First Cobalt does not feel setback through cobalt-free batteries
Tesla founder Elon Musk has announced first trials with batteries that do not use the battery metal.

After First Cobalt (TSX-V: FCC; OTCQX: FTSSF) posted his vision of dumping cobalt from its batteries, he said Elon Musk would face a "daunting challenge" if he wanted to dump the blue metal. First Cobalt describes itself as a North American pure cobalt company with its own refinery in Ontario, Canada. Yesterday, Musk announced several technical developments to advance battery technology at Tesla. Trent Mell, CEO of First Cobalt, said cobalt is a crucial part of battery chemistry. "Despite years of attempts to remove cobalt from batteries, it has proven to be a daunting challenge because of its importance to battery safety and cell life," Mell said in a press release. "Instead, battery manufacturers have chosen to reduce the amount of cobalt in a cell in order to reduce costs while maintaining the integrity of the battery. This is the battery development trend predicted by almost all market experts, with the nickel-cobalt-manganese ( NCM) cathode remains the predominant chemistry, "Mell said in a press release. Mell added that most of Tesla's competitors are developing their electrification plans based on NCM battery technologies. In a research note, BMO said abandoning cobalt could cut costs significantly, citing the change as Musk's key announcement during Battery Day. "From a raw materials perspective, the main announcement was a commitment to achieve a high nickel cathode that does not contain cobalt and instead contains 2/3 nickel and 1/3 manganese, possibly with aluminum, which would make it an NMA formulation. While capacity issues appear to be a problem with all high nickel formulations, this next generation cathode could increase vehicle range by 4% while reducing cost and investment per GWH by 5% and 16%, respectively, although there is no timeline for completion Technology was specified, "BMO Capital Research said in a statement released on Wednesday.





