface of the high nickel ternary, a more optimized electrolyte formulation is required, which is also a difficulty in research and development.