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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday June 13 2020, @06:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the lots-of-juice dept.

New Record-Crushing Battery Lasts 1.2 Million Miles in Electric Cars:

Electric cars had their biggest year ever in 2019. As of the end of the year, 2.5 percent of the world's total cars were electric. It's a small percentage, but represents significant growth for the electric vehicle industry.

Before electric cars become more widespread, they have some technological hurdles left to clear, including the distance drivers can go before having to re-charge the car's battery (also known as range anxiety!), and the life of the battery itself. Range currently runs from around 100 miles on the low end up to 200+ miles [see note 1] in newer models, and most warranties run out after 150,000 miles or 8 years.

The latter figures are about to get a big boost after an announcement this week from Chinese company Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL). The company says it has new battery technology that lasts up to 1.2 million miles (2 million kilometers) and 16 years—and it's ready to manufacture the batteries on demand.

[...] The battery uses lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) for its cathode (positively-charged electrode) and artificial graphite for its anode (negatively-charged electrode). The cathodes of existing batteries use small NMC crystals, but this one uses larger crystals, resulting in a structure that one researcher explained is less likely to develop cracks while the battery charges; that was one of the primary improvements contributing to a longer overall lifespan.

The other was a reformulation of the material that carries ions between the battery's cathode and its anode. Like its predecessors, the new battery uses a lithium salt with additives, and the Dalhousie team devoted a lot of research and time to optimizing the blend of ingredients.

[...] Whatever the company's formula, it seems it will be instrumental to making Elon Musk's vision of a million-mile battery come true, and sooner rather than later. CATL will supply batteries to Tesla Model 3s made at the Gigafactory near Shanghai. Conveniently close to Tesla's first European Gigafactory, which is under construction outside Berlin, CATL is building a factory in Erfurt, Germany that's slated to start making batteries in 2021.

Note 1: According to Wikipedia:

The Model 3 Standard Range Plus version delivers an EPA-rated all-electric range of 250 miles (402 km) and the Long Range versions deliver 322 miles (518 km).


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