The world is increasingly relying on energy from rechargeable batteries. In 2022, the share of electric vehicles in global car sales exceeded 10 percent, by the end of the decade it should be 30 percent. And policy action around the world will only accelerate that growth: Recent climate legislation in the US, for example, is pumping billions into battery manufacturing and incentives for EV purchases. And the European Union and several US states want to ban combustion engines in the next decade.
Most electric vehicles today are powered by lithium-ion batteries, a decades-old technology that is also known to be used in laptops and cell phones. Years of development have helped drive down prices and boost technical performance, allowing today’s EVs to begin to scratch the price tag of ICEs – and to be able to travel hundreds of miles between charges. Lithium-ion batteries are also finding new applications. They are more and more often found in intermediate storage systems for the power grid, which are intended to help balance out the fluctuating amounts of electricity from renewable sources such as wind and sun.
But there is still a lot of room for improvement. Both university labs and companies are looking for ways to improve battery technology – increase capacities, shorten charging times and (further) reduce costs. But at the same time, concerns about the availability of key battery materials such as cobalt and lithium are driving the search for alternatives to standard lithium-ion battery chemistry. 2023 could be a crucial year in this respect.
The reinvention of the battery
One area to watch this year is what are known as solid-state batteries. Lithium-ion batteries and chemically related systems use a liquid electrolyte material. Solid-state batteries are designed to store more energy in a smaller space, which would increase the range of electric vehicles. Ideally, the loading times are shorter and the risk of fire is reduced.
Solid state batteries can also use a wide range of battery materials. A leading candidate for commercialization is lithium metal. Quantumscape, for example, focuses on this technique and has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in investment funds prior to its 2020 IPO. The company has struck a deal with Volkswagen that will allow its batteries to be used in cars by 2025.
However, reinventing the battery is difficult. With lithium metal batteries, for example, there are concerns about wear and tear and manufacturing issues. But at the end of December Quantumscape announced that it has delivered the first samples to partners in the automotive industry for testing purposes – an important milestone on the way to the introduction of solid-state batteries in cars. Other suppliers of solid-state batteries such as Solid Power are also working on the development and want to carry out the first tests soon.
sodium instead of lithium
Solid state batteries aren’t the only new battery technology to watch out for this year. Sodium-ion batteries are another alternative. These batteries have a similar structure to lithium-ion batteries, including a liquid electrolyte, but instead of lithium they use sodium as the main ingredient. Chinese battery giant CATL is reportedly planning to start mass-producing these batteries as early as 2023.
While sodium-ion batteries are not inherently more powerful, they could reduce costs because they use cheaper and more readily available materials than lithium-ion batteries. However, it is not clear whether these batteries can meet the current requirements for range and charging time for electric vehicles. That’s why several companies trying to develop this technology – including the US company Natron – are initially targeting less demanding applications, such as stationary battery storage or e-bikes and scooters.
