Could it be the breakthrough we all are waiting for the EV mass market now? This technology could provide the real solution to the pollution in China and all other cities around the world. Volkswagen is really trying to conquer the largest auto-market in the world with its push into electric space in China.
Battle With Pollution: Volkswagen Says To Launch Over 20 Electric Vehicle Models In China.
News about the terrible air pollution in China are all over the headlines. Chinese government is taking this matter very seriously and has announced the war on pollution. VW Group is moving forward to capitalise on this trend now. And we can see the first results in the China's government support for the strategic industry - electric cars. Read more."
Lithium Drive: China's Electric Vehicle Output Grows Fivefold.
China continues to build its new strategic industry - Electric Cars and now we can see the first results. International Lithium is well positioned to participate in this macro trend in China with its strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium.
"According to the World Bank, air pollution costs China as much as $300-billion a year in health problems and productivity losses.In response, the Chinese central government just announced a slate of pro-electric car policies, including slashing charging station rates by 30%. Navigant Research predicts that global lithium ion battery sales will increase 400% by 2023.A Canadian company is strategically positioned to benefit from this macro-trend. Read more."
Green Car Congress:
Volkswagen’s Winterkorn: “great potential” in solid-state batteries, with possible 1,000 Wh/l, or 700 km range
In his remarks made at Stanford University during the award of the third Science Award for Electrochemistry to Dr. Vanessa Wood (earlier post), Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen noted again the challenges of energy density, cost, reliability and lifespan for batteries enabling longer range electric mobility.
In that context, he said that he sees “great potential” in solid-state batteries, which possibly could boost EV range to as much as 700 km (435 miles), representing a volumetric energy density of about 1,000 Wh/l. Current Li-ion batteries, with about 260 Wh/l are enabling a range of some 190 km (118 miles), he said. He then added that, with a higher nickel content, more will be feasible, although falling well short of the potential of solid-state systems. However, even “Increasing the specific energy of lithium-ion cells to as much as 380 Wh/l will reduce driving range drawbacks.”
Lowering the price of battery cells to 100 euros [US$124] per kilowatt hour would significantly increase the market potential of electric vehicles. And if we also improve reliability and battery lifespan, customer acceptance will grow fast. Ladies and gentlemen, we are reaching out to the world of science to make all this happen. Of course, these are complex challenges and progress is not attained overnight. It takes knowledge, it takes precision and it takes lots of persistence.—Martin Winterkorn
Volkswagen Group engineers are currently working on electrifying up to 40 different models, ranging from all battery-electric drives to plug-in hybrids and even fuel cell systems, he said. (The company has also announced the biggest initiative for e-mobility in China’s automotive history.) For the medium term, the Group strongly believes that the plug-in hybrids will be the leading alternative.
Electrochemistry is a field of the greatest importance—internationally and across industries. A field where we can and must achieve progress. High-performance energy storage is key to big challenges of our times—namely climate protection and a sustainable mobility.To really succeed with electric vehicles we need batteries with a higher range, less weight and lower cost. This is crucial for a broad acceptance among customers world-wide. It is crucial for economies of scale in purchasing and production. And—as a consequence—it will be crucial to slashing CO2-emissions and meeting tough regulations globally.So, for Europe’s largest carmaker, battery technology is ranking high on our agenda. By the way, that starts at the top: So in my office the “Basics of Electrochemistry” is a book with a permanent place on the desk. However, it needs more than books.—Martin Winterkorn
All-solid-state batteries. In a paper presented at the Society of Engineering Science 51st Annual Technical Meeting held at Purdue University last month, Giovanna Bucci, Craig Carter and Yet-Ming Chiang, all of MIT, noted that all-solid-state rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have attracted much interest because they have features particularly favorable for large-scale application—i.e., for automotive applications.
Replacing the organic liquid electrolyte with a nonflammable and more reliable inorganic solid electrolyte (SE) simplifies the battery design while improving safety and durability of the system. This also allows the use of large-capacity electrode materials, for instance, sulfur positive electrode paired with a lithium metal negative electrode, which are difficult to employ in conventional liquid electrolyte batteries.
The all-solid-state battery also offers improved packaging efficiency, as the cell design can allow in-series stacking and bi-polar structures. High energy densities can be achieved by reducing the dead space between single cells.
A key development to the success of all-solid-state batteries is a SE with high Li+ ion conductivity at room temperature. In recent years, several SEs having the same level of conductivity as organic liquid electrolytes have been discovered and tested with many active materials. The durability of a cohering solid–solid interface between electrode and electrolyte is likely to be important practical consideration.—Bucci et al.Toyota is pursuing the development of all-solid-state batteries, and has already developed prototype cells with an energy density of 400 Wh/L. These, the Toyota researchers noted (again, assuming development challenges are overcome), could be commercialized by FY 2020 and see subsequent substantial improvement by FY 2025. (Earlier post.)
All-solid-state Li-ion batteries have suffered from limited power densities until recently. Researchers are working in three main areas:
Developing better lithium-ion conducting solid electrolytes. These solid electrolytes are oxide-based, sulfide-based, nitride-based, etc. Researchers at Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Germany recently reported the development of two new ultrafast solid Li electrolytes which are based exclusively on abundant elements. Both compounds feature extremely high Li-ion diffusivities. (Earlier post.)
Designing improved electrode/electrolyte interfaces to reduce interfacial resistance.
Improving Li-ion conductivity in active materials.
Resources: Bucci, G., Carter, W., & Chiang, Y. (2014). “Mechanical and electrochemical response of all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries.” In A. Bajaj, P. Zavattieri, M. Koslowski, & T. Siegmund (Eds.). Proceedings of the Society of Engineering Science 51st Annual Technical Meeting, October 1-3, 2014 , West Lafayette: Purdue University Libraries Scholarly Publishing Services, 2014. Green Car Congress."
