Latest news with #batteries
Globe and Mail
7 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
CEO Clips - Giyani Metals: Developing Battery-Grade Manganese in Botswana
Supporting the global battery supply chain with scalable manganese production As demand grows for critical minerals needed in electric vehicle batteries, Giyani Metals is working to build a new source of battery-grade manganese from Botswana. With nearly 2,000 square kilometers of licenses, Giyani is positioning itself to deliver consistent, scalable supply to global end users. President and CEO Charles Fitzroy highlights the company's progress toward demonstrating its process at a pre-commercial level—an important milestone in securing partnerships across the battery manufacturing space. The company's vertically integrated model aims to offer not only raw materials, but refined battery-grade manganese in jurisdictions outside of dominant suppliers like China. For stakeholders in the battery value chain, diversification of supply is becoming increasingly important, and Giyani sees a clear opportunity to meet that need with both resource scale and production readiness. Key Points: Published by BTV - The Agency
Forbes
8 hours ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
EVs Are Rewiring Risk For Manufacturers
The internal combustion engine (ICE) has been steadily improving for more than 100 years, giving us cars that are almost unrecognisable from those early, groundbreaking days of the Ford Model T. This, in turn, has made driving a faster, safer, more fuel-efficient, and more enjoyable experience for everyone. Now electric vehicles (EVs) mark a fundamental shift. One that not only paves the way to innovative changes in how passenger vehicles are designed, built, and maintained, but that will also kickstart a whole new era of risk for manufacturers. Driving this transformation are three key factors, the first of which is consumer dynamics. To date, EV adoption has actually been slower than many projected with only a quarter of car buyers seriously considering going fully electric due to concerns around cost, range and charging time. This has seen the manufacturing industry double down on addressing these concerns with new models that travel further and charge faster. The second factor is battery innovation. Right now, lithium-ion is found in 90% of US EVs, but their performance and safety features don't completely meet all customer requirements. Interest in alternative designs is therefore accelerating too – from iron- and sulphur-based lithium variants to sodium-ion and hydrogen cells. All have their own advantages and disadvantages, leading manufacturers to invest in understanding how they perform in the full life cycle of a user experience. The third and final driver of change is the supply chain itself. EVs use up to three times more chips than ICE vehicles and therefore rely heavily on materials sourced and processed overseas. China alone accounts for 70% of global battery production. Add in geopolitical volatility, tariff controversies, ongoing labor shortages, and localized incidents like the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and it's clear: EV supply chains are more stretched and unpredictable than ever – requiring flexible and proactive risk mitigation frameworks to match. There are new, less familiar threats for manufacturers to counter too. While ICE and hybrid vehicles actually catch fire more frequently, EV fires tend to burn hotter and longer – with several high-profile cases making the news and rocking consumer trust. Responding to this risk requires specialized equipment and training for staff, along with a deeper knowledge of chemistry, housing, and fire suppression. Then there's cyber. EVs are, by nature, software-defined machines that are deeply integrated with networks and cloud platforms. From code-level bugs to coordinated hacks, this opens up new areas of potential vulnerability, all capable of causing costly reputational damage and liability claims. Even product recalls are changing. In contrast to ICE vehicle breakdowns, EV issues can often be fixed with over-the-air updates and patches. Yet while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) still classifies these events as recalls, the cost and customer experience are entirely different. This, in turn, forces insurers and manufacturers to re-examine the way they calculate risk along with how they structure mitigation strategies going forward. So how should the manufacturing industry respond? First and foremost, by empowering risk managers to lead in this evolving environment and become a central part of a broader, stronger, more connected ecosystem within their own companies. One that connects stakeholders across R&D, supply chain, operations, IT, and even government relations to create a comprehensive framework for analysing and responding to risk. The way manufacturers deploy data must evolve too. Unlike with ICE vehicles, firms don't have decades of EV insights to fall back on in their decision-making and planning. So instead, they should lean into forward-looking indicators, using machinery data on the shop floor to identify quality risks and limit the likelihood of product liability and recall. Leveraging smarter building data in areas like fire protection and structural soundness will also be vital, as will utilizing supply chain visibility information and scoring models for business tax. Encouragingly, much of this data is already available today; it now just needs to be viewed with a risk lens. Rather than simply present data at renewal time, manufacturers and brokers should therefore engage in an ongoing dialogue with carriers about emerging threats, evolving mitigations, and the specific steps they are taking to reduce exposure. This will help shape limits and premiums that fit the realities of their operating landscape. In fact, this ability to focus on the future is, perhaps, the most important shift of all. As EVs become an ever more frequent sight on our roads and in our factories, the passenger vehicle market will be defined by both new methods of manufacturing and new approaches to risk. The firms that lead this new era will be those with their eyes on the road ahead, not in the rear view mirror.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
County Durham lithium find prompts factory plan
A company extracting lithium from remote countryside in County Durham has said it believes there are huge reserves of the mineral stored in granite below the Lithium said tests on a farm in Weardale indicated there were likely to be "commercially viable" amounts in the is needed for making batteries for electric vehicles and demand is expected to company and its partner firm, Evove, now plan to build a commercial scale direct lithium extraction factory by 2027. A small scale plant has been operating to demonstrate the possibility of producing battery-grade lithium Lithium said the goal was to produce 10,000 tonnes per year for electric vehicle manufacturing and other director Nick Pople said: "Consistent concentrations of lithium were found and the long term potential yields to scale this up to commercial operations were greater than we expected." Tests conducted on the site at Ludwell Farm in Eastgate involved taking raw brines from the ground which are then put through a filtration system to separate the lithium from Lithium has the rights to explore 60,000 acres of land owned by the Church Commissioners and said the North East can play a big role in providing a domestic supply instead of relying on imports. The search for lithium has been likened to a 21st century gold rush, with rival firm Weardale Lithium granted planning permission by Durham County Council in January for its own explorations Auckland MP Sam Rushworth said: "It's a really exciting opportunity. "In the North East we've got two big buyers of batteries in Hitachi and Nissan and the best place in the UK for extracting lithium from under our feet." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
ABC News
3 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
How household batteries overcome energy transition obstacles
Household solar batteries could be the solution to overcome high costs and community opposition in Australia's renewable energy transition.
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Ford Says Michigan Battery Plant at Risk If Tax Credits Are Cut
By and Ari Natter Save Ford Motor Co. 's plan to make electric-vehicle batteries at a new site in Michigan would be put at risk if Congress cuts federal incentives for clean energy, the company's chair said. The plant in Marshall, Michigan — and the 1,700 workers that Ford plans to employ there — would be 'imperiled' if US lawmakers move to eliminate tax credits that support battery producers as part of a broader tax plan moving through congress, Ford Executive Chair Bill Ford said Thursday during remarks at the Mackinac Policy Conference at Michigan's Mackinac Island.
