Perspectives on environmental and cost assessment of lithium metal negative electrodes in electric vehicle traction batteries

Using a lithium metal negative electrode may give lithium metal batteries (LMBs), higher specific energy densityand an environmentally more benign chemistry than Li-ion batteries (LIBs). This study asses the environmentaland cost impacts ofin silicodesigned LMBs compared to existing LIB designs in a vehicle perspective. The lifecycle climate and cost impacts of LMBs show a similar pattern: the use phase has more climate and cost impactsthan the production phase. As compared to LIBs and with respect to the positive electrode, Lithium NickelManganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC) is preferable to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP). The cell cost is highly dependenton the cost of lithium metal; a cost reduction of 50% causes a cell cost reduction of 8–22% depending on thechoice of positive electrode material and if the cell is optimised for power or energy. For electric vehicle usage,the total cost per km is mainly dependent on the energy consumption per km and the capacity of the positiveelectrode, representing cost saving potentials of about 10%. These generic results can be used as a base forinvestigations of other battery technology using lithium metal electrodes.QC 20210517