The Future of EV Batteries

- [Narrator] Electric cars are revolutionizing the automobile industry and lead researcher at Columbia, Melissa Lott says electric vehicles could play a crucial part in reducing the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.

- When we look at our own personal carbon footprints so the emissions that we are responsible for putting in the atmosphere, transportation is a big part of it.

And by switching to an electric vehicle something that doesn't have emissions coming from its tailpipe, we can directly impact the amount of greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere.

- [Narrator] Batteries in today's electric vehicles present challenges, like limited range and lifetime issues.

So could a new kind of battery solve that?

Researchers in Michigan are working on the next generation of batteries that would alleviate range anxiety and last longer.

Think of batteries as devices that store energy as chemicals and then convert it into electrical energy.

They do this through chemical reactions.

Ions move between two metal plates known as electrodes which are separated by a component called an electrolyte which is what makes batteries conductive.

Currently, lithium ion batteries are the standard for electric vehicles because they are fast charging, have a longer lifetime and use less energy to charge.

- So when we look at batteries in our electric vehicles today, we often are talking about lithium ion batteries.

These are batteries that we've managed to get something called energy density up which means we can store a lot of energy in a small space which is really important when we are taking that battery and literally moving it around with us as we move in our cars.

- [Narrator] The lithium ion battery has given life to electric cars.

They are the current standard and best option we have right now.

But they fall short in other areas.

One is their limited lifetime.

Over time they stop holding a charge, kind of like an old cell phone.

- Range in electric vehicle for lithium ion battery really is something like if you had a gasoline tank that shrunk in time.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] So if charging causes battery degradation over time, what about fast charging?

Fast charging works by sending more electrical current to the battery, making it charge quicker.

In an EV, that means waiting minutes instead of hours to power up.

- Fast charging does reduce the lifetime of most battery technologies and so you should not fast charge unless you have to fast charge.

You're much better off charging it slowly than rapidly charging it because that degrades the battery much more quickly.

- [Narrator] Another reason for concern is lithium ion batteries can overheat, sometimes even causing fires.

- A lot of the issues come from that liquid electrolyte.

It's actually not stable with the electrodes A and B, it's flammable.

- [Narrator] And lithium ion batteries are not the only single largest cost of an an EV.

They are also really heavy in part due to the large cooling system surrounding the battery pack to prevent overheating.

- Current generation lithium ion batteries weigh between 800 and 1400 pounds.

- [Narrator] Meaning lugging that heavy battery requires more energy and power.

- [Man] So this is a matter we have to consider, the mass of the batteries.

- [Narrator] And if you live in a region prone to cold winters, this will also negatively impact your battery range.

- Another thing is their range goes down as the temperature goes down significantly below room temperature.

In the winter, you'll see the range of your vehicle drops significantly, maybe 30%.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Today a team of researchers at the University of Michigan are trying to eliminate EV battery problems by building a better battery called a solid state battery that is about half the size and has a much higher energy capacity.

Meaning electric vehicles could go twice as far on a single charge.

- So right now there's still questions about range anxiety and the safety of lithium ion batteries.

So these are issues that the solid state battery can directly address.

The solid state battery is the final frontier of lithium batteries.

It is the best lithium can be.

- [Narrator] Since both batteries use lithium, what's the difference?

- The difference between a lithium ion battery and a solid state battery is the form of the battery.

In a solid state battery, there is no liquid, there's nothing to combust and it uses metallic lithium.

The holy grail material.

The primary motivation for a solid state battery, it maximizes the amount of energy one can extract from lithium.

So what does this mean in terms of an electric vehicle?

The battery is gonna be the smallest it will ever be.

By reducing the weight of the battery we can do two things.

One, we can keep the battery pack the same size and extend the range that much further.

So instead of 300 miles, maybe we can go 450 or 400 miles or we can reduce the battery pack size and the weight of the battery pack to improve the overall efficiency.

- [Narrator] Instead of a heavy liquid electrolyte the solid state battery uses a paper thin ceramic or glass plate, which is much lighter and chemically stable, so they are less likely to start a fire.

- This is that ceramic electrolyte.

This is a material that can conduct lithium ion as fast as a liquid can because of its stability that can enable a battery that has an infinite lifetime.

- [Narrator] But there are challenges to mass producing these.

For one, the ceramic plates require delicate handling.

- [Man] There're technical aspects such as dealing with the brittle nature of the ceramics, the scaling, the cost of the ceramics.

- [Narrator] And right now there's no market for these kinds of batteries.

- There's also concern about is it growing too fast, right?

There is no solid state battery industry, but there's a lot of investment.

Billions with a B dollars are going into solid state batteries.

- You have a number of companies who've been developing this technology for a decade or even longer.

And as we look into the future, there's still question marks about how quickly that technology is gonna enter the market.

- Should I wait to buy an EV that's powered by solid state battery or should I wait 10 years?

I would say no.

And the reason why is because the current generation lithium ion batteries their cost is low enough and the safety is adequate.

And I'd say most importantly as a car person myself, they're really exciting to drive.

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