Electric Car Batteries

Here you know all about electric car batteries

The transition towards sustainable mobility and the electrification of transport is one of the keys to tackling climate change and safeguarding the planet. In the medium term, electric cars will replace combustion cars and for this to happen, the research and development of electric batteries - the soul of these vehicles - that are more durable, efficient and respectful of the environment is essential.

According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) published in 2018, the carbon footprint of transport as a whole accounts for around 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Regulations on transport emissions are becoming more and more stringent around the world – the European Union (EU) has committed to reducing emissions by 60% compared to 1990 levels by 2050 – and the transition towards sustainable mobility and electrification of transport is increasingly urgent.

RISE AND ADVANTAGES OF THE ELECTRIC CAR

Electric cars do not emit polluting gases and are adapted to the approaching decarbonised future . And this is reflected in the gradual increase in its sales:  in 2019, 2.2 million electric cars were sold in the world, 10% more than in 2018 —which means that one in every 40 cars sold was plug-in— . Of these, 74% were pure electric cars (BEVs) and the remaining 26% plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).

That the electric vehicle is the future of transport is something that no one disputes. The only doubts that experts are raising today are, mainly, two: when will they outsell combustion cars and what type of batteries will provide greater performance. According to the latest annual report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) on electric vehicles, sales are expected to continue to grow over the next decade. In fact, the price of electric vehicles is increasingly competitive: according to Bloomberg, in 2022 electric cars will already be cheaper than gasoline equivalents.

A major factor in the electric automotive revolution has been the significant drop in the price of lithium-ion batteries, which are the ones that have dominated the market in recent years. According to BNEF,  the price of this type of battery has gone from 1,100 dollars per kilowatt hour (kWh) in 2010 to 156 dollars in 2019 (-87%) and is expected to drop below 100 dollars in 2024.

In addition to respecting the environment, the electric car has other advantages over the combustion car that make it increasingly attractive in the eyes of buyers:

Fewer breakdowns

By dispensing with the traditional engine and the gear change with a clutch, breakdowns of this nature are reduced to a minimum.

Less maintenance

By having a simpler mechanics than traditional vehicles, its maintenance is also easier.

Less consumption

Charging it in a garage at night, its consumption ranges between 0.50-1 euro per 100 kilometers (km), much less than that of a combustion vehicle.

Fewer restrictions

Due to pollution, there are more and more restrictions on movement in the center of cities. However, these do not affect the electric ones, which can circulate freely.

Fiscal benefits

In many countries, electric cars have tax advantages over combustion cars, such as being exempt from registration taxes, circulation, etc.

WHAT IS AN ELECTRIC CAR BATTERY AND HOW IT WORKS

The battery of an electric car is an energy accumulator in which the electricity that will be transmitted to the alternating or direct current motor is stored. However, it is much more than that: it is the element that gives it its sustainable entity, by making it independent of fossil fuels, and the core on which buyers' concerns depend: its autonomy —the distance it can travel without needing to be charged— , its loading time and its price.

In the last decade, batteries have undergone an unprecedented revolution. As a consequence, the average autonomy of electric cars has increased considerably, thus putting an end to the so-called range anxiety —the fear of buyers of being stranded on the road due to the limited autonomy— that until now hampered their sales. But autonomy is not the only dimension of batteries in which progress has been made: their charging time has also been reduced —with fast charges that are already under 10 minutes— and their efficiency and life cycle have increased.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BATTERIES FOR ELECTRIC CARS

Electric car batteries have a number of peculiarities. Next, we review the main ones:

Density

The amount of energy that a battery is capable of storing in relation to its weight. The higher the density, the greater the storage capacity and the greater the autonomy of the vehicle. It is show here Wh/kg (watt-hours per kilogram).

Power

The power that each kilo of battery weight can provide and, as such, is expressed in W/kg (watts per kilogram). The higher the power, the higher the performance of the vehicle.

Efficiency

The performance of the battery, that is, the percentage of energy that it is capable of delivering in relation to the energy introduced in the charging process.

Lifecycle

The number of times a battery can be discharged and recharged before being replaced, as they lose capacity. The more cycles a battery has, the longer it will last.

Upload Speed

Its take a time to charge the battery. There are three types of charging, with times that vary depending on the car model: fast (10-40 minutes), semi-fast (1.5-3 hours) and slow (5-8 hours).

HOW TO EXTEND THE USEFUL LIFE OF ELECTRIC          CAR BATTERIES

According to a study carried out by Geotab in 2019, electric cars lose an average of 2.3% autonomy per year. These are the main tips to take care of the electric battery of a vehicle:

• Avoid full battery charges and discharges, just like mobile phones and laptops.
• Charge the car using smart chargers and, if possible, in trickle charging sockets – fast charges shorten battery life by 1% if used frequently.
• Use the electric car, preferably, in an urban environment, accelerate gently and do not park in the sun to prevent the thermal management system from working.
• The car's retention system helps charge the battery, so the more you use it to brake, the more range you'll have.

THE LATEST IN BATTERIES FOR ELECTRIC CARS

Batteries are a constant source of innovation news. Recently, the Swiss start-up Innolith AG announced that it had developed a higher-density battery that, without increasing its weight and size, can store more energy and increase autonomy to 1,000 km. Its secret: lithium batteries with non-flammable electrolytes. At the same time, a group of researchers from the University of Melbourne has announced the development of a lithium-sulfur battery with the same autonomy.

Solid-state electrolyte batteries could also lead the industry by reducing cost, weight, and size, increasing energy density, and eliminating the safety features needed to prevent overheating. Other sources point to silicon anodes, which could multiply up to ten times the energy that a lithium battery can store, and to the graphene-based anode, which could increase the capacity of a battery and drastically reduce charging times, since both its energy density and its useful life double those of a lithium battery.