DRC Take Note: China’s BYD Says It’ll No Longer Used Cobalt in Its Electric Vehicles

Image via BYD.

Shenzhen-based electric vehicle giant BYD (aka Build Your Dreams), the world’s second-largest EV-maker, recently made a stunning announcement that it will no longer use cobalt in any of its vehicles. Instead, the company is going all-in on LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) batteries in place of NCM (nickel, cobalt, manganese) across its entire model line-up.

Last year Telsa said that it too was exploring a cobalt-free battery but, unlike BYD, has yet to make any announcements that it would actually make the switch.

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

OR

Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More
by Eric Olander

Most Read

1
Developing Countries’ Debt Servicing Costs to China Are Significant, but Nowhere Near as Much as Other Creditors
2 Chinese Military Fans Discuss Why Indonesia Bought Rafale Instead of J-10C
3
Chinese Cargo Planes Secretly Ferrying Supplies to Iran, Claim Online Sleuths
4
Indonesia Goes Nuclear, Taps China and Russia for Modular Reactors
5 Trump’s Contradictory Iran Strategy Leaves U.S. Weaker After War’s End, Says Chinese Commentator
6
Thailand in Last-Minute U.S. Talks as 36% Tariff Looms

You Might Like

The Road to a Clean Energy Future Runs Through the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The former President of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jeanine Mabunda Lioko, wrote an impassioned appeal for the world to recognize the important contribution that the DRC will make to the ...

Demand for EV Battery Materials is Surging Putting Renewed Focus on Where These Strategic Resources Come From and China’s Role in Processing Them

With new electric-powered sports cars like Ford’s Mach-E and Audi’s e-tron Quattro selling well, demand is surging for the strategic minerals and metals that are used to make the batteries in those vehicles. Sales ...

China’s EV Battery Industry Headed in Two Seemingly Opposite Directions

Chinese chemicals manufacturer Jiangsu Lopal Tech announced a new joint venture with a Chinese fertiliser company to build a new factory to manufacture materials for use in lithium iron phosphate ...

Chinese EV Battery Makers Push New Cobalt-Free Power Packs

Two seemingly contradictory trends are underway in China’s electric vehicle battery market. On the one hand, there’s a greater push to import ever-larger quantities of cobalt from the Democratic Republic ...

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.

More about CGSP