I vividly remember the first time I drove an electric car. It was the original Mahindra Reva and I was driving it for a few days during the 2003 Cricket World Cup that took place in South Africa. While I was rushing back from my office to a friend’s place to try and catch a glimpse of India’s batting, the tiny Reva’s fibreglass panels shook every time a Blueline bus whizzed past. It was a pain to charge the car. I had to beg, borrow and even whack extension cords from friends and neighbours just to be able to get to a plug point
It did not help that we lived on the first floor back then.
Electric cars have come a long way since then. The longer I spend with my Hyundai IONIQ 5, the more I appreciate the lack of tailpipe emissions and noise coupled with the unbelievably low operating costs. But, as I have written about in previous columns, travelling longer distances, even on cars like the IONIQ, which have large battery packs, is a challenge. Sure, there is a level of planning that electric vehicle owners need to do before long trips, as Santosh Iyer of Mercedes-Benz India told me in a recent interview. That said, in parts of India–particularly down the west coast–charging infrastructure can be described as robust.
But there is still a problem–time. At home, I can comfortably charge the IONIQ overnight. I usually let the battery drain till about 12-15 per cent before recharging it and the 11-kilowatt wall box is more than sufficient for it. Honestly, for the regular urban usage that my family and I have, this kind of charging works well and provides a range of around 450-500 kilometers on a single charge, which is sufficient for a week of use.But on the highway, I can’t afford to wait six hours for a car to charge. Heck, I can’t even afford to wait an hour. And there lies a problem with a lot of the electric charging infrastructure in India. It is too slow.
A bulk of the Direct Current (DC) charging infrastructure in India operates mostly at 30 kilowatts. For a Hyundai IONIQ, it will take the car from zero to 80 per cent charge in about two hours. Yes, electric vehicles are rarely at ‘zero’ charge, but DC chargers slow down after reaching 80 per cent charge, much like the ‘fast chargers’ on your phone. There are 60, 75 and 90-kilowatt chargers and even a couple of 180-kilowatt ones, but not all-electric vehicles are built the same way. In fact, aside from some premium vehicles like the IONIQ, few can accept charging rates above 50 kilowatts. And here is the thing: You can plan as much as you want, stopping for a meal or something like that, but waiting for an hour for your vehicle to charge is a terrible waste of time when you are on a road trip. I’d wait for 15-20 minutes for my average coffee and toilet break with a top-up of my fuel tank when I’m on modern Expressways.
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Solid-state batteries, LFP to rescue
There is a school of thought that argues one should use faster chargers just to ‘top-up’ and reach the next set of chargers. That’s great, but how do you know that those chargers will be free or even working, for that matter? And of course, there is the little problem of different charging networks using different applications, which, honestly, is a pain in the ass neck.
So, what is the solution? Technology might come to the rescue. Battery technology has evolved dramatically over the past few years and even though prices have stablised lately, they have become affordable. Most electric vehicles today use a battery chemistry called Lithium Ferro-Phosphate (LFP). While it has its issues, particularly regarding recycling, LFP is more thermally stable and much cheaper than Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt (Li-NMC). Even though the latter technology allows for more ‘dynamic’ performance, carmakers like Tesla are moving to LFP. How often does a regular car user need ‘performance’?
But that still doesn’t solve the problem of excessive charging time. There is a technology being championed by Toyota that could change everything: solid-state battery. It uses a solid electrolyte, allowing the batteries to be smaller and less susceptible to dramatic temperature changes and physical stress. But most importantly, solid-state batteries can revolutionise how fast an electric vehicle can charge. Most EV passenger vehicles with battery capacities between 60-100 kilowatt-hours should be able to fully charge in just ten minutes.
Not only Toyota, but also South Korean companies LG Chem and Samsung, along with the big boys in the EV Lithium Battery space, such as Chinese manufacturers BYD and CATL, promise that the first generation of solid-state batteries will begin production by 2024. While the earlier generation of solid-state lithium batteries is likely to be used in applications such as smartphones and laptops, which require less power than an electric vehicle, it will still have an impact in these sectors, with weight reduction and evolving form factors.
However, the most transformations will be seen in passenger electric cars. While solid-state batteries have certain issues related to moisture, they are lighter than current generation of EV batteries because they require less complex and heavy housing. In fact, in most EVs, it’s the ‘battery pack’ rather than the cells that contribute to the overall weight. In the case of the IONIQ 5, the battery pack housing hundreds of Li-NMC cells, weighs nearly a tonne, effectively nullifying the weight advantages of Lithium. Solid-state cells could achieve a similar 450-500 kilometre range with a weight reduction of one-third to half.
One of the biggest disadvantages of EVs is their weight. After all, on an internal combustion engine vehicle, you burn off the petrol or diesel. That is why Formula 1 cars go so much faster toward the end of the race than at the start–they weigh almost 100 kilograms less. Losing weight, just like in a human body, makes the car more nimble. Even if the battery pack were to remain the same weight, the range of the vehicle would shoot up, making regular mass-market EVs with a range of 1,000 kilometres possible. Coupled with rapid charging of 10-20 minutes, this would make long road trips a reality.
It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? That’s why I have my doubts about the proposed timelines, even though Toyota has said that their first vehicles, like their next Land Cruiser SUV based on the Land Cruiser Se concept, unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show ongoing in Tokyo, could use such solid-state cells as early as in 2026. While I’m not sure about the aggressive timelines, solid-state batteries could be the game-changer that the automotive industry has been waiting for. It is also an opportunity for Indian automotive and technology companies to develop intellectual property in this space.
@kushanmitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)