So important are batteries to the future of carmaking that every country with an auto industry is rushing to attract plants to make them—“gigafactories”, as they are known in the business…Northvolt has one of these, too, in northern Sweden. That has two production lines, each 300 metres long, and the firm is adding three more lines to it. It is also building a second Swedish gigafactory, in Gothenburg, in a joint venture with Volvo, and one in Germany. It is aiming for a combined annual output of 150GWh by 2030. That is enough battery power to make more than 2m EVs. What is even more striking, though, is that by then these factories should be obtaining half their raw materials, including valuable substances such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese, from recycled batteries. If Northvolt succeeds in meeting this ambitious target, that will be a big step towards circular manufacturing, a long-held dream in which firms make new products by recycling their old ones, thus greatly reducing their environmental footprints…The obsession with cleanliness at the start of the line comes because this is where the chemicals that enable a battery to store energy are mixed into so-called “active” materials. In a lithium-ion battery the slightest impurity can interfere with the flow of the eponymous ions…Cathodes, which represent around 40% of the cost of an EV battery, are made from various combinations of chemicals. Cathode chemistry is an important point of differentiation in battery technology. It is therefore tweaked, not just for individual manufacturers, but also to suit specific EV models, ranging from sports cars via family saloons to large SUVs. Popular cathode blends use combinations of nickel, manganese and cobalt. Anodes are usually made from ultra-pure graphite, a form of carbon. Other substances are also added to both sorts of electrode, to stabilise the active materials and to tweak performance…Modules that fail their checks go to recycling, where they join what will become an increasing flow of used EV batteries, at first from prototype vehicles and from cars which have been written off in accidents, but eventually, it is assumed and hoped, from the growing number of worn-out batteries that the ageing of the world’s EVs fleet will generate—although that could take a decade or so…Materials recovered in these batteries are purified and returned to the first stage of production. Ways of doing this are improving all the time, says Emma Nehrenheim, Northvolt’s chief environmental officer, as robots are taught better how to dismantle the batteries and then crush the cells into a crumbled material called “black mass”. That done, useful materials can be leached chemically out of the black mass…A knottier problem is the questionable nature of the sources of some raw materials. A lot of cobalt, for example, comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where many mining operations use and abuse child labour. Northvolt and other battery-makers try to avoid buying materials from these producers by dealing directly with mines rather than third-party suppliers, as this makes it easier to trace the origin of materials and check the standards with which they are produced…Reducing the distance travelled by materials and batteries will also help…Meanwhile, the original gigafactory in Nevada is charting a similar course. Redwood Materials, founded by Jeffrey Straubel, once Tesla’s chief technology officer, is building a giant battery-recycling centre nearby. It is expected to start supplying anode and cathode materials to its neighbour soon. To provide it with a feedstock while the supply of old EV batteries builds up, Redwood has created a collection scheme to recycle batteries from defunct devices such as mobile phones and power tools.

LG Energy Solution Ltd. raised its 2022 sales outlook by 14% to 25 trillion won ($17.5 billion) after third-quarter operating profit beat analyst estimates, and stressed the importance of North America in its growth plans…The South Korean company reiterated its target of tripling revenue in North America in five years, with the EV market there forecast to see compound annual growth rate of 33% by 2030, ahead of Europe and China at 26% and 17%, respectively…“Demand for EV batteries will remain strong, especially in North America,” Chief Finance Officer Chang-Sil Lee said in a post-earnings call. LG Energy still plans to increase production capacity in Europe too, he said…Europe is likely to follow the US in enacting clean-energy rules along the lines of the Inflation Reduction Act, Lee said, describing the policy as “a great opportunity.” The company said it plans to expand its production capacity, customer base and product lineup in North America in response to the changes, as well as strengthen its local supply chain by partnering with major suppliers…LG Energy said it will “also increase direct sourcing of metals through equity investments and long-term supply agreements.”

Volkswagen AG’s namesake brand is stepping up efforts to go entirely electric and vowing to phase out making combustion cars in Europe completely starting in 2033 at the latest. The VW division will launch 10 new electric models by 2026, including an entry-level model the automaker wants to sell for less than €25,000 ($25,161), brand chief Thomas Schaefer said Wednesday. VW had previously said it planned to stop selling combustion cars in Europe between 2033 and 2035.

Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. wants to start making materials for a cheaper type of electric-vehicle battery -- containing no nickel -- that’s poised for global popularity after storming the world’s top EV market, China…Iron-based batteries known as LFP have rapidly expanded their role in China as a lower-cost rival to varieties with nickel, especially in smaller and low-range vehicles…“Carmakers won’t be able to procure enough batteries if only sticking to nickel-based types,” Tanaka, who heads the firm’s battery materials division, said in recent interview. “We will expand our line-up to meet customers’ need as we expect the market will be polarized into the two.”…The move highlights how EV supply chains are still in their infancy, as the industry grapples with everything from technological changes to geopolitical shifts. Western nations are trying to reduce their reliance on China, which has a stranglehold over most of production, including LFP cathodes…Tanaka said LFP varieties might be well-suited to Japan’s popular mini-vehicles known locally as “kei”…The small and affordable kei are especially popular outside major cities, where roads are narrow and public transportation is sparse. 

Some residents of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo simply call it la guerre sans fin — the war without end…The M23 — which Congolese officials, local people and analysts accuse of being backed by Rwanda — resumed fighting in November 2021 and has since been waging a brutal offensive in the resource-rich, conflict-ridden eastern Congo, causing deaths and mass displacement. More than 355,000 Congolese have fled their homes so far this year in 2022, according to the UN, pushing the number of those displaced in DRC due to overlapping conflicts to more than 5.5mn this year — the largest recorded humanitarian crisis of its kind in Africa…M23, however, is just one of about 100 rebel groups pillaging the area in a complex, deep-rooted war that, for the most part, has escaped international attention…The third most populous country in the sub-Saharan region, with 92mn people, the DRC has enormous mineral wealth such as cobalt, a key component for the battery industry. Additionally, it has significant hydroelectric potential and more than 70mn hectares of untapped arable land. Yet it remains one of the world’s poorest countries, according to the World Bank, with 73 per cent of the population living on less than $1.90 a day…As a result, Congolese generals say the resurgent M23 is now the “biggest menace” in a vast area plagued by militias where the KST estimates more than 3,100 people have been killed over the past year…A leaked report in early August from a UN group of experts speaks of “solid evidence of the presence of, and military operations conducted by, members of the Rwandan Defence Forces”, or RDF, supporting the M23 in DRC territory…The war’s deep roots can be explained as an unintended legacy of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, when Hutus killed more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus across 100 blood-soaked days. More than 1mn Hutus, including the defeated government army, fled and sought refuge in Congo. In 1996 and 1998, Rwanda and its Ugandan allies invaded eastern Congo, ostensibly to hunt down genocidaires, spurring a string of conflicts that sucked in several countries, earning the name “Africa’s world war”…Too rich and too big In a war of many layers, further north, in the province of Ituri, rebel groups “come into the villages, kill the people, occupy land, forcibly take youngsters, burn houses, rape and decapitate people,” says Rachel Taruayo Adroma, a local senior civilian official…Among the spoils are gold, coltan, diamonds, cassiterite, cocoa, timber, charcoal, with various groups controlling strategic supply chains into Rwanda and Uganda, analysts and Congolese officials say…The US Treasury has said that “in eastern DRC, where there are approximately 130 active armed groups, the gold trade is a major driver of conflict”. They believe “more than 90 per cent of DRC gold is smuggled” to states including Rwanda and Uganda, where it is refined and exported mainly to the United Arab Emirates.