Recent Research and Progress in Batteries for Electric Vehicles

The developments in the field of e-mobility currently exceed all previous goals and expectations, and the speed of development is rapid. The battery costs dropped by 98 % in the last three decades and the storage capacity increased by a factor of three to four in the same period. The recent strong progress in the development of lithium-ion batteries (LIB) can be associated to both the progress in the engineering of the battery pack, and the progress of active materials for the cathode. From the system perspective, only a fraction of the overall improvement is due to better chemistries. Even larger contributions are expected from new cell-to-pack and the cell-to-chassis designs. The new designs provide more space for the active material so that also less energetic, but more sustainable, safer and cheaper materials can be (re)considered, such as LiFePO4 which encounters a renaissance at the moment. The sodium ion battery is currently emerging as a potential alternative to the LIB. Li-air and Li-S batteries are not ready for application in cars, yet. A potential future candidate is the solid-state battery, which shall benefit from the use of a safe Li metal anode, delivering higher capacities and rate capabilities.

Automated summary

The development of e-mobility is surpassing all previous goals and expectations, with battery costs dropping by 98% in the last three decades and storage capacity increasing three to four times in the same period. New designs are allowing for more space for active materials, enabling the consideration of more sustainable, safer, and cheaper materials like LiFePO4. Sodium ion batteries are emerging as a potential alternative to LIB, while Li-air and Li-S batteries are not yet ready for car applications.