After the first battery-powered electric car was developed in the 19th century, we have come so far in terms of technology, design, and development. As the need to control environmental pollution is becoming more important and due to the shortage of oil and gas reservoirs, almost all automobile manufacturer seems to be shifting towards electric vehicles. Some of the electric cars like the Tesla Model 3, Renault Zoe, Wuling Hongguang Mini EV are among the top-selling plug-in electric cars in 2021.
Although the industry seems to be shifting towards electric vehicles, the common problem the whole industry is facing right now is the lack of range and high battery charging time. So it is important to understand the emerging new technologies.
How solid-state battery differs from a conventional Lithium battery?
Limitations of conventional Lithium battery
As new technology is emerging, it is really important to evaluate the limitation of the existing liquid Li-ion battery technology. Some of the limitations are,
- Limited life cycle.
- Not suitable for long-term storage.
- Slow charging time.
- Chances of the explosion.
Future of Electric vehicles.
As we have seen in recent years, following Tesla almost all automobile manufacturers are transforming their vehicles to electrical technology. Now, we can say that the IC Engine is definitely not the future of the automobile industry. Since the latest liquid Li-ion battery technology is near its full potential after it was first commercially viable in 1991, Solid-state batteries are one of the leading alternatives. However, this technology is many years far from being usable on a commercial scale. There is a lot more work to be done before it will be available on electric cars someday.
Advantages of Solid-State Battery
The solid-state battery has the ability to outperform liquid Li-ion and other present-day batteries in many ways. The properties like having more charge cycles, a high range of functional temperature, and more energy storage can be achieved from the solid-state battery. The main advantage being safety.
- Although the latest Li-ion battery technology is somewhat safer it’s not the safest one. The electrolyte used in the Li-ion battery is more flammable. So cooling and protecting such a design is not easy, but it’s not the case with a solid electrolyte. The solid electrolyte has improved stability with a solid structure and increased safety because of its solid form it maintains the form even if the electrolyte is damaged.
- Comparing to traditional battery technology, the energy density in the solid-state battery is high. It can store 2.2 to 5 times as much energy as a traditional Lithium battery.
- One of the factors affecting the usability of the battery is charging time, the solid-state battery can charge 6 times faster than liquid state batteries.
- The electrolyte material (Lithium phosphate glass) used solid electrolyte is so stable that it will lose only 5% of its capacity after the 40,000 charge cycle. The battery technology made with this electrolyte will have a long life cycle.
Some of the recent ongoing work on the solid-state battery:
Solid Power, one of the developers of batteries for electric vehicles is working on producing 20Ah multi-layer lithium metal batteries. According to Solid Power, the 330 Wh/kg, 22-layer cells have higher energy density than any commercially available Li-ion battery manufactured today. The new battery will have properties like -10°C operation, 50% fast-charge in 15 minutes at room temperature, Separator thickness as low as 25 microns.
QuantumScape, a battery startup after nearly a decade of research, has developed a production-ready solid-state battery with cells that are made of solid and “dry” conductive material. According to QuantumScape, their battery will have only two main layers: a cathode and a solid-state ceramic separator. As the battery charges, the lithium leaves the cathode traveling through the atomic lattice of the non-porous ceramic separator. When the lithium through the ceramic layer, it will deposit between the ceramic layer and electrical contact forming an anode of pure metallic lithium resulting in higher energy density.
The automotive giant Toyota is reportedly on verge of rolling out its (so-called its “game-changing”) solid-state battery. According to Toyota, the battery will have a range of 500 Km and will be able to be fully charged in just 10 min. The Toyota stays on the top of the race with over 1000 patents involving solid-state batteries.
Why developing solid-state batteries is so challenging?
Developing a sample-size solid-state battery is possible with the present technology. We do have an existing solid-state battery in different applications but the main challenging thing is making those prototype models available for scale production. And this is the technology that many companies are investing huge money to develop.
Here is a video explaining the challenges in the development of Solid-State batteries,