When Tesla built its first gigafactory in Europe in
Grünheide, Germany, it had planned to build a battery factory. After all, Elon
Musk tweeted in 2020 that German factories will be testing "lots of new
technologies."
The whole picture of the Glenhead factory But now, Tesla is
transferring part of the production line for manufacturing 4680 batteries,
including production equipment such as winding, assembly and formation, from
Germany back to Texas, USA. On October 17, the surging news reporter learned
from domestic insiders that Tesla’s battery factory in Germany could not be
built due to local environmental protection policies. Build a battery factory.
In addition, the person familiar with the matter believes
that the recent rise in energy costs in Germany is not one of the main reasons
why Tesla is delaying the construction of the German battery factory,
"because Germany still has car factories."
In September 2020, Tesla released its self-developed 4680
large cylindrical battery on its Battery Day. Compared with the traditional
2170 cylindrical battery, the energy of the 4680 battery will be 5 times that
of the former, the cruising range of the vehicle will be increased by 16%, and
the power will be increased by 6 times.
Previously, according to Tesla's capacity planning for 4680
batteries, the capacity of the Kato Road factory in California, the United
States, will reach 10GWh per year; the capacity of the battery factory in
Texas, the United States is expected to be completed within this year, and the
capacity of the German Glen Heide factory will be completed. 20GWh. The
indescribable "German speed", the bumpy road to production
In fact, in terms of environmental protection, not only
the battery factory, but also Tesla's car factory in Germany has experienced
ups and downs.
In 2019, Tesla chose to build its first European
Gigafactory in Glen Heide, a suburb of Berlin, Brandenburg, including two parts
of the car factory and the battery factory, with an investment of about 5
billion euros. The car factory was originally planned to open in 2021.
Production was started before July 1, 2019, but the time was continuously
delayed due to the failure of environmental protection approval.
In early 2020, environmentalists took Tesla to court on
the grounds that Tesla’s 300-hectare Gigafactory needs to cut down 430 acres of
local forest, but Musk promised that every time Tesla cuts down a tree, it will
be used in the future. Three more will be planted. In the end, the court ruled
in Tesla's favor. In 2021, the environmental agency said deforestation would
affect the habitat of animals in the forest, and again took Tesla to court.
According to a report from Xinhuanet, in January 2020, the
construction of Tesla's Grunheide car factory was temporarily stopped because
the German Union for Conservation of Nature believed that the bats near the
factory were hibernating and could not be disturbed. Tesla had to transfer these
bats. . To this end, Tesla found an underground bunker nearby that was
excavated by the Soviet Union during World War II. Witnessed by many media
reporters, Tesla transferred the bat to its "new home". After the
land and forest issues, environmental groups are eyeing the water problem of
auto factories. Some local media estimate that the Tesla car factory will
consume about 3.6 million cubic meters of water resources every year,
accounting for about 30% of the local water supply. Tesla's "water grab"
has caused great dissatisfaction among local residents. .
To this end, Tesla submitted a 4,000-page report detailing
that the 10,000 or so concrete pillars it had driven into the ground would not
affect groundwater sources and cut its planned water consumption by 372 cubic
meters per hour. to 233 cubic meters per hour. At the beginning of March this
year, the Glen Heide plant finally obtained the approval report from the State
of Brandenburg. The report includes 66 documents with more than 23,700 pages
and 80 pages and more than 400 additional clauses, involving groundwater
protection requirements, water saving and pollution reduction measures, and
species protection. measures, air pollutant limits and their measurement
regulations, occupational safety requirements, etc.
After getting the approval, on March 22, Tesla quickly
held the opening ceremony of the Glenhead factory. However, the good times did
not last long. In April, the German National Environment Agency and the
Oder-Spree water authority said that on April 11, 15,000 liters of paint
mixture leaked from the Tesla paint shop, and two to three liters of paint were
loaded a day later. It leaked onto the road and condensed into lumps.
The Green Alliance, a local environmental group, has
therefore asked the relevant agencies to revoke the Tesla factory license until
Tesla has completed improved laying around the paint shop to prevent dangerous
substances from entering the surface aquifer. The Green Alliance said it would
ask the Ministry of Environment to intervene if the district does not act on
its demands.
Misfortunes do not come singly. In late September, an
outdoor recycling site northeast of Tesla's Glenhead plant caught fire. About
800 cubic meters of cardboard, paper and wood caught fire, causing a serious
fire. "Our worst fears have come true," said the local environmental
group. "We demand that production be stopped until the cause is clarified
and all safety-related measures in the water reserve are implemented."
It is understood that Tesla's German Gigafactory currently
only produces Model Y models. In June, the factory's weekly output reached
1,000 for the first time, and the goal is to increase weekly production to
5,000 by 2023. According to auto evolution, if the 4680 battery production line
that has not yet been built is moved away, future German Model Y models will
use blade batteries from BYD.
Regarding this statement, as of this writing, BYD has not
responded to the reporter's confirmation.
Boosting Texas 4680 battery production with federal
subsidies
Despite the transfer of production equipment, Tesla told
local government officials in Glenheide, Germany that the company has not
completely abandoned its plans to build a battery plant, but until then, the
company needs to raise the US state of Texas faster than originally planned.
4680 battery production.
An important reason for prioritizing battery production in
Texas is that the U.S. federal government passed the Inflation Reduction Act in
mid-August, which established new electric vehicle tax credit provisions that
require electric vehicles. Both the car and its key battery components must be
manufactured in North America for U.S. consumers to receive a tax credit of up
to $7,500 when they buy an electric vehicle.
In addition, under the bill, electric vehicle battery
makers would receive a $35 tax credit per kilowatt-hour battery for producing
batteries in the U.S., while battery module makers would also receive a $10 tax
credit per kilowatt-hour battery.
In addition to hoping for related tax credits, Tesla is
struggling to meet strong demand for its vehicles in the U.S. market. In April
of this year, the first Model Y loaded with 4680 batteries was delivered to
customers in the Texas factory, but due to production problems, the Model Y in
the Texas factory still mainly uses 2170 batteries.
In the future, Tesla not only hopes to use 4680 batteries
on more Texas-made Model Ys, but also the first electric semi-truck delivered
by the Texas factory, as well as the electric pickup Cybertruck planned to be
launched next year, all require 4680 batteries. support. The launch of
semi-truck and Cyber truck has been delayed several times, one of the reasons
is the difficulty of mass production of 4680. At present, the limitation of
4680 battery production is still mainly due to technical problems such as
"dry electrode coating". According to two industry experts close to
Tesla recently interviewed by Handelsblatt, the dry electrode coating
technology "works very successfully, but lacks large-scale
implementation."
It is understood that traditional battery production uses
wet electrode coating technology. The wet method requires the use of a solvent
for the binder material. The process is to mix the negative electrode and
positive electrode powder with the solvent, and then apply it to the electrode
current collector to dry. The dry method, on the other hand, does not require a
solvent and directly laminates the extruded electrode material tape to the
metal foil current collector to form the electrode.
Compared with wet coating, the uniformity and adhesion of
dry electrode coating are more difficult to control. In addition, the welding
technology of 4680 battery all-tab technology is difficult, and it is difficult
to ensure a satisfactory yield.
In addition, according to the latest understanding, the
shortage of battery raw materials has also become an important bottleneck for
the mass production of 4680 batteries. Previous disassembly analysis of the
4680 battery by a professional team showed that the positive electrode of the
battery was made of 811 nickel-cobalt-manganese ternary material, and the
negative electrode was carbon without silicon.
It is understood that Tesla now plans to build a
battery-grade lithium hydroxide refinery in Texas or Louisiana, according to an
application submitted by Tesla to the Texas Comptroller's Office. According to
the application, the project will allow Tesla to process "raw ore material
into a state that can be used for battery production." The company said
the move was to secure supply lines for its battery production.
Fitch Ratings noted that while regional lithium and nickel
mining projects are expected to multiply over the next decade, North American
refining capacity is woefully inadequate, meaning these feedstocks need to be
exported to Asia for refining, and then It is then shipped back to produce
electric vehicle batteries. "Tesla's construction of a refinery in the
U.S. will allow the company to reduce operating costs associated with the use
of foreign refineries, while also making its vehicles eligible for the U.S. EV
tax credit."
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. electric
vehicle tax incentives also include a key battery mineral feedstock
requirement, that 40% of the mineral feedstock in an electric vehicle battery
must be in North America or with a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United
States. Extracted or processed in the country.
(This article is from The Paper, for more original
information, please download the "The Paper" APP)
.jpeg)
0 Comments