Are Li-ion-powered cars’ days numbered? Tesla doesn’t think so and has continued to perfect the technology by increasing energy density and range with better heat management features while lowering the per-unit cost. As a result, Tesla has been lowering prices on existing models coming off the production lines while developing more affordable future EVs to attract current owners of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles.
The next generation of battery some manufacturers believe will be lithium-metal which uses an electroplated lithium-metal anode instead of the graphite one used in Li-ion.
Lithium-metal batteries have the potential to double the range of EVs. Recent work at Stanford University which I described in Part 1 of this two-part look at EV promise and challenges, shows that discharging a battery after use and letting it rest for an hour with no current running through will overcome one of the perceived weaknesses of lithium-metal. That’s because the batteries degrade rapidly if subjected to a high cycle of charging and discharging without a rest.
If the Stanford discovery catches on, will lithium-metal replace Li-ion as the standard? Some expert industry watchers believe that in two years, lithium-metal will be featured in many EVs.
What about solid-state batteries? The world’s largest automobile manufacturer, Toyota, has been late to the starting gate in the EV market, having developed and perfected hybrid vehicles that use a combination of electric and gasoline-powered motors. Rather than becoming just another Li-ion EV player, Toyota hopes to leapfrog the competition by moving to solid-state-battery-powered EVs by 2027 or 2028.
How do these three battery technologies compare? Check out the key differences below:
]]>The fear of running out of juice before reaching a charging station is a valid concern. So is the cost on the showroom floor. But over a lifetime of ownership EVs compare favourably to the most economical gas and diesel-powered vehicle models. And sticker prices are coming down. Tesla has introduced discounts on existing models and promised lower-priced ones soon. More companies are getting into the EV business, and Chinese manufacturers are starting to stick it to Tesla, the front-runner to date.
The latest public anxieties about EVs include discussions about their environmentally friendliness when compared to fossil-fuel-powered vehicles. Aren’t the battery materials an environmental hazard? Doesn’t the mining of lithium, the metal most commonly used in today’s EV batteries, produce toxic chemicals and runoff? When batteries die do they not contribute to pollution? Will keeping EVs powered up not put unnecessary strain on the electrical grid? Are batteries safer than gasoline and diesel-powered cars? What about those videos of Tesla EVs bursting into flames?
In terms of environmental friendliness, EVs have gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles beat by a long shot. Lithium is the metal of choice for EV battery packs at present. It is mined and handled responsibly today. Battery disposal is becoming a non-issue as new factories are built to recycle lithium and other battery components.
In Canada, two companies, Li-Cycle and Nemaska Lithium have established partnerships with EV companies to recycle and recover lithium, cobalt, and nickel, keeping these metals and minerals out of landfills.
Compare that to the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) contributed by fossil-fuel-powered transportation. In Canada, as an example, the latter accounts for approximately 25% of the country’s GHGs. Numbers elsewhere are certainly similar to the Canadian experience.
We can watch EVs going up in flames on social media. I’m happy that we don’t get to see similar video clips of fossil-fuel-powered cars and trucks in flames whether on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram or other social media sites. Why? Gasoline and diesel are inflammable ingredients, so much so that U.S. data sources track fire incidents caused by fossil fuel-powered vehicles. Compared to EVs they are far more prone to going up in smoke. Statistics kept by the U.S. National Fire Protection Association, in 2020, noted that 15% of fires that year across the country originated in gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles and represented the cause of 18% in total civilian deaths and 11% in injuries. Comparatively, EV fires amounted to 0.02% of the total that year.
The risk of fire in EVs comes from the liquid electrolyte in the batteries. Electrolytes are inflammable if improperly maintained, if there is a manufacturing defect, or if the batteries are improperly charged. The low number in 2020 is partially attributable to the difference in the number of EVs on the road that year. But, industry experts argue that EV liquid electrolytes represent a far lower fire risk than the liquids used to power gasoline and diesel vehicles which in an accident can suffer fuel leaks, or can burst into flames when an engine overheats, or if the wiring systems short circuit.
Is growing EV adoption a real concern for the utilities and operators of the power grid? Electrification of industry, housing and transportation as the world decarbonizes energy sources is driving significant grid capacity growth. The International Energy Agency (IEA) tracks, the rate of growth in grid capacity globally is expected to reach 18,800 GigaWatt/Hours (GwH) by 2030, up from 13,300 GwH in 2020, and by 2040 hit 24,600 GwH, and by 2050, 31,600 GwH. Most of that growth will come from renewable and nuclear power generation. Distributed power generation from off-the-grid solar panel rooftops isn’t included in the estimates. Many home chargers will benefit from distributed power generation sources.
Currently, the top-performing range for EVs is approximately 700 kilometres (over 430 miles) on a single charge. But many early and lower-priced models have distance ratings around 400 kilometres (around 250 miles). All of these EV models feature Lithium-ion (Li-ion) liquid battery packs.
Li-ion isn’t the only battery being used by EV manufacturers. BYD, the Chinese EV manufacturer that surpassed Tesla in sales in the last month offers cars running on Li-ion and Sodium-ion (Na-ion). One of its vehicle models, the Seagull uses a Na-ion battery and offers a driving range of 300 kilometres (approximately 180 miles) per charge.
The Seagull isn’t an answer to the range anxiety issue. It is meant to be an urban commute vehicle and is priced well below Tesla’s models. Na-ion battery advantages include lower material costs, faster recharge rates, longer battery lifecycles, and better performance in extreme heat and cold.
Americans, Canadians and those who live in rural areas where 700 clicks are still seen as a low number are looking for batteries that can power a vehicle to go 1,000 kilometres (610 miles) or more between charges. Experiments replacing lithium or sodium with aluminum, iron, potassium, nickel, and mixes of these metals are ongoing.
Solid-state batteries with no liquid electrolyte have recently moved from the world’s universities and manufacturers’ laboratories to the largest automobile manufacturers on the planet. Toyota recently announced plans to introduce models meeting the 1,000-kilometre milestone as early as 2026, and an entire fleet of solid-state battery-powered cars by 2027 and 2028.
Solid-state batteries have many advantages over their liquid cousins. They are lighter in weight, exhibit faster recharge rates, and don’t need the liquid electrolytes that are a potential fire risk (see earlier discussion).
These new generations of batteries will extend EV ranges to 1,100 kilometres (almost 700 miles) and I will talk more about them in Part 2 of this series.
For the liquid Li-ion battery, however, there is some good news. Stanford researchers recently noted that by draining an EV battery pack and letting it rest for an hour before plugging it in, EV owners will get incredible improvements in battery lifecycle performance and range. In a Stanford News release, Wenbo Zhang, a material sciences Ph.D. candidate at Stanford is quoted stating:
“We discovered that by resting the battery in the discharged state, lost capacity can be recovered and cycle life increased. These improvements can be realized just by reprogramming the battery management software, with no additional cost or changes needed for equipment, materials, or production flow.”
The discharge and rest for just an hour allows a battery to recover what is referred to as its “dead lithium.” This is lithium that becomes isolated by being trapped in a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) which forms a spongy matrix between the electrolyte and the anode. The rest phase with no current in the battery dissolves the SEI and brings back to life the isolated and dead lithium so that it can retain a charge. This was always considered irreversible in Li-ion batteries.
This discovery implies that almost all existing EV batteries can see extended lifecycles and range through a simple software fix uploaded to the onboard battery management system. Considering that the average driver probably uses a car for an hour a day, resting the car battery for an hour rather than plugging it into a recharger seems like a no-brainer and should dramatically improve performance for those who still suffer from EV range anxiety.
]]>Safe and efficient charging is vital for the energy industry to ensure reliable power delivery and the prevention of accidents. The rise of electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy and energy storage options has made effective charging safety and optimization crucial to this industry sector.
A high public and home charger density level is essential for the transition from fossil-fuel-powered vehicles to EVs. Both public and private charger availability varies from nation to nation. The chargers themselves come in several formats. Not all are equal in performance or provide the same expedience, safety and security.
The numbers per country vary widely. In 2021 there were 1.8 million public chargers globally, a doubling of the number from just two years before. The data from 2021 indicates an average of 10 EVs per public charger globally.
The following chart shows public charger distribution by country. The highest numbers indicate one of two things:
The latter is certainly the case for countries like Denmark and Norway where EV sales have been at record highs.
Variability in the development of public charging infrastructure is caused by any one of the following:
So far we have only looked at charging infrastructure to support EVs. Increasingly, however, industries are opting into going 100% electric and adopting tools and technologies that require battery-supported charging infrastructure. This means demands on the electrical grid are only going to increase. It also means governments and businesses need to get up to speed on using safe and efficient charging practices. What needs to be put in place?
Protective measures like circuit breakers are needed to minimize the risk of accidents like fires and shocks and to keep equipment and users safe. A charging network whether to support EVs, other battery-powered technology, or battery storage systems, needs to be designed to prevent overheating, preserve battery health, make them last longer and produce optimal performance.
About 70% of the U.S. electrical grid is 25 years old or longer. Is it ready for the energy transition? Can it handle the explosive growth in battery demand? Can it handle charging loads, and prevent power fluctuations and voltage drops?
Electrical grids today are in serious need of improvements to meet demand through supply and be robust enough to deal with extreme weather events and climate change.
The general reliability of the U.S. electrical grid may soon be long gone. New capacity is needed. Renewable energy sources need to be integrated. New best practices must enable the low-carbon transition including improved load management and distribution, especially during peak demand periods.
Many industries are going 100% electric, seeking sustainable practices, reducing expenses and improving operational energy efficiency. The construction sector is embracing this trend by adopting electric equipment relying on rechargeable batteries. This choice is eliminating the use of diesel fuel, saving costs and enhancing energy efficiency by automatically shutting down when not in use.
What else holds back EV adoption other than sticker shock? Fast, dependable public charging networks are essential for the EV transition to succeed. An extensive charging network can mitigate the issue of range anxiety in the public mind. Availability, connectivity failures, poor grid interoperability and lacklustre cybersecurity are inhibitors that are all surmountable issues.
Outstanding issues still to be addressed include:
The Limited Number of Public Charging Stations – In 2022, there were 50,000 charging stations with 130,000 ports for EVs. However, this is far below the estimated 2.4 million charging stations needed by 2030 to support a fleet of 26 million EVs.
Compatibility and Standardization – There is no single standard for public charging stations. EVs from different manufacturers require different charging connectors. A universal charging standard that makes it possible for any make of car to plug in and power up is needed. The Combined Charging System (CCS) is an attempt to create that standard by combining AC and DC charging. Major manufacturers of EVs in North America, Europe, China, Japan and South Korea have been working to ensure that the public charging network can support their vehicles and deliver up to 350 KiloWatts of power to an EV with up to 80% capacity in as little as 30 minutes.
Overloading and Overheating – Overloading the charging infrastructure poses serious risks including fires and damage to electrical systems. Prevention requires proper load management and electrical planning to maintain a safe and efficient charging environment.
Cybersecurity and Data Privacy – Unauthorized access and data breaches of public charging networks threaten user privacy during public charging transactions. Robust encryption protocols including secure communication channels and encrypted data storage are needed to keep information exchanges within the public charging network confidential.
New technologies and solutions for EV charging are on the way to make the charging network more efficient and accessible. These include:
EVs are expected to become cheaper than internal combustion engine (ICE) cars as early as next year. The sequence points to Europe attaining EV pricing parity or below with ICE cars in 2024, China in 2025, North America in 2026, and India in 2027.
When did ICE car sales peak? In 2017 and flat through 2019 with sales falling since then. Meanwhile, EV sales are growing and are expected to increase 600% by 2030. What this means for Houston’s fossil fuel companies is a fall in oil demand by 1 million barrels per day for every year beginning with 2030. That’s how dramatic and disruptive this reversal in market share between ICE and EVs is expected to become.
What’s driving the change?
The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a not-for-profit think tank focused on tackling climate change and its main contributor, the fossil fuel industry, is monitoring the exponential change happening within the car industry. RMI calls the coming EV transition the end of the ICE age. ICE refers to internal combustion engine-powered cars.
Working with RMI are many others including the Bezos Earth Fund, which has invested $10 billion in the fight against climate change. Kelly Levin, Chief of Science, Data and Systems Change at the Bezos Earth Fund states in a recent RMI press release, “Several large vehicle markets are proving it’s possible to quickly course-correct on fossil-fueled vehicle sales in favour of EVs.”
Other RMI partners describe the change as a tipping point bringing out rapid transformative change fueled by growing price parity, and strong government policies.
One of these is Simon Sharpe, Director of Economics for the Climate Champions Team and Policy Impact Lead at the University of Exeter’s EEIST project. He points to “strong policy” getting “the transition to electric vehicles started,” and continues, noting that “just because the transition is now gathering pace does not mean that any government should take its foot off the accelerator.”
The RMI forecasts that by 2030 EVs will predominate for car sales with larger vehicles like heavy trucks not going electric well into the 2030s.
Where was the motor vehicle industry in 2019? U.S. car sales that year were 4.2 million with a mere 90,000 EVs. In 2024, the latter number is expected to be over 2 million with global EV sales topping 18.5 million cars.
The only transportation category that will resist the transition is heavy trucks with U.S. sales forecasts at 40,000 in 2024.
And for those who drive hybrids like me, the RMI forecasts increasing growth but at a much slower pace than EVs. Hybrids still will find a market for rural consumers and in places where EV charging network infrastructure is sparse to non-existent.
A final note: It won’t just be the motor vehicle companies that will be course-correcting. Energy utilities will face tipping points of their own driven by government requirements for lower emissions and growing EV electrical demand.
]]>
For the average Canadian or American who is looking to buy or lease a new vehicle, the allure of electric vehicles (EVs) is there. I confess that I drive a hybrid because the place where I lived in Toronto (a condominium) had no intention of putting in charging stations. Hybrids cost more than pure internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles. The price is comparable to many EV models today. But the impracticality of searching for a public charging station made choosing an EV unfeasible for me. When my current lease ends, in our new apartment where there are dedicated spots with charge ports, as well as a public charge station, I will have a choice, stick with a hybrid or lease an EV.
Ask the question on Google, “Why do consumers choose an EV over other vehicles?” and you get two very different answers.
The downside of EVs include:
That’s why when I read in today’s Washington Post, Michael J. Coren’s climate advice column, I was intrigued. He asks “Is it cheaper to refuel your EV battery or gas tank?” The answer it turns out is what most of us would expect:
Operating an EV versus a gas or diesel-burning internal combustion engine vehicle is cheaper with few exceptions.
But what I found most interesting at the very end of Coren’s article was the following which I quote:
“Every gallon of gas adds about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, equivalent to about 50 cents in climate damage per gallon, researchers estimate. Accounting for external factors such as congestion, accidents and air pollution, according to one 2007 estimate by Resources for the Future, the damage bill is closer to $3 per gallon.”
Coren notes that a conventional Ford F-150 truck, one of the biggest new car sellers in North America) spews five times more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere than the new F-150 Lightning EV.
Arguing the cost per kilowatt versus the cost per gallon does nothing to avert global warming. How can anyone this summer ignore the need for electrification of transportation in light of this last July being the warmest month since record-keeping began? The cost to humanity of an inhospitable future cannot be ignored.
]]>The first electric horseless carriage appeared in 1828. Note, nobody decided to shorten the name to car until the 20th century. Those first EVs didn’t compete with horse-drawn transportation until the very end of the 19th century with a few thousand in existence by then. However, the EV as successor to the horse was short-lived because of Henry Ford’s standardization and promotion of the internal combustion engine running on gasoline. Ford mass-produced his Model Ts and EVs soon disappeared. That is until recently when climate change provided a compelling reason to reconsider electrified personal transportation as a way to mitigate atmospheric warming caused by carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.
Before Tesla made the Li-ion battery pack the gold standard of current EVs, manufacturers experimented with Lead-Acid (invented in 1859), Nickel-Iron and Nickel-Cadmium (both appearing in 1899) and Nickel-Metal Hydride (invented in 1991). But the first Li-ion battery appeared in 1985 and soon achieved dominance as today’s battery of choice in portable devices and EVs. But Li-ion isn’t a perfect solution and I will let Jane tell you why.
Safety and environmental concerns abound regarding Li-ion batteries. What are the technology’s challenges?
Li-ion batteries have two major failings.
No doubt you have seen pictures of laptop computers going up in smoke, and an occasional Tesla catching on fire. To counter these risks, current Li-ion battery packs feature battery management systems designed to protect them from overheating through thousands of charge-discharge cycles that can lead to thermal runaway where battery temperatures reach 500 Celsius (932 Fahrenheit) degrees.
But an aqueous Li-on battery eliminates the hazard of overheating and could change the EV world providing faster charging, and a safer environment for users. So how do they work and why aren’t they already the gold standard for EVs today?
After numerous unexpected fires, Li-ion technology needs a rethink. What better way to counteract fire than with water? An aqueous Li-ion battery removes flammable organic solvents in existing battery technology and replaces them with aqueous saline solutions for managing current flow.
But water-based electrolytes in aqueous lithium-ion batteries, although resistant to fire, are not immune to a risk of explosion. This is because the sealing structure in current Li-ion technology limits heat dissipation and pressure within the cells. Some are experimenting with Li-ion open configurations using aqueous electrolytes and aluminum-oxide-coated anodes to minimize the explosion risk.
Experiments with aqueous Li-ion batteries to address extreme weather incidents are also being researched because of the growing threat of a more volatile climate in the near future.
Generating power from a saline solution relies on an electrochemical sliver of opportunity known as the potential window of stability. This window is short and the most significant drawback to the technology’s mass adoption. Until remedied, it’s unlikely to replace current Li-ion batteries.
Tinkering with Li-ion technology, some have suggested replacing flammable solvents entirely or using more eco-conscious, plentiful metals like magnesium. But the latter can warp in aqueous environments, reducing efficacy. Generally, each solution to combat current Li-ion issues has drawbacks.
In the meantime, aqueous Li-ion technology is finding niche uses where limited resilience and longevity are less of an issue such as for the military.
If the fire and explosion issues aren’t enough to give battery developers reasons to look at other improvements, recyclability to reduce pollution should be high on the list. An aqueous Li-ion battery eliminates the use of toxic materials that require invasive and destructive methods to mine and transform for manufacturing. The processes are currently so complex and expensive that recycling Li-ion batteries is largely not done by companies that use them in EVs and other devices. Only recently have specialized Li-ion recyclers emerged like Li-Cycle, a Canadian-based company that announced the building of a new European recycling hub a few days ago. Changing the technology to aqueous Li-ion would make the job of recycling companies and the reuse of the recovered materials far more attractive.
The EV industry is continuing to innovate Li-ion technology, looking for other ways to cool down these battery packs. Aqueous batteries appear to be an attractive option considering the need to address performance, safety, and sustainability. With the predicted number of Li-ion batteries expected to reach end-of-life by 2025, which amounts to around 3.4 million units, innovation is seen as a continuous priority.
At the same time, EV manufacturers are looking at ways to protect their cars from Li-ion issues by looking at improving ventilation and changing vehicle coatings to make them more fire and explosion resistant.
Electroplating or powder coating of EV parts can be used to create higher durability against fire, UV radiation and impact. The coatings manage vehicle temperature by maximizing organic chemical traits, like phosphorus ferromagnetism or silver’s heat conductivity. Aqueous battery replacements could add to the margin of safety.
Improved battery ventilation would reduce thermal runaway, a condition we previously described. Today’s EVs have minimal space to contain or manage their volatile components and materials. But these substances, cause consequences from slight smoking to alarming explosions. That’s why work is being done on design changes to improve airflow.
]]>I have been writing for several years about the evolution of battery technology. Just last month I described how lithium-air batteries could replace lithium-ion in the near future. The fixation on lithium and other metals to act as battery conductors are being challenged by other battery material options. A list I compiled back in 2018 didn’t even include O-ion batteries. But with this TU Wien announcement in March, it appears that it is another challenger to Li-ion battery supremacy. The inventors recently published a paper describing the engineering and testing of their battery in Advanced Energy Materials.
The most significant drawback of O-ion batteries is low-energy-density, approximately a third of Li-ion. Lower energy density has been seen as Na-ion’s Achilles Heel, but that hasn’t stopped Chinese EV makers from using these to power some of its latest models.
For both O-ion and Na-ion, the biggest advantages are longer service life combined with lower material costs. Neither technology requires expensive or exotic raw materials.
Jurgen Fleig of Tu Wien made a point of this in a news release dated March 21, 2023, when he stated that “our materials have some important advantages.” There is no need to use nickel or cobalt. Instead, the battery uses two types of ceramic material to serve as its anode and cathode. Unlike Li-ion which begins to lose charge capacity over time, an O-ion battery can withstand thousands of charging cycles with no consequences in terms of charge storage efficiency. And should the onboard oxidizer run out, the battery can draw on oxygen from the surrounding air to continue to produce electricity. That gives O-ion batteries, O-air reliability.
The lower energy density is currently not making the battery an attractive replacement for Li-ion in smartphones, tablets, laptops and even EVs. Instead, O-ion looks like a good candidate for storage backup in renewable wind and solar energy projects. Stated Alexander Schmid of Tu Wien, “If you construct an entire building full of energy storage modules, the lower energy density and increased operating temperature do not play a decisive role. The strengths of our battery would be particularly important there: the long service life, the possibility of producing large quantities…without rare elements, and the fact that there is no fire hazard.” (Li-ion batteries have been known to occasionally catch fire.)
The immediate significance of this new battery is its potential impact on utilities seeking to decarbonize energy production as they introduce more renewable power sources. Overcoming the challenges of intermittency from wind and solar power requires some form of guaranteed baseload source to feed consumer demand. A growing number of power companies are implementing battery baseload solutions as a result.
On this blog site I have written about gravity, pumped, compressed-air and other storage technologies implemented or under consideration by utilities as alternatives to the incumbent fossil-fuel-based legacy power plants in use today. The TU Wien inventors of O-ion see this as the arena where their new battery will find a home.
But as Na-ion batteries started as large-storage options, O-ion, as it is perfected, may find its form factor shrinking as energy density improvements are found. With a smaller form factor, an O-ion battery pack may find its way into EVs just as Na-ion has made the migration.
Demand for electrified transportation has taken off in the last year as a sense of urgency is growing to decarbonize this sector. According to a special report appearing in the April 22, 2023 edition of The Economist, the battery-electric revolution is now in full swing. In 2022, 13% of new car sales were EVs. By 2025, that number is expected to grow to 25%, and by 2040, to 75%. Can Li-ion alone meet this growing demand? Unlikely.
]]>If you didn’t know it, sodium is actually a metal. We don’t tend to think of it as such because sodium can be found in salt. But because it is metal sodium can hold an electrical charge. And since the ocean is filled with it making it among the most abundant materials on the planet, a battery using sodium would make sense.
But the challenges I describe in my latest discussion on lithium-air versus Li-ion hold for Na-ion batteries. Na-ion batteries have a relatively low energy density compared to Li-ion, and certainly, significantly lower than the developments being done at Argonne Research Laboratory using lithium-air technology.
By weight, a Li-ion battery generates 48% greater voltage than a comparable-sized Na-ion one. That matters if you are trying to move a 1,000-kilogram (2,200-pound) EV let alone one even heavier.
Another challenge comes from the liquid electrolytes used to work with Na-ion anodes. To date, these liquids are highly inflammable. So why not use a solid electrolyte? Because Na-ion performance with the latter is worse than if it were to use a liquid electrolyte.
So to run a current Tesla Model S which weighs over 2,000 kilograms (4,400 pounds) you would need a battery pack at least 50% larger and heavier for equivalency. And because of the heavier battery pack, the disadvantages would be even greater.
What are some other disadvantages?
Set against those disadvantages are the following advantages:
BYD is a Chinese rival to Tesla. It has plans to launch a small EV that will run using a Na-ion battery pack. Called the Seagull, this is a low-range vehicle. BYD has been testing a larger EV running on Na-ion called the Dolphin. The Seagull, however, will be a micro-EV with an extended range of 300 kilometres (about 180 miles). Its U.S. pricing is between $8,850-$14,750. The car’s affordability makes up for its restricted range and power. But it should make Na-ion battery technology a player in the rapid-rising EV market.
A note to Mr. O’Farrell. I know I never talked about Na-ion in my previous posting. But I never mentioned aluminum or iron-air, lithium-iron-phosphate, or potassium-ion batteries. Nor did I talk about nickel-cobalt-aluminum or nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries. Some of these storage technologies are in use today while others remain in development.
The search for economical alternatives to Li-ion technology will continue to go on as long as lithium prices continue to climb, and supply remains monopolized by China. But right now and for the foreseeable future, Li-ion owns the battery global market. It will be interesting to see if lithium-air reinforces this metal’s lead over sodium and other potential contenders.
]]>We’ve been using gasoline and diesel to power cars and trucks for more than a century. It was Henry Ford who popularized the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine (ICE) early in the 20th century. And Rudolf Diesel in the late 19th century gave us the engine named after him. Before these two, steam-power moved trains and steam-powered cars persisted all the way to the mid-1920s before this form of transportation was quashed by ICE technology and mass production.
ICE technology burns fossil fuels which we know add greenhouse gasses (GHG) to the atmosphere. In small numbers, using ICE for transportation would never have been an environmental problem. But gas-powered cars cover the planet to the tune of 1.4 billion in 2022. Environmental regulation of emissions has produced innovations. Catalytic converters, unleaded gasoline, and biofuels have reduced emissions per vehicle. But the explosion in the number of cars on the planet has offset those technological improvements.
Today, the impact of gas-powered cars is profound with between 80% and 90% of the total environmental impact coming from burning fuel each time you step on the gas. And particulate matter from partially-burned gasoline and diesel is responsible for 30,000 deaths per year from respiratory complications.
Climate change from adding GHGs to the atmosphere is pointing a finger, not just at fossil fuel producers, but also at transportation with the environmental impact of driving seen as an area where technological innovation can help reduce global warming. Hence the move to electric vehicles (EVs) and alternatives to gasoline and diesel fuels to move us around.
Car manufacturers like Tesla, Ford, Nissan and a bevy of Chinese companies have been cashing in on public interest to go green and slash personal carbon emissions. In the past, many false starts plagued EV development. General Motors launched the EV1 in 1996 and Honda in 1997. Neither of these survived in the marketplace. It took a new manufacturer, Tesla, to put the EV front and centre with automobile purchasers.
Now EVs appear to be the natural successors to ICE cars. Even accounting for charging, EVs deliver a lower carbon cost than gasoline-powered vehicle alternatives. The carbon efficiency of EVs is improving over time as well. And as we move towards a power grid featuring more renewable energy sources, the carbon produced to charge EVs will diminish.
EVs are technically complex-looking and laden vehicles, and despite all the onboard gadgets and goodies produce fewer GHGs over their full lifetime when compared to ICE cars. Their manufacturing may be more carbon intensive, but their operations quickly offset this when drivers forgo the gasoline and diesel pump.
Detractors of EVs point out that disposing of batteries can be ecologically harmful. However, as many of the current EVs on the road reach their end of life, the electric car battery recycling industry is ramping up. Older batteries are even getting an extended life when used in battery storage packs used in homes to provide electricity when there are power grid interruptions. And as more EVs are on the road, there is a growing demand for the recycling and reusing of EV parts and the materials that can be extracted from old batteries.
Then there are two outstanding concerns: range anxiety which appears to be coming to an end, and the lack of an adequate charging infrastructure which through the programs being funded in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act should soon be addressed.
Businesses are demonstrating they are fully behind the EV transition. Fleets are switching to EVs. Corporate sustainability and ESG credentials are becoming entrenched in business operations. Impact measurement and management (IMM) software is helping track sustainability improvements.
In recent years, Japanese automakers Honda and Toyota have invested in hydrogen-powered fuel cell cars. Hydrogen fuel cell EVs have a driving range of up to 500 kilometres (310 miles). Refilling a fuel cell car takes no more time than putting gas or diesel into an ICE vehicle. That too is a big plus when compared to battery-powered EVs that can take much longer to fully recharge.
Detractors of hydrogen point to the volatility of the fuel. They are mistaken as Toyota’s Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell model has demonstrated. Hydrogen fuel cells use compressed hydrogen which is converted to electricity. There are no GHG emissions other than water vapour. A hydrogen fuel-cell car is as carbon efficient in production as other EVs. And its operational footprint is zero carbon.
There are two remaining challenges for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles becoming a major competitor to EVs. The first is sourcing hydrogen which currently gets produced from natural gas, a GHG. But this is changing as electrolyzers become more common and use water and even saltwater to source hydrogen. And the second challenge is the lack of a hydrogen fueling infrastructure. Only Iceland today has a significant number of hydrogen stations which fuel its growing fleet of fuel-cell vehicles.
Because of Tesla EVs have gained popularity in the last decade. And because people are becoming more knowledgeable about climate-related issues, they are looking at EVs in greater numbers. So EVs have caught on and with recent price wars fueled by more manufacturers getting into the business, we should see significant growth in their use.
For hydrogen, the uphill climb to reach numbers that will make fuel-cell-powered EVs viable is steeper. But late into the race doesn’t mean the fuel cell EV will succumb to the same market dynamics that ended the Stanley Steamer.
]]>FBCE studies mixtures of liquid and vapour in contact with heated surfaces of equipment for use in space. As cool liquids interact with hot surfaces, boiling and vaporization occur which reduces the heat load of the targeted equipment. The cycle goes from liquid to vaporization and through condensation back to a liquid state in a closed cycle.
For NASA, using flow boiling and condensation processes ensures optimal operational temperatures for its equipment for future space missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The end result is thermal optimization for critical components supporting human and robotic space missions.
The work for NASA is being done at Purdue University where a team is making flow boiling and condensation more efficient while at the same time reducing the form factor for the hardware needed to work on spaceships crewed by humans, robotic missions, and equipment used on the Moon and Mars.
Developing the technology is yielding a surprising application for us here on Earth that could be a significant breakthrough for the electric vehicle (EV) industry. EVs have range issues and require regular recharging. The charging stations require the EV operator to plug the vehicle into a charging outlet. This is done using an insulated charging cable through which the electric current flows. That produces a considerable amount of heat. The higher the current, the greater the heat.
A fast-charging station delivers up to 520 amperes of current versus 150-ampere chargers designed to recharge EVs today. The 520 ampere fast chargers can top up an EV battery in about 30 minutes. The cable used to connect the vehicle to the charge station is thick and heavy because it contains an outer shell of liquid coolant that envelops the wire directing the current to the battery. The coolant removes the excessive heat because without it a customer plugging in would be unable to hold the cable or remove it because it would be too hot to handle.
But what if you decided to increase the number of amperes flowing through the charging cable? The benefit of doing this would be a faster recharge. The number the industry wants to reach is 1,400 amperes, enough juice in the wire to recharge an EV in five minutes, or about the same amount of time it takes to fill a gas tank of an internal-combustion-engine driven vehicle.
How much and what type of coolant could allow you to make a cable that would still be manageable for an EV driver to stop, plug in, and in five minutes be on his or her way? This is where the Purdue University engineers doing the FCBE come in. They experimented with dielectric liquid coolants (liquids used as electrical insulators in high-voltage applications such as transformers, capacitors, powerlines and cables) that they pumped through charging cables. Trying various coolants allowed them to find one that delivered 4.6 times the charge at 2,400 amperes, a thousand amperes more than the 1,400 needed to charge an EV battery in five minutes.
The next step for the engineering team is to find an industrial partner or launch a spinoff to develop a commercial version of the cable. Subcooled flow boiling cables won’t be the first time an invention has come from a NASA-inspired and funded project. Think velcro, vacuum-packed foods, cordless vacuums, ear thermometers, memory foam, winglets on airplanes, and the proliferation of sensors in almost every industry, all first conceived from NASA-funded experiments and projects. But of all these many 20th and 21st-century innovations, I think the EV charging cable may prove to have the biggest impact although I must admit, my memory foam mattress that gives me a restful sleep each night would be a close second.
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