It’s not clear how Lithium Werks’ €1.6 billion gigafactory will make any money

Within a year of being founded, Dutch startup Lithium Werks wants to fight with the big incumbents. Two weeks ago, it made an announcement that’s big news for the battery world: it had just signed an agreement to build a new battery factory in the Yangtze river delta, using an investment of €1.6 billion (around $1.8 billion)…

There are a number of types of lithium-ion battery chemistries, each with its own pros and cons. Overall, the biggest growth for lithium-ion batteries is expected in the electric-car sector. But LFP is unlikely to play a big role there, because though LFP batteries are safe and reliable, they can’t pack as much energy in the same volume or mass as batteries made using NMC chemistry. That, says Venkat Viswanathan, a battery expert at Carnegie Mellon University, means LFP chemistry is likely to remain limited to applications like power tools or electric buses.
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