NAATBatt International, together with NY-BEST and New Energy Nexus, is assisting Argonne National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy in organizing Li-Bridge, a public-private partnership intended to develop a strategy for the United States to firm up its supply chain for lithium-ion battery technology. Li-Bridge has retained Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to assist Li-Bridge in organizing a series of four forums culminating in a set of consensus recommendations made by industry to government as to how to best position U.S. companies and U.S. workers for success in the business of producing lithium-based batteries and the wide range of technologies that those batteries will power.

On March 16-17, 2022, Li-Bridge sponsored a listening session by the U.S. Department of Energy titled "Bridging the Gap: Advancing America's Battery Manufacturing and Supply Chain". The program included a series of short presentations by companies working in the North American lithium battery supply chain and industry polls. In those presentations the presenting companies made suggestions to the U.S. Department of Energy as to where its emphasis should be in building out a robust and sustainable lithium battery supply chain in the United States. Those presentations and polls will be considered by the U.S. Department of Energy in determining where to allocate funding to support that supply chain pursuant to DE-FOA-0002678. The Li-Bridge project will also consider the presentations and polls in connection with its effort to develop a "business plan" for the United States for the lithium battery supply chain. Videos of the company presentations and poll results are now available and may be seen by clicking here.

All NAATBatt members should be sure to complete their free listing in the NAATBatt Advanced Battery Business Directory. The Directory provides a searchable database of battery-related goods, technology and services. Check out the Directory on the NAATBatt website by clicking here. The NAATBatt website is a frequently consulted source of information for companies looking for battery-related products and technology. A listing in the Directory is an important benefit of NAATBatt membership. All NAATBatt members should take advantage of this opportunity. If your company does not currently have a listing, contact Executive Director Jim Greenberger to find out how to get one.

NAATBatt is delighted to welcome this week its newest Silver member, LiCAP Technologies, Inc. LiCAP is a leading developer of cost-effective sustainable manufacturing solutions for electrodes used in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), solid-state batteries (SSBs), lithium-ion capacitors (LICs), and ultracapacitors (UCs). Company's core technology, Activated Dry Electrode, has the potential to reduce energy consumption of a Gigafactory by over 40% and to remove toxic solvents from the electrode production. LiCAP is currently a privately held company and employs more than 100 people worldwide. LiCAP’s battery electrodes are currently undergoing customer testing with world’s largest battery and automotive OEMs. For more information about LiCAP, go to: http://www.licaptech.com.

For press release, click here.

For press release, click here.

NAATBatt members interested in publishing press releases about developments at their companies in this section of the newsletter should send their releases by e-mail to Vivian Yu of NAATBatt by Thursday of each week. 

Honda is planning to allocate about 5 trillion yen ($40 billion) over the next 10 years to electrification and software technologies. The company will also build a demonstration line to produce all-solid-state batteries with an investment of about 43 billion yen ($342 million) to accelerate the research with a goal to start demonstration production in Spring 2024. (Source: Honda) 

Contemporary Amperex Technology subsidiary, Ningbo Contemporary Brunp Lygend (subsidiary of Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology) signed a tri-party framework agreement with PT Aneka Tambang and PT Industri Baterai Indonesia to cooperate on the Indonesia EV Battery Integration Project, which includes nickel mining and processing, battery materials, manufacturing and battery recycling. The joint investment is $6 billion with the project located in the FHT Industrial Park of East Halmahera of Indonesia's North Maluku Province and other places in the country as well. (Source: CATL)

Envision AESC is investing $2 billion to build a battery cell and module plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The facility is expected to start producing batteries to power up to 300,000 vehicles annually by 2027. (Source: Automotive News)

General Motors (GM) and Glencore announced a multi-year sourcing agreement in which Glencore will supply GM with cobalt from its Murrin Murrin operation in Australia. By the end of 2025, GM plans to have capacity to build 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) in North America and has announced actions to secure its supply chain; including agreements with POSCO, Controlled Therma Resources and GE. (Source: GM)

Ford announced it has signed a preliminary deal to buy lithium from a Lake Resources NL facility in Argentina. The company aims to purchase 25,000 tonnes annually from Lake's Kachi project. The project is being developed with Lilac Solutions, which is using direct lithium extraction, a technology that filters the metal from brines and use far less acreage than open-pit mines and evaporation ponds. (Source: Reuters)

Hyundai announced plans to invest $300 million to begin building the hybrid version of its Santa Fe sport utility along with the electrified Genesis GV70 SUV as the Montgomery factory expands its U.S. production to include EVs. (Source: Alabama News Center)

The Indiana Department of Transportation expects to invest $100 million over the next 5 years in infrastructure for a network of charging stations. The stations will be built along yet to be determined federally designated alternative fuel corridors and installed every 50 miles. Each station will also have at least four 150kW DCFCs and meet minimum power capabilities at or above 600kW. (Source: Wane)

Ebusco announced that it was awarded a framework agreement with Deutsche Bahn in which it will be the primary supplier for zero-emission buses (ebuses) for the period 2023-2024 plus the option to extend to 2025 and 2026. The company could supply up to 260 ebuses, which will materialize when Deutsche Bahn obtains the related concessions in the period 2023-2026. The maximum order volume under the framework agreement is up to 800 vehicles over the total contract period. (Source: Ebusco)

Proterra announced it is increasing the amount of energy onboard its ZX5 Max ebus, which can be equipped with up to 738 kilowatt hours (kWh). Next year, the ebus will be capable of providing over 300 miles of drive range on a single charge, depending on route conditions, configuration, and operation. (Source: Proterra) 

Wallbox announced the commencement of construction at its Arlington manufacturing facility that is expected to begin production this Fall. Initial construction is planned to allow the company to manufacture over 250,000 units in 2022 and over 500,000 units in 2025. (Source: Wallbox) 

KORE Power has finalized the purchase of 214 acres in Buckeye, Arizona that will be the site of its KOREPlex manufacturing facility that will have the capacity to produce 12 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of lithium-ion (li-ion) battery cells annually. (Source: KORE Power)

ATC Drivetrain announced the acquisition of Treharne Automotive Engineering and group companies (U.K.-based). In addition, the company has launched remanufacturing capabilities for EV systems at its Oklahoma City, Okla. facility to serve the North American automotive market. (Source: ATC Drivetrain)

VinFast and Electrify America (EA) announced an agreement to provide owners of VinFast EVs with two complimentary charging sessions along with access to EA’s network in the VinFast mobile app. (Source: VinFast Automotive)

Electreon has announced a 1-year extension of the Smartroad Gotland pilot project in Sweden. The €2 million ($2.2 million) budget for the extension is funded by the Swedish Transport Administration and includes an upgrade of 400 m (1312 feet) of the existing installation. (Source: Electreon)

Volt Resources revealed that test work and off-take discussions are underway with a li-ion battery cell developer in the U.S. (Source: Volt Resources)