The graph above was sampled from this analysis by engineering prof Mark Mills.
I’ve said before that there is no Moore’s Law for battery technology and this graph is a good illustration of that. The present trend in lithium battery energy density is very slow, nearly flat. Maybe it will change. Lithium batteries are not the only technology. Maybe some other technology will come along.
Physics and chemistry say no. At least for “batteries” as defined in chemistry.
Lithium is the 3rd lightest element, and one of the most reactive elements. There isn’t a better element.
There is optimizations possible for lithium, like solid state batteries. That’s double the density of the batteries available today. That’s a probably a decade or two away. Beyond solid state batteries, I think it gets a lot harder to improve energy density.
If one is willing to redefine “battery”; systems that use air as a fuel for combustion like hydrogen or li-air have even high densities.
I believe Steve has predicted an imminent advance in battery technology. Somewhere between next Tuesday and 2124.
And anyway. Uncle Joe just wants you to buy an EV. Not actually drive it.
Anyone see Granholms PR debacle? You can’t make this shit up.
Meh. We survived peak oil. I look at a lot of those numbers pretty often and it looks to like what he did was pick the numbers that made the best case possible against EVs. For example, while your chart looks at density change per battery when you look at how they are actually used, in packs, you get these numbers.
2008: 55 Wh/l
2010: 90 Wh/l
2013: 140 Wh/l
2017: 250 Wh/l
2020: 450 Wh/l
https://insideevs.com/news/581729/volumetric-energy-density-ev-batteries-growth/
What’s concerning here is that the claims of the author are pretty suspect if you have paid any attention at all to the EV market. A few years ago an EV with a range of over 300 miles was pretty rare. Now they are pretty common. People need to learn to recognize propaganda.
Steve