How much does an electric car battery cost?

Electric automobiles are more expensive than their thermal counterparts since the cost of an electric car battery is a significant portion of the total cost of the vehicle. But it also has to do with the money that manufacturers are investing in things like new platforms and propulsion systems. But how much does a battery for an electric vehicle cost? Its price ranges roughly from 6,000 to 14,000 euros.Taking into account the data provided by numerous manufacturers and suppliers from various nations across the world, Statista provides information on the cost of electric car batteries in dollars per kWh of battery capacity. While an NCM-type battery does not, for instance, cost the same as an LFP, they are approximate and average data. However, they are indicative and pertinent facts that allow us to more accurately determine the cost of an electric car battery based on the amount of energy it can store.

How much does an electric car battery cost?

In this documentation we can see that the  price , measured in  USD / kWh , is currently around  120 dollars / kWh . This means, as is evident, that the price of an electric vehicle battery depends directly on its energy capacity. According to this, in a car with  50 kWh the price of the battery would be  6,000 dollars , but in an electric car with a  100 kWh battery we would be talking about a price of  12,000 dollars only for its lithium-ion battery. And it is something that has evolved enormously, because in 2011 they cost 917 dollars / kWh.At the moment, the battery of an electric car costs approximately  between 6,000 and 14,000 euros , so it represents a significant part of the total cost of the electric vehicle in question. 

The forecast is that as the years go by, there is greater demand and the supply is adjusted accordingly,  prices will gradually fall. Throughout this evolution there have been some setbacks that have caused occasional price increases that will be repeated. However, in a macro view,  the evolution points to a constant drop in prices.Lithium-ion batteries of the LFP type are somewhat cheaper than those with other chemistry.Typically, the higher the energy density , the higher the price of the battery in question. In an electric car, on the other hand, one must also consider the costs involved in a cooling system for the complete battery pack, the cost of the current inverter, the cost of all the circuitry and other components that are directly related to the battery itself. Electric motors, however, are much cheaper.

They break the barrier of fast charging in EV with a new material for batteries

Although electric car batteries may currently be charged at very rapid rates, there is still room for improvement. According to studies conducted by scientists at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory of the Department of Energy. Using a novel substance that has never been employed before,Fast charging has never been possible before thanks to lithium-ion batteries. It marks a significant turning point that foreshadows the future of electric vehicles.

For the anode of a lithium-ion battery, which is what is now utilised in electric automobiles, graphite has been the best material discovered and used for decades. But as they clarify and it is explained in Advanced Energy Materials, a molybdenum, tungsten, and niobate (MWNO) compound has been discovered that has advantages that are significantly greater than those that a graphite anode can provide. Furthermore, because it was accomplished using a scalable synthesis technique, it is not something that will remain in the laboratory, far from it. In other words, it can effortlessly result in the mass production of batteries for electric cars.

A new material for the anode that breaks all the barriers of fast charging of batteries for electric cars

The cathode and the anode, two solid electrodes joined by the electrolyte and a separator, make up the basic structure of a lithium-ion battery for an electric vehicle. In these batteries, the process of charging and discharging electrical energy involves lithium ions moving between the anode and cathode. The main issue with the graphite anode, which is utilised in practically all electric car batteries, is that it leads to the electrolyte's progressive breakdown and the formation of dendrites. As a result, the battery gradually deteriorates and loses stability and performance.

Therefore, it may be said that the existing graphite anodes constitute a hindrance to obtaining super quick charging. The target was to charge completely in less than 15 minutes, which is impossible with a graphite anode. As outlined in the specifics of his inquiry, he has worked with a variety of materials, and positive outcomes have been obtained with several of them. The issue with the majority is that they have intricate synthesis processes that aren't well suited to industry. The good news is that they have created a novel material that loads exceptionally quickly and that it can be mass-produced without causing issues for the industry.

They go into depth about how this new material enables operation at a higher voltage than graphite without causing the battery to degrade gradually. They clarify that since the new cathode material does not deteriorate the electrolyte, it does not result in dendrites with extremely quick charging systems. In other words, it enables the removal of obstacles and constraints brought about by the properties of the graphite employed as the cathode in conventional lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

The key? The reason for this is that the material's nanoporous structure offers better electrical conductivity. It makes it easier to use faster charging systems and provides less resistance to the movement of lithium ions and electrons between the poles of the battery cell. And as we already know, this might be a true breakthrough for electric cars because it would make it possible for them to fully recharge in about the same amount of time as a gasoline or diesel vehicle does when refuelling.

What you should know about fast recharging to make the most of its benefits

Fast  charging in direct current has made it possible to travel in an electric vehicle as long as there is  adequate infrastructure . To obtain the maximum potential of this technology, it is advisable to follow some basic tips that will allow you to take full advantage of it. Starting the charge with a warm battery, with the lowest possible battery capacity and knowing the vehicle's charge curve are the most important factors to consider.

Thanks to advances in technology,  batteries have managed to achieve sufficient autonomy to allow any movement, but they would not be very useful if it were not for the significant progress in recharging networks for electric vehicles,  which are expanding rapidly (and also very unevenly) by the different countries of the world.

Many of these chargers today only offer power of 50 kW , the maximum that electric cars on the market allowed for up to a year, which require 80 minutes to recover 400 kilometers of autonomy. However, most second-generation electric cars will admit powers of  100-125 kW , which will reduce the time needed to recover that autonomy by less than half. The technology already exists to achieve chargers with powers of up to 350 kW that will provide compatible electric vehicles with a range of  350 kilometers in 10 minutes .

Start charging with hot battery

When the battery is hot, the chemical processes are accelerated, which means that in this state, when connected to a charger, the electricity will flow faster and recharging will be accelerated. In fact, recharging a very cold battery can actually cause damage to it .

The recharging speed is automatically reduced when the battery temperature is too low, but also when it is too high. Some electric cars on the market have a battery preheating function . In the case of Tesla , it starts automatically when there is an established route in the browser and the car approaches a Supercharger. If you do not have this system, it is advisable to go to the fast recharging point after you have been driving for a couple of hours , so that, with complete certainty, the battery will be at a high temperature.

Charge when the battery is empty: the glass of water full

Charging a battery can be compared to filling a glass of water . At first, it is possible to fill it quickly, but as more liquid enters, the process slows down, until putting the last drops becomes a very slow process.

When the recharge starts with the battery level low, the power offered by the charger is the maximum it can give during a given period of time. As the battery fills up, the power is reduced and charging slows down. This effect is reflected in the charging curve of the electric car.

The charging curve of an electric car

Each vehicle and each battery has an ideal charging range. However, in most vehicles, reaching a 70 or 80 percent charge percentage, the power that can be supported is significantly reduced. When reaching 80%, the reduction is so important that on many occasions the remaining 20% ​​takes as long as the section already recharged. This is why many drivers prefer to charge only up to 80% each time. As a consequence they will stop more times to recharge, but the total recharge time will be less .

Manufacturers do not usually give the owner the complete load curve, but only some of its most significant inflection points. Most of them indicate the recharge time needed to reach 80% capacity . They also indicate the maximum recharging power that the battery can absorb: 50 kW, 100 kW, 150 kW. But that does not mean that the car recharges at that power during the entire process. Quite the contrary. The period in which peak power is maintained is generally quite short.

In addition, charge managers have rates that take into account different parameters: kWh charged, recharge minutes, or a combination of both . Therefore, it is important to know how the vehicle is going to behave during the process in order to estimate the cost and benefit of charging longer (cost per kWh) or charging faster (cost per minute).