Next Generation EV Batteries: Researchers Put Forward Pertinent Questions

Electric vehicle batteries are the next generation for automobiles. With its greater range and improved safety, the future is clear and near with vehicles emerging in lithium metallic form and solid-state technology.

But before this can take that bold leap from the laboratory to its manufacturing facilities as suggested by University of Michigan researchers, key and vital questions about this promising technology needs to be answered and looked into. Also all efforts to bring this battery charged electric vehicles to a larger part of the populace, they say, these questions need answering as quickly as possible.

Two leading researchers who are both U-M associate professors of mechanical engineering named Jeff Sakamoto and Neil Dasgupta are also researchers in lithium metal, solid-state batteries over the past decade. In their journal Joule, Sakamoto and Dasgupta lay out the vital questions facing the technology. In developing these questions, both researchers worked in close collaboration with leaders and game shakers in the auto world.

News are rife of the main automobile manufacturers going fully on electric vehicles this year, many of them announcing their plans to ensure that internal-combustion engine cars go extinct in the coming years. Lithium-ion batteries enable the earliest EVs and they have remained the most popular supply of power for the latest auto models coming off assembly brands.

According to Sakamot:

“Tremendous progress in advancing lithium metal solid-state batteries was made over the last decade. However, several challenges remain on the path to commercializing the technology, especially for EVs.”

Of course, there are questions arising, as a compass role should be played for this new technological advancement.

Here are the questions we hope they would answer:

1. Can we produce brittle ceramics, which are massive, paper-thin sheets lithium metal batteries require?

2. Do this lithium metal batteries’ use ceramics, which requires lots of energy to heat them up to more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit during processing, offset environmental benefits in electric vehicles?

3. Can the process used to manufacture them be adapted to reveal its defects, like cracking, in such a way that forces battery manufacturers and automobile makers to drastically revamp their operations?

4. A lithium metal solid-state battery would not require the heavy and bulky battery management system that lithium-ion batteries need to maintain durability and reduce the risk of fire. How will the reduction in mass and volume of the battery management system—or its removal altogether—affect performance and durability in a solid-state battery?

5. The lithium metal needs to be in constant contact with the ceramic electrolyte, meaning additional hardware is needed to apply pressure to maintain contact. What will the added hardware mean for battery pack performance?

Sakamoto, who also has a personal startup company that majorly focuses on lithium metal solid-state batteries, also said, the technology, is having a moment right anticipation for it is on a high level now. But on a second thought, the enthusiasm and high hopes driving this momentum, must not be allowed to get ahead of it.

According to the U-M team, a whole lot of processes like Rigorous testing and data analysis, alongside with transparency in research, are most likely needed.

The group includes Michael Wang, a postdoctoral researcher at MIT, and Eric Kazyak, a research fellow in mechanical engineering at U-M would in the coming days unlock the processes.