In most lithium-ion batteries, ions are moved by a liquid electrolyte. However, a slight damage of the battery may cause leakage of electrolyte, causing explosion or fire. Thus, people are looking into alternatives such as solid-state batteries, which can be made using inorganic ceramic material or organic polymers. Elastomers, or synthetic rubbers have superior mechanical properties. It has been found that this material when formulated into a 3D structure, acted as a superhighway for fast lithium-ion transport with superior mechanical toughness, resulting in longer charging batteries that can go farther. A team made of scientist from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Georgia Institute of Technology is working on the rubber battery development. (1)
According to Reference 1, this rubber electrolyte is made during a simple polymerization process at low temperatures, this process generates robust and smooth interfaces on the surface of electrodes. These unique characteristics of the rubber electrolytes prevent lithium dendrite growth but allow a faster moving ions!
According to Reference 2, The rubber electrolyte-based lithium metal batteries allow high energy density exceeding 410 Watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kgelectrode+electrolyte) and maintained a high energy density of 235 Wh/kgelectrode+electrolyte at a power density of 184 Wh/kgelectrode+electrolyte. Thus, electric vehicles equipped with the rubber electrolytes-based Li batteries can travel over 490 miles on a single charge, while that with conventional Li-ion batteries can do only 310 miles.
Semiconductors are substances with properties somewhere between a conductor and an insulator; conductors conduct electricity and insulators do not conduct electricity. Integrated circuits (ICs), diodes, transistors and other electronic discrete components are made of semiconductors, whereas the materials of semiconductors are gallium arsenide,indium antimonide,germanium and mainly silicon. Silicon forms most of ICs. (1)
Metals, semiconductors and insulators are distinguished from each others by their band structures. Their band structures are shown in the figure below.
In metals, the conduction band and the valence band are very closer to each other. In semiconductors and insulators, the valance band and conduction band are separated by a forbidden energy gap（Eg）of sufficient width. In semiconductors at room temperature, the band gap is small, electrons jump the gap fairly easily, given the semiconductor limited conductivity. Semiconductor crystal used for ICs is high purity single crystal silicon, but impurities are often added to modify the electrical properties. Depending on the added impurities, there are n-type and p-type semiconductors. For details, please review Reference 1.
A semiconductor chip is an electric circuit with many transistors and wiring formed on a semiconductor wafer. An IC comprises numerous these components. A semiconductor is made by two steps: wafer processing and front-end process and back-end process. Wafer processing is further divided into deposition, photoresist coating, and etching. For details, please review Reference 1. These steps are tedious process, requiring precision and skills.
Semiconductors are in short supply because of big demand for electronics and effects from former President Donald Trump’s trade war. (2)
Later, because of COVID-19, supply chains are disturbed. This worsens the situation.
In the year 2021, semiconductor chip shortage costs the global automotive industry maybe up to USD200 billion or more in revenue. These shortages have slowed down several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in production; thus, further extending the waiting period of certain vehicle models. As a result (one of the results), used car sellers across markets, including India, are enjoying a boom in demand. (3)
Who makes semiconductors for Tesla?
I would guess, it is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM), because it is the largest manufacturer in the world.
Nope, my guess is wrong. According to the reference that I am reading, it is Samsung Electronics Co. Samsung will manufacture Tesla Inc.’s next-generation hardware 4 (HW 4.0) chip for its fully autonomous driving technology. (1)
What semiconductor company does Ford use?
I would guess, it is TSM. My guess is wrong again. According to Reference 1, it is going to be GlobalFoundries Inc.
Who make semiconductors for GM?
I am not going to guess this time, Reference 1 says Qualcomm Inc., STMicroelectronics NV, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Renasas Electronics Corp., ON Semiconductor Corp., NXP Semiconductors NV and Infineon Technologies AG are the chips supplier for GM.
Let's go back to talk about Ford:
Due to significant consumer demand, Ford has announced it will make 150k of the trucks a year by 2023 at a Michigan plant (~4x its initial output estimate). (2) Ford Motor’s 2021 sales fell 6.8% from the year-earlier period but ends with strong fourth quarter. Ford had a wonderful fourth quarter, selling 508,451 vehicles, a 27% increase over the previous quarter. Overall, the U.S. automotive industry sold 15.1 million vehicles in 2021, Ford sold 1.9 million vehicles. Ford is at the third-place U.S. sales position behind General Motors (GM) and Toyota Motor. (3)
Ford Moter Company CEO is James “Jim” D. Farley, Jr., effective October 1, 2020. In his previous role as Chief Operating Officer, Farley worked to strengthen Ford’s automotive operations, Farley also represents Ford on the U.S. China Business Council Board of Directors and has been appointed co-chair of the Future of Mobility Commission. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, UCLA, he graduated from the Anderson School of Management with a degree in management. (4)
How Ford CEO Jim Farley Plans to Transform an American Icon | Leading Through Change | Salesforce (Note: This interview was done about a year ago.)
What is the most expensive part in an electric vehicle? Semiconductors, since we are in shortage of semiconductors. Probably not, I heard it is the battery. A Finnish man bought his Tesla in 2013, and now, mechanics said he’d need the “whole battery cell” replaced, at a price of 20,000 euros, or about $23,900. (1)
Tesla has signed an agreement last month with Australia's Syrah Resources, which operates one of the world’s largest graphite mines in the southern African country. It's a unique partnership between an electric vehicle manufacturer and a producer of the mineral that is critical for lithium-ion batteries, according to the news that I read. Tesla will buy the material processed from its plant in Vidalia, Louisiana, and it sources graphite from its mine in Balama, Mozambique. Tesla plans to buy up 80% of what the plant produces about 8,000 tons of graphite annually — starting in 2025. Syrah must prove the material based on Tesla’s standards. (2)
According to other sources, Tesla is changing the battery cell chemistry that it uses in its standard range vehicles. As mentioned above, the new batteries will use a lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) chemistry rather than nickel-cobalt-aluminum which Tesla will continue to use in its longer-range vehicles. The move is likely a way for Tesla to increase profit margins on its cars, while not necessarily having to raise prices. In fact, Tesla is already making vehicles with LFP chemistry at its factory in Shanghai, and the top producers of these types of battery cells are CATL and BYD. Tesla is already procuring batteries from CATL, Tesla sells those cars in China, the Asia-Pacific region, and Europe. (3)
Chip shortage makes General Motors no longer the top seller of vehicles in the US, as of January 4, 2022. Toyota, which reportedly sold about 114,000 more vehicles than GM in 2021. GM reported that total sales were down almost 13 percent last year due to semiconductor shortages and GM has had to cut features from some vehicles, such as wireless chargers and HD radios, due to supply issues. (Source: https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/4/22867285/gm-toyota-us-top-selling-automaker-chip-shortage)
Meanwhile, GM on last Tuesday (1/4/2022) introduced CarBravo, a website that will list all the used car inventory across GM's participating dealerships as well as used cars owned by GM and its finance arm. According to the news that I am reading, there are 400,000 used vehicles in dealer inventory on an ongoing basis. For sure, this will promote GM's business. Currently, dealers sell about 2.5 million used cars a year. GM and GM Financial have an additional 500,000 used cars in stock each year.
(https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/01/11/gm-carbravo-used-vehicle-car-retail-carmax-carvana/9171201002/)
Another source points out that GM made it the rule that lease holders could no longer sell their vehicles outside the GM dealership network at the end of the term, which should help to bolster the available inventory on CarBravo. (https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a38738514/gm-launches-carbravo-sales-website/)
Andrew Bary, Barron, named GM as one of his top stock picks for 2022, he believes General Motors is fast becoming one of the most exciting players in the electric-vehicle space. (https://www.barrons.com/articles/buy-gm-stock-pick-evs-51642111070)
Well, I won't disagree with him. On the other hand, Ford and Tesla are also key players in the EV industry. Ford CEO Jim Farley, leading the company’s battery vehicle plans, said in late 2021 that it would double production of both the fast-selling Mach-E electric crossover to 80,000 units in 2022. Then later he claimed that Ford would also boost its annual production target for the new F-150 Lightning pickup to 150,000 units from a previous 80,000-truck goal. According to another news that I am reading, Ford didn’t design a completely new platform for the Lightning, it simply modifies its existing F-150 design. This decision has enabled Ford to move FASTER to market. The Lightning, unveiled in May 2021, starts with a base price of $39,974 (before federal and state incentives) and driving range of 230 miles per charge. Top-end models will cost more than $90,000. Tesla CEO Elon Musk also promised that the Cybertruck would have a base price of $39,900 and a range of 250 miles per charge. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2022/01/13/fords-amped-up-electric-vehicle-strategy-boost-shares-tops-gms-market-cap/?sh=4b0a533b365c)
But,Recently, reference to a 2022 production schedule was scrubbed from its website, production of the vehicle won’t begin until the first quarter of 2023. （https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/13/22881646/tesla-cybertruck-production-date-2022-removed-website）
