The need for more efficient battery storage is pressing harder, as signs of climate change gather around us. Electric vehicles also stand to make a noteworthy contribution, but technology is holding them back. We will need better batteries for electric vehicles before they take their rightful place. However, we are not there yet.
The Fundamental Problem of Electric Vehicle Batteries
Electric vehicles will need more power, before they deliver the range their drivers expect. Current technology adds more battery cells, but that increases weight and affects their power-to-weight ratios. Much research goes into developing lithium-ion batteries that are safer and smaller, and store more energy per unit of weight.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) cautions that lithium-ion batteries have their limitations, despite continuing to improve. They particularly mention inherent electrolyte instability in this regard, due to lithium-ion battery structure.
The problem boils down to volatile liquid lithium-ion electrolyte catching fire, ‘at certain voltages and temperatures’. “Lithium-ion batteries are generally safe under normal usage, but the risk is still there,” remarks an MIT researcher.
The other issue is the size and weight of lithium-ion batteries, due to their liquid electrolyte, and bulky anodes and cathodes. Solid state lithium offers a possibility of better batteries for electric vehicles, but more work still needs to be done.
Are Solid State Lithium Batteries Better Yet?
Massachusetts Institute of Technology seems to think that the jury is still not out on this critical matter. They note how researchers are developing all-solid, solid state lithium batteries to replace lithium-ion ones.
These scientists are focusing on thinner, solid electrolytes, and thinner, lighter electrodes too. Their goal is to shrink the size and weight of the solid multi-cell battery, while maintaining the same energy storage capacity.
However, we are not there yet by any means, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology article we link to below. “These things are prospective, hoped-for, and not necessarily realized,” a researcher remarks. It seems we are not at the point of better batteries for electric vehicles, as we write.
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