Have you seen the headlines: This battery breakthrough will change electric car forever. And then… silence. You head to your local car dealership and all the cars look and feel the same.
WIRED was annoyed by this phenomenon. So we talked to battery technology experts about what's really going on with EV batteries. What technologies are here? Which probably will be, but not yet, so don't hold your breath? What probably won't happen anytime soon?
“It's easy to get excited about these things because batteries are so complex,” said Pranav Jaswani, technology analyst at IDTechEx, a market research company. “A lot of little things will have such a big effect.” That's why so many companies, including automakers, their suppliers and battery manufacturers, are experimenting with so many battery bits. Swap one electrical conductor material for another, and the range of an electric car battery can increase by 50 miles. Change the way battery packs are assembled, and an automaker can reduce production costs enough to give consumers savings on sales.
However, even small changes to production cars can take a long time – sometimes 10 years or more, experts say. “Obviously we want to make sure that everything we put into an electric vehicle works well and meets safety standards,” said Evelina Stoicu, who leads the battery technology and supply chain team at research firm BloombergNEF. Ensuring this means that scientists come up with new ideas and suppliers figure out how to implement them; automakers, in turn, thoroughly test each iteration. At the same time, everyone is asking the most important question: does this improvement make financial sense?
Therefore, it is quite logical that not all discoveries in the laboratory reach implementation. Here are the ones that really make a difference, and the ones that haven't quite worked, at least so far.
This is really happening
All major battery breakthroughs have something in common: they involve… lithium-ion battery. There are other battery chemistries—more on them later—but it will be difficult to catch up with the dominant battery form in the next decade. “Lithium-ion technology is already very mature,” Stoicu said. Many players have invested a lot of money in this technology, so “anything new will have to compete with the status quo.”
Lithium iron phosphate
Why is this interesting?: LFP batteries use iron and phosphate instead of more expensive and hard to find ones nickel And cobaltwhich are found in ordinary lithium ion batteries. They are also more stable and degrade slower after multiple charges. The takeaway: LFP batteries can help lower the cost of producing an electric vehicle, which is especially important as Western electric makers struggle to compete on costs with conventional gasoline-powered vehicles. LFP batteries are already common in China, and they are going to become more popular in European and American electric vehicles in the coming years.
Why is it difficult: LFP is less power-hungry than alternatives, meaning you can't pack as much charge (or range) into each battery.
More Nickel
Why is this interesting: The increased nickel content of lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries increases energy density, which means more range in the battery pack without increasing its size and weight. Additionally, more nickel may mean less cobalt, a metal that and expensive and ethically questionable to obtain.
Why is it difficult: Batteries with higher nickel content are potentially less stable, meaning they are at higher risk of cracking or “thermal failure,” which can lead to fire. This means that battery manufacturers experimenting with different nickel contents must spend more time and energy carefully developing their products. This extra fuss means extra expense. For this reason, we can expect an increase in the use of nickel in higher-end electric vehicle batteries.
Dry electrode process
Why is this interesting?: Typically, battery electrodes are made by mixing materials with a solvent slurry, which is then applied to the metal foil of the current collector, dried and pressed. The dry electrode process reduces the use of solvents by mixing materials into dry powder form before application and lamination. Less solvency means fewer environmental, health and safety problems. And eliminating the drying process can save production time and increase efficiency while reducing the physical costs required to produce batteries. All of this could lead to cheaper production, “which should lead to cheaper cars,” Jaswani said. Tesla has already introduced the dry anode process into battery production. (The anode is the negative electrode that stores lithium ions as the battery charges.) LG and Samsung SGI are also working on pilot production lines.
Why is it difficult: Using dry powders may be more technically challenging.
From cell to packaging
Why is this interesting?: In a standard electric vehicle battery, the individual battery cells are grouped into modules, which are then assembled into blocks. The situation is different with cell-packing, in which cells are placed directly into the package structure without a middle module step. This allows battery makers to fit more batteries into the same space and could result in about 50 miles more range and a higher top speed, Jaswani said. This also reduces production costs, savings that can be passed on to the car buyer. Major automakers including Tesla and BYD, as well as Chinese battery giant CATL, are already using the technology.
Why is it difficult: Without modules, it will be more difficult to control overheating and maintain the battery structure. Additionally, the lack of a battery makes it much more difficult to replace a faulty battery, meaning smaller defects may require opening or even replacing the entire battery.
Silicon anodes
Why is this interesting?: Lithium-ion batteries have graphite anodes. Adding Silicon to the MixHowever, it can have huge advantages: more energy reserves (which means a longer range) and faster charging, which can take between six and 10 minutes to charge. Tesla is already adding some silicon to its graphite anodes, and other automakers are… Mercedes-Benz, General Motors — they say they are approaching mass production.
Why is it difficult: Lithium-doped silicon expands and contracts during the charge and discharge cycle, which can cause mechanical stress and even fracture. Over time, this can cause the battery to lose capacity more rapidly. For now, you're most likely to find silicon anodes in smaller batteries, such as those found in phones or even motorcycles.
It's kind of happening
Battery technology in the more speculative segment has gone through a lot of testing. But it's still not exactly where most manufacturers are building production lines and putting it into cars.
Sodium-ion batteries
Why is this interesting: Sodium is everywhere! Compared to lithium, the element is cheaper, easier to find and easier to process, meaning that tracking materials to make sodium-ion batteries could disrupt automakers' supply chains. The batteries also perform better in extreme temperatures and are more stable. Chinese battery manufacturer CATL says it will start mass production batteries next year and that batteries could eventually cover 40 percent of the Chinese passenger car market.
Why is it difficult: Sodium ions are heavier than their lithium counterparts, so they typically store less energy per battery. This may make them more suitable for storing batteries than for vehicles. It's also early days for this technology, which means fewer suppliers and fewer time-tested manufacturing processes.
Solid State Batteries
Why is this interesting: Automakers were promising for many years that revolutionary solid-state batteries are just around the corner. This would be great if this were true. This technology replaces the liquid or gel electrolytes in conventional lithium-ion batteries with solid electrolytes. These electrolytes must have different chemical compositions, but they all have great advantages: greater energy density, faster charging, greater durability, fewer safety risks (no liquid electrolyte means no leaks). Toyota says it I'll finally launch it its first cars with solid-state batteries in 2027 or 2028. BloombergNEF projects that by 2035, solid-state batteries will account for 10 percent of electric vehicle and battery production.
Why is it difficult: Some solid electrolytes do not perform well at low temperatures. However, the biggest challenges lie in production. Assembly of these new batteries requires new equipment. It is very difficult to build defect-free electrolyte layers. And the industry has not agreed on what solid electrolyte to use, making supply chains difficult.
Maybe it will happen
Good ideas don't always make sense in the real world.
Wireless charging
Why is this interesting?: Park your car, get out and let it charge while you wait—no plugs required. Wireless charging could be the height of convenience, and some automakers are pushing for it. Porsche, for example. demonstrates the prototypewith plans to release the real thing next year.
Why is it difficult: The problem, according to Jaswani, is that the technology behind the chargers we have works great and is much cheaper to install. He expects wireless charging to eventually appear in some limited use cases, such as buses that can charge along their route if they stop at a charging pad. But the technology may never truly become mainstream, he said.
