Energy storage is the biggest challenge facing electric vehicle travel. It is hard on
remote energy facilities like wind farms and solar facilities as well.
A lot of people are working on this problem. They claim they are getting results.
The results tend to be incremental but important.
This area of EVsRoll is devoted to tracking those research results and business
moves made to promote and produce energy storage research. Short summaries
of research and business results are chronologically listed.
Energy Storage Research:
January, 2010
1. Battelle Research Columbus, Ohio announces dramatic improvements in ultracapacitor technology. According to the source, "We anticipate the energy density will be maybe 10 times that of present capacitors and the cycling lifetime along this path may be 10 times that of present lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries."
April 2010
1. Hitachi has announced technology that will double the life of the lithium-ion battery while lowering the cost at the same time. The cathode material has been re-engineered, effectively reducing decomposition rates of the manganese elements. The new technology also reduces the amount of expensive cobalt used.
2. MIT continues working on lithium-air technology. This configuration promises lighter batteries with an increased energy density.
3. Researchers at Georgia Tech are investigating self-assembling nano structures to construct silicon based anodes. The technology has been estimated to boost the capacity of the Li-Ion battery fivefold. The cost, however, would probably increase.
Top Ten EV battery producers
May 2010
1. Researchers at Stanford University are crafting electrodes out of carbon silicon nanofibers. Silicon can store up to ten times the charge of graphite, but the material decomposes after a few charge cycles. The nanofibers are able to withstand up to 50 charging cycles without degradation, and the fibers are commercially ready now. The researchers are working to reach a 300-cycle threshold where they may become practical for electric vehicles.
2. The ReVolt company has settled in Portland Oregon to work on a zinc-air battery. ReVolt just got $5 million from the Government for a 3-year research program. The technology is novel and claims three times the energy storage of Li-Ion at a fraction of the cost.
July 2010
Graphene is the word to describe approaches to increased storage and reduced charge time. Graphene research is aimed at ultracapacitor devices and batteries. Commercial results may be down the road a few years, but preliminary results seem promising.
August, 2010
It appears that DuPont has made an incremental breakthrough in Li-Ion battery materials. The investigation into the use of nanofibers is well documented. However, DuPont has managed to produce spun nanofibers in such a way as to increase power output 15-30% while increasing battery life by 20%. No exact word on the improvement in energy density.
US Army designs batteries: The Army is interested in lightweight, sprayable, moldable and flexible batteries that soldiers can take into the field. Most interesting is the planned use of the common but non-harmful virus M13 bacteriophage. The virus can work at room temperatures and in water.
China Academic Research at State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Zhejiang University have produced a copper oxide-graphene (CUO) anode that appears to increase energy density and decrease charge time for Li-Ion batteries. Testing is underway.
February, 2011
Toyota has been researching magnesium-sulfur based batteries, along with aluminum, calcium, lithium air and metal air batteries. According to recent press releases, the results have not yet improved the energy density of Li-Ion batteries. Further, the company states that major energy density improvements are not yet on the horizon. This is interesting coming from a well funded, large and highly experienced auto concern.
March, 2011
Researchers at the University of Rome Sapienza, and Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea have refined yet again Li-Ion electrodes. The new battery uses a tin-carbon anode and a lithium-ion cathode. An energy density of 170 Wh/kg is claimed.
Toyota has some promising news. They are developing a battery structure that may increase energy density to three times that of lithium-air batteries. Technically, the battery is reported to provide fast use of the superoxide anion radical by CO2 and the slow filling property of the Li2CO3 in the cathode. The new technology is in the concept stage. If it becomes reality, it will be a huge boost for the BEV.
April, 2011
More on nanowires. The extra surface area provided by a sheaf of nanowires of copper antimonide to replace the graphite anode. The tiny wires are chemically stable, heat resistant, and offer very fast recharge times and twice the life. A small prototype has been built and operated. A scaled up version looks good for the EV battery industry. Research is ongoing at Colorado State University.
Wildcat Discovery Technologies announces new battery research using lithium cobalt phosphate electrodes. They are exploring some 4,000 electrolytes using a novel testing method. They believe they have have a winner, which will boost current storage capacities by 25%. Real world testing is next.
June, 2011
A slight paradigm shift could increase Li-Ion energy density ten times that of current solid batteries. MIT researchers have developed an electrolyte slurry that can be custom designed for various energy requirements. The sludge is pumped through the battery and can be recharged. The basic operating principle is similar to the current solid Li-Ion battery, except the slurry eliminates the need for the restrictive internal grid structures in batteries of the present time. The resulting battery is similar to that used for grid storage at the present. Flow batteries however do have their own external hardware to deal with.
The batteries have tanks holding liquid electrolytes which are pumped through a membrane to generate a flow of electricity. Liquids are pumped in reverse direction to store charge. The devil is in the details exactly how to scale the pumps and other hardware needed to safely move and handle the liquid. Some $16 million in research funding is moving the project along.
July, 2011
Researchers at the Japanese company Sumitomo have been exploring aluminum-celmet chemistries. Aluminum-celmet is similar to nickel-celmet found in NiMH, and NiCd batteries. The production process applies an electro-conductive coat of the material to a foam, which is then dissolved, leaving a conductive grid behind. Sumitomo engineers report increased energy densities of up to three times that of conventional Li-Ion batteries. A major plus is that the new aluminum battery is just one-third the weight of today's Li-Ion EV power houses.
August, 2011
Stanford researchers are working with an electrode configuration that looks promising, though not cost competitive at this time. The new nano structures contain microscopic tin pillars sandwiched between sheets of graphene. The new electrodes hold promise of increased energy density storage.
Germanium nanotube anode: As we have reported earlier, the structure and composition of Li-Ion battery anodes are important to battery performance. The new anode is constructed of germanium nanotubes. The new material promises five times the discharge rate, twice the charge cycles, and is easier to produce than the silicon anode, which is a current front runner in Li-Ion battery improvement. This new anode work is ongoing at South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology.
Battery Breakthrough?
We have word of a possible battery breakthrough. Several private concerns, Nanotek Instruments, Inc., and its subsidiary Angstron Materials, Inc., in Dayton, Ohio, are working on a cool concept that moves electrons en masse. The electrodes (anode and cathode) have huge graphene surfaces to permit the transfer. Electric vehicle recharge time of one minute has been stated as possible.
September, 2011
Seaweed based batteries? Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Clemson University have extracted a compound from common seaweed-brown algae that could increase energy density, reduce toxicity, and reduce production costs. The compound called alginate has helped to boost energy storage and output for graphite-based electrodes. The compound also seems to work with silicon-based electrodes. Oak Ridge National Laboratory: Researchers at the National Lab have replaced graphite electrodes with titanium dioxide. Technically, the TiO2 is described as mesoporous TiO2-B microspheres. The TiO2-B which has channels and pores that provide an unrestricted flow of ions, acting somewhat like a capacitor. The TiO2 both increases surface area and provides for fast charge-discharge. The charge rate is reduced up to 90% while the storage capacity is bumped up 65%. The TiO2 is also less toxic. Sounds good.
NanoCap: A startup Dais Analytic Corp. (OTC: DLYT) has been awarded a patent for what it terms a "Nanoparticle Ultracapacitor. The NanoCap promises to triple energy density, decrease charge times, and increase the number of charge cycles. The technology is proprietarym, but appears to be related to that used by Nanotek above.
Battery Gel: Scientists at the University of Leeds in England have created an new polymer gel that could replace liquid electrolytes currently used in rechargeable lithium cells. The gel can also be shaped into a thin film. The gel does away with the traditional separator, saving space and weight. The main advantage appears to be molding the gel into custom shapes.
A team at Berkeley University claims 8 times energy density improvement in li-ion batteries. The trick is a polymer laced silicon anode. As we know from entries above, silicon is much better at transferring electrons than the graphite currently used in most lithium batteries. The problem is that expansion and contraction causes the brittle silicon to crack. Now, the Berkeley team has crafted a polymer that binds to lithium-storing silicon particles as they expand to three times their volume during charging and then shrink back during discharge.
October, 2011
A group at Stanford University claims to have prepared a super efficient Cathode. The trick is sulfur coated hollow carbon nanofibers. The fibers can be filled with an electrolyte additive as well.
This group from Stanford has also improved battery Anodes by the use of silicon nanowires. Both battery electrodes have now been improved by the Stanford team. No word yet on practical application of the research prototypes.
Extended Battery Live: NEC reports extended Li-Ion battery life. The new battery design promises to hold half of original charge for 33 years!
The extended life is achieved by an organic sulfur compound that combats the buildup of internal resistance over time. No word on production.
November, 2011
Fluoride Battery: Research by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) shows that a fluoride based storage battery may be configured to hold 10 times the energy of today's Li-Ion devices. The batteries make use of a fluoride electrolyte, as metal/fluoride based anodes and cathodes. The only apparent drawback is that the battery needs to operate at elevated temperatures. Reminds us of the molten salt/sodium battery.
Februrary, 2012
Envia Systems claims to have produced a battery that offers 400 Watt-hours per kg at $125 per kWh. This is a major breakthrough if testing bears out the claim. GM is testing the Envia battery.
May 2012
The PolyPlus Company in Berkeley, CA is also working on a Lithium Air battery. The company has a working prototype that is limited to about 250 charge cycles with a 75% recharge efficiency. PolyPlus remains optimistic about improving their battery to higher efficiencies and more recharge cycles in the coming years. They are in competition with Lithium Air happy IBM for starters.
Energy Storage Business:
March 2010
1. The GS Yuasa Corp. (think motorcycle batteries) will boost EV battery production from the current 2,000 vehicles per year to 9,000 in the next 12 months, and then double that again to 20,000 by the following year, 2012.
2. The Sanyo Electric Co. battery unit will remain largely independent of the parent company, Panasonic. Sanyo was bought for close to $4.4 billion USD in Dec. 2009. The acquisition was made with the plan of building a battery and solar power unit. Sanyo is counting on an ever increasing demand for EV batteries
May 2010
The Sanyo Electric Company plans to spend $2.13 billion USD on battery and solar charging technology. The company has the goal of mass producing battery packs for PHEVs and EVs by 2012. Sanyo plans to eventually secure 40% of the world EV battery market.
July, 2010
The US Federal Government is funding 9 Li-Ion battery plants that are expected to begin producing EV battery packs by 2011. Government funds have helped finance 26 of 30 new US EV battery and component plants expected to supply up to 20% of the worlds EV batteries by 2013.
August, 2010
DuPont will invest some $20 Million in a new plant for the manufacture of Li-Ion battery separators. The new facility in Chesterfield County, Virginia, is projected to capture 20% of the market estimated to balloon to $7 billion by the year 2015.
Sanyo Corporation announces the completion of a large new plant dedicated to making Hybrid and BEV battery cells. The new plant is part of Sanyo's stated goal to capture 40% of the world market by 2020. Wow!
Two large Chinese companies, Foshan Electrical and Lighting Co., a lighting product maker, and Pihsiang Machinery Manufacturing Co., have formed a partnership to manufacture EV batteries. The companies are jointly going to pony up $14.7 million to produce some 2,000 metric tons of Li-Ion units per year.
September, 2010
The University of Michigan affiliated private concern Sakti3 is receiving some $3.2 million from GM, and undisclosed support from the state as well. The Sakti3 CEO, Dr. Ann Marie Sastry, is considered a visionary in the field. The company appears to have research and solid state designs claimed to be superior in energy density and lower size and cost than present day Li-Ion batteries. This may be one to watch.
Despite the competition from possible superior technology, Ener1, the parent company of battery maker EnerDel, is busy raising some $65 million to increase Li-Ion battery pack production. The additional funding complements a $300 million low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. The loan is part of a $600 million plan including 1,400 technicians assembling 120,000 battery packs annually.
December, 2010
Galaxy Resources is planning to build a Li-Ion battery plant between a number of ebike manufacturers, and its carbonate resource of lithium. The plant is located near a deep water port along the Yangtze River. The area is well developed, being near the major Yangtze River International Chemical Industrial Park, which contains over 3,000 commercial enterprises including more than 40 multinational corporations.
January, 2011
Austin, Texas-based battery producer ActaCell Inc. got a $6.2 million grant from the U.S. Commerce Department. The company will begin to manufacture battery packs for light trucks.
The trend of lithium-based batteries is up, up, up. A recent investigation by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. shows that the total rechargeable batteries market could reach USD 16.4 billion by 2015. The market will be greatly moved along by the EV segment.
This is really a business and research item. Toyota is stating they will employ magnisium-sulfur batteries in future hybrids. Current Li-Ion packs in Prius models hold around 2 kWh. Toyota believes they can, through research, double that amount.
Two more startups claiming superior performance and reduced cost of their batteries:
In Ottawa, Ontario, Next Alternative announces a research and production initiative into lithium battery technology. The company appears to be targeting the EV Truck sector, stating US EPA clean diesel regulation as a driving factor.
In Austin, Texas, ActaCell Inc. announces the development of superior lithium based batteries, also for the emerging EV Truck sector. No specifics on battery performance are given however.
The US based Ener1 plans to enter China to manufacture up to 40,000 battery packs annually. The Chinese company Wanxiang will hold a 60 percent share in the new venture while providing their 553,000 square-foot factory in its home city of Hangzhou, China as a base. Interestingly, this move comes after the Chinese Government announces continued support for 500,000 EVs on its roads by 2012.
February, 2011
According to MarketResearch.com, the lithium-ion battery market will increase four times in the next 10 years. This is due to the EV market.
The Li-Ion market in 2010 was $11 billion USD. According to the report, the market will balloon to some $43 billion USD (£26.7 billion) by the year 2020.
March, 2011
Hydro Quebec has thrown in with US Li-ion battery manufacturer International Battery to perfect the water based Li-Ion battery manufacturing process. The collaboration will be manufacturing Li-Ion cells using a water-soluble binder-based process for both the cathode and the anode. This both reduces costs and is less polluting to water resources.
April, 2011
Interestingly, Korea will overtake Japan as the world's biggest Li-Ion battery producer. According to The Institute of Information Technology, Korean manufacturers will grab an estimated global market share of 38.5 percent this year compared to 38.4 percent for Japan.
South Korea's LG Chem claims it will build the world's largest battery plant for electric cars. The future factory in Ochang, south of Seoul, has enough capacity to produce lithium-ion batteries for 100,000 of the green autos a year.
The company also has a budget of some two trillion won ($1.84 billion US) to build another plant in South Korea and one in the United States over the next two years. On completion, LG Chem could produce battery packs for 350,000 vehicles a year. The target is 25% of the global electric-car battery market by 2015. You can check our year 2015 EV forecasts here.
May, 2011
Panasonic aims to triple lithium battery production by 2015. To this end, the company announces construction of another new battery plant. The plant, worth some $366 Billion US, is to be constructed in China.
July, 2011
Michigan, who knew? The state of Michigan aims to be the center of production for fully 20 percent of the worlds EV batteries. The state is going on predictions of 1.7 million EV battery packs (hybrid plus BEV) by the year 2015. GM will hire some 1,000 engineers and techs to its EV divisions. A123 Systems has signed 2,000 workers and has plans to hire more yet.
As part of the Michigan move on the battery market, Dow Chemical, in a joint venture with Japan’s Ube Industries Ltd., will open a new plant in a factory in Midland, Michigan, to produce electrolytes for lithium based batteries. The plant will churn out some 5,000-10,000 tons of electrolyte annually after opening.
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow has proposed legislation to move Michigan's advanced battery industry forward. This forward-looking legislation is termed the Battery Innovation Act.
November, 2011
IBM is working on a Lithium Air battery. As we cover on this page, one of the big pinch points for increasing battery energy density is the composition of the electrodes. IBM is investigating nanoengineered carbon electrodes that greatly increase the surface area of the cathode and anode. The company projects commercial production as soon as year 2020.
December, 2011
More electrode research: The British concern Nexeon has created a silicon powder for building electrodes. The powder has silver strands running through a silicon powder. Nexeon calls the resulting performance a hedgehog effect.
Germanium Electrodes: Germanium and silicon are known to be superior electrode materials. Scientists at the Brookhaven National Lab have taken the next two steps using germanium oxide, then reducing the oxide to germanium suboxide which has a higher germanium-to-oxygen ratio than the dioxide does. Next, the research team constructed a battery anode coating the germanium suboxide on copper foil. The new anode lasts some 600 charge cycles.
January, 2012
IBM reports success on its lithium-air battery research, see November 2011 above. Using an IBM powerhouse Blue Gene Machine, the computing giant and its consortium members have identified materials suitable for use in the air battery. No details have been mentioned, probably a good idea. The prototype is scheduled for release next year - 2013 with mass produced units out by 2020.
The analyst firm NanoMarkets says that at the time, novel anode and cathode materials make up around 8% of the market. That is expected to grow to 25% by 2017, with a valuation at around $1.3 Billion USD. Cathode materials to grow the most are projceted to be: lithium manganese oxide, lithium iron phosphate, nickel manganese cobalt composite and nickel cobalt alumina composite. Anode materials forecast to move ahead are: lithium titanate and silicon.
February, 2012
The U.S. Battery producer A123 is setting up shop in China. The company took a hit when Think EV folded in 2011, but is producing Li-Ion cells in the city of Changzhou, about 700 miles south of Beijing. A123 has also teamed up with Boston Power Inc. To build a 500,000 sq ft. (10 acre) factory where several hundred workers will assemble EV batteries.
April 2012
Hyundai Heavy Industries will partner with Magna E-Car to produce a line of EV batteries. The two companies have committed $200 million
in the effort. They plan to produce some 10,000 battery packs per year at the E-Magna plant in Canada. E-Magna is the 5th largest car parts supplier in North America. For comparison, the South Korean battery maker LG Chem can produce 100,000 EV batteries per year.
IBM announces a working prototype of their Lithium Air Battery. See December 2011, and January 2012 above for previous summaries. A scaled down version might be ready by after 2020.
The Real World
Disregarding the R&D for a moment, the German concern DBM-Energy has reportedly produced the "Hummingbird" Lithium-Metal-Polymer Battery that has enabled several record EV runs. First was a 602 km (374 mi) NON-STOP trip from Munich to Berlin. The run was questioned as rigged somehow.
Now, a second test has seemingly verified the first. In March, another Audi was fitted with a smaller Hummingbird. The car performed exactly as the first, and posted a verified 455 km (282 mi) range. EvsRock!
Creative Thinking: BAE Systems is working on integrating EV batteries with structural car components. A Lola race car prototype has been developed and is testing.
Check on the market
The young EV lithium ion battery industry is already over built. According to Lux Research, EV battery supply is on track to far exceed demand soon. This is due in large part to a lagging electric car market. As happens in a shrinking market, only a few battery producing companies are likely to survive. Others will merge and consolidate.
A few possible long term contenders are: SB LiMotive, LG Chem, China Aviation, BYD and China BAK. A123 Systems and Ener1 are listed as hopeful.
The market is not looking too good for: International Battery, K2 Energy Solutions, Valence Technology, Leyden Energy, Electrovaya and Altair Nano.
Prices down, Profits up: Recent forecasts indicate that by 2017 battery prices should drop by 1/3. Likewise, the world EV battery market is estimated to top $40 billion by 2020.
Charging Apparent Breakthroughs
Nissan working with Kansei University in Japan claim to have developed a new device to charge a Nissan Leaf sized pack in 10 minutes! The new device replaces a carbon capacitor with tungsten oxide/vanadium oxide. It could take years however to commercialize the product.
Feb. 2012: A GM funded company Envia Systems claims a 400 Watt-Hour battery module weighing in at just 1 kg (2.2 lbs) and costing just $125 per kWh to produce! GM is testing the batteries. Improvements are credited to a Manganese based Cathode, and novel electrolyte.
The Envia Battery - 400 Watt-Hr per kg at $125, a potential game changer. Now Testing
