WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH...
So, you’ve got your head around our electric future? There’s plenty more to come yet, and it looks bright
WHAT ABOUT... SOLID-STATE BATTERIES
1 The cells in today’s batteries have an electrolyte gel in the space between the negative and positive electrodes. But the gels are flammable, so the battery needs lots of safety measures, pushing up its weight and bulk.
Solid-state batteries instead use a solid electrolyte. They can withstand higher powered and faster charging. They’re more fire resistant, so they need smaller safety systems, making them more energy dense. And they need less rare materials.
Great... but. Over time, twig-like growths (called, appropriately, dendrites) emerge from the positive electrode and push their way through the separating layer, and capacity falls. Despite the high-profile efforts of Toyota and Dyson they haven’t yet been manufactured at bearable cost and scale and durability. BMW and VW have joined the race, so expect them to be common in the last quarter of this decade.
WHAT ABOUT... INDUCTIVE CHARGING
2 In principle, no different for cars than phones. Just park in the right place and the pad on the ground will send energy by electromagnetism to a pad fixed under the car. You can buy a ground pad for your drive, and get the car-side equipment retrofitted on some cars. But really, is it so much trouble just to plug in, especially at home? Still, it makes more sense for street-side, where cables can be a trip hazard.
The more whizz-bang idea is to put the pads under traffic lanes. If we can stomach the roadworks and cost, anyway. Some very short sections on test tracks have proven that a car can drive along, switching from one pad to the next, and recharge as it moves. But is it worth the investment, when most charging happens at home? And will the providers and carmakers agree on standards for the system and payment?
WHAT ABOUT... BATTERY SWAPPING
3 In 2012, Renault sold an electric version of the Fluence saloon in Denmark and Israel, and its battery could be swapped for a charged one in minutes at stations around both countries. The company, Better Place, went bankrupt. Tesla also opened a pilot station for swapping the underfloor packs of the Model S, but it closed within a year.
Now Nio in China has 219 stations and has passed 2m swaps. Nio’s second-generation station is fully automatic and can do 300 a day.
So it works. But as batteries and car architectures evolve, would cars be held back by having to use a standard pack design? The car industry has a record of not-invented-here syndrome, so would it even agree a standard? Nio is proud of the proprietary tech in its battery and swap system. And as rapid-charge times approach 20 minutes, is it worth all that investment?