The speed and scope of the world's acceptance of electric vehicles are getting closer and closer, especially in areas where mileage anxiety is not serious. For example, in Norway, where electric vehicles are very popular, the whole country is smaller than our Yunnan province, and the commuting time is very short.
Even for the most advanced electric vehicles, the time required to fully charge is a practical problem faced by potential customers. However, these concerns will soon be quelled by solid-state battery technology, which will change the industry rules of electric vehicles. This progress will shorten the fast charging time by half and greatly increase the cruising range-which almost eliminates the shortcomings of electric vehicles. This should make hesitant consumers more confident when choosing pure electric vehicles.
Solid state battery and lithium ion battery
As the name implies, solid-state batteries are batteries made of solid electrolyte instead of liquid. Differences in materials used to make batteries and related chemical changes enable batteries to store more energy (also known as energy density) in the same volume. Compared with lithium-ion batteries, the advantage of this new technology is that it is possible to increase the cruising range by 50% to 80%.
Removing most organic materials from lithium-ion batteries will bring more benefits. It accelerates the charging speed by reducing the chemical bottleneck, and realizes the charging of 10% to 80% in less than 15 minutes. In addition, not using minerals such as cobalt and nickel can reduce the overall cost and carbon emissions. By removing toxic and flammable organic electrolytes, the safety is greatly improved and the fire risk is reduced.
What's wrong with solid-state batteries?
Although solid-state batteries have obvious advantages, it is not easy to replace the industrial position of lithium batteries. Although solid-state batteries need less natural resources, the production cost of solid electrolyte is high, so lithium-ion batteries are still relatively cheap. As economies of scale gradually reduce costs, this will not be a big problem, but there is another problem.
Solid-state batteries are ideal and very good from a commercial point of view. However, companies that specialize in developing this technology, such as QuantumScape, are worried that the demand will exceed their production capacity-at least in the short term, because every automobile manufacturer has completely joined the trend of electric vehicles (or soon) and hopes that this technology will power their cars.
With the continuous expansion of automobile demand, it will be difficult for solid-state battery manufacturers to meet such high demand. This means that lithium-ion battery technology will continue to be developed and manufactured with newcomers. At the same time, other battery technologies may appear, which is certainly not a bad thing. When considering the overall demand of power grid, consumer electronics and other things, the world will need to fully produce all types of batteries.
Solid-state battery in electric vehicle
Although lithium-ion batteries provide power for today's electric vehicles, automobile manufacturers have realized the limitations of lithium-ion batteries. Therefore, solid-state batteries are highly anticipated. However, at present, there is no solid-state battery to supply power to production cars, but many companies have been developing this technology 10 years or even longer.
Surprisingly, the leader in this field is not Tesla, but Toyota. Since 20 12, this Japanese manufacturer has developed more than 1000 design-related patents, which is more than any other automobile manufacturer. They claim that they can travel nearly 700 kilometers on a single charge. Under the same conditions, the mileage of the electric vehicle being developed will be more than twice that of the traditional lithium-ion battery vehicle.
Toyota announced the establishment of a joint venture with Panasonic to establish Prime Planet Energy and Solutions, a company specializing in solid-state batteries for automobiles. With this strategic partnership and emphasis on development, Toyota is expected to realize the first functional mass production of solid-state batteries. Their goal is to become the first electric car company to sell this battery in the mid-1920s. After all, the company created the Prius, the first car of its kind, so it has more than 20 years of battery expertise.
With the increasing pressure from governments around the world to reduce emissions and increase fuel mileage, manufacturers are scrambling to use the design of inferior lithium-ion batteries. However, through solid-state technology, these next-generation batteries are safer, more efficient and have better performance. Its cruising range far exceeds that of any leading electric vehicle today, and its charging time is faster. This innovation is expected to change not only the rules of the game of electric vehicles, but also the whole industry.