Contact: [email protected]

A study led by researchers at the University of Michigan and Ford Motor Co. found that the U.S. could mine enough graphite to build batteries for electric vehicles and other applications, even if economics and geopolitics make it complex. 

Graphite is a mineral used in the electrodes of batteries used for electric vehicles and in grid storage. Currently, all graphite that is battery-grade in the U.S. is sourced from abroad, but in August, the U.S. Department of Energy announced funding opportunities totaling nearly $1 billion to encourage the mining and processing of such energy-critical materials.

“Currently, China dominates the global supply of graphite and there are concerns about supply chain security,” said Gregory Keoleian, professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) and co-director of the Center for Sustainable Systems (CSS).

In this study, Keoleian and colleagues from U-M and Ford sought to find out if the U.S. would be able to mine enough graphite domestically to meet its anticipated demand between now and 2040. The answer is technically yes, but the team projected that, over the next 15 years, demand for battery-grade graphite from mines will reach nearly 2 million metric tons in the U.S., while the country’s supply of natural graphite amounts to more than 7 million metric tons. 

Still, the full issue is more nuanced when other considerations, such as cost and quality, are factored in.

The research team included Stephen Kesler, professor emeritus at the U-M Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and two more members from CSS: Christian Hitt, a research area specialist, and lead author Sarah Gorman, who earned her master’s degree while working on the project. Hyung Chul Kim, Robert De Kleine and James Anderson from Ford also contributed to the study.

Read the full press release on the Michigan News website. 

Study: US graphite sourcing for electric vehicle battery applications (DOI: 10.1111/jiec.70104)