Electric sports car manufacturer Tesla Motors is teaming up with Panasonic to develop next generation battery cells for electric vehicles.
The Silicon Valley based company will use Panasonic cells that feature nickel based lithium-ion chemistry in their newest battery packs. The announcement comes just a month after Panasonic announced the development of two new 18650 type high capacity lithium-ion battery cells.
The newly developed 3.4Ah and 4.0Ah cells have improved nickel-based positive electrode with the 4.0Ah version using a silicon-based alloy for the negative electrode instead of carbon while offering a volumetric density of 800Wh/l compared to the 620Wh/l in existing 2.9Ah cells.
According to JB Straubel, Tesla’s chief technology officer, the collaboration will accelerate the development of next generation electric vehicle cells while allowing Tesla to improve its battery performance. He believes that Tesla’s cell testing and understanding of electric vehicle requirements make it an ideal partner for Panasonic’s cutting edge technology.
His comments were shared by Naoto Noguchi, president of Panasonic Energy Company, who declared that Tesla’s selection of the firm was a “tremendous validation” of its nickel-based chemistry. Panasonic is already one of the world’s largest producers of lithium-ion battery cells and is midway through a three year $1billion investment in lithium-ion battery cell research and development and production facilities.
