A team of scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology has uncovered a new cathode material that could dramatically reduce the cost of batteries for electric vehicles while providing the same performance and range – dramatically transforming the EV market.
The cathodes usually used in EV batteries are oxides that require vast amounts of the heavy metals lithium and cobalt, the mining of which has a vastly negative impact on the environment as well as being an immensely expensive manufacturing process.
The new cathodes use simple iron and chlorine which are cheap – costing around 98% less than a typical cathode of comparable electricity storage capacity – and easily available elements the extraction of which has a significantly smaller environmental impact than that of lithium and cobalt.
By using the iron chloride (FeCl3) cathode, a lithium metal anode, and a solid electrolyte, the cost of the whole battery system is reduced by 60-70% compared with the cost of a current lithium-ion battery. And as a further endorsement, initial tests show that FeCL3 performs as well as or even exceeds the performance of other cathodes.
Professor Hailong Chen, associate professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology said,
“For a long time, people have been looking for a lower-cost, more sustainable alternative to existing cathode materials. I think we’ve got one…our cathode can be a game-changer. It would greatly improve the EV market – and the whole lithium-ion battery market.”
As the battery accounts for around 50% of an electric vehicle’s cost, even though the average purchase cost of a new EV is falling, they are still more expensive than petrol or diesel internal combustion engine cars in today’s market.
Combined with the reduction or even removal of electric vehicle subsidy schemes, sales momentum of electric vehicles appears to be slowing down since the initial boost of early adoption.
With fewer purchases among individuals, concerns regarding the shortage of rapid charging station infrastructure, range-anxiety, and high purchase costs blunt sales.
Although the new cathode technology may still be a few years away from being commercially viable, it could boost the global transition to cleaner energy technologies.
By providing the same – if not better – EV battery range and efficiency, dramatically reducing EV prices to bring them below those of internal combustion engine cars, and supporting the transition to more renewable energy sources, discovery of this low cost cathode material really could be a game-changer.