Battery materials
Electric cars have been painted as part of the solution to reduce emissions globally, but many people remain wary about their practicality. What if our innovations in battery materials help to double the real driving range of a typical midsize car to 600 km, on a single charge? And what if we could reduce the charging time to 15 minutes by 2025?
Our innovations in battery materials will help to make e-mobility fit for everyday use. Wouldn't it be great to recharge your e-car in 15 minutes and continue a 600 km drive by 2025? And wouldn't it be nice to recharge yourself from daily stress in those 15 minutes?
We asked the same questions to independent filmmakers. This is how they would recharge themselves in 15 minutes:
Driving 600 km on a single charge
By 2025, our innovations in battery materials aim to double the real driving range of midsize cars from 300 to 600 km on a single charge — regardless of whether the air conditioning is running or the music is turned up at full blast.
Thanks to our innovative battery materials, we are optimistic about the future of e-mobility. This is symbolized in the picture below. In a combined 600 km journey in Los Angeles and Shanghai, a message is "written" in the streets by GPS: "keep being optimistic".
This is how we're shaping the future of e-mobility
Cathode active materials are central to the performance, affordability, reliability and sustainability of advanced electric vehicle batteries. Our researchers use a comprehensive "toolbox" of different methods to influence the properties of the materials: from the composition of the metals, different particle sizes and distributions, to the adjustment of porosity and surface properties.
Sustainability
Our ambition is to create a sustainable battery materials value chain for electric vehicles. Electromobility is one of the key solutions to merge the global desire for individual mobility and the need to significantly reduce local emissions, especially in combination with renewable energy. As a global leading supplier of battery materials for lithium-ion batteries, we aim to contribute to sustainable battery materials value chain and make e-mobility a practical reality for everyone.
Digitalization accelerates research
We generate more than 100 million data points every day when we test our material in small test batteries. Machine learning and our supercomputer Quriosity help predict and analyze material properties, accelerating our research.
Where will our battery materials take you?
We believe the development of advanced emission control technologies and the increasing demand for electric powered cars will help reduce emissions and increase air quality on a global scale. Fewer emissions will make our world a better place to live by reducing the impact of air pollution in inner cities and creating a positive effect on the health of the population.
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Deep dive into battery materials research
Cathode active materials usually consist of mixed metal oxides. In the first step of the synthesis, various metal salts are precipitated using sodium hydroxide.
Our physical laboratory scientist examines a sample he took from the fully automated sampler. By means of analytical methods, he can determine the particle size distribution of the sample, which significantly influences the properties of the end product.
In addition to cathode active materials for lithium-ion batteries, BASF is working on components for next-generation batteries, such as all-solid-state batteries.
Chemical laboratory scientists discuss the next steps to measure the conductivity of a solid electrolyte. This value is later used in the calculation of the specific conductivity, an important parameter for characterizing the battery.
:16x9?dpr=off&fmt=webp-alpha&fit=crop%2C1&wid=1280&hei=720 "Immer mehr Elektroautos werden jedes Jahr weltweit zugelassen. Gleichzeitig sind die Rohstoffe für ihre Batterien begrenzt und deren Gewinnung ist mit negativen Umweltauswirkungen verbunden. BASF-Forscher am Standort Ludwigshafen arbeiten daher an einem neuen chemischen Verfahren, damit das in der Batterie enthaltene Lithium in hochreiner Form zurückgewonnen werden kann. Dabei werden zudem Abfälle vermieden und der CO2-Fußabdruck gegenüber bisherigen Recyclingverfahren gesenkt. Laborantin Theresa Simon prüft die Kristallisation der Lithiumsalze in einem Laborreaktor.")
More and more electric cars are registered worldwide every year. At the same time, the raw materials for the batteries are limited and their mining is associated with negative environmental impact. BASF researchers at the Ludwigshafen site therefore develop a new chemical process to recycle the lithium contained in the battery in high purity. This will also avoid waste and reduce the CO2 footprint compared to state-of-the-art recycling processes. A lab technician checks the crystallization of the lithium salts in a laboratory reactor.
