Last year battery materials technology specialist Nano One (TSX:NANO/FRA:LBMB) announced a cathode material evaluation program with an unnamed multinational automotive company. It has now expanded that into a joint project.
This is exciting news for followers of Nano One stock, as it indicates that the company’s processes are being seriously scrutinised with a view to mass production application.
Industrial scale engineering cost model
The expanded program will include an engineering cost model report on the industrial scale production of nickel rich cathode materials to supply a full-scale automotive battery cell assembly plant.The additional scope will examine the economic, environmental, and engineering details of industrial production.
The report will be prepared by Hatch, based on the engineering study being prepared for Nano One, and will include a Front-End Loading level 1 (FEL1) analysis on capital costs, operating costs, and a cost comparison of the Nano One process versus the conventional cathode material manufacturing process.
Such research is very important as it will demonstrate the viability of Nano One’s processes in the development and roll out of the next generation EV battery plants and EV manufacturing facilities.
Economic and environmental advantages
The report will enable the companies to evaluate both the economic and environmental advantages of Nano One’s patented One-Pot, Metal to Cathode Active Material (M2CAM) and coated nanocrystal process technologies at large industrial scale. This work runs in parallel to the ongoing performance testing and validation work on Nano One’s nickel-rich and manganese-rich cobalt free cathode materials.
“We are pleased to be advancing the relationship with our OEM collaborator,” said Dan Blondal, CEO of Nano One, “and evaluating the economics and environmental advantages of Nano One’s process technology at automotive scales. It is clear from developments over the past year that the pace of change is accelerating, and the target manufacturing scale is many times what it was only a couple of years ago.”
Nano One has engaged Hatch to lead the process comparison, optimisation, and scale-up study.
Hatch is a leading global engineering firm with deep experience in engineering, scale up, piloting and commercialisation of process technologies.
Listen: Podcast with Dan Blondal, CEO of Nano One
Hatch also has engineering experience in the design of relevant plants from precursor cathode active materials (PCAM) to cathode active materials (CAM) focusing on production optimisation, equipment selection, as well as the production of battery grade feedstock materials. Their recent work includes engineering, pilot plant design and build activities for traditional cathode manufacturing processes.
The name of the automotive OEM and details of the project remain confidential in accordance with the terms of Nano One’s agreement with the company concerned.