Posted on 01/18/2018 11:58:09 AM PST by Red Badger
The company has big plans to make electric cars cool.
t’s an exciting time for solid state batteries. BMW announced last month that it’s teamed up with Colorado-based battery developer Solid Power, which could see the automaker ditch the liquid electrolyte lithium-ion cells of yesteryear in favor of a solid alternative that’s safer, higher-energy, and simpler.
“I don’t wanna sit here and claim that all the technical challenges are solved,” Doug Campbell, the CEO of Solid Power, tells Inverse. “It’s a vote of confidence in that some of the fundamental historical concerns for solid state, I think this is a reflection that these have been solved, at least from a feasibility standpoint.”
Long touted as a dream alternative to current batteries, it’s estimated that solid state batteries could store twice as much energy. In the case of the second-generation Tesla Roadster, it could help double the 620-mile range from its 200 kilowatt-hour battery.
It’s not unreasonable to think Tesla could adopt the cells, either: Elon Musk alluded to “the most significant [battery] breakthrough in a while” that “could be made to work” in an August 2017 investor call. Los Angeles to Seattle on a single charge, anyone?
A first-generation Tesla Roadster. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
However, it’s not as easy as it sounds to swap out existing materials for new ones. SolidEnergy, a company that spun out of MIT in 2012, ended out using a combination of solid and liquid electrolytes to maintain the same levels of conductivity while providing the added capacity. Sakti3, a subsidiary of Dyson, made a breakthrough last year when it employed a thin-film deposition process to stop the electrodes from touching.
Solid Power, which uses “proprietary inorganic materials”, has a functioning five amp-hour battery in the lab. That’s around double the size of a conventional smartphone battery, and the company believes that smaller batteries could reach some industries within the next three to five years. Because the process uses many of the materials and processes of classic lithium-ion batteries, Campbell is confident that these cells will offer similar cost-per-kilowatt efficiency savings found in current batteries.
One of the biggest hurdles in getting this dream car on the roads is the qualification process. That means getting manufacturing up to scale, passing through regulatory hurdles, and ensuring the technology is safe for roads. Because of this, Campbell believes we’ll be able to drive a solid state battery car in the next five to 10 years from now. Anything sooner than that is unrealistic.
“I know [Toyota] have been involved in this space for a very long time, and they have a lot of resources,” Campbell says. “I can say just through the interactions I’ve had with partners of Toyota, I deduce that they’re not any further than we are, but I’m not operating on any privileged information.”
Another major hurdle is recharge time. While Tesla touts half-hour recharge times from its 120-kilowatt supercharging stations, it’s a rate that takes its toll on the battery.
“As compared to lithium-ion, it is still limited on charge rate,” Campbell says.
It’s going to be hard to persuade people to sit around for hours waiting for their car to charge, especially if these batteries enter the market after years of electric vehicle adoption. Nonetheless, the future of alternative fuel cars is looking decidedly solid.
It could help deal with the Tesla problem. Which in the words of Jeremy Clarkson are “a bit burn-ey”.
CC
With the typical electric car being powered by a lithium-ion battery, why would I want to drive around waiting for the battery to play detonate like a bad cell phone of laptop battery?
Los Angeles to Seattle on a single charge, anyone?
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Going over the passes at the speed limit will be a challenge to say the least ... don’t even think of it in the winter ...
“As compared to lithium-ion, it is still limited on charge rate,”
Aye, there’s the rub.
I see the real problem being the ability to deliver X kW/h, at home, overnight. I was able to recharge a 26kWh battery from a standard 110V outlet between getting home and leaving for work; dropping that to 4 hours required installing a 220V line. The 200kWh battery mentioned (top-end Tesla) would take 40 hours to fully charge with the latter source; that’s mitigated by most drivers rarely depleting the battery completely, and likely having sufficient time between long (>300mile) drives to top it off.
All that said: “As compared to lithium-ion, it is still limited on charge rate” is a serious problem. The aforementioned Li-Ion rates are acceptable in practice, but taking any longer quickly becomes a problem for users. You have to, on average, be able to recharge faster than normal use depletes power.
And however a well-funded supercharger works, it _must_ reach 80% charge within 30 minutes. Any longer, and nobody will want to use the charger; they’re using such a station for compelling reason.
Always glad to hear about new battery tech.
Never hear anything about it afterwards.
In the long term, plan for cross country drive. You pull over for food for 30 minutes or more and the charge if fully charged for another 300 miles.
You regularly sit on 20 gallons of gasoline without concern. What are you worrying about Li-Ion for?
Dang that Thermodynamics Law!
We must get that repealed, pronto!...............
Exactly my point. 30 minutes for an 80% charge is fine. Take any longer than that, I’m gonna get ticked off pretty quick. (Or more like my wife is going to get really upset about cumulative delays beyond already-annoying food & potty breaks.)
Li-ion tech is functioning pretty comfortably within thermodynamics laws.
However, it’s still close enough to the limit that any other tech that takes longer is just plain unacceptable.
they used to recommend stop every 2 hours for a snack and rest room and stretch. i used to go 4-5 or until I almost ran out of gas.
They just need a steady supply of element 115.
“You regularly sit on 20 gallons of gasoline without concern. What are you worrying about Li-Ion for?”
But that Gasoline does not randomly explode and catch fire.
The car that randomly exploded and caught fire in front of me at rush hour on a 10-lane freeway (one direction) seemed to.
Oh, and that repair truck that burst into flames as I walked past, the driver puzzled why it stopped running.
And then there’s “carbecues” mentioned on the morning traffic report several times a month.
Almost forgot: there was the time I brought my car in for repairs, and the repair guy commented “I don’t see this problem often - usually the car just burns up first.”
again?
Indy 500 is a rather specialized use, calling for specialized tools. You don’t drive an Indy car to the grocery store.
If you really do want to race electrics, there’s the Formula E.
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