[svaraman]

Frequent readers of this forum will remember that I am highly skeptical about the rate at which battery technology is evolving. I am so skeptical about there being a ground-breaking battery technology on the horizon that I bought my ED instead of leasing it. It seems like every couple of years a new battery technology is announced only to fizzle when it comes to commercialization. Here's one such announcement from our friends at Swatch: Swatch: Plan to Make Electric Car Batteries Not Impressing Investors | Fortune.com. Where is this new battery technology now? For those that are interested, here's more information: A revolutionary battery by Belenos - Swatch Group

A recently announced sold-state battery may make my skepticism misplaced: https://news.utexas.edu/2017/02/28/goodenough-introduces-new-battery-technology. The fact that this battery technology came from a team headed up by John Goodenough, one of the inventors of the lithium-ion battery, makes this announcement much more credible in my view.

Maybe longer range EV's are in our future after all?

 

[nonarkitten]

Frequent readers of this forum will remember that I am highly skeptical about the rate at which battery technology is evolving. I am so skeptical about there being a ground-breaking battery technology on the horizon that I bought my ED instead of leasing it. It seems like every couple of years a new battery technology is announced only to fizzle when it comes to commercialization. Here's one such announcement from our friends at Swatch: Swatch: Plan to Make Electric Car Batteries Not Impressing Investors | Fortune.com. Where is this new battery technology now? For those that are interested, here's more information: A revolutionary battery by Belenos - Swatch Group

A recently announced sold-state battery may make my skepticism misplaced: https://news.utexas.edu/2017/02/28/goodenough-introduces-new-battery-technology. The fact that this battery technology came from a team headed up by John Goodenough, one of the inventors of the lithium-ion battery, makes this announcement much more credible in my view.

Maybe longer range EV's are in our future after all?

I too am a "battery skeptic". I remember a news special with Obama visiting a place in the states researching solid state lithium batteries years ago. The problem wasn't making them in the lab -- they work and work very well -- it's producing them in any volume.

 

[rfernatt]

Even if there isn't a "breakthrough" battery technology that can be commercialized anytime soon, traditional Li-Ion is getting better and cheaper at a consistent rate. The Tesla gigafactory and other large battery factories being considered will push $/kwh lower. Just like we've seen with solar panels and LED lighting, the experience curve will continue to drive down price as volume scales. Energy storage products ramping up will also help since it's not just EVs creating demand for high volume Li-Ion.

Of course, breakthrough battery technology is always welcome!