Solid-State Batteries – Electric Cars

Solid-state batteries are said to be one of those technologies which could be promising for electric cars and two of the most famous enterprises, Toyota and Dyson, have been investing greatly in a technology with the latter design to launch a Dyson electric car somewhere in 2020.  Electric cars as well as wearable technology require enhanced batteries though it is believed that the present lithium-ion battery technology is at its complete potential. Lithium-ion batteries are said to be customary batteries utilised in electric vehicles presently and has a relatively short-term useful life which is prepared from flammable organic solvent.

It is said that solid-state batteries are one of the foremost choices.  In 2017, Toyota had made plans to have solid-state batteries in electric car by 2020 while Dyson electric car would utilise solid-state battery technology developed by Skati3, which is a battery technology firm acquired by Dyson in 2015.  Solid-state batteries have been replaced by the liquid or polymer electrolyte found in present lithium-ion, with a solid.  However the task is in locating a solid material which would be adequately conductive to be utilised in huge batteries which is what Toyota and Sakti3 intend to resolve.

Smaller/Higher Capacity/Economical Batteries

The foremost advantages are that the batteries seem to be smaller, with higher capacity as well as economical than the prevailing liquid-based lithium-ion batteries. Sakti3 had made an announcement in 2014 that it was heading towards a point where it would create batteries having density which would be double than the present battery at a fifth of the cost.  Moreover they also would be non-flammable and in theory would be lasting longer as well as charge quicker.  As shown by Samsung Galaxy Note 7, the cost of obtaining a wrong battery design could be enormous. Prevailing lithium-ion battery tend to be combustible and could also develop plenty of heat which in the case of electric cars would mean additional gear to hold and dispel the same. Moreover, an electric car having solid state battery could also eliminate all the cooling elements in favour of a bigger battery and hence longer range or decrease the size of the battery though maintaining the same range and reducing the cost. The present batteries are known to have reduced lifespans and continuous charging and slowly discharging tends to wear down the performance of the battery.  Hence a two-year old iPhone often has a tendency to struggle in getting through an entire day of use on a single charge.

Upsurge Cycle Life – Two/Ten Years

According to a developer of solid-state battery for Internet of Things devices, – Ilika, they could upsurge the cycle life from a period of two years to ten years.  A report from Wall Street Journal recommended that this could be the cause of immense potential for product recycling after it has been utilised in vehicle just as in homes or commercial energy storage. The two companies – Toyota and Dyson are of the belief that that the solid-state battery would be in the final products towards 2020. However there is no guarantee that this would materialise.  As in the case of technology, there seems to be a vast difference in a technology that tends to work on a small scale and one which would be ready for mass-market production.  We need to wait and watch to know the results.