CAMBRIDGE, England: In the race to go electric, carmakers have focused on range to ease consumer anxiety over charging infrastructure, but battery makers are already working on the smaller, longer-lasting and cheaper batteries of the future, which also charge more quickly.
While carmakers today chase market leader Tesla Inc, seeking to build cars that can travel 300 miles (482 kilometres) or more between charges, battery start-ups expect range will matter less as public electric vehicle (EV) chargers become ubiquitous.
In the quest for smaller batteries that charge extremely quickly, the start-ups are experimenting with materials like silicon-carbon, tungsten and niobium.
The battery is an EV's most expensive part, so true fast charging coupled with widely available chargers -- a lack of charging infrastructure today is seen as slowing broader adoption of EVs -- would allow automakers to build cars with smaller batteries at more affordable prices, yet boost profit by selling more vehicles to a broader audience.
"Early adopters at the higher end of the market wanted bigger battery packs and longer range because they could afford it," said Sai Shivareddy, chief executive officer of Nyobolt Limited, a start-up developing niobium oxide anode materials for batteries that can charge in minutes.
"For more cost-sensitive mainstream adoption, you need smaller battery packs ... but with the same experience as today (with fossil-fuel cars) where you can fill up in five minutes," he said.
China dominates global EV battery production and companies like Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) are developing batteries to go farther on a single charge.
Western start-ups like Cambridge-based Nyobolt and Echion Technologies Ltd or Washington-based Group14 Technologies are working on electrode materials to bring super fast-charging batteries to market.
According to start-up data platform PitchBook, EV battery technology investments jumped more than sixfold to $9.4 billion in 2021 from $1.5 billion in 2020 as carmakers focused on the future.
"We are in the larval stages of battery development," said Lincoln Merrihew, vice president at data analytics firm Pulse Labs.
Going small could also ease looming battery material bottlenecks as EV demand soars, while using less cobalt and nickel where China dominates refining and processing.
Another benefit is carmakers could claim sustainability wins using less harmful materials in EVs and emit less CO2 manufacturing them.
Fast charging today is limited by EV batteries' ability to absorb power quickly. Fast charging can shorten batteries' lifespan or overheat them, so most EVs limit charging speed to protect them.
At Nyobolt's headquarters, CEO Shivareddy charges four batteries in around three minutes and plugs them into a robotic vacuum that busily cleans the floor behind him as he speaks.
Niobium is a stable metal often used to strengthen steel -- the world's largest deposits are in Brazil and Canada. Used in anodes or cathodes, start-ups like Nyobolt and Echion say niobium can handle super-fast charging while lasting many years longer than today's batteries.
Nyobolt is focusing on high-performance racing EVs and Shivareddy said it would take years of validation before carmakers are ready to use its batteries in mass-market models.
A few miles from Nyobolt, Echion's niobium anodes are initially for commercial EVs like mining vehicles that operate continuously and will need fast charging.
CEO Jean de La Verpilliere said Echion's goal was to have batteries ready for passenger EVs by 2025.
"Smaller batteries mean cheaper prices and therefore more people can afford EVs," he said.
Niobium is not the only material that startups are exploring.
Group14 Technologies makes silicon-carbon anode material that enables lithium-ion batteries to hold up to 50% more energy.
Testing Group14's material, battery maker StoreDot has charged batteries to 80% capacity in 10 minutes.
Group14 CEO Rick Luebbe said its anode material could offer a fast EV charge in five minutes. "When I can top my battery pack off in five or 10 minutes ... then it doesn't really matter too much what that range is, whether it's 150 miles or 300 miles."
Michigan-based start-up Our Next Energy (ONE) has developed its Gemini "dual chemistry" battery featuring a standard lithium iron phosphate (LFP) traction battery with a second "range extender" battery using more advanced and expensive chemistries, providing low, medium and high range options.
"The market ultimately decides the right level of range," said CEO Mujeeb Ijaz. reuters
