Volkswagen Eyeing 400+ Mile Solid-State Batteries

Volkswagen Eyeing 400+ Mile Solid-State Batteries
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Solid-state batteries capable of delivering on a 400+ mile range per single charge are a real possibility and possess “great potential” according to Volkswagen’s Chairman of the Board Dr Martin Winterkorn.
Those comments from Winterkorn were made recently during a Stanford award ceremony for “Science Award Electrochemistry.”
Bold comments (relatively so anyways). Of course, if such a battery can be economically manufactured, then that would more-or-less turn the industry upside-down — pretty much eliminating “range anxiety anxiety” and opening EVs up to a segment of the market that is currently disinterested in driving them.
As sister site GAS2 notes, “the ability to bring 1,000 Wh/l to EVs [makes] them rival the range of many conventional cars. Current battery energy is in the area of just 260 Wh/l, so Winterkorn is looking at nearly quadrupling the density of the current crop of battery with like IBM FRU 92P1141 Battery, IBM FRU 92P1137 Battery, IBM 02K6651 Battery, IBM 02K6928 Battery, IBM ThinkPad A30 battery, IBM ThinkPad A31 battery, IBM ThinkPad X60 Battery, IBM FRU 92P1167 Battery, IBM ThinkPad Z60t Battery, IBM ThinkPad Z61t Battery, IBM ThinkPad G40 battery, IBM 08K8026 batterytech.”
Another key factor will be bringing down the costs, with the VW exec saying that lowering the price to about 100 euros ($124) per kWh would “significantly increase the market potential of electric vehicles.”
The solid electrolyte of solid-state batteries is also much less likely to catch fire compared to the liquid solutions many EVs currently use (not that such a concern compares to the concern of a gasoline tank catching fire). Toyota claims to already have a 400 Wh/l battery pack, but it’s clearly not excited about or bullish on EVs, so….
While Volkswagen has been something of a late arriver to the EV market, the company is slowly making gains towards its goal of a diversified EV lineup. Company executives have previously stated that they expect to have EVs with ranges of 300+ miles by the end of 2017. While this article has mostly dealt with solid-state technologies, Volkswagen is also reportedly pursuing lithium-air battery technology.
The question is, what is going to be cheaper and easier to create: a $30,000 with a 200-mile range and a dense quick-charging infrastructure or a $30,000 car with a 400-mile range and a not-so dense quick-charging infrastructure. We need to look at current trends and near-term developments in order to decide.
Right now, the 80 – 110 mile range for today’s $20 – $30k EVs works great for commuting and running errands around town. Sales are decent and growing at a brisk pace. Every 3 – 5 years, we can expect at least a 10% improvement in range and intermittent cost reductions like Nissan did with the LEAF a few years back just based on the evolutionary development of battery technology and the balance-of-systems (i.e. improving efficiency, reducing weight and drag, etc.) that comprise the rest of the car. Each increase in performance, especially range, opens up a larger market for these vehicles while a lengthening history of ownership and word-of-mouth will calm uneasiness about range anxiety and other misconceptions as time goes on. I see a “tipping point” approaching when Tesla comes out with their $30k, 200-mile range vehicle and when LEAF / Focus EV / Spark EV-type cars can deliver 150 miles of range for most driving conditions opening up the market a great deal. This will be especially true if Tesla makes their supercharger connections compatible with the rest of the industry and oil prices don’t tank for an extended period of time.
The 400-mile VW with a solid-state battery will be competing against these factors in 2020 or whenever it actually hits the market. The battery will have less production history and real world longevity data than its liquid electrolyte counterparts. If it can come in at a similar price to competing, shorter-range vehicles, a certain subset of car buyers will prefer it, just like people today buy cars with a lot more horsepower / towing capacity / interior volume than they use most of the time. However, whether VW can release a product that can be competitive with the current market offerings after 6 more years of evolutionary development remains to be seen.