China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), which is a Tesla battery supplier, is developing a new type of electric vehicle battery that contains no nickel or cobalt, and the company wants to move ahead with or without Tesla.
Last week it became known that CATL is working on the integration of battery cells directly into the frame of electric cars in order to further save space, weight, and costs. CATL's Chairman Zeng Yuqun reported on this at an industry conference in Shanghai. And apparently at the same conference this Saturday, according to the Reuters agency, another senior manager said that CATL was working on a new type of battery cell for electric cars entirely without nickel and cobalt.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, on the other hand, urged raw material companies to extract more nickel at the end of July and promised them long-term, high-volume contracts.
Armen Hareyan is the founder and the Editor in Chief of Torque News. He founded TorqueNews.com in 2010, which since then has been publishing expert news and analysis about the automotive industry. He can be reached at Torque News Twitter, Facebok, Linkedin and Youtube.
