Hey! Sorry for the weird heading. I live in a country where EV’s are everywhere and I keep hearing debates about the need and possibility for range increase. Today I overheard a discussion between two people about batteries in the near future.
Person A argued that the range increase and battery improvememts in EVs have been so great the last 10 years and this is indicative of it being a technology that will just keep on improving – and we just have to have some patience before the batteries and range will improve even more.
Person B argued that while thats true, a lot of the range improvememts now aday are due to more aerodynamic cars and that seeing as a battery is a chemical process, we are closer and closer to hitting the limit of batteries without any significant scientific breakthrough.
Im fairly uneducated in this field and find it hard to evaluate whos right. Person Bs arguements seemed more trustworthy, but it doesnt mean that hes right.
So my questions are: Who’s “right” and why? Will batteries in EVs keep improving significantly or have we already seen the biggest improvememts?
Thanks a lot in advance!
In: Chemistry
We may be nearing the limits of significant (2x or higher) improvement to EV range with Lithium Ion batteries. The cost, weight and size have gone down due to some improvements in chemistry and assembly, but I doubt they can go a whole lot further.
However, there are dozens and dozens of promising new chemistries for batteries being developed. All it takes is for one of those to come through in the next decade to give us that next big leap in range. Also, they are working on a lot alternatives to remove the “rare earths” and more expensive elements from batteries which could alleviate some of the social and environmental concerns as well.
They are also ramping up clean, cost-effective methods for battery recycling for when the first great wave of battery retirements hits around 2030. We should be ready for it.
All in all I have yet to hear a good argument against transitioning to EVs based on the limits of batteries. Most people could swap their car now for an EV and be just fine. But they are still expensive. The new Chevy Equinox EV is supposed to come in at under 30k after incentives, though.
The best argument against EVs is that we should be reducing reliance on cars overall, which I agree with. In most towns, transit should be improved and we should walk and bike more.
Latest Answers