U.S. Develops Batteries That Triple Range Of EVs

The Argonne National Laboratory in the US has essentially cracked the battery technology for electric vehicles, discovering a way to raise the future driving range of standard EVs to a thousand miles or more, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reported for The Telegraph.

Photo Insert: The Argonne National Laboratory experiment has already reached 675 Wh/kg with a lithium-air variant.

It promises to do so cheaply without cutting the global supply of critical minerals in the process. The joint project with the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) has achieved a radical jump in the energy density of battery cells.

The lithium-ion battery used in cars today stores about 200 watt-hours per kilo (Wh/kg). Their lab experiment has already reached 675 Wh/kg with a lithium-air variant.

This is a high enough density to power trucks, trains, and arguably mid-haul aircraft, long thought to be beyond the reach of electrification. The team believes it can reach 1,200 Wh/kg.

Thus, global transport can be decarbonized easily and probably at a negative net cost compared to the continued use of fossil fuels. Argonne and IIT’s study has been peer-reviewed and published in the research journal Science. Their solid-state battery has achieved the highest energy density worldwide.

The paper says the process can theoretically deliver an energy density comparable to that of gasoline. Prof. Larry Curtiss, the project leader, said the battery does not need cobalt. In the end, the battery may not even use lithium as it can rely on sodium.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) accounts for 74% of the world’s cobalt production and 75% of its mining industry is controlled by Chinese firms. Russia is the 3rd biggest producer worldwide and may even rank higher by tearing up the marine bed off the Pacific coast.

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