Tesla research partnership progresses on new battery chemistry

[axipher]

Electric vehicles have come a long way in terms of going a long way on a charge. But everyone is still seeking the next big jump in battery technology—a battery with significantly higher energy density would mean more range or lower costs to hit the current range. There is always some room for incremental progress on current lithium-ion battery technology, but there is a lithium holy grail that has remained out of reach for decades: ditching its graphite anode to shrink the cell.

 

A lithium metal battery would simply use solid lithium as the anode instead of requiring a graphite framework for lithium atoms to tuck into as the battery charges. The problem is that the lithium doesn't form an order surface during recharging, so the battery capacity drops drastically—declining to 80 percent within 20 charge cycles in some configurations. Rogue lithium also tends to build up dangerous, branching, needle-like structures that can pierce the separator between the anode and cathode and short-circuit the cell.

 

 

Source: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020...ery-chemistry/

[Andrew]

Range isn't really an issue anymore. The average American only drives something like 70 miles per day IIRC. Purpose made electric cars have ranges of around 300-400 miles. What needs to be worked on is improved safety. There's been a few crashes involving electric cars where they catch on fire and they're impossible to put out because they just auto-ignite once the fire suppression stops. There's no real benefit to consumer electronics either, not yet anyway. A lot of laptops are already at the limit of what the FAA will allow on a plane.

[axipher]

Range isn't really an issue anymore. The average American only drives something like 70 miles per day IIRC. Purpose made electric cars have ranges of around 300-400 miles. What needs to be worked on is improved safety. There's been a few crashes involving electric cars where they catch on fire and they're impossible to put out because they just auto-ignite once the fire suppression stops. There's no real benefit to consumer electronics either, not yet anyway. A lot of laptops are already at the limit of what the FAA will allow on a plane.

 

So counter-point to your point on average 70 Miles per day, many people might live in apartments or work at places where their might be a few Electric Chargers, but not enough for everyone who needs them and I have co-workers who need to schedule their charging time around their neighbors and only get to charge fully every few days.

 

So I agree that more range isn't required, but instead better charging infrastructure.