Who’s ahead in battery race?
In the race for the next generation battery, lithium-ion technology has made huge leaps in recent years. But the power packs continue to have drawbacks: they use raw material mined in unstable countries, they’re dangerous if they break and they could pack more power.
Solving those conundrums is the focus of hundreds of companies and thousands of scientists all over the world. And in that crowded field, Tesla, a French billionaire and a startup in Massachusetts are pulling ahead.
“What’s coming next are technologies that improve performance, hold more energy, last longer at a lower cost,” said Jeff Chamberlain, chief executive officer of Volta Energy Technologies LLC, an investment fund with a focus on nextgeneration storage. “Hundreds of millions, if not low billions, is being spent on research.”
Below is a list of the most promising players and the technologies making and selling these futuristic batteries today.
1. Reducing Cobalt: Tesla Battery makers are working to pare down the amount of cobalt in their devices to the bare minimum to control costs and reputational risk. The problem with cobalt is that it’s largely mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that’s been a conflict zone for decades. While most of the material is extracted in commercial mines, about 15 per cent is estimated to be from artisanal mines that often use child labor.
2. Safer Batteries: Bollore Group
Battery mishaps frequently make the news because the power packs can catch fire. The Samsung smartphone and the Boeing Dreamliner incidents are hard to forget. Electric vehicle batteries are also susceptible to this in the event of a crash that punctures the power pack. The reason for this is the liquid electrolyte. It’s a flammable solution that carries the charge from one end of the battery to the other. If it leaks, it can ignite.
3. Energy Density: Pellion Technologies
The ultimate goal of a battery is to pack the maximum amount of power into a very small and light space. That’s where energy density comes in. The more power a battery can store, the longer the car’s range and the more hours a phone or laptop lasts between charges. Weight is also key. The lighter the machine is, the less energy it’ll require for propulsion.