Tesla’s Million Mile Battery: Turning Point for the Electric Car
As gasoline cars continue to contribute to global warming, environmentalists, car makers, and people across the globe are looking for a more sustainable solution. This has led to the rise of the electric car. The first electric car was made in 1832 but was unpopular, and so the idea of electric cars fell by the wayside. Electric cars finally gained traction with the public in 2000 with the launch of the Toyota Prius. The Prius paved the way for the future of electric vehicles because it was not fully electric; it was hybrid. It demonstrated the benefits of electrical power by giving great mileage while still delivering the reliability of gasoline. However, the hybrid pointed to the greatest flaw that plagued electrical vehicles: range. Most gasoline powered engines have ranges that can reach up to 400 miles on a single tank while electrical and hybrid cars could only travel 20-75 miles on the battery before needing a recharge.
2006 was the next revolution in battery technology with the rise of the Tesla Roadster. This electric sports car had a 200+ mile range on a single charge, and this development rocketed Tesla to the forefront of the electrical automotive industry. Tesla capitalized on their lead by producing the Model S with 300+ mile range, and similar models such as the 3, X, and Y whose range could compete with their gasoline-powered twins. However, there was still more room for growth. The entire automotive industry has been pushing modern battery technology to its limits in an attempt to juice every last mile out of a single charge. The impending brick wall meant that the survival of the electric vehicle depended on another revolution in battery technology.
Enter the “million-mile battery”. Automotive giants Tesla and GM are forging forward with research into a cheaper, more durable, and longer-lasting battery. The difference between the battery of the old world and this new revolution: the letter R. Confused? This revolution moves from lithium ion batteries to lithium iron batteries. Currently, the batteries we use in our planes, cars, and remote controllers are powered by lithium ion batteries. However, this million-mile revolution is moving towards lithium iron phosphate batteries (1). A Chinese battery producer called Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) said they were ready to produce batteries that could last up to 1.24 million miles (2). To put that in perspective, it is amazing if you can drive your car 100,000-200,000 miles before having to scrap it or sell it. A battery life of 1.24 million miles exceeds that range by 10 times. To put it another way, it would take 24,901 miles to drive around the Earth once. With this range, you could drive around the Earth approximately 50 times. Sound too good to be true? It is not. Currently there is no information on the internet detailing the specifics on how the battery gets its extended range, however, CATL claims it is ready to ship orders as soon as they come in. There are several factors that have to be investigated, including degradation over the lifespan of the battery, battery recycling, and environmental effects of production and disposal of such batteries.
However, before moving forward with how this could change the world, I wanted to dive into the differences between these new emerging battery types; lithium-ion and lithium-iron phosphate. Lithium ion batteries consist of a lithium cobalt dioxide or lithium manganese oxide as a cathode. These batteries are primarily used because they have high energy density and have a very quick recharge time. The new player, lithium-iron phosphate batteries, are a rechargeable type of battery just as its predecessor but made with lithium-iron phosphate as the cathode material and its anodes are made up of carbon (3). There are also several benefits to batteries based on lithium-iron phosphate. They possess superior thermal and chemical stability which provides better safety characteristics than those of lithium-ion technology made with other cathode materials. Lithium phosphate cells are incombustible in the case of mishandling during charging or discharging, and they are more stable under overcharge or short circuit conditions. They can also withstand high temperatures without decomposing. If abuse does occur, the phosphate-based cathode material will not burn and is not prone to thermal runaway. Phosphate chemistry also offers a longer life cycle (3). Another benefit of the new technology is that lithium-iron phosphate batteries can last up to 2000 battery charge/discharge cycles where lithium-ion can last up to 1000 cycles. Overall, the benefits of lithium-iron seem to outweigh the lithium-ion battery, but the technology is as of yet untested and still requires further development.
It is safe to say that this new advancement in battery technology is the revolution needed to help boost electric cars’ range and favorability in the marketplace. The technology still requires long-term testing before being released to consumers, but it could help change our future. Who knows, with batteries with this level of charge, we could start applying all electric technology to other forms of transportation. Maybe in 10-20 years, you could be sitting in an all-electric commercial plane watching it being recharged.
Works Cited:
Tim Mullaney. “Tesla and the Science behind the next-Generation, Lower-Cost, 'Million-Mile' Electric-Car Battery.” CNBC, CNBC, 30 June 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/06/30/tesla-and-the-science-of-low-cost-next-gen-ev-million-mile-battery.html.
Stone, Maddie. “'Million-Mile' Batteries Are Coming. Are They a Revolution?” Grist, Grist, 6 July 2020, grist.org/energy/million-mile-batteries-are-coming-are-they-really-a-revolution/.
Systems, Newcastle. “Lithium Ion vs Lithium Iron Batteries.” Newcastle Systems, www.newcastlesys.com/blog/lithium-ion-vs-lithium-iron-batteries.
