We tend to take batteries for granted. Day after day, we recharge batteries and expect them to work without giving a thought to how they work or to their state of health. But Akira Yoshino is different. He's one of the pioneers of lithium-ion battery technology. DON'T MISS: Lithium-ion battery packs now $209 per kwh, will fall to $100 by 2025... Batteries in autonomous electric cars must be more durable: lithium-ion pioneer
We tend to take batteries for granted. Day after day, we recharge batteries and expect them to work without giving a thought to how they work or to their state of health. But Akira Yoshino is different. He's one of the pioneers of lithium-ion battery technology. DON'T MISS: Lithium-ion battery packs now $209 per kwh, will fall to $100 by 2025...
While lithium-ion cells have powered all but a handful of plug-in electric cars since 2008, carmakers have looked further down the road toward solid-state battery cells with an eye toward launching them sometime during the 2020s. On Monday, BMW Group and Solid Power announced that the two companies would partner in an effort to develop Solid...
The automotive business is one that turns raw materials into highly complex finished goods. When the prices of key commodities—especially raw materials—rise, everything downstream in that process becomes more expensive. That's Hyundai's concern over battery prices from 2020 onward, as it envisions a future in which a constrained supply...
For the 20 years since the introduction of the Prius, Toyota has enjoyed the first-mover advantage in hybrid cars, and leveraged those green credentials to boost public perception of its brand as a whole. But Toyota has yet to mass-market a battery-electric vehicle in the U.S., as Nissan has done with the Leaf. Toyota executives have consistently...
Regardless of how your vehicle is powered—whether it be an internal-combustion engine or a battery pack powering an electric motor—most powertrains have a common enemy: heat. For Taipei-based XING Mobility, heat is a major concern for its high-performance Miss R model as its battery cells need to rapidly discharge to generate its...
Since Tesla’s reveal of its new Semi and Roadster models, many technical analysts have been left scratching their collective heads. How can Tesla promise performance metrics far exceeding what’s currently physically and economically possible? According to one analyst, it may not be a matter of what batteries can do now, but what they...
As Elon Musk basks in the glow of meeting his 100-day challenge to install the world's largest utility battery in South Australia, another company is looking to take his crown. Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems Co. announced on November 23 it took an order for an industrial energy-storage system to be installed by February. The 150-megawatt...
As automakers develop more efficient electric motors, EVs pulling electrons from dirtier, coal-powered grids are as clean or cleaner than even the most efficient fossil-fueled cars when it comes to equivalent tailpipe emissions. But electric vehicles still have a supply-chain problem. A partnership between some of the world's largest automakers is...
Although Elon Musk is the name now associated with Tesla, the current CEO was not a founding figure in the electric-car startup. That honor goes to two men, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Eberhard subsequently sparred with Musk in and outside of court. Following his time at Tesla, Eberhard moved on to consult for Volkswagen and eventually...
Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a bet that he'd build the world's largest lithium-ion battery in Australia in 100 days. If his company failed, Musk would personally pay for the project, but the battery is now ready for its first test ahead of full operation—and on schedule. The massive 129-megawatt-hour battery will plug into South Australia's...
At first, Fisker had promised its upcoming EMotion electric sedan would launch with revolutionary solid-state batteries. The company then backtracked in June, saying the technology would not be ready. Instead, the EMotion will launch with conventional lithium-ion batteries. Fisker announced on Monday it has made headway with solid-state cell...
Electric cars provide a zero-emission driving experience, but one of the most important raw materials for their batteries—cobalt—has a supply chain that needs some work. About half of the world's cobalt supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country with high rates of child labor under very poor working conditions...
As it stands today, Asia dominates the production of electric-car battery cells globally, with Japanese and Korean companies representing the bulk of the industry outside of booming Chinese makers. Europe, however, lacks a single major player in the fabrication and assembly of lithium-ion battery cells for cars that plug in. Now European leaders...
Electrification is starting to surge through the automotive industry as countries implement emission regulations and the cost of batteries and associated technology drops. While the automotive sector will clearly affect a larger group of people, numerous companies have shown that boats too can go all-electric. That now extends to luxury launches...
Electric cars pale in comparison to gasoline or diesel-powered cars when it comes to the time presently required to add energy for more driving distance. Although automakers have begun to curb "range anxiety" with longer-distance electric cars, battery charging times on lengthy road trips remain a hurdle for many buyers. The fastest "quick...
Whether car buyers are ready or not, many future cars will boast some sort of electrification. The numerous announcements from automakers declare their brands will begin electrifying all vehicles post a certain date; to be clear, that does not mean cars will be solely electric. What it does likely mean is a widespread adoption of 48-volt...
Many automakers have announced they will electrify entire vehicle portfolios in the years to come. With more electrified cars on the road, battery production will become increasingly more important. Adding to the positive outlook for lithium-ion cell makers is Volkswagen's potential partnership with CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Company...
Dyson, the British appliance company best known for its bagless vacuum cleaners, has cleared up speculation that has persisted for nearly 10 years. Founder and chief engineer James Dyson officially confirmed his company is developing an electric car and is planning for a 2020 launch. Not only has Dyson had 400 employees working on an electric car...
While the United States federal government threatens to backslide on renewable energy, California and China continue to move at an aggressive pace to lead the world in zero-emission vehicles. However, there's another piece to the electric-car puzzle that China seems poised to lead as well: battery production. As the global market for electric and...