Electric vehicles face numerous challenges.
I mean, broadly speaking, they need to be lightweight, charge
quickly, hold the charge for a long time, and also
offer high performance.
And they need to do all of that while being
affordable at the same time.
Otherwise, cost accessibility is a big stumbling block on the
road to EV proliferation.
Plus, while rare in practice, exploding batteries and flaming E
VS get a lot of media attention.
That means EV batteries have to be extra safe to
ensure that people aren't afraid of investing in a new
electric car.
It's mainly a perception issue, but it's a genuine concern.
That's a lot to ask of from 1 battery.
So what if instead we asked that of two batteries
Enter the Gemini battery pack by our next energy or
one.
Now this battery divides the work between a lithium iron
phosphate LFP cell and a newer anode free lithium ion
manganese oxide battery cell.
Now the LFP half of the battery is min Max
for fast charging and short bursts of city driving, while
the lithium manganese half is slow, steady and energy dense,
which is perfect for long road trips.
This dual chemistry combines the best of both worlds.
Together they form a Batman and Robin of batteries, a
dynamic duo that seems to meet all of our EV
needs.
But if the answer was always just use two batteries,
why hasn't someone else done this before?
How's an anode free battery even possible and what's the
catch?
So let's start with the LFP side of the equation.
We've covered these devices many times before, so I'll keep
it brief, but an LFP essentially comes with the all
the benefits that have made lithium ion the industry standard
without cobalt, which is both expensive and difficult to obtain.
As a result, LF PS tend to be safer, less
toxic, and longer lived than most of their cousins.
However, they also tend to have a lower operating voltage
and a lower energy density, especially when compared to lithium
variants that do incorporate cobalt.
That basically means they're larger, heavier batteries.
And that's not necessarily what you want for a car,
but it's great for something like home energy storage.
I actually am getting an LFP battery for my new
home now.
Here's where the anode free lithium manganese cell comes in.
And these types of batteries are secondary batteries or energy
accumulators.
Like LFP batteries, their chemistry uses a more common elements
and are generally cheaper and less toxic.
They're also thermally stable, which is important for safety.
However, their chemistry means that you don't want to charge
or discharge them that often, as they can quickly build
up dendrites.
And dendrites are pesky metal spikes that slowly build up
during charging and discharging, and over time they can threaten
to puncture the battery.
Now, together, these batteries cover each other's weaknesses.
The LFP cells, thermal stability, long life, and high specific
power make them charge quickly and stand up to the
hard life of an EV.
However, the LF PS batteries tend to have a low
specific energy as I mentioned before, meaning that they aren't
as energy dense and that means you need a physically
larger battery.
But the anode free lithium manganese is perfect for long
steady drives, and it's super energy dense and it can
hold on to a charge like a champ.
And because you're only tapping into it for long hauls,
it'll be used less often, giving dendrites fewer chances to
form and improve the longevity.
And Speaking of which, is an anode free battery even
possible?
Well, that's a bit of a misnomer is all batteries
have an anode and a cathode, but the term anode
is used by manufacturers describe the active material, usually graphite
or silicon, place on the battery's current collector.
Now one's new battery doesn't have one.
Instead as it's charged and discharged small amounts of lithium
plate onto the copper current collector and function like a
standard anode.
All of this also saves on material weight and costs.
So yes, it has an anode, but does not use
traditional anode materials.
Now, ONE has doubled down on their savings in other
ways, too.
The company's battery formulation uses manganese rich cathodes and far
less cobalt than comparable batteries.
Though ONE does claim that they're going to ditch cobalt
entirely, they haven't yet.
It also uses 20% less lithium, 60% less graphite, and
75% less nickel relative to other batteries.
Cobalt and nickel are rare in our current supply chain,
which significantly drives up the price of EV batteries and
therefore the EV themselves.
So because the LFP side of the battery is mainly
made-up of abundant iron, you can end up with a
significantly cheaper EV.
It's also worth considering that over 70% of the world's
cobalt is supplied by mining in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, which is tied up in some deeply troubling human
rights abuses.
That's one reason why the less cobalt is used, the
better.
And batteries that incorporate cobalt are also more vulnerable to
thermal runaway.
So by minimizing the cobalt in their design, one is
also minimizing the chance of a fire.
And that's because the cobalt oxygen bond is much weaker
than the phosphorus oxygen bond.
When a battery overheats, the carbon oxygen bond is easily
broken, releasing flammable oxygen quickly and feeding the fire.
The phosphorus oxygen bond is stronger and doesn't release the
oxygen as quickly.
Gemini's patented skip cell safety architecture is another big contributor
to reducing battery overheating and thermal runaway.
In a roundabout way, this actually helps Gemini's performance.
A space that would normally be used by fire mitigation
boxes and other batteries can now be packed with more
cells, which helps with the weight problem that all E
VS face.
But if the dual battery system works so well, why
hasn't anybody tried this before?
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Now back to the question.
If this dual battery system works so well, why has
anybody tried this before?
Well, we have kind of hybrid cars are already working
on a similar principle.
The standard fossil fuel burning engine kicks in for higher
speeds, climbing hills and so on, while the battery pack
handles the majority of the driving and less demanding tasks.
You can kind of think of this as an evolution
of that framework.
We're taking what we already know works and upgrading it
to a fully battery powered model.
This is another benefit of the Gemini.
We're not dealing with innovative new materials or new formulations.
We're just combining peanut butter and Jelly batteries to make
a delicious sandwich.
Sometimes when things are combined, you expect the advantages of
both.
However, sometimes you get the disadvantages of both as well.
How does this battery actually perform?
Does it actually work?
Well, the answer is looking like a resounding yes.
In a test drive on December 17th, 2021, one put
their battery to the test, strapping it to a Tesla
Model S.
It managed to drive for 752 miles on a single
charge.
That's nearly double the Model S s current range of
around 400 miles.
Third party consumers have also had the chance to take
the Gemini for a spin to vet it's stats, and
those stats are impressive.
The battery's dual approach allows it to achieve both longer
range and improved durability at a capacity of about 1007
Watt hours per liter for the anode free portion of
the Gemini.
That's almost a double of the typical industry batteries, 550
Watt hours per liter performance.
Meanwhile, the LFP battery delivers around 441 Watt hours per
liter.
For most people, that equates to about 150 miles of
driving from a single charge on the LFP alone.
After that point, it switches to the anode free cell
to charge up the LFP cell, which is another trick
borrowed from standard hybrid cars.
Because one's Gemini battery was vetted in a third party
test, it's been full speed ahead with the company rapidly
moving towards commercialization.
They put out new variants like the Aries LFP and
the Aries 2 for trucks or the Aries Grid for
surprise grid storage.
Next year one will open it's One Circle Gigafactory in
Van Buren, Michigan and that 660,000 square foot facility will
employ 2100 workers and by 2027 is expected to produce
20,000 EV battery packs per year.
And better yet, they're partnering with DTE Energy and 6K
Energy in an attempt to make the Gemini as sustainable
as possible.
Together with the power of circular manufacturing, they think they
can slash carbon emissions from the factory by 45%.
And the EV industry is already taking notice.
BMW has signed an agreement to incorporate Gemini into their
IX electric SUV and kicked $65 million into the project.
The company is confident that their 2024 IX model will
be standardized with the Gemini battery system.
Meanwhile, Oman's sovereign wealth fund, or SWF, has bought a
minority stake in one.
Now, this isn't an economics or finance show, and for
that you should check out my buddy Alex's channel ticker
symbol you.
So this is a pretty brisk overview, but countries like
Oman are aware that the oil reserves that are currently
funding them aren't going to last forever.
Their SWS are very interested in finding investments that will
continue to support their States and citizens far into the
future.
In other words, Oman believes 1 is safe and lucrative
enough of a bet to stake part of their future
on.
It sounds amazing, but there's got to be a catch,
right?
Well, there are a few points that remain unclear for
now.
First, what's the actual day-to-day range for this battery if
the range extending anode free battery never kicks in?
We've mentioned how the anode free battery charges it's LFP
buddy on longer drives, but if we never go on
longer drives, are we just going to burn out the
LFP?
Similarly, how long can the new anode free side last
if it never turns on because I only do city
driving?
Or conversely, if I take many long road trips, how
will that impact its performance and lifespan?
And Speaking of lifespans, when you combine 2 batteries with
different lifespans and use cases, one of them is probably
going to make its way to the big battery farm
in the sky before the other one.
So is it possible to replace one portion of the
battery pack if it dies before the partner does?
Or will we have to wastefully Chuck the whole thing
out?
And even if replacing one side is an option, how
expensive will it be at once?
Early focus on incorporating circular manufacturing into the battery does
give me some hope for some of those questions, but
they could still prove to be a serious issue to
tackle.
And while all signs point to Gemini being equivalent or
cheaper than standard D VS, the exact cost of Gemini
has not been released yet, And for me, that's a
bit of a red flag.
We can't say for sure if they've really met that
cheaper EV goal yet.
But with all that said, it's nice to get a
novel battery that looks like it might do exactly what
it says on the 10.
Practically every time we talk about a new battery, we
discuss how it probably won't live up to the hype,
but it's still useful and we'll find a niche.
We don't have to do that this time.
The ONE team are battery engineering veterans.
They haven't made a silver bullet that's allegedly going to
slay every energy storage boogeyman.
They knew exactly what the problems they were trying to
solve were and went for that.
Increase the range of EVs, make EV batteries safer, and
solve the pricey and morally thorny supply chain issues that
are related to cobalt.
So instead of a silver bullet, they forged a +
3 battery of EV slang.
So do you think this battery has a shot?
Jump in the comments and let me know and be
sure to check out my Followu podcast.
Still to be determined.
We'll be discussing some of your feedback.
And thanks to all my patrons who get ad free
versions of every video.
Your support really does help.
We'll see you in the next one.