China’s SVOLT to become first automotive battery supplier to launch Cobalt-free battery

Chinese battery supplier, SVOLT has announced that it will launch two Cobalt-free batteries for automotive application with start-of-production slated to begin from June 2021. The company says American EV maker Tesla had earlier revealed its plan to use cobalt-free batteries on Made-in-China Tesla Models. However, Tesla's cobalt-free battery is still being launched a little late.

According to Yang Hongxin, president, SVOLT, the newly launched cobalt-free batteries offer several core advantages including longer cycle life, better safety and higher energy density. Driven by these characteristics, the next-generation of automobiles could fit in a larger battery in a small space while at the same time drastically increase its driving range. He said, “SVOLT's L6 cobalt-free long cell is being adapted to a high-end model of Great Wall Motors. With its matrix PACK design, this vehicle could reach a driving range of 880km. This is comparable with that of ICE vehicles.”

The battery supplier says if this driving range can truly be realised, the cobalt-free batteries would undoubtedly have created a new product category for automotive batteries. It will improve the competitive advantage of battery EVs greatly relative to ICE vehicles, eliminate range anxiety of end-users about existing BEVs, increase consumers' confidence in choosing BEVs, and speed up the process of replacement of ICE vehicles with BEVs.

SVOLT is an automotive battery supplier in China. Starting since 2012, the company has become an independent automotive battery supplier after officially spinning off from Great Wall Motors in 2018. In September 2019, SVOLT announced its European business development plan called ‘SVOLT's Engagement in Europe’ during the IAA in Frankfurt. From a global perspective, the company says it is the first AI prismatic cell manufacturing factory to utilise the ‘High-Speed Stacking Technology’. The company says it strives to produce automotive-grade batteries through comprehensive process management and commitments to a global footprint. These measures will enable it to enter the automotive battery supplier chain of global OEMs. In February 2020, the company reported it has received a nomination letter on automotive batteries from a large European OEM.