The battery use in electric vehicle is different from battery use in engine powered vehicle. Electric vehicle totally use electricity as source of energy to drive the electric motor. So, rotation from the motor will rotate the wheel and it move the vehicle.
But what makes it different ? what is the material use to make electric car batteries ?
Electric vehicle use a battery know as li-ion battery. This batteries had been widely use in electronic devices such as gadget, and laptop.
So what is the different between li-ion and lead acid battery on vehicle ?
Lithium, Nickel, and cobalt are the main container of electric vehicle battery.
1. What is Lithium ?
Lithium is a silvery-white alkali metal that is light and malleable. It is the lightest metal available. The Earth's crust has about 20 parts per million of lithium, and the oceans have 0.17 parts per million; the atmosphere has only trace quantities.
With some very basic chemistry, the amount of lithium that a battery must produce can be measured. Lithium, like the other alkali metals, has only one oxidation state and produces only positive-charged ions. [6] This means that regardless of the chemistry of the lithium battery, the basic electrochemical reaction is the same., must be:
Li → Li+ + e-
The reaction in the case of a lithium-ion rechargeable battery goes like this: One lithium atom at the negative electrode divides into a lithium ion and an electron as the battery discharges, and the lithium ion migrates into the battery's internal structure.
As the electron leaves the battery and travels through the circuit to which it is connected, the lithium ion and electron recombine at the positive electrode. During recharging, the same reaction occurs in reverse.
As a result, a lithium battery must contain one mole of lithium to drive one mole of electrons through a circuit. A mole of electrons has a charge of 26.80 ampere-hours (Ah), and a mole of lithium has a charge of 6.941 10-3 lb. [number six] These figures are divided by two., if we calculate that for any lithium battery, the charge capacity per kg of lithium is
3861 A·h/kg (theoretical limit).
2. What is Nickel ?
Nickel is an important component of lithium-ion battery chemistries, which are used to power electric cars, medical equipment, and cordless power tools, as well as to store renewable energy.
Li-ion batteries are made by combining lithium compounds with other materials. Nickel is present in two of the most widely used Li-ion battery chemistries.
NCA (Nickel cobalt aluminium) battery contain 80% of nickel.
NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) battery contain 33% of nickel.
Because of the high demand for battery-powered goods, the lithium ion battery industry will continue to expand. For applications such as electric cars and renewable energy storage, demand for energy-dense nickel-containing batteries will rise. Nickel is currently used in 39% of Li-ion batteries. This is expected to rise to around 58% by 2025.
Nickel in car batteries provides higher energy capacity and storage at a lower cost, allowing cars to travel further distances, which is currently one of the barriers to EV adoption.4
3. Cobalt
The majority of cobalt is extracted as a byproduct of copper and nickel processing. Battery manufacturers are looking for alternatives because of the high cost, but cobalt cannot be completely eliminated. Cobalt was the first commercial Li-ion battery cathode material.
Since the lithium ion has a positive charge when it is removed from the oxide (in the cathode), the cobalt changes its oxidation state, keeping the oxide electrically neutral. To account for the elimination of the lithium ion, a small amount of cobalt changes its electronic character from oxidation state +3 to +4,” said Abraham.
The transition metal portion compensates for the charge when the lithium ion enters or departs in the cathode. Oxides of transition metals such as nickel, cobalt, copper, iron, chromium, zinc, or manganese are widely used as cathodes because they can change valence to preserve neutrality.