Factors Determining the Manufacturing Costs of Lithium-Ion Batteries for PHEVs

Abstract

In this study, we developed a model for calculating the costs of lithium-ion batteries supporting electric drive in light duty passenger vehicles (LDVs). The model calculates the annual materials requirements from design criteria for the battery pack including power, capacity, number of cells, and cell chemistry parameters. The costs of capital equipment, plant area and labor for each step in the manufacturing process were estimated for a baseline plant. These costs are adjusted for each battery pack studied by comparing the processing rate pertinent for each step (area to be coated, number of cells to be tested, etc.) with that of the baseline process and applying correction factors. We applied the cost modelling method to batteries with four lithium-ion cell chemistries and for several levels of capacity and power. For quality assurance purposes, electrode coating thicknesses are limited to 100 microns by the model. The result of this restriction is that as the capacity of the cells is increased to achieve longer range under electric power, the electrode area and the cell power are also increased and the power of the entire battery pack is also increased. In simulations of our reference chemistry for 16, 32 and 48 -km PHEVs there is almost no cost increase for increasing the pack power from 40 to 60kW; for PHEVs with 48-and 64 km electric range, there was almost no additional cost for power up to 90 kW. For a set value of pack energy storage, a small number of high capacity cells are much less expensive to manufacture than a large number of low-capacity cells. The useable fraction of the state-of-charge range for a battery system is shown to be an important cost factor. In view of cost similarities, the choice of cell chemistry will probably depend more on proven safety, reliability, and long life rather than on initial cost.

Sizing the Battery Power for PHEVs Based on Battery Efficiency, Cost and Operational Cost Savings

“…This program, designated BatPaC, is the product of long-term research and development at Argonne through sponsorship by the U.S. Department of Energy [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. The latest version, BatPaC v2.1, is available from the Argonne website (www.cse.anl.gov/batpac).…”

Highway vehicle electric drive in the United States : 2009 status and issues.

“…Like the Prius plug-in, the prototype Ford Escape plug-ins use the same approach -make use of the existing electric machinery and control equipment as much as possible and increase the energy storage capacity of the pack significantly more than its power. Nelson et al (2009) and have shown that this approach offers a relatively inexpensive incremental cost for a PHEV.…”

“…Though very likely for a different chemistry than Nissan and NEC Corporation (a battery manufacturer) will use, at volumes of 200,000 packs per year, the model presented by Nelson et al (2009) estimates that NCA-G electric vehicle battery packs (energy-oriented packs with W/Wh ratios under 5) could cost less than $200/kWh for battery pack manufacturers to produce. It would be necessary for motor vehicle manufacturers to achieve this production cost so they would be able to offer packs at a price of approximately $240/kWh to consumers.…”

“…The average cost of the first-generation pack is anticipated to be $500/kWh (Truett, 2009). The incremental cost of the last 20 miles of capacity for the pack should be less than for the first 20 miles because both the W/Wh ratio and the $/kWh ratio drop (Graham et al, 2001;Nelson, Santini, and Barnes, 2009). Therefore, the cost of the first 20 miles is assumed to be $600/kWh, and the second 20 miles is assumed to cost $400/kWh.…”

Energy Storage for Power Systems Applications: A Regional Assessment for the Northwest Power Pool (NWPP)

“…Telephone conversations with various battery manufacturers yielded a current price of $700 to 1500/kWh, with the price for large volume sales of 1000 batteries or more in 5 years estimated at $600/kWh. Cost estimation models from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Tiaxx and The US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) (Nelson et al 2009, Barnett et al 2009, USCAR 2007, , when normalized to the same total energy, provided a cost of $440, 415 and 450/kWh respectively for large-volume production, or ~ $420/kWh. Taking the average of $600/kWh and $420/kWh, the cost to be used for this study was assumed to be $510/kWh long-term for high volume production.…”