This Is What's Hard About Building a US Domestic Battery Industry

Manufacturing

The production and manufacturing of graphite are crucial to the battery industry, with graphite forming a significant part of lithium-ion batteries. Chris Burns explains that graphite makes up about 40% of a battery's volume, serving as the negative electrode where lithium ions are stored 1. Novonix, his company, operates a 400,000 square foot facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where they process petroleum coke into synthetic graphite through a high-temperature furnace system 2.

We have a 400,000 square foot mass production site in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We bought it. It was a former GE facility where they were building nuclear turbines.

--- Chris Burns

This facility is part of a broader effort to meet the growing demand for graphite, with plans to expand production to meet the needs of major battery manufacturers like Panasonic and Tesla 2.

   

Processing Capacity

The global processing capacity for graphite is a significant bottleneck in the battery supply chain, largely due to China's dominance in this area. Chris Burns highlights that while graphite can be sourced globally, the processing is predominantly done in China, creating a dependency that needs to be addressed 3. This dominance is not just due to lower labor costs but also China's developed scale efficiency and expertise over the past two decades 4.

Over those past 20 years now, they've developed scale efficiency, and I mean, they've had subsidies throughout that way to incentivize their industry to become the dominant force here.

--- Chris Burns

To compete, other countries must develop their processing technologies and capacities, which is a complex and long-term endeavor 4.