Twenty-one years ago, Bart Riley and co-founders bet their short-lived company, A123 Systems, on batteries free of nickel and cobalt. They believed the battery technology offered several benefits for automakers in the then-nascent electric vehicle space.

The Massachusetts-based startup pitched Tesla on its batteries between 2008 and 2011, Riley recalled, but he said the automaker didn't want them. (Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.) A123 Systems tried to sell General Motors batteries for the Chevrolet Bolt. But GM went with LG batteries, which relied on nickel and cobalt. Ultimately, A123 Systems was never profitable. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2012. The bankruptcy drew the ire of then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and was one of several failed renewable energy investments over which conservatives criticized Obama.

While his company lost, the battery Riley bet on -- lithium iron phosphate, called LFP -- is increasingly winning.

Demand for nickel and cobalt has surged in recent years and automakers are adopting strategies to hedge against the turbulent market. Tesla has changed its tune and said in April that nearly half of its vehicles sold in the first three months of the year do not include nickel or cobalt.

Batteries like what Riley envisioned are gaining popularity as automakers are increasingly interested in avoiding nickel and cobalt, which are rare as well as difficult and fraught to extract from the earth.

By: DocMemory
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