Reshaping the EV landscape

The next generation of batteries is set to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, writes LionVolt’s Kevin Brundish

Electric vehicle adoption is clearly on the rise: in some markets, the share of new cars that are electric is pushing 20%, and it’s higher still in outliers like Norway, where 2023 uptake hovered around the 80% mark. These figures represent a steep curve in the past few years.

New research by Professor Kenneth Gillingham, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that recent adoption of EVs is driven overwhelmingly by technological advances, while general consumer preferences for EVs has changed little.

Improvements including increased battery range, faster charging, falling prices, and reduced operating costs have made EVs a more enticing option alongside their gas-powered counterparts.

Despite the increase in adoption seen in some markets, EVs still represent a tiny proportion of all vehicles on the road, and unless the technological advancements are driven further, there’s a danger that adoption rate will slow.
 
So, what needs to change in the EV landscape?
Beyond the natural laws of supply and demand, there’s a raft of important factors: environmental considerations; tax breaks that might accelerate them; other forms of government intervention and legislation; cost; supply chains; the dearth of supporting infrastructure, such as charging stations.

There is however one big consideration that would directly address consumer concerns. And that’s the technology at the heart of EVs. More specifically, we’re talking about batteries.

Batteries designed for vehicles focus on overcoming a wide range of challenges. Weight, cost and the sourcing of materials are all important. Beyond these, one factor stands out: the limitations posed by a battery’s range. The distance drivers can currently drive between charging just doesn’t inspire confidence in a sceptical market, with nearly 50% of consumers claiming they’d need a higher real-world range to consider switching from IC (internal combustion) vehicles to electric, according to a recent survey by GoCompare[DP1] [CG2]  – this is frustrating for anyone keen to see CO? emissions brought down by electrification. ?

Current setbacks such as low range and the slow charging associated[DP3] [MK4]  with batteries in current use present real hindrances to this goal. However, the solution could be closer than we think, and it comes in the form of the next generation of batteries. These new technologies could be key to far greater uptake at a scale that could set a steep new trend.

How are the next generation of batteries set to address consumer concerns?
Fundamental to these developments are advances in lithium-ion batteries. Battery packs that contain cells  that are much faster to charge than those currently used, and can extend range and performance, are essential to overcoming the challenges hindering the shift towards electrification.

For range, the science is centred on energy density. This is how much energy can be packed into each battery for a given size and weight. To achieve high density, we are seeing a shift from materials commonly used in today’s cells to more advanced products. New anode technologies, such as silicon and lithium, will increase energy density of batteries and correspondingly increase today’s range and can be ‘more easily adopted by the existing supply chain. But to get a significant increase, the production process involves switching the flammable liquid common to old-style batteries with a solid medium that’s non-flammable, or liquid electrolytes that are more fire retardant,

Faster charging, higher performance, intrinsically higher standards of safety, longer battery life and radically lowered carbon footprints are all obvious benefits to both drivers and the planet alike.

Extended range is the real gamechanger: driving ranges upwards of 800km – or about 500 miles – are no longer the stuff of EV drivers’ fevered imagination and could be the stepchange needed to see mass adoption.

The advantages don’t stop there - less reliance on an increasingly volatile energy market represents a huge incentive to make this work in the industry and beyond. In fact, larger versions of these batteries have the very real potential of fuelling hybrid electric aviation – if you pardon the pun, the sky really is the limit!

Kevin Brundish is CEO of LionVolt