The first batteries for electronic devices that do not contain cobalt have been developed by the Chinese manufacturer SVOLT. Their innovation was immediately utilized by the automotive company Great Wall Motors, which installed it in the electric car Ora Cherry Cat and recently showcased everything at the 'Chengdu Motor Show'. The Chinese have thus succeeded in achieving what many dream of – eliminating cobalt from lithium-ion batteries. For example, GM introduced the Ultium battery last year, which contains 70 percent less cobalt than other batteries, and Tesla has also announced that it will produce electric vehicles without cobalt.
However, it is difficult to obtain lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles without this steel-gray metal. Cobalt is, in fact, crucial for increasing energy density and battery lifespan as it maintains a stable structure of lithium ions. This hard and resilient metal is one of those elements that the development of portable devices has turned into a valuable commodity, but it has also gained the image of an undesirable raw material.
As much as 66 percent of cobalt on the global market comes from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but it is estimated that 20 percent of the miners there are children. And the world, as we know, has been very sensitive in recent days to the exploitation of child labor and the depletion of the planet.
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