Anybody Want Some Lithium (& other assorted items)?

[gehringer_2]

18 minutes ago, romad1 said:

The political price she would have paid allowing China to build a spy base in Michigan would be off the charts.

Don't hold your breath on this one, that plant will get built. LiFePO4 has too much potential and to keep paying the Chinese to make it there is worse than giving them a cut to make it here.

Edited September 26, 2023 by gehringer_2

[romad1]

8 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

Don't hold your breath on this one, that plant will get built. LiFePO4 has too much potential and to keep paying the Chinese to make it there is worse than giving them a cut to make it here.

I'm not going to hold my breath an on anything involving Xi's ambitions but seeing that Europe has basically curtailed all of the BRI joint projects since 2020.

[MIguy]

All the talk about battery plants and i never see anyone mention the giant plant in Van Buren Township Our Next Energy is currently building.   

 

https://one.ai/

[Tigeraholic1]

Brought this home for the week today. It has a longer battery life than the extended range Ford E-Lightning but weighs a whopping 8.900 lbs. Features are nice found out some interesting tidbits from our GM rep. Ford trademarked the “Frunk” so GM is calling the hood compartment the E-Trunk. Also if you put the truck in “tow mode” you add 40 hp if you just want more power and no trailer. Rides nice so weird only hearing wind when you accelerate.

 

Edited October 16, 2023 by Tigeraholic1

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

weighs a whopping 8.900 lbs

yeah - I have to believe that eventually people will realize that carrying all that extra weight around is not a logical way or cost effective way to get range. If better tech for fast charging does not emerge soon enough, the better solution is already available, and that is modular interchangeable battery units. It's a bigger infrastructure lift and would probably require some kind of international standards agreement, but it's certainly doable.

[chasfh]

14 hours ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

Brought this home for the week today. It has a longer battery life than the extended range Ford E-Lightning but weighs a whopping 8.900 lbs. Features are nice found out some interesting tidbits from our GM rep. Ford trademarked the “Frunk” so GM is calling the hood compartment the E-Trunk. Also if you put the truck in “tow mode” you add 40 hp if you just want more power and no trailer. Rides nice so weird only hearing wind when you accelerate.

 

Nice rig.

I love hearing the soft whir of an electric engine versus the aggressive rumble of an IC. For one thing, it makes the music sound better at lower volumes!

[1984Echoes]

19 hours ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

Brought this home for the week today. It has a longer battery life than the extended range Ford E-Lightning but weighs a whopping 8.900 lbs. Features are nice found out some interesting tidbits from our GM rep. Ford trademarked the “Frunk” so GM is calling the hood compartment the E-Trunk. Also if you put the truck in “tow mode” you add 40 hp if you just want more power and no trailer. Rides nice so weird only hearing wind when you accelerate.

 

Nice looking truck!

Will it haul a 32' camper weighing roughly 6,500 pounds?

[Tigeraholic1]

1 minute ago, 1984Echoes said:

Nice looking truck!

Will it haul a 32' camper weighing roughly 6,500 pounds?

Yes it will. *disclaimer* you lose 40-60% of battery range pulling a trailer even more if it is above 90 or below 32 degrees.

[gehringer_2]

44 minutes ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

Yes it will. *disclaimer* you lose 40-60% of battery range pulling a trailer even more if it is above 90 or below 32 degrees.

right - there is no free lunch. If an IC vehicle's mileage goes down doing a given tow, an EV's battery life is going to go down in the same manner.

[Tigeraholic1]

9 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

right - there is no free lunch. If an IC vehicle's mileage goes down doing a given tow, an EV's battery life is going to go down in the same manner.

EV are great at the moment for grocery getters but real world application is waiting on better, lighter tech.

[gehringer_2]

16 minutes ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

EV are great at the moment for grocery getters but real world application is waiting on better, lighter tech.

The other question is whether as a society we can afford both technologies side by side or if it become too uneconomical. 95% of all driving is short trip. If *all* that were done with EVs and you still had an IC car in the garage for long distance travel or occasional hauling, transportation use of liquid fuel at a rate of 5% of today's is not a significant ecological carbon load. But there are certainly problems from both the cost and regulatory sides. You'd need a system that insures IC use was only kept to an actual minimum and didn't leak back into everyday use. That could probably be done with pricing incentives or a carbon cap and trade system. And would a liquid fuel distribution system remain economically viable at that small a scale. But right now we are in panic mode trying to hit zero carbon. Which is fine for now. But that is probably not a realistic or necessary target. The planet already has a huge natural carbon cycle with or without us. We don't have to nor can we bring it to a full stop, we just have to get to where we stop messing it up, and that will be work enough.

Edited October 17, 2023 by gehringer_2

[MIguy]

I got my first look today inside the clean rooms where the battery cells are made.  Pretty neat operation but I'm glad I'm not one of the people working inside there.  

[1984Echoes]

The US has found a motherlode of Lithium:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/worlds-largest-ree-lithium-discovered-160012987.html

World's Largest Reserve Of REE Lithium Discovered Beneath California's Salton Sea: $540 Billion Motherlode Could Meet America's Supply Demands For Decades

Eric McConnell

Tue, December 26, 2023 at 11:00 AM EST·4 min read

 

 

When it comes to rare-earth elements (REEs), lithium stands out because of its usefulness and potential value. That's why the Department of Energy (DOE) was jumping for joy when it discovered what is believed to be the world's largest supply of lithium beneath California's Salton Sea. The estimated 18 million-ton motherlode could be worth up to $540 billion and meet America's demand for decades to come.

[gehringer_2]

52 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

The US has found a motherlode of Lithium:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/worlds-largest-ree-lithium-discovered-160012987.html

World's Largest Reserve Of REE Lithium Discovered Beneath California's Salton Sea: $540 Billion Motherlode Could Meet America's Supply Demands For Decades

Eric McConnell

Tue, December 26, 2023 at 11:00 AM EST·4 min read

 

 

When it comes to rare-earth elements (REEs), lithium stands out because of its usefulness and potential value. That's why the Department of Energy (DOE) was jumping for joy when it discovered what is believed to be the world's largest supply of lithium beneath California's Salton Sea. The estimated 18 million-ton motherlode could be worth up to $540 billion and meet America's demand for decades to come.

yup- all the swooning about lithium the last couple of years has been uninformed. Li is not rare, it just hadn't been looked for very much. But we are already seeing the shift - the unfounded fear that e-vehicles would end up resource constrained is now giving way to the reality of a bottleneck at the consumer end. The early adopters already have their Teslas and now you have to persuade Joe six-pack and soccer Mom that an e-vehicle is practical and that remains a big lift. Battery tech is moving at the speed of light but sustainable fast charge tech is still more promise than reality. Also used e-vehicles are dead in the resale market until someone comes up with a system to validate/warranty remaining battery life.

[chasfh]

The calls on the Republican line on Washington Journal are all about how people are going to be forced by Democrat fascists to buy electric vehicles that cost $62,000 a year.

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

The calls on the Republican line on Washington Journal are all about how people are going to be forced by Democrat fascists to buy electric vehicles that cost $62,000 a year.

it's really funny to hear how confused the signals even inside the industry are. Have one friend who sells cars. To hear him, the dealers and the sales arms of the Car Cos are ready to ****can the whole EV experience. Have another who works in research for a car Co: "This is typical market psychology blip for a technology introduction - there is no going back"

I think the funny thing is that Mr. Toyoda, who was forced out for pushing back against the all EV future is going to turn out to be half right - he said you have to go through wider adoption of hybrids as the transitional tech, and he is going to turn out to be right. (though I still believe he was wrong in his fascination with Hydrogen....). The manufacturers were hoping to avoid hybrids, esp plug in hybrids - as that is the most expensive car to build, but this is what will actually work for Americans who mostly commute short distances but believe they may have to drive cross country at any moment's notice.

Plug-in hybrids could probably still reduce gasoline consumption by 80% without having to overcome owner range paranoia while longer range non-IC tech evolves.

Edited January 1, 2024 by gehringer_2

[CMRivdogs]

When he's not shilling for Trump. Sen Graham is fairly astute, sometimes

 

[Dan Gilmore]

Childless. Doesn’t pass the Vance test.

[gehringer_2]

Just now, Dan Gilmore said:

Childless. Doesn’t pass the Vance test.

Lindsay has always driven me crazy because he is a bright guy and absolutely knows right from wrong, but he is utterly spineless. If Aaron Sorkin had modeled his JAG office on Lindsay, the movie would have ended with Lt Kaffey getting busted to Private and Col Jessup making General.

[romad1]

Trump just hates the future. 

[1984Echoes]

10 hours ago, romad1 said:

Trump just hates the future. 

Does he hate the future?

Or does he just LOVE living inside his ****ing cave?

[Tigeraholic1]

Woof, GM smart getting out while the getting is good. Their other plant in New Carlisle, IN is not set to build its first battery until 2027 if it ever does. What happens to all those tax abatements? They go overseas to line someone else’s pockets.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/12/02/gm-battery-cell-plant-lg.html

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

Woof, GM smart getting out while the getting is good. Their other plant in New Carlisle, IN is not set to build its first battery until 2027 if it ever does. What happens to all those tax abatements? They go overseas to line someone else’s pockets.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/12/02/gm-battery-cell-plant-lg.html

LOL - this is GM you are talking about - a company that hasn't failed to bet wrong once in the last 40 years. I think I'll start a tracker on GM vs LGES and see which one goes up more in the next 5yrs.......