ElevenEs is a new European battery manufacturer, with proprietary LFP-based lithium-ion battery chemistry and cell-to-pack solution. They battery gigafactory located in Serbia will start production in 2023, to reach 8 GWh capacity by 2025 (with a need for 4,120 tons aluminum foil per year) and 48 GWh by 2030 (20,600 tons of aluminum foil consumption p.a.)
Aluminum foil in a thickness between 10 and 25 µm is needed in EV li-ion battery cells as collector in the cathode. Global demand for it is expected to rise from 47,000 tons in 2020 to over 1.1 million tons by 2030. Overall, trend goes toward thinner foil for higher energy density, and wider foils for higher productivity in manufacturing.
The cell chemistry and the cell form factor both have a direct impact on the amount of aluminum foil needed: for 1 GWh of battery, the LFP chemistry requires nearly twice as much aluminum foil as NMC; and prismatic cells need per GWh approx. 6 times the amount of aluminum foil needed for pouches.
Key requirements for aluminum battery cell foil are primarily the high electrochemical stability and electrical conductivity. Carbon coating allows to enhance the performance of conventional aluminum foil.
Another application for aluminum foil in EV batteries are the pouches (casings for the cells): the pouch film of 65-160 µm thickness requires aluminum foil with 25-40 µm thickness (thicker than for the application as collector in the cathode).
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