Tesla Partners With Canadian Researcher To Lower Battery Costs

Tesla Motors has entered into an exclusive partnership with Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, to develop better lithium-ion battery technology. The chief technical officer of the automotive and energy storage company, JB Straubel, signed the agreement with Dalhousie lithium-ion battery pioneer, Dr. Jeff Dahn, in Halifax this week, marking the first time that Tesla has signed a research agreement with a Canadian university.

“Dalhousie University is a national and international leader in advanced materials and clean technology research,” said Martha Crago, vice president of research at Dalhousie. “Jeff Dahn is developing Li-ion batteries that improve lifetime, increase energy density and reduce cost. This collaboration with Tesla is a natural fit and we look forward to working together.”

In a press release, the university explained that developing cheaper batteries with longer life spans is at the core of Tesla’s mission “to accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation around the world.”

The news release explains that Tesla plans to take the electric car and sustainable transportation market beyond simply being a “niche market,” to produce hundreds of thousands of cars per year, thereby bringing down the cost of Tesla vehicles to better suit the masses.

“Our research group’s goal is to increase the energy density and lifetime of Li-ion batteries, so we can drive down costs in automotive and grid energy storage applications,” explained Dahn. “We’re incredibly excited to partner with Tesla, a company that’s so well-aligned with our research.”

Tesla is the largest user of lithium-ion batteries in the world, and its cost of between $20,000 and $25,000 to produce a battery for the 85-kilowatt-hour Model S sedan is considered to be the lowest cost for a battery of that size. Based on JB Straubel’s expectation, battery costs will need to be reduced by half in order for Tesla to meet a sales target of a cumulative 1 million vehicles by 2020.

“At this point, we don’t believe that range is the thing slowing EV growth. It’s cost,” said Straubel. “If we had twice the range, it would be more range than people needed. We are definitely on a road map to achieve half the cost.”

The focus of Dahn’s research and development will be on trying to put more voltage into batteries without damaging their longevity, while reducing the cost of materials. Dahn patented a nickel-cobalt-manganese chemistry for battery cathodes that is now commonly used in the industry, and he is also the leading researcher on why lithium-ion batteries fail.

“I am very excited about putting our tools to work to help improve the energy density and longevity of their cells,” said Dahn.

In addition to improvements in chemistry, Tesla also aims to lower its battery costs by bringing in-house the suppliers and processing of lithium, cobalt, graphite and nickel.

“We are making steady progress on all that,” explained Straubel. “We want to be cautious and take our time and make sure we have partners that have the right road map. I am happy with where those internal discussions are at.”