Automobiles contribute a significant portion of air pollution, making many people wanting to use more environmentally forms of transportation, including electric vehicles. The biggest drawback of the current generation of electric cars is the battery efficiency, as well as the cost of the battery and vehicle. Companies have been working on producing a safe and reliable battery that can go for long distances on one change, and be quickly charged when needed. One company claims it has found the answer to the next generation of electric car batteries, making a breakthrough in the electric car imminent.
Sakti3’s Innovative Battery Technology
Michigan-based startup company Sakti3 developed technology to create battery chemistry that can double the energy density found in even the best of the lithium-ion batteries currently on the market. The company has developed a prototype of solid-state lithium cells with the capability of reaching 1,143 Watt-hours per liter.
This technology would not only make the range of an electric car larger, but also lower the costs. This could be the first battery to finally overcome the major hurdles preventing the mass market of electric vehicles: the 300 mile range and the under $100 per kilowatt-hour cost. These numbers are the numbers necessary to allow electric cars to truly compete with the standard gas-powered or even hybrid cars and be affordable for most consumers.
The battery’s increased energy density is so revolutionary and important because it is the feature that affects the range of an electric vehicle. This is how long a car can go before needing to be recharged. With the lack of charging stations and the time it takes to recharge a vehicle, having a low range stops many people from wanting to invest in electric cars. In order for most drivers to consider an electric car, the range needs to be above 300 miles between charges.
What Makes the Battery Technology Better?
Sakti3 also is trying to reduce the cost of their battery, which will help to make electric cars more affordable overall. The solid-state batteries will also be safer, because they are less volatile than the batteries made with liquid electrolyte. They also require less surrounding packaging for safety. Instead, a layer separates the anode and cathode of the battery and works as the electrolyte for the transfer of the ions.
It will still have a long life cycle as well, which is how many times a battery can be recharged before it finally dies. Sakti3’s battery uses a thin-film deposition process that resembles the technology found in flat panel displays and photovoltaic solar cells. Currently, this revolutionary battery technology has not been tested beyond Sakti3’s own lab, nor has the claims been independently verified. However, it still is making waves in the auto industry.
GM has shown interest in the technology and even invested in the company through its investment arm, GM Ventures. The company says that it will still be a few years before this technology is commercialized, and they will begin with consumer electronics before moving into the electric-vehicle battery market.
Another Player in the Battery Revolution
In addition to Sakti3’s battery technology, Tesla has also announced a program that will help to revolutionize the electric car battery. It has recently teamed with Panasonic to create the Gigafactory, a $5 billion manufacturing plant set to lower the cost of manufacturing batteries based on Tesla’s own battery technology, which is currently the best in the electronic vehicle market.
With such a large manufacturing center, it will be able to reduce the cost of each battery, making electric cars more affordable. However, this move will also take a few years to actually produce, especially as the factory has yet to be built or even settled on a location.
Sakti3’s technology could just be the breakthrough necessary to finally allow electric vehicles to become a major player in the automotive industry. With Tesla likewise working to revolutionize the electric car battery industry, it might not be long before electric vehicles overtake the traditional gas-powered vehicle.