China Is About to Bury Elon Musk in Batteries

[TomCADem]

Source: MSN/Bloomberg

As Elon Musk races to finish building the world’s biggest battery factory in the Nevada desert, China is poised to leave him in the dust.

Chinese companies have plans for additional factories with the capacity to pump out more than 120 gigawatt-hours a year by 2021, according to a report published this week by Bloomberg Intelligence. That’s enough to supply batteries for around 1.5 million Tesla Model S vehicles or 13.7 million Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrids per year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

By comparison, when completed in 2018, Tesla Inc.’s Gigafactory will crank out up to 35 gigawatt-hours of battery cells annually.

Lithium-ion batteries have long been used in smartphones, laptops, and other personal electronics, but demand is forecast to explode in the next five years as electric vehicles proliferate and power companies install giant storage systems to smooth the ebb and flow of wind and solar.

Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/china-is-about-to-bury-elon-musk-in-batteries/ar-BBDnUvx?li=BBnbfcL

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Given that climate change is a Chinese Hoax according to Trump it must surprise him the degree to which China is following through with the charade in constructing batteries to service EVs and solar power generation.

[Matthew28]

1. China is going to eat our lunch

with this idiot in power here in America. We're going to be eating their dust as they pull ahead of us.

[iluvtennis]

2. Yep.

[NurseJackie]

12. Well stated. Sad, but truthful. Our once-great nation is declining and in for a big surprise.

[Dave Starsky]

13. But we're bringing coal back!

Surely, the world will marvel at our 21st-century steam power!

[DetlefK]

3. Batteries from China? I'd rather buy batteries from a country that cares about the common worker.

[jayfish]

5. Or cares about high-drain batteries that don't go thermal and vent flame.

Ask someone who's vaped a good while about cheap Chinese batteries.

[OnlinePoker]

9. Or the environment. n/t

[FrodosNewPet]

4. 120 Gigawatts? That's nearly 100 DeLoreans!

[mdbl]

7. in the movie they said Jigawatts

LOL

[BadgerKid]

6. 194 million vehicles in China last year

Per https://www.statista.com/statistics/285306/number-of-car-owners-in-china/

Sure, you could probably solar-charge the batteries for use in electric cars in smoggy cities, but 1.5 million is small in comparison. Maybe this is more a market opportunity rather than a long term pollution solution?

[mwooldri]

8. So one US factory does a bit more than 1/4 of ...

... China's entire output.

Anyone else in US planning on making batteries en-masse?

There's room for Chinese battery makers, US battery makers and others. To me, looks like the party's only getting started.

[Kleveland]

10. Newer battery technologies are the key.

Lithium Ion batteries are only a step towards what needs to be greater capacity/runtimes, shorter charging times, less weight.

Musk has even stated that battery technology needs to advance before we see such things as electric airplanes etc.

One hopes that Tesla's Gigaplant, and others will adapt quickly when newer technologies are production worthy.

The most notable discovery has been made by the inventor of the Lithium Ion battery.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/glass-battery-technology/

Well worth the read.

Things like this are exciting, and hopefully are the tip of the iceberg towards a renewable and oil free future for transportation, and storage required for viable solar and wind power deployments.

[byronius]

11. Great link, thanks.

I'd also love to see the nanotube/water battery explode onto the scene. Concept is proven, but nanotubes are still too expensive to make. Still, that tech has the propensity to take us all the way.

[jmowreader]

14. Y'know...

...I don't think I would have used the word "explode" in a story about 18650 batteries!

[Sunlei]

15. just like China did with USAs 'new' ready for doors to open solar panel factory. flooded market /w

Flooded market with cheap solar panels. Made our first term president look bad, when our economy was so horrible and the factory was fresh built, and hundreds were ready to start work on USA MADE solar panels.

IMO Republicans like Romney invested money in China and helped flood the market with cheap Chinese solar panels and hurt American jobs, just to get at Obama Admin.

How many of our elected invested in this Chinese cheap battery market flood?

[Igel]

16. A few points.

1. China is one of the suppliers of Li to the world market. They want to not just make batteries, they want to get the value-added for processing a raw material they'd otherwise just export.

2. Sodium-ion batteries are coming along. At that point, all that lithium becomes not so valuable. Sodium's cheap.

3. Alternative lithium-extraction processes are being researched. That would also make China's lithium less valuable.


Notice that for all the help China gives those it profits off of--places like Venezuela and Panama and even Ethiopia--it's not siting any Li-battery plant in Bolivia.

The OP would also read better if it didn't treat projection as fact: Demand is forecast to explode if the expected proliferation of electric vehicles happens and if power companies find it economical to install giant storage systems to smooth peak wind and solar-energy production times." (It's not really like either wind or solar "ebbs&quot .