From ‘devil’s metal’ to the holy grail: nickel’s bright future

Despite being discovered a few centuries ago, nickel has been dubbed a ‘commodity of the future,’ enjoying a groundswell of attention and investment as it becomes increasingly essential to supporting a decarbonising world. What is it, how is it used and who are the big players fighting to get a piece of the nickel pie?

Nickel is a naturally-occurring metallic element with a number of unique and valuable properties. The silvery-white metal is corrosion resistant, sturdy, highly ductile, malleable, has catalytic properties and is 100% recyclable. It is stable at high temperatures, alloys readily and is one of the few elements that is magnetic at room temperature. These properties have seen nickel used widely across industrial sectors and the construction industry over time, and increasingly in batteries for electric vehicles.

Nickel was first isolated and classified by Swedish chemist Axel Cronstedt in 1751. Unearthed in the cobalt mines of Hälsingland, Sweden, miners mistakenly thought the ore contained copper, and when unable to extract copper from it they blamed their troubles on the devil. Hence, ore containing nickel became known as the ‘devil’s metal’. The official name of the element was taken from a mischievous sprite of German miner mythology, Nickel (similar to Old Nick), again hearkening back to the trouble it brought miners attempting initially to refine it into copper.

With increasing awareness around climate change, consumer demand for electric vehicles is booming - which is great news for nickel, a key component of electric vehicle batteries. According to some estimates, electric vehicles are predicted to comprise more than half of global passenger car sales by 2040.  Many governments across the globe have committed to the production of electric vehicles to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. For example, China aims to have electric vehicles account for 20 per cent of new car sales by 2025.

Nickel is the preferred metal by mass in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles. It is prized for its high energy density: an increase of nickel in the battery cathode means electric vehicles can travel for longer distances before needing to be charged. Nickel is also less expensive than lithium and cobalt (also used in electric vehicle batteries), motivating car manufacturers to increase nickel in the battery metal mix to reduce costs. Currently, nickel comprises one third of nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) cathodes and 80 per cent of nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA) cathodes. This ratio is expected to tip even further in favour of nickel, as battery formulations evolve. As a result, the popularity of nickel outstrips numerous other precious metals and materials used in electric vehicles: nickel demand is expected to increase 14 times from 2019 to 2030, beating phosphorus, iron, copper, graphite, lithium, cobalt, and manganese.