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Tesla's nickel-cobalt-aluminium batteries contain less cobalt than the next generation ternary materials produced by other battery manufacturers (nickel-manganese-cobalt ratio is 8:1:1). Therefore, the total weight of Model 3 models including batteries is comparable to that of gasoline vehicles.
Along with iron man Elon Musk, there is no shortage of hot news.
Recently, you should all have heard that Musk said that the concept of "moat" is very old-fashioned, so "stock god" Mr. Buffett "on the bar", Buffett also at the shareholders'meeting, the "moat" controversy has become extremely lively.
In fact, Musk also said a word at the Tesla quarterly newspaper teleconference in 2018, and almost attacked another "moat".
Musk's original words are "get cobalt to almost nothing".
Does power battery do not need cobalt? Is that serious? How can the big miners who are entrenched in Congo?
After collecting all kinds of information and interviewing industry experts, the Shanghai News reporter wants to say that you misunderstood Musk this time.
First of all, let's take a look at what the quarterly report said.
According to Tesla's quarterly report to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the first is that the production capacity of Tesla Model 3 has climbed significantly from the end of the first quarter to the beginning of the second quarter.
By April, before the planned suspension of production lines to further increase capacity, Model 3 had produced more than 2,000 vehicles for three consecutive weeks, and reached 2,270 in the last week. Model 3 has gradually become the best selling intermediate luxury car in the United States, and the delivery volume is still growing.
This is a response to the previous market's doubts about the capacity and delivery capacity of Model 3.
Tesla also said that if it does not include stock options expenditure, according to the plan, it will achieve net positive returns in the third and fourth quarters.
The following is the controversial part.
"Get cobalt to almost nothing," Musk said in a conference call.
Tesla's official version says that Model 3 uses the highest energy density of all electric vehicles - Tesla achieves this goal by significantly reducing the cobalt content of each battery pack, increasing nickel content and maintaining excellent thermal stability.
Tesla's nickel-cobalt-aluminium batteries contain less cobalt than the next generation ternary materials produced by other battery manufacturers (nickel-manganese-cobalt ratio is 8:1:1). Therefore, the total weight of Model 3 models including batteries is comparable to that of gasoline vehicles.
Non-ferrous metals researchers told Shanghai News in an interview that Musk's words still follow the trend of "high nickel and low cobalt" for power batteries. The data prove that the cobalt consumption of Tesla bicycle has dropped from 11 kg in the early years to 4.5 kg in Model 3, which has reduced by nearly 60%, and is indeed lower than that of 6 kg of 811 nickel-cobalt-manganese battery.
More importantly, Tesla is a luxury car, the industry is expected to sell in China or 350 thousand yuan / vehicle. The cost of cobalt for bicycles is calculated at 700,000 yuan per ton, which is only 3150 yuan. In this comparison, "almost nothing" is well understood.
Tesla
Put aside the cost of technology, cobalt will remain an indispensable element in power batteries.
However, "cobalt", the darling of the power battery industry chain, has recently been a sign of disgrace.
The price of cobalt surged in 2 and March this year, and downstream enterprises of positive materials began to complain about the unbearable price of cobalt. Recently, small and medium traders continued to sell at high prices to keep prices down. MB's latest offer for cobalt ended a year's rise and fell for the first time.
In recent seminars on non-ferrous metals and battery materials, the big boys are more and more interested in emphasizing the investment opportunities brought by the "nickel extraction and cobalt reduction" of power batteries.
But... Cobalt is still indispensable in power batteries.
These ideas come from BMI, an authoritative research institute in lithium-ion industry, and Umicore, a leading company in battery cathode material technology.
BMI analysts believe that the number of electric vehicles is much faster than that of batteries. Any new technology of battery materials instead of cobalt will not appear in 10 years. Tesla has not technically reduced the amount of cobalt used in nickel cobalt aluminum batteries.
By 2026, the amount of cobalt in lithium batteries will be 3 times that of 2017. At that time, nickel cobalt manganese batteries will account for 70% of the lithium ion battery.
Marc Grynberg, CEO of Graceful Technologies, even said, "There is no better element than nickel to increase energy density, and no better element than cobalt to stabilize these materials. For safety and longevity, at least 10% of the battery needs cobalt.
All forecasts are comparable to the fact that downstream auto dealers announce the increase in the size of the order.
Volkswagen Group recently said at its shareholders'meeting that it would increase the amount of battery purchases from $25 billion disclosed last month to $48 billion. By 2025, the company will produce 3 million electric vehicles annually and introduce 80 new models of electric vehicles to meet the battery demand of its new energy vehicles.
The expansion of power battery plants will also directly lead to cobalt consumption. Musk said at the earnings call conference that the relevant announcement of China battery factory will be released soon. The address of the second super battery factory in China will be announced before the fourth quarter of this year. In the future, the super battery factory will also take into account car-making.
Subsidies for Chinese automakers will end by the end of next year. Overseas battery manufacturers are also planning to increase investment in the Chinese market. Samsung SDI, LG chemical and other enterprises already have a clear plan.
According to the Dongwu Securities Machinery Industry Report, in 2018, the power battery industry "unicorn" CATL (Ningde era)