Electric Vehicles and Issues with Lithium Ion Batteries
Alex C. goes on:
In early 1900’s many cars were EVs and then they lost out to gasoline engines due to better cost and performance. 1970’s a large EV wave came in with the fuel crisis that caused gasoline prices to increase greatly…again gasoline won out as fuel prices dropped. Now again we get another EV wave due to high gas prices. Now why will EV win a niche in developed countries? The key enabler is lithium-ion technology that can get the power (he means “energy”) density up for a range that is usable for some consumers and the pack cost will result in economics that work when scale is large enough (500k per year per battery plant).
Yes. And depending on whom you ask, this is really happening quickly. I interviewed an extremely senior engineer and businessman the other day who reminded me that Moore’s Law very much applies to both the cost and energy density of Li-ion batteries. I’d like to think this is true — and it appears that it may, given the last couple of years.
Pardon my ignorance on the subject, but I think “Moore’s Law” will help cost reduction only on the circuitry of the battery pack management equipment. The other arena belongs to the electro-chemistry department, which is totally resistant to that “law”. I believe the price of Lithium will also skyrocket with a widespread demand and the same will happen with Cobalt and other rare earth raw materials.