The Chinese manufacturer SVOLT last year presented a new type of battery characterized by being free of cobalt. Nickel Manganese (NMX) cells compete in performance with the new NCM811s that produce names like LG, Sk Innovation, and CATL while reducing the cost of materials, which in practice means an overall reduction in the price of the pack.
In addition to lower cost and a high level of competitiveness, SVOLT has also indicated that cobalt-free batteries have several fundamental advantages, including a longer useful life, more excellent safety, and higher energy density.
But after a long time used to seeing news about future developments, it is undoubtedly remarkable that we are facing an announcement that does not talk about the technical characteristics or the potential of the cells, but about the opening of orders for the first customers.
This means taking the critical step from laboratory to production. Manufacturing will begin next June at the company’s plant in Jintan, China, which will be joined in 2022 by the factory they are building in Germany.
SVOLT’s cobalt-free NMX cells will have a capacity of 115 Ah and an energy density of 245 Wh/kg in SEM format (33.4 x 220 x 102.5 mm). Its voltage is 3.74 V, and the capacity is 430 Wh. This means that the 115 Ah variant of the SVOLT NMX battery has an adequate usable capacity of 396 Wh. This cell variant is expected to be available for sale from the second quarter of 2021.