This article is about everything about Lithium-ion batteries. Let’s know how Lithium-ion batteries power up the world.
Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries were first used in portable video cameras in 1991. Laptops soon followed. A decade later, these batteries enabled the rapid growth of IT (information technology) giants such as Apple by supplying power to smartphones and wearable devices and even expanded their use to electric vehicles (EVs). During that time, the basic technology remained largely unchanged. Lithium ions move through the electrolyte from the positive electrode to the negative electrode and back again.
“But this is just the beginning.” After a decade of plummeting costs, batteries have reached a turning point. It’s no longer just a consumer product. We are about to bring about a revolution in how the world uses electricity.
In the energy industry, the affordability of batteries has made it easier for businesses to store electricity and harness renewable energy. In the automotive industry, batteries are challenging the 100-year-old gasoline engine world. With costs dropping so much and so quickly, most automakers expect to be able to build EVs, which are now more expensive than gas-powered cars, for about the same cost within five years.
It is highly likely that this momentum will continue in the future. Currently, battery demand is mainly for EVs, but if the cost declines due to increased demand, the creative destruction will spread beyond the boundaries of the industry. Most recently, General Motors (GM), a major US automaker, won a victory in the field of batteries. The company plans to phase out sales of petrol and diesel vehicles worldwide by 2035.
The battery boom may deprive demand for petroleum products such as crude oil and gasoline, as well as natural gas, which is mainly used in power plants. While some greenhouse gases are emitted from resource extraction and battery manufacturing, analysts say a shift in the automotive and energy industries to batteries will reduce overall emissions and help tackle climate change. It seems to move forward.
In the United States, power plants alone account for about 25% of domestic emissions, with light vehicles such as passenger cars and vans contributing another 17%.
The spread of rechargeable batteries is now a matter of national security and industrial policy. Controlling the minerals and manufacturing processes required to manufacture lithium-ion batteries is, so to speak, the oil security of the 21st century.
Asian countries and companies currently dominate the battery flow. Nearly 65% of lithium-ion batteries are manufactured in China. In contrast, no single oil-producing country accounts for more than 20% of world crude oil production.
Companies are working to develop new forms such as all-solid-state batteries that move ions without the use of electrolytes, which could significantly improve output and further reduce battery prices. The value created by such breakthroughs could be in the billions, if not trillions, of dollars.
“There is still a huge amount of innovation ahead.” Christina Lampeonnerdo, CEO of U.S. battery startup Cadenza Innovation, said: In the future, the company envisions installing its own battery in each building to store electricity for use during peak hours, leading to cost savings.
In 2008, EVs running on lithium-ion batteries were first commercialized. It was Tesla’s EV sports car “Roadster”. One of the reasons Tesla quickly gained the upper hand was that it realized it would be good to put a lot of general-purpose laptop batteries in cars. The company initially bought off-the-shelf laptops made in Asia. At the time, PCs used between 6 and 12 cells, but a two-seater roadster required nearly 7,000 cells.
Currently, more than two-thirds of the world’s lithium-ion batteries are used in automobiles, and by 2030 this will reach three-quarters. Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, which researches battery prices and industry trends, predicts:
The same batteries are increasingly being used in power grids. In January, construction began on a giant battery in Florida that will stack 2.5 million lithium-ion battery cells. The technology is the same as a Tesla car, just bigger. Florida Power & Light, owned by Nexterra Energy Inc., said the batteries could power the state’s Walt Disney World Resort for seven hours.
Used car batteries deteriorate slightly after many years of charging and discharging, but they have found a way out in various power storage businesses. The ‘Johan Cruyff Arena’ in Amsterdam, Holland, will feature a 3-megawatt ‘superbattery’ made from 148 Nissan Leaf battery packs. Mostly recycled, it stores electricity generated by rooftop solar panels to help balance the arena’s energy usage.
According to Benchmark, global lithium production has nearly tripled over the past decade in response to demand forecasts. Lithium is also used to make nuclear bombs and treat bipolar disorder. It is mined mainly in Australia and Chile and is found in brackish water pumped from underground salt lakes. In the United States, efforts to boost production at lithium deposits in Nevada and North Carolina have attracted investor interest.
In recent years, prices have fallen at a faster pace than expected due to increased demand from automakers. EV battery packs and motors currently cost about $4,000 more to manufacture than internal-combustion engines in comparable midsize sedans that use fossil fuels. But UBS Group says the gap will close to $1,900 in 2022 and close in the mid-2020s.
Ken Morris, head of GM’s EV division, predicted in September last year that costs would equalize in five years. Big manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Tesla, and GM are scrambling to secure the power capacity needed to power millions of EVs, driving down battery prices even further. With the electrification of transportation, some tech giants such as Apple and Amazon.com Inc. are also getting into the field.
In the world’s largest markets, the United States, Europe, and China, battery-powered vehicles accounted for about 4% of new vehicle sales last year, up from about 1% in 2017, according to Deutsche Bank data. The bank expects its market share to reach 22% by 2025.
In the energy industry, power grids have been built based on just-in-time power generation for over 100 years. In order not to turn off the lights, the amount of power generated to meet the demand was adjusted every second and supplied. There was no way to store energy to use at another time.
To circumvent this problem, natural gas-fired power plants called “peakers” have been used for decades, operating for several hours as needed during peak power demand periods (the hottest and coldest months). Rice field. But some parts of the United States are starting to install large numbers of lithium-ion batteries instead of peakers.
Lithium-ion battery prices have continued to fall since Boston Consulting Group estimated them at $1000-1200 per kilowatt-hour in January 2010. At the time, the company said the automaker’s target of $250 was “not likely to be reached without a significant breakthrough in battery technology.”
Significant increases in manufacturing capacity have lowered costs, and small improvements in technology and design have enabled further savings, with the current battery price of about $125 per kilowatt-hour.
Last year, the United States formed a consortium of related organizations with the aim of promoting the domestic battery industry, citing the industry’s role in consumer electronics and national defense as a reason. It also applied the Defense Production Act (DPA) to accelerate the development of rare earth mines.
Another challenge is that while lithium-ion batteries are becoming safer, there have been numerous reports of battery-related fires. GM, Hyundai Motor, BMW, etc. have already been forced to recall (collection and free repair).
The lack of charging stations may also discourage people from buying EVs. San Francisco predicts that by 2030 there may be a need for more than 5,100 EV charging plugs. As of 2019, there were 834 locations. An analysis co-authored by two city officials also estimated that the city would need 7% more electricity than it currently consumes to fill the battery capacity.
Still, automotive experts believe that battery-powered models, which are mechanically much simpler and have fewer moving parts than gasoline-powered cars, will eventually prevail.
