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Linking cell design and production energy demand to estimate environmental impacts of NMC lithium‐ion batteries
Division of Environmental Systems Analysis, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9228-8579
Division of Electric Power Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7203-6243
Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, Society, environment and transport, Environment. Division of Environmental Systems Analysis, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7455-7341
Northvolt AB, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0009-0009-0709-4357
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2025 (English)In: Journal of Industrial Ecology, ISSN 1088-1980, E-ISSN 1530-9290, Vol. 29, no 6, p. 2039-2052Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Life cycle assessment of several common lithium-ion battery (LIB) cell designs is hindered by lack of cell-specific large-scale production data. This issue is further exacerbated by the fact that automotive manufacturers deploy diverse LIB cell types optimized to meet specific application demands through variations in chemistry, internal design, and format, posing significant challenges in assessing the environmental impacts of different cell types. To address this, this study proposes a parameterization methodology that links cell design parameters, such as electrode and casing area, and cell energy with production processes to investigate the influence of cell type on climate and resources impacts. The parameterization methodology is applied across 14 cell types employing graphite and nickel manganese cobalt oxide electrodes, varying in format, internal design, and nickel content. Results reveal substantial variability in energy demand during production when reported per cell, ranging from 1 to 30 kWh/cell for electricity and 2 to 50 MJ/cell for cooling. When reported per kWhcell the variation is smaller, 61–63 kWh/kWhcell for electricity and 107 MJ/kWhcell for cooling. Impacts of power-optimized cells are higher than energy-optimized cells due to larger negative electrodes of the former. Cylindrical cells have lower impacts than prismatic cells owing to their superior volumetric efficiency. Higher volumetric efficiency of single- over four-jelly rolls in prismatic cells also yielded lower impacts. Thus, pointing to the importance of internal cell design when assessing environmental impacts. Finally, higher-nickel-content chemistries exhibit reduced climate and resource impacts due to a decreased reliance on cobalt which has higher impact during extraction and production.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2025. Vol. 29, no 6, p. 2039-2052
Keywords [en]
Climate change impacts, life cycle assessment, lithium-ion batteries, parameterization, resource use impacts, scaling
National Category
Environmental Management Energy Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:vti:diva-22306DOI: 10.1111/jiec.70125ISI: 001636695600001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105021584791OAI: oai:DiVA.org:vti-22306DiVA, id: diva2:2015229
Note

Research funding provided by the Swedish Electromobility Center, grant no. 13063 (2023-25).

Available from: 2025-11-20 Created: 2025-11-20 Last updated: 2026-03-17Bibliographically approved

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Nordelöf, Anders

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