This article is part of theTechXchange:EV Battery Management
What you’ll learn:
- What are the barriers to wide-scale adoption of electric vehicles?
- 不同类型的电池替代品。
电动汽车（电动汽车）正在向前蔓延，new startupslike Byton, Canoo, and Rivian entering the arena each year to follow Tesla's lead. In the meantime, automotive bluebloodsGM and Ford have committed $7B and $11B (respectively) to defend their market-leading positions。此外，欧洲和中国在2020年以超过100万个新的注册为速度。除此之外，电动汽车反对者朗表示，电动汽车的成本是一项破坏交易的挑战，随着供应量的增加而下降。尽管如此，仍然存在重大的技术和商业挑战。
这个行业想知道当电动汽车be available for everyone. It’s essential to understand the limiting component to answer that question, both from an economic and a technology perspective. The battery pack is the most expensive component in an EV, consuming 30% of the total cost to battery electric vehicle (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) consumers.
Still, with vehicle demand exponentially increasing, the cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) is exponentially decreasing, down to $137/kWh at the end of 2020. BloombergNEF estimates that at $100/kWh, electric cars will soon be at cost parity with gasoline-powered vehicles.
Now that battery cost is on the decline, the key problems to solve are charging time and total range. Drivers expect a refueling time of around five minutes or less, which becomes the unofficial benchmark for EV charging. The battery chemistry and charging infrastructure will dictate how quickly a driver can charge an EV.
There’s no clear choice for the best battery technology within the battery segment. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) dominates the market, but market alternatives offer exciting value propositions, including some technically superior to Li-ion.
But if the automotive industry genuinely shifts toward electric cars, the sharp increase in battery production will create unprecedented demand for minerals to make the batteries. Because many existing battery chemistries overlap with consumer electronics, it also will significantly impact that market. As a result, there will be tension in the supply chain for competing priorities over mineral supply between the two industries at the highest level.
The "winning" EV battery chemistry would ideally de-risk mineral supply while providing the technical and environmental benefits that EVs can deliver. Below is a review of how the leading battery alternatives affect electronics.
领先的电池替代方案
The overwhelming majority of EV batteries are Li-ion-based. Li-ion's liquid-state technology works by employing lithium to carry the electric charge between the electrodes. To put the scale of EV batteries into perspective,they use 10,000X the amount of lithium of mobile phones, ramping up the demand for lithium and driving up its commodity price.
但是，锂离子并非没有挑战。因此，电池制造商正在开发替代方案，该替代方案由镍金属氢化物（NMH），铅酸，超球门和固态电池节奏。
Li-Ion
电动车制造商更喜欢锂离子电池技术的最大原因之一是其高功率质量比。重件是范围的敌人，因为电池使用的能量过多，并停止了较重的车辆，而不是每次充电的进一步距离。
In addition, Li-ion batteries have high energy density and better performance than their alternatives at elevated temperatures. Li-ion's use in the consumer electronics industry is partly responsible for the high energy density.
The decreasing size of electronics and the desire for longer operating hours per charge spurred innovation in this parameter. As a result,Li-ion's energy density is more than 2.5X greater than both NMH and lead-acid batteries。此外，锂离子电池是可回收的，使其成为以环保消费者的理想选择。
锂电池包括：
- 决定电池的容量和电压的阴极（锂氧化离子的来源）。
- 阳极（释放锂离子），使电流能够流到外部电路。
- An electrolyte (comprised of salts, solvents, and additives), a medium that enables the movement of ions between cathode and anode. It’s what gives the name to the battery type ("Li-ion" means lithium carries the ions).
- 一个分离器，以防止阳极和阴极之间直接接触。
These benefits are why Li-ion is the preferred technology for consumer electronics. However, automotive applications demand specific energy (expressed in W-h/kg). These demands are substantially more severe than for consumer electronics, prompting the美国高级电池联盟（USABC）以开发能源目标。These targets and the plateauing progress in improving energy density indicate that scientists may need to create or consider new materials to meet the energy demand.
Changing or modifying the Li-ion battery chemistry for EVs may affect the cost, supply chain, and availability of the new materials for non-automotive applications.
Nickel Metal Hydride (NMH)
While Li-ion is the standard for all-electric vehicles (AEVs), NMH is better suited for hybrid electric (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Though NMH has a better lifecycle than Li-ion or lead-acid, the chemistry brings its share of tradeoffs.
NMH batteries are less expensive than Li-ion but experience higher self-discharge rates when not in use. They also generate substantial heat at the hotter end of the operating range. Rejecting excess heat reduces range and shortens product life cycles. This technology also risks undesired hydrogen loss that manufacturers and consumers must monitor and control.
Though seemingly unlikely, an uptick in NMH demand for EVs would affect cell phones, computers, and similar electronic devices. In addition, power tools often use NMH batteries, so a shift in demand or availability of minerals could significantly impact the construction industry.
固态电解质
The clear winner for liquid-state electrolytes is Li-ion, especially with the percentage of BEVs likely to substantially increase in the coming years. But Li-ion is sensitive to cost swings due to market movement and reshuffling, along with skyrocketing demand.
In addition, there’s an opportunity to improve the top safety concern of flammable liquid catching fire. Safety is one of the most critical success criteria for EVs to inspire public confidence, so industry and safety regulators would likely welcome an opportunity to step up the safety features.
固态电池（由锂金属组成）使用基本相同的化学反应来解决锂离子最紧迫的安全挑战。固态技术利用固体盘电解质，而锂离子采用液体。许多工程师和材料科学家的长期思考是为电动汽车，起搏器，射频识别（RFID）等设备的长期解决方案，以及可穿戴设备已经使用了固态技术。
固态电池比已经高密度的锂离子更稳定，具有更高的能量密度，来自易于使用的材料，提供较低的可燃性和更快的充电性，并改善和扩展EV电池的性能范围。由于这些原因，固态电池似乎是未来的。
Barriers to Wide-Scale Adoption
Solid-state is seemingly the future of EV batteries, but developers must solve some of the challenges to widescale adoption. Solid-state batteries will carry a higher development cost due to a lack of capital to produce mass quantities. It’s crucial to get this cost down to encourage consumers to purchase cars with these kinds of batteries.
实现BEV时，实体LI电解质材料的差距会降低电池性能和使用寿命。此外，固态电池容易发作，并且喜欢在60°C下充电以获得最佳性能。
Another challenge was that a condition of high electrical resistance existed between the positive electrode and the electrolyte.Researchers learned that annealing (heating at a specific temperature over a particular amount of time) in combination with preventing exposing the electrolyte to water vapor brought the resistance back in line。
As with any development material, it will be critical for the manufacturing process to be efficient. There hasn’t been a mass-produced solid-state battery for electric vehicles to date. As a result, manufacturing challenges through lack of experience with the solid electrolyte material would substantially delay wide-scale adoption. A manufacturing issue also could cause the EV battery plant to shut down, delaying the majority of the public's first interaction with the new battery and affecting consumer confidence.
The need to anneal and shield the solid material from water vapor may influence how engineers apply this technology. The extra steps to condition the electrolyte could enable the design for mass production. Still, it may add lead times to components using the material and add conditioned storage costs to avoid exposure to water vapor.
Conclusion and Takeaway
EVs are changing the way we think about batteries. Engineers are challenging previous realities like specific energy limits and materials of construction. The extra demand for EV charging, safety requirements, and efficiency goals may disrupt the electronics industry, closely tied to electric vehicles, through their battery technology. Understanding how EVs' economic and technical developments influence electronics and other related markets is essential for seamless implementation.
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