Semi-finished product · Electronic components
Lithium-ion cell
One kilogram of lithium-ion battery cells
This page shows what the product is made of and where each figure comes from. It shows no death toll. The toll is computed from this bill of materials from session 19, and published only once it has an uncertainty interval and has passed a backtest.
The cells of an electric car's battery, NMC532 chemistry, as modelled in Argonne's GREET from BatPaC 4.0: a 70.6 kWh pack for a 300-mile battery electric vehicle, whose cells weigh 254.63 kg — 3.6 kg of cell per kilowatt-hour. Consumer electronics use lithium cobalt oxide cells, which hold far more cobalt per kilogram; this is not that cell, and a phone's battery is not modelled with it.
- Overall grade — high
- Status — draft
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What it is made of
Each line is one component of one kilogram of lithium-ion battery cells: how much of it goes in, how much had to be produced for that, and where the figure comes from.
| Component | Quantity | Source |
|---|---|---|
|
NMC cathode powder
part |
476 g | Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition…
· high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 121.11 kg of cathode active material in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 475.63 g per kilogram of cell |
|
Natural graphite
part |
244 g | Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition…
· high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 62.07 kg of graphite in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 243.77 g per kilogram of cell. Graphite is not in HumanToll's materials register, so this mass reaches no supply chain Registered as the material `graphite` on 2026-09-18 from USGS natural graphite. SYNTHETIC graphite, a large share of real anode material, is made from petroleum coke and is not this material; the source does not say which this is, and natural graphite is the assumption. |
|
Copper
part |
86.3 g | Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition…
· high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 21.97 kg of copper, the anode current collector in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 86.28 g per kilogram of cell |
|
Aluminium
part |
48.6 g | Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition…
· high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 12.38 kg of aluminium, the cathode current collector in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 48.62 g per kilogram of cell |
|
Ethylene carbonate (electrolyte solvent) part |
45.3 g | Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition…
· high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 11.53 kg of ethylene carbonate in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 45.28 g per kilogram of cell |
|
Dimethyl carbonate (electrolyte solvent) part |
45.3 g | Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition…
· high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 11.53 kg of dimethyl carbonate in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 45.28 g per kilogram of cell |
|
Lithium hexafluorophosphate (electrolyte salt) part |
16.2 g | Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition…
· high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 4.13 kg of LiPF6 in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 16.22 g per kilogram of cell. The salt is 4.6% lithium by molar mass; it is carried whole here, not split |
|
Polyvinylidene fluoride binder part |
14.9 g | Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition…
· high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 3.79 kg of PVDF binder in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 14.88 g per kilogram of cell |
|
Carbon black (conductive additive) part |
9.90 g | Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition…
· high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 2.52 kg of carbon black in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 9.9 g per kilogram of cell |
|
Polypropylene (separator and casing) part |
9.74 g | Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition…
· high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 2.48 kg of polypropylene in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 9.74 g per kilogram of cell |
|
Polyethylene terephthalate part |
2.28 g | Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition…
· high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 0.58 kg of PET in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 2.28 g per kilogram of cell |
|
Polyethylene (separator) part |
2.20 g | Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition…
· high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 0.56 kg of polyethylene in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 2.2 g per kilogram of cell |
Down to raw materials
The whole chain multiplied out — everything one kilogram of lithium-ion battery cells needs, through every intermediate product, with every loss on the way included.
| Input | Per functional unit |
|---|---|
| Bauxite | 194 g |
| Cobalt | 59.8 g |
| Copper | 86.3 g |
| Lithium | 34.0 g |
| Manganese | 80.8 g |
| Natural graphite | 244 g |
| Nickel | 148 g |
| Carbon black (conductive additive) (not in the register) | 9.90 g |
| Dimethyl carbonate (electrolyte solvent) (not in the register) | 45.3 g |
| Electricity, calcination (not in the register) | 3.02 kWh |
| Ethylene carbonate (electrolyte solvent) (not in the register) | 45.3 g |
| Lithium hexafluorophosphate (electrolyte salt) (not in the register) | 16.2 g |
| Natural gas, precursor co-precipitation (not in the register) | 5.09 kWh |
| Oxygen, chemically bound (not in the register) | 153 g |
| Polyethylene (separator) (not in the register) | 2.20 g |
| Polyethylene terephthalate (not in the register) | 2.28 g |
| Polypropylene (separator and casing) (not in the register) | 9.74 g |
| Polyvinylidene fluoride binder (not in the register) | 14.9 g |
An input marked “not in the register” is counted by mass and reaches no supply chain yet. Industries appear as the euros or tonne-kilometres the bill of materials gives them.
How much of it is explicit
100% of this product’s mass is explicit in its own bill of materials.
Its whole chain draws on 1.15 kg of materials, losses included. 74% of that is registered raw materials — the part the model can trace harm to — 26% is inputs not yet in the register, and 0% is a declared remainder.
In the input–output model it belongs to “Manufacture of electrical equipment” (FIGARO industry C27).
In the input–output model it belongs to “Manufacture of electrical equipment” (FIGARO industry C27).
What uses it
Products whose own bill of materials includes this one.
- Lithium-ion battery pack — 811 g in one kilogram of assembled lithium-ion battery pack
The number this page does not show
The harm in this chain is not shown.
The model allocates the harm counted where each raw material is produced to the products that use it. That number is a count of people with a run behind it and no uncertainty interval yet, and nothing of that kind is published before the backtest of session 21. What this page can show without it is the structure: what the product is made of, and where each part of that knowledge comes from.