The best estimate for the lithium required is around 160g of Li metal per kWh of battery power, which equals about 850g of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in a battery per kWh (Martin, 2017).
How much lithium is in a battery?
Lithium-ion batteries, which are the most common type today, rely on lithium as a key component to store energy efficiently. To illustrate, the Tesla Model 3 uses approximately 14 kilograms of lithium for its 75 kWh battery. In contrast, the Nissan Leaf with its smaller 40 kWh battery contains about 9 kilograms of lithium.
How much lithium is in a lithium-ion battery pack?
A lithium-ion battery pack for a single electric car contains about 8 kilograms (kg) of lithium, according to figures from US Department of Energy science and engineering research centre Argonne National Laboratory.
Source: Fastmarkets, 2021. Lithium is a critical material for the energy transition. Its chemical properties, as the lightest metal, are unique and sought after in the manufacture of batteries for mobile applications. Total worldwide lithium production in 2020 was 82 000 tonnes, or 436 000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) (USGS, 2021).
How much lithium do EV batteries need?
This translates into a Lithium requirement of at least 320 g of Lithium (1.7 kg LCE) per kWh of available capacity. In addition, Lithium has to be added to this for the electrolyte, irreversible capacity loss and capacity fade. EV batteries will be 25% oversized to account for capacity fade.
Most existing LIBs use aluminum for the mixed-metal oxide cathode and copper for the graphite anode, with the exception of lithium titanate (Li4Ti5, LTO) which uses aluminum for both . The cathode materials are typically abbreviated to three letters, which then become the descriptors of the battery itself.
If we look at the theoretical specific energy of a LiIon battery, the figures widely quoted are between 400 and 450 Wh/kg. The actual specific energy achieved is between 70 and 120 Wh/kg. Therefore practical LiIon batteries are using some four times as much Lithium per kWh as the “theoretical” quantity or more.