In October last year, an announcement by the world's largest car manufacturer, Toyota, surprised everyone.
The Toyota company had claimed that it would soon be able to develop a battery for electric cars that would allow an electric car to travel a distance of more than 1,200 km.
Not only this, but this battery will recharge in just ten minutes. While announcing this in Tokyo, the head of the Toyota company, Koji Sato, said that this is a revolutionary invention not only for the electric car industry but also for the automobile industry.
Koji Sato said that this new battery will lead the car manufacturing industry to a new future. So this week, we'll try to find out if Toyota has really solved the electric car battery problem.
The history of electric carsPaul Shearing, Director of Sustainable Energy and Engineering at Oxford University's Zero Institute, says battery-powered cars are not as new as people think.
"The only new thing is that now consumers have started using them," he says. We all know that the American engineer Thomas Edison invented the electric bulb in 1879. Due to this, he became famous all over the world, but few people know that almost thirty years later, in 1912, he also built three electric cars.
He explains that 'if the prototypes or models of these three vehicles had reached the level of industrial production, the shape of the automobile industry in the world might have been different.
'But Thomas Edison's friend and engineer Henry Ford brought his car to market several years earlier and planned to start mass production.'
Henry Ford's car was small and ran on gasoline rather than electric batteries. However, petrol and diesel vehicles require a battery to start, but due to oil supply problems and environmental concerns, car manufacturers in the late 20th century switched to petrol and diesel engines. I started thinking about electric, battery-powered vehicles instead of diesel.
Paul Shearing says there are two types of batteries used in cars. "Corrosive and lead batteries have been utilized for a really long time to begin vehicles and their lights." A lithium-particle battery is utilized to run the vehicle. Now, the motor of modern electric vehicles is powered by a lithium-ion battery.
The production of battery-powered vehicles began in the 1990s. Toyota's first hybrid car was the Prius, which hit the market in 1997, meaning it could run on both gasoline and batteries.
But 10 years later, the first electric car was built that ran entirely on batteries. However, even after so many years, there is no comparison between petrol- or diesel-powered cars and electric cars.
'Petrol has a high energy rate,' says Paul Shearing. Battery technology hasn't reached that level yet. However, the performance of batteries used in new vehicles is quite good. For example, a battery-powered vehicle is capable of reaching high speeds very quickly.
The biggest advantage of lithium-ion battery-powered vehicles is that they cause less damage to the environment.
But petrol or diesel vehicles can travel a long distance on a full tank, whereas lithium batteries need to be charged more than once to cover the same distance.
Paul Shearing believes that 'people will want a battery-powered car to go further on a single charge. The battery should last longer and cost less.
It is also expected that these batteries will be manufactured using materials that are less harmful to the environment. In addition, the use of the battery should be more secure.'
Toyota says it will soon start using solid-state batteries instead of lithium-ion batteries to solve the problem. Lithium-ion batteries use a liquid electrolyte, while solid-state batteries use a solid electrolyte, so their production is complicated and expensive. For years, Toyota and its rivals, Nissan, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, have been working on it because of its many advantages.
'Solid-state batteries can hold more energy, allowing electric cars to go further on a single charge,' explains Paul Shearing. That means its range will increase. Another advantage is that they can be charged in less time, meaning the queue for charging them will be shorter. A third advantage is that they are safer than lithium-ion batteries. Paul Shearing believes these benefits could revolutionize the electric vehicle market.
Nonetheless, there is still quite far to go.
Solid-state batteries Shirley Meng, a professor of molecular engineering at the University of Chicago, believes that the use of solid-state batteries will open many new avenues.
'A large amount of energy can be stored in solid-state batteries,' he says. This will increase the driving range of the vehicle by two to three times on a single charge. With its use, this car will be able to cover a distance of more than 1000 kilometers on a single charge. This is not a dream. This is the assessment of many scientists and companies like Toyota.'
A solid-state battery has another advantage. It is believed that lithium-ion batteries contain a liquid electrolyte, which can cause a fire if the battery overheats. Solid-state batteries can withstand more heat than lithium batteries. Due to this, less effort is required to keep them cool.
"Solid-state batteries, for example, can operate at temperatures of 70, 80, or 100 degrees Celsius," says Shirley Meng. This will be completely different from lithium-ion batteries. Many people don't know that almost half of the weight of an electric car is the lithium battery and the equipment used to keep it cool.
According to Shirley Meng, the process of making lithium-ion batteries is long and complicated. This requires more workers. In comparison, solid-state batteries would require fewer people to make, making them relatively inexpensive.
Also, the toxic chemicals used in lithium-ion batteries will not be used in solid-state batteries, which is good for the environment. But can solid-state batteries be recycled?
Shirley Meng said, 'I can say with confidence that they can be recycled. The good thing is that the experts in the solid-state battery manufacturing team are paying special attention to making its cells and circuits.
'Furthermore, many articles have been published that show that the recycling potential of these batteries is very good.'
In the Toyota campaign last year, Toyota was the largest car sales company in the world. Last year, Toyota sold more than 10 million vehicles, the majority of which were sold in the United States. As we mentioned earlier, the world's first hybrid car, the Prius, was also made by Toyota, meaning that the vehicle's electric battery was charged only when the vehicle was in motion.
Toyota built it because there were very few charging points for electric cars at the time.
Jeff Laker has been a professor of industrial engineering at the University of Michigan for 35 years and is also the author of the book 'The Toyota Way'. This book describes the history of production and management principles at the Toyota Company. To some extent, they say, the Prius tried to solve the charging problem.
"At the time, they saw the Prius as a car that would pave the way for the zero-carbon car market," he says. In this car, they used whatever advanced technology was available for an electric car. It also had a gasoline engine. Later, Toyota began investing in plug-in hybrid and electric cars.
Plug-in hybrid vehicles are those that can be charged via an electric charging point but can also run on diesel or gasoline. Toyota is still focusing on petrol and diesel engines because it feels that many people in the US will not like to make frequent stops to charge their car during long journeys, but Jeff Laker disagrees.
"I think the average American driver drives forty to fifty miles a day," Jeff Laker said. which the range of existing electric vehicles is quite high, but they believe that charging may be a problem if they have to cover long distances.
Many car manufacturers are moving towards fully electric cars, but Toyota's thinking is different. Its argument is that it is not only addressing the pollution caused by driving cars but also the pollution caused by the manufacturing process of the cars.
Jeff Laker says Toyota hasn't received enough credit for the investment and has worked to ensure less pollution during the production process. Now it's touting the new solid-state battery as a major breakthrough, but it's not saying how it made it possible.
"When announcements like this are made, there's often an expectation that the battery will be on the market immediately," says Jeff Laker.
However, Toyota says it will start producing them in limited quantities within the next five years. Initially, these batteries will be used in expensive vehicles like Lexus, as the cost of manufacturing them will be relatively high. In other vehicles, it may take up to 10 years.
Mass production of solid-state batteries will take time, as it will not only require heavy investment but also large quantities of required materials.
Minerals and ResourcesSolid-state batteries require all the same mineral materials as lithium batteries. Currently, the annual production of lithium is around 130,000 tons.
British Geological Survey mineralogist Dr. EV Petavaratzi says that due to the car industry, the demand for materials required for the manufacture of electric batteries will increase manifold.
"It is estimated that the demand for minerals required for batteries will increase fivefold in seven years," she says. A goal that is difficult to achieve because it takes fifteen to twenty years to build new mines. There is no harmony among market interest.'
Given the current tensions in the world, car battery companies want to source lithium from places close to the factory. Most lithium is produced in Chile and Australia, but China is buying mines overseas. It brings minerals from there and refines them in China.
In fact, more than half of the minerals supplied to the world are refined in China. There is growing concern that Western countries are lagging behind in this area.
Dr. EV Petavaratzi said that China has encouraged the participation of private and public companies in the lithium industry and has given them concessions that are not being made in other countries. Most of the production takes place in China, and other countries depend on China for supply. Therefore, these refining factories must be installed in other countries outside of China.
Many Western countries are now taking steps to ensure the supply of materials needed for a green future.
The US has stopped supplying China with advanced semiconductor chips used in military weapons and technology. In response, China has banned the export of certain important minerals. Given this situation, the importance of recycling car batteries has increased even more.
On this, Dr. EV Petavaratzi said that 'Lithium batteries are already being used. When a lithium battery reaches the end of its life, its parts and materials can be used to make a new battery. Endeavors ought to be made toward this path.'
So back to our main question: has Toyota solved the electric car battery problem? The answer is yes. Yes, he has found the technology to make a solid-state battery.
A vehicle powered by these batteries will be able to travel a long distance once charged, but the problem is that it will take at least four more years before they are used in some of Toyota's electric vehicles. Another problem is that it also uses lithium, which is not good for the environment to produce. Along with this, due to the current tensions in the world, there are also constraints on its supply.
Another battery technology is also being worked on that uses readily available sodium. Other companies, besides Toyota, are also working to develop solid-state batteries.
Our expert, Paul Shearing, believes that if all companies cooperate, the chances of success will be greatly increased, and it will also help to achieve the goal of reducing pollution in the world.