EV1’s battery cycling testwork - graphite is “super-premium”
EV1 has been testing out its Chilalo graphite (fines) to see how suitable it would be for lithium-ion batteries like the ones found in EVs.
And we think the results from early cycling work are very encouraging.
This comes after EV1 proved that its fines product:
- Has very low levels of Molybdenum and Boron at levels which significantly exceed the specifications of major EV manufacturers (and could be suitable for the nuclear industry).
- Can be purified to 99.9995% C and when processed into coated spherical graphite
- AND with an inverted flow sheet, EV1 achieved 64% yield on their spherical graphite product, a full 24% more than the industry standard yield
Today’s test work shows that the surface coated graphite from Chilalo achieved an irreversible capacity loss of 6.95%, below the 7% threshold required for “super-premium” battery applications which fetch between U$18,000 to $22,000 per tonne.
Irreversible capacity loss is a measure of how many times a graphite battery material can be used and reused - basically a measure of its longevity/durability.
This is essential to use cases in EVs as consumer preferences favour batteries with a long life.
What’s next for EV1? The preliminary results from the long-term battery cycling program mean that EV1 has enough data to go and commence qualification initiatives of their coated battery anode materials with targeted battery manufacturers. EV1 has done 20 cycles and will continue the work through to 100 cycles.
We’ve long held the view that this downstream work is essential to re-rating EV1’s market cap to fall in line with its larger graphite peers - so we’re very pleased with their progress on the downstream front.
