Cost modeling of lithium‐ion battery cells for automotive applications

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to highlight the technical and economic issues arising in lithium-ion cells for automotive applications, and to indicate some potential solutions to lower the cost. This topic has already been the subject of some studies, but, although of primary importance, the role on cost of a cell design parameter, the electrode coating thickness, has rarely been described. This study intends to explore particularly the influence of this parameter. To do so, the cost of cells with four positive electrode materials (NMC, NCA, LFP, and LMO), and the same negative electrode material are compared at several electrode thickness. The cost of these cells is computed using an innovative model and varies between 230 and 400 $ per kWh. With the assumptions used, it appears that the potential savings resulting from doubling the electrode coating thickness from 50 to 100 lm at a given porosity represent roughly 25% of the cell cost. The electrode coating thickness emerges as an essential parameter for an unbiased cells cost comparison. This article gives a view of the current lithium-ion cells costs, and provides guidelines to lower cells cost.

Cost Projection of State of the Art Lithium-Ion Batteries for Electric Vehicles Up to 2030

“…The methodology of process-based cost modeling is to calculate costs based on detailed process descriptions, which are well defined for batteries [52,53]. This methodology is being used in several application fields including battery cost calculations [54][55][56][57][58]. Battery production for automotive cells are still in an early phase and not yet in mass production.…”

“…Two additional assumptions are made regarding the labor and overhead cost, which can be approximated by respectively 15% and 8% as demonstrated in [60]. When comparing with other calculations done in literature [54,56,61] similar assumptions were used. The sales price including the manufacturer's and retailer's profit are taken into account.…”

“…The cost and prices calculated in previous sections are only valid for small production quantities. Therefore the current cost of goods sold for automotive NMC battery packs will be used as a baseline, which is around 300 dollar/kWh according to literature [54,66,67]. Adding the assumed profit margin as stipulated in Figure 5 results in a sales price of 466 dollar/kWh.…”

Influence of Electrode Density on the Performance of Li-Ion Batteries: Experimental and Simulation Results

“…In practice, many manufacturing parameters are chosen based on experience rather than analysis and calculation. Recent work has shown the potential gain in tuning and further developing LIB manufacturing [8][9][10][11]. For instance, in reference [8], the potential for a cost reduction of increasing the electrode thickness is demonstrated and, in reference [10], the influence of calendering on wettability is investigated.…”

“…For instance, in reference [8], the potential for a cost reduction of increasing the electrode thickness is demonstrated and, in reference [10], the influence of calendering on wettability is investigated. Initial and lifetime performance are strongly influenced by interventions in the manufacturing process, especially the morphology of the porous electrode [11].…”