14500 battery

An overview of the top five "14500 battery" technologies

The improvement of battery life determines the fate of electric vehicles. Scientific researchers are pursuing new discoveries in chemistry and materials, and car companies and battery suppliers are working together to reduce costs and add energy. Among the emerging new technologies, a large amount of research has been invested in replacing lithium-ion chemistries, and some have become popular applications and solutions.

1. The five major battery technologies have promising business prospects

1. MIT: Semi-solid lithium flow battery

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States and a spin-off company called 24M have developed an advanced process for manufacturing lithium batteries: semi-solid lithium flow batteries, which are not only expected to significantly reduce production costs, but also improve battery performance. Make it easier to recycle.

The founder of 24M Company is Jiang Yeming, a professor at MIT and one of the former founders of A123 Battery Company. The name Jiang Yeming is well-known in the battery industry and ranks 66th among global materials scientists. He is regarded as the world's leading expert in the battery industry. In addition to working on lithium iron phosphate batteries, he and his colleagues proposed the concept of "semi-solid flow batteries" five years ago, and he has been making commercial efforts over the years.

People are constantly looking for positive and negative electrode materials to increase energy density, whether dry batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries or lithium batteries. No matter how the materials are upgraded, traditional batteries have a low utilization rate of active materials. Materials that can produce electrical energy are wrapped in necessary inactive materials. among. In common lithium batteries, lithium materials only contain about 2% of the weight of the battery. These inactive materials increase the cost of the battery and reduce the utilization of active materials. Because of these weaknesses of traditional batteries, flow batteries were born. The flow battery can be regarded as an independent large battery. The positive and negative electrolytes are stored separately, and the concentrated reaction produces electrical energy. This eliminates the need for expensive additional materials and greatly improves efficiency.

Since flow batteries are so good and efficient, why haven't they been widely adopted? Because flow batteries also have many disadvantages. At present, the concentration of flow batteries is limited. Although the efficiency is theoretically higher than that of traditional batteries, the solution concentration is low, the energy density and power density are not advantageous, and the price is not cheap. The energy density of the solution itself is low, and with the addition of additional devices such as tanks for holding the solution and pumps for pumping the solution, the overall performance of the flow battery system will be even worse.

Therefore, Jiang Yeming developed a semi-solid lithium flow battery. This flow battery does not use a solution, but uses a slurry formed by mixing fine lithium compound particles and a liquid electrolyte. Because the energy density of this kind of mud can be made higher than that of solution, the flow battery has the advantage of large capacity. When Jiang Yeming was writing his thesis at MIT, the energy of his semi-solid flow battery could already reach 500WH. /L.

The principle of this battery is actually very simple. The electrode is a slurry formed by mixing small lithium compound particles and liquid electrolyte. The battery uses two streams of slurry, one with positive charge and one with negative charge. Both streams of slurry pass through the aluminum current collector and the copper current collector. There is a water-permeable membrane between the appliances. When two beams of mud pass through the membrane, lithium ions are exchanged, causing an electric current to flow on the outside. To recharge the battery, simply apply a voltage to cause the ions to retreat across the membrane. In this way, the material utilization rate of its positive and negative electrodes is much higher than that of traditional batteries. Only one layer of film is enough, and the various materials used are also much cheaper than traditional batteries. Moreover, semi-solid lithium flow batteries can be made flexible (think of two balls of mud wrapped in a plastic bag). Not only can they be bent and folded, they will not be damaged even if they are penetrated by bullets, and they are safe and durable. A big advantage.

Theoretically, semi-solid lithium flow batteries have higher energy density, lower price, safer and bright prospects. However, the principle and structure of this kind of thing are completely different from current batteries. Production line design, quality control, testing standards, and mass production processes all have to be explored from scratch. Therefore, Jiang Yeming's 24M company has been doing things from laboratory to mass production over the years, solving various problems encountered in the mass production of new structure batteries, and gradually formed a manual production line. Later, it only took them 6 minutes to manually produce a unit the size of a mobile phone battery. After exploration, the team repeatedly improved the production process and finally created an industrialized production platform, which resulted in qualitative changes in the energy density and production speed of the battery.

24M has manufactured about 10,000 of these batteries on a prototype production line, and some are being tested by three industrial partners, including an oil company in Thailand and Japanese heavy equipment manufacturer IHI Corporation. The new process has obtained 8 patents, and another 75 patents are under review. Next, Jiang Yeming is preparing to launch the third round of financing. The new funds will be used to develop a machine that can produce a battery core in 2-10 seconds. This shows that semi-solid flow batteries have reached the large-scale testing stage. After this stage, they will be mass-produced.

The cost advantages, safety advantages, and capacity advantages of flow batteries are not outstanding in the mobile phones and tablets we use daily. On the contrary, this kind of large-capacity, cheap, and safe battery is a perfect match for new energy vehicles and home energy storage. Once electric vehicles use this kind of battery, the price will immediately become approachable and the cruising range will be longer. Moreover, this kind of battery is safer and not afraid of ordinary collisions, which is very good for the safety of electric vehicles.

Semi-solid lithium flow batteries may really create a battery revolution, and maybe in just 3-5 years, the world of electric vehicles will be completely different.

2.nanoFLOWCELL: Flow battery can last 1,000 kilometers

At the 85th Geneva Motor Show, which opened on March 5, nanoFLOWCELL from Liechtenstein, a small country in Central Europe, not only brought the QUANTF electric supercar with a range of 800 kilometers. In addition to its cool appearance, the biggest highlight is the use of lithium-ion flow batteries as a high-performance electric supercar. The driving force of a supercar, with a cruising range of up to 800 kilometers. The first prototype will hit the road as early as 2015.

Flow batteries combine aspects of electrochemical batteries and fuel-powered lithium batteries to deliver up to four times the performance of the lithium battery technology that powers today's electric vehicles. In addition to having significant advantages in price and driving range, the new flow battery is safer than the batteries currently used in cars and is easier to integrate into car designs.

Flow batteries combine aspects of electrochemical batteries and fuel-powered lithium batteries. Liquid electrolyte is contained in the two battery compartments and circulates through the battery. A membrane in the center of the system separates the two electrolyte solutions but still allows electrical charges to flow, creating power for the power system. One of the advantages of this system is that it uses a larger battery compartment, which means a higher energy density. Under the rated voltage of 600V and the rated current of 50A, the system can continuously output a maximum power of 30 kilowatts. Compared with the lithium battery technology that powers today's electric vehicles, the performance is four times higher, which means that it can cover five times the range of traditional components of the same weight.

The QUANTF prototype is equipped with a battery compartment with a volume of 200 liters and a storage capacity of 120 kWh. Under low load conditions, the vehicle consumes approximately 20 kWh per 100 kilometers. The company said that it is expected to expand the volume of the battery compartment to 800 liters in the future. The car is equipped with four motors with a continuous power of 120 kilowatts and a peak power of 170 kilowatts. They can realize four-wheel drive driving through torque distribution and can also be used as a backup energy storage device for the two supercapacitors in the car. The peak torque of each wheel can reach 2900 Nm. It only takes an astonishing 2.8 seconds to accelerate to 100 kilometers.

3.Sakti3 solid-state battery technology breakthrough doubles electric vehicle mileage to nearly 800 kilometers

Sakti3, a lithium battery startup company located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the sixth largest city in the United States, recently received a US$15 million investment from the British home appliance giant Dyson. This startup company specializes in lithium battery research and development and has a unique skill. , that is, the energy density of the battery developed by Sakti3 reaches 1,000 watt hours per liter, which is twice that of ordinary lithium batteries. The battery performance of smartphones, laptops and electric vehicles will therefore be greatly improved.

Sakti3’s mysterious battery uses new materials and production techniques to achieve higher energy density. They claim that it can store 1,000 watt-hours per liter and increase the range of electric vehicles from 256 miles to 480 miles (about 772 kilometers). Manufacturing costs Low, fast charging and discharging, more environmentally friendly, and safer than some standards. This technology eliminates the flammable liquid electrolyte in traditional lithium batteries, achieves technological advancements through its high-energy storage materials, and most importantly, it is cheaper, about $100 per kilowatt-hour, far lower than the current 200 to 300 U.S. dollars. The market price of US dollars can be applied to electric vehicles subject to cost and mileage constraints in the future.

Currently, Sakti3's lithium battery technology is in the research and development stage and is still "several years" away from commercialization. Many battery startups have struggled to turn laboratory technology into real products, but have been unable to achieve major breakthroughs, in part because their prototypes are custom-made and require expensive manufacturing techniques that are difficult to mass-produce. The prototype product of Sakti3 uses standard production equipment. After improvement and upgrade, it is very likely to be commercialized.

4. Volkswagen: Battery costs fall and energy density increases

Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn recently revealed that the company is developing a "super-battery" that can significantly increase the range of electric vehicles and is now close to achieving a breakthrough in new battery technology.

Winterkorn said in an interview with German media: Volkswagen is developing a 14500 battery in Silicon Valley, California. The new battery is cheaper, smaller and more powerful. An electric version of the Volkswagen brand model (after equipped with a 14500 battery) is expected to have a pure electric range of 300 kilometers (186 miles).

So, what technology will Volkswagen use to significantly increase battery energy density? And significantly improve electric vehicle range? At present, the focus is mainly on the upgraded version of existing lithium battery solutions and the newer solid-state battery technology.

In terms of cost reduction, Heinz-Jakob Neusser, a member of the Volkswagen brand board of directors in charge of R&D business, revealed that plans are currently underway to unify battery pack specifications and hope that all electrified vehicles in the future can shift to a single lithium battery unit design. Unified specifications will inevitably bring about cost reductions, with the goal of reducing battery costs by 66% by simplifying battery unit design.

5. LGChem’s new battery technology enables electric vehicles to run 500 kilometers

South Korean battery giant LG Chem announced the development of new technology. Electric vehicles can travel 400-500 kilometers on a single charge, doubling the mileage. It is expected to be put into mass production in 2017.

At present, the average electric vehicle can only travel less than 200 kilometers after charging. Park Jin-soo, vice president and CEO of LG Chem, said that the company has developed new technology that can increase the driving range of electric vehicles to 400-500 kilometers, and the products will be put into production soon, but declined to disclose more details. In a recent exclusive interview with foreign media, Prabhakar Patil, head of LG Chem's power lithium battery business unit, predicted that LG Chem will make another major technological breakthrough in 2017, which is faster than he originally expected. "By 2017 or 2018, US$30,000, Electric vehicles with a range of 200 miles (approximately 321 kilometers) will become commercial mainstream products. "Although General Motors has not confirmed whether the upcoming 2017 Chevrolet BOLT pure electric vehicle will use LG Chem's batteries, the industry has generally believed that it will. That's right.

2. Unable to be commercialized Why is there no breakthrough in battery technology?

If you want a car with good acceleration experience, TSLA ModelS can definitely satisfy you. Of course, electric vehicles like this not only bring a good driving experience, but they also do not cause pollution to the environment compared to traditional gasoline vehicles. However, since the birth of electric vehicles, they have only accounted for a small part of the market share. The important reason is that electric car batteries are expensive and require frequent charging. But why has battery performance not improved?

Over the past few years, countless battery technology research has made breakthrough progress, but few of these have been commercially used to deliver on the promise of low cost and high capacity. For example, A123 Systems, a lithium battery start-up company founded in 2001, once claimed that it can manufacture the lithium iron phosphate cathode material of lithium batteries into uniform nanoscale ultra-small particles, which can greatly increase the discharge power of the battery due to the sharp increase in particles and total surface area. , and the overall stability and cycle life are not affected. But it ultimately failed in 2012. The reason is that the lithium batteries it describes cannot be mass-produced or convert electricity safely and efficiently.

In 2012, Envia Systems, a battery company based in California, announced at a major conference in Washington that it had developed an energy-dense battery. A lithium battery can store twice as much energy per unit weight as current batteries, and the cost is reduced by half. As soon as General Motors heard about Envia, which could develop such high-energy batteries, it immediately invested US$7 million in it, hoping to cooperate in the electric vehicle business. By 2013, Envia was failing to deliver on its claims of "amazing results," resulting in the loss of funding and a partnership with General Motors. In addition, this company has also received attention from the U.S. Advanced Energy Research Project Agency ARPA-E. All I can say is that the Envia's impressive battery is both exciting and disappointing.

In fact, in the battery industry, due to the high threshold of battery technology, it is difficult for startups to survive alone. Therefore, the battery industry is generally dominated by large companies. Andy Chu, a former executive of A123 Systems, said: Energy storage is a "big head" game, because a little carelessness in battery development will lead to mistakes. Although I hope that battery startups will eventually succeed, through the history of the past few years, (everyone can see that the end of these companies) is not good.

Over the past decade, we've seen "breakthrough" advances in the battery industry, but these have been steady small advances from big companies.

Envia's battery is a new type of lithium battery that was invented in the late 1970s and early 1980s and was commercially used in the 1990s. They become portable batteries that are used in electric cars.

As early as the 1990s, General Motors used cheap lead-acid batteries in its electric vehicle EV-1. Not only did the vehicle have less mileage, but the lead-acid batteries on the vehicle were also very bulky.

By 2008, TSLA introduced lithium battery electric vehicles. Although the mileage was greater than that of EV-1, they were expensive. Therefore, in order to reduce prices and create electric vehicles with low mileage, some automobile manufacturers such as Nissan and General Motors actually focus on reducing the lithium batteries of electric vehicles.

If a certain part of the battery is changed, such as introducing a new electrode, the problems caused are difficult to foresee. Some problems may even take several years to be checkedDetected. In order to meet the expectations of investors and ARPA-E, Envia did not combine one electrode material but two experimental electrode materials for research and development. (In fact, Envia was still very hardworking, but the result was just like this) In 2006, Envia authorized researchers at Argonne National Laboratory ANL to develop a promising battery material, but a serious problem arose: over time, the battery voltage changed and it became unusable. Although ANL researchers studied the problem in depth, the reason was still unknown. In addition to this, Envia also faced a challenge: the problem of silicon-based battery electrodes. The researchers seemed to have solved the problem: proposing a solution that could not be implemented in practice. This made Envia researchers feel very frustrated.

But as time went on, when all the above problems, big and small, were almost solved, Envia found that slight changes in the composite materials in the battery would change the performance of the entire battery. Of course, Envia believes that the final result that could not achieve amazing results is because there are some contaminated materials in their battery material suppliers. Of course, no one seems to know where this contamination comes from.

In fact, Envia's story clearly tells us that the progress of batteries, including performance and cost, does not come from breakthrough technology, but from close cooperation between TSLA and its battery supplier Panasonic. Since 2008, TSLA's battery costs have been reduced by half and the capacity has increased by 60%. TSLA did not deliberately change the chemistry or materials of the battery, but improved manufacturing efficiency and production. It also worked with Panasonic to optimize the battery appropriately according to the needs of the car.

Although it is difficult to imagine that TSLA can achieve sustainable development by making minor adjustments to lithium batteries, because the room for improvement of lithium batteries is not very "spacious". Perhaps in the end, it will take a thorough overhaul like Envia to achieve a leap forward in batteries. However, at least Envia tells us that improving battery performance must be closely combined with manufacturing and engineering technology to produce products that are actually used.

Although the above content seems to be a review of Envia's history, it is also a microcosm of battery development. In the past two decades, technology has developed rapidly. Computers have evolved from the era of electronic tube components to today's very large-scale integrated circuits. The clumsy and huge computers of the past are now small enough to fit in our pockets. The battery, on the other hand, is more like a laggard, and has been unable to keep up with the pace of development. Perhaps it is precisely these reasons that have led to the current situation.

3. Mobile phone batteries seem to be improving rapidly, but what about power lithium batteries?

As the earliest "owner" of lithium batteries (hereinafter referred to as lithium batteries), the consumer market (notebooks, mobile phones, MP3, etc.) has made great contributions to the promotion of lithium batteries. Today, smartphones are popular, and batteries have once again become one of the key factors restricting the development of smartphones. This is somewhat similar to the current new energy vehicle market.

Regarding the description of battery energy density, there are generally two statements: mass specific energy and volume specific energy. The so-called mass specific energy refers to the amount of energy carried by each kg of battery. For example, the power lithium battery market is mostly described by mass specific energy. The so-called volume specific energy generally refers to the amount of energy carried by the battery per unit volume. At present, the capacity of mainstream mobile phone batteries is 2000~3000mAH. The mass of batteries with such a capacity is often only a few dozen grams, so in the mobile consumer market, the battery's specific volume energy is more concerned.

Recently, Gionee announced a new mobile phone called M5, which has a super long battery life. Gionee believes that the battery life of mobile phones is the first pain point for Chinese people to use smartphones, and it is also a national pain point. Although there are some disputes on this pain point, let's take a look at the battery of this phone. The battery capacity is as high as 6020mAH. The battery consists of two 3010mAH cells in parallel, and the energy density reaches about 650Wh/L.

Since Sony announced the lithium battery in 1991, there has been no change in the essence of lithium ions in the more than 20 years since then. But despite this, it is not without innovation. Today's lithium batteries, both in efficiency and capacity, have been greatly improved compared to before. How is this achieved?

If we look back at the development of mobile phone batteries in the past decade, I think it can be divided into three stages.

The first stage is the rise of lithium-ion polymer batteries.

Traditional lithium batteries use ordinary liquid lithium electrolytes, but after 2005, polymer electrolyte lithium batteries began to emerge. Compared with the previous liquid lithium batteries, polymer lithium batteries not only have more advantages in electrochemical properties, but more importantly, they are more flexible in shaping, which can make the battery thinner and have higher volume utilization.

The second stage is the stable period of mobile phone batteries.

Before 2010, especially before 2007, the rise of lithium-ion polymer batteries has greatly improved the capacity of mobile phone batteries. However, with the maturity of technology, the rate of increase in battery specific energy has begun to slow down. More importantly, as the battery energy increases, safety issues begin to emerge before our eyes. Many manufacturers have begun to focus on improving the safety indicators of batteries and have made some efforts in the protection of battery shells. Although it cannot increase the energy density of batteries, it is still necessary in the long-term development. Because the energy density increases, the loss of problems will also be greater. First Electric once said in an article that 1kg of power lithium battery is equivalent to 103gTNT. Apart from the psychological suggestion of TNT, I think it is not comprehensive to consider safety from the perspective of energy. It is necessary to consider both the size of energy and the density of energy.

The third stage is the second energy density increase of mobile phone batteries.

After 2013, the energy density of mobile phone batteries began to increase again. There are reasons for this, such as materials. Battery manufacturers have improved the compaction density of materials by improving the process, or through other means, the capacity of batteries has been improved. At the same time, after the iPHONE, more and more mobile phone batteries on the market have become non-removable. Through the "integration" of batteries and mobile phones, the original hard shell protection of batteries is eliminated, the energy density of batteries is improved, or special-shaped batteries are developed according to the battery structure. In addition, a more direct method is to increase the voltage of batteries. Generally, the energy of batteries is increased by increasing the voltage platform by about 0.1V. This is similar to BYD's lithium iron manganese phosphate battery. At present, the energy density of mainstream mobile phone batteries remains at around 600Wh/L, and some manufacturers' products are slightly higher, such as Xiaomi mobile phones, whose battery energy density is above 620Wh/L, or this Gionee mobile phone, whose energy density reaches 650Wh/L. Please check which method you use. It has been reported that when the energy density reaches 700Wh/L, the battery's full cycle life may be less than 300 times, and the risk of explosion will increase greatly.

Since increasing the voltage has so many disadvantages, why do people still do it? This reminds me of a story. In the past, the thickness of the ballpoint pen and the fountain pen refills were the same, but there was a problem, that is, the ballpoint pen would leak oil after writing about 20,000 words. The main reason is that the wear life of the pen ball is about 20,000 words. When everyone was studying wear-resistant materials, a Japanese named Tian Tengshanlang developed a product that allows the ink of the refill to be used up before 20,000 words. This is similar to the current research and development ideas of mobile phone batteries. Smart phones are no longer the traditional mobile phones that were "used to death" in the past. Like computers, they need to be updated and upgraded after a period of use. Therefore, the mobile phone may be eliminated before the battery has problems. Although I personally think that increasing the battery voltage platform is actually a more risky way, it has a potential impact on the stability and life of the battery. But at present, the market is still accepting the proper increase of the working voltage of the battery.

I have to report here that I read such an article on a foreign media website. The content is that my country's Blue Magic uses lithium batteries with an energy density of more than 800Wh/L. Interested readers can pay attention to this matter. The following is a related link.

Like the power lithium battery market, we have also seen many new technologies, such as a report on nano batteries published by the United States. Through the nanopores of the electrode structure, the battery can be fully charged within 12 minutes; there are also "aluminum batteries" that claim to be able to achieve faster charging and can be fully charged in one minute; scientists at Drexel University in the United States have used clay to develop a highly conductive film. This material, called "MXene clay", can be used to make a new generation of large-capacity batteries and supercapacitors.

Although new battery technology is inspiring, any new technology and new materials must go through a long transformation process before they can become commercial products. For example, the earliest concept of lithium batteries can be traced back to the 1960s and 1970s. After that, liquid lithium batteries and polymer lithium batteries also experienced more than ten years of development before they reached their current state. However, in recent years, smartphone hardware has made rapid progress. The performance of a small mobile phone can be comparable to that of a personal computer, which makes battery technology a bit overwhelmed. So although the battery life of mobile phones is not necessarily a national pain point, it is at least one of the shortcomings.

Many people are concerned about the difference between power lithium batteries and consumer-grade batteries. I think that from the perspective of batteries, there is no essential difference. However, due to different product application conditions, the design concepts and ideas are also different, which leads to great differences in the product attributes of batteries in different fields. In the field of consumer-grade batteries, there are no various positive electrode materials; and in the field of power lithium batteries, there is little talk about the impact of electrolyte changes on performance. In terms of energy density, for example, we all know that on February 16, 2015, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced the "Implementation Methods of the Key Project of the National Key R&D Plan for New Energy Vehicles (Draft for Comments)", which clearly requires that the energy density of car power lithium batteries should reach 200Wh/kg by the end of 2015. As for consumer-grade batteries, as early as 2013, its energy density exceeded the level of 200Wh/kg, which is not only related to the optimization of materials and structures, but also the high voltage approach. Since consumer-grade batteries are generally not used in groups, even if they are used in groups, they are connected in series and parallel between several batteries, which is an order of magnitude different from power lithium batteries; "BMS" directly manages the battery cells; the charging and discharging current is small; thermal management is also relatively easy; generally speaking, the warranty period of consumer-grade batteries is only 1 year, so this approach can fully meet the needs of the consumer-grade battery market. But in the power lithium battery market, it may not work. The requirements for power lithium batteries are relatively high and more comprehensive, with both safety considerations and cost evaluations, as well as performance requirements. Although TSLA seems to have achieved a perfect combination of consumer-grade batteries and new energy vehicles, the positioning and price of the car are still somewhat different from the new energy vehicles we expect for home use.

While various cathode materials such as lithium iron phosphate, lithium cobalt oxide, ternary materials, lithium manganese oxide... impact the energy bottleneck, I think we should stop and consider safety and other issues. Consumer market, power market, energy storage market, can lithium batteries solve all problems? Any battery may have its applicable environment. For example, fuel-powered lithium batteries are very suitable for both as power units of new energy vehicles and as municipal power supply equipment. However, compared with the existing lithium battery system, it may be more difficult to develop small fuel-powered lithium battery portable devices. When shouting about technological breakthroughs, consider the limitations of lithium batteries more calmly. Because only by realizing these limitations can we explore new battery systems. Of course, we have to admit that with the advancement of technology, it will become increasingly difficult to develop new battery systems with higher energy density and that can meet the needs of commercial applications, and that the materials used in the new system must be environmentally friendly, low-cost, and easily available. Therefore, while developing lithium batteries, I call for more energy and resources to be invested in battery systems that have been discovered but not fully commercialized.

4. Battery costs are falling faster than expected and will drop to $230/kWh within three years

At present, the price of electric vehicles is much more expensive than ordinary fuel vehicles. Many people believe that electric vehicles will never be able to enter the mass consumer market. Although fuel and maintenance costs can be saved a lot, the high initial purchase price will still scare away many consumers. Everyone on earth knows that electric vehicles are expensive because of batteries, but the good news is that a recent foreign study shows that the cost of lithium batteries has been falling all the way, and the speed is faster than previously estimated.

According to TheCarbonBrief, as early as 2013, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted that by 2020, the cost of electric vehicle batteries will drop to $300/kWh. However, researchers at NatureClimateChange believe that the electric vehicle industry may have reached this goal ahead of schedule, with average costs falling from $1,000/kWh to $410/kWh between 2007 and 2014, an average annual decline of 14%. Some leading companies, such as Nissan and TSLA, have crossed the $300/kWh barrier predicted by the IEA, and battery costs are likely to have become cheaper since last year, with prices potentially 2 to 4 times lower than many recent peer assessments, with an annual decline of 8%.

The findings are based on 85 cost forecasts from peer-reviewed academic journals, institutional estimates, consulting and industry reports, media reports, battery manufacturers and automakers. The data mentioned above is not complete data because manufacturers are reluctant to disclose their true costs to the public.

In 2014, the EU electric vehicle market grew by 37% year-on-year, but the overall automotive market share was less than 1%. High prices, short range and lack of charging infrastructure are the reasons why electric vehicles have failed to make a major breakthrough. As more electric vehicle models are added and consumers become more interested in them, battery costs will fall further, researchers say.

$100/kWh is often seen as the benchmark for electric vehicles to compete on price with regular fuel vehicles. The pursuit of cost reductions has led to a large investment in various research into alternative lithium-ion chemistries, such as Volkswagen Group's plan to invest in the development of solid-state batteries for electric vehicles.

The researchers predict that battery costs will fall to $230/kWh in 2017-18. In the United States, for example, where oil prices are currently low, battery costs are expected to fall below $250/kWh to make electric vehicles more competitive. If battery costs fall further below $150/kWh, the electric vehicle market will undergo a quantitative change, and vehicle technology will also undergo a potential transformation.

To reach these levels, even at the current momentum, even though battery cell chemistry technology has achieved many advances,

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