In the wake of the increasing emphasis given to emission reductions and reducing carbon footprint, the automotive sector has witnessed a push for electrically-powered vehicles. As a result of which the electric vehicle consumption is taking an upward leap over the years. With promising scenarios for electric vehicles, the demand for an electric vehicle battery is also showcasing significant progress. Various noteworthy elements are identified across the electric vehicle battery market which could define the future market potential.
Electric Vehicle Battery Production Surges
As electric vehicle battery demand is escalating, notable developments are sighted in the electric vehicle battery production landscape. Manufacturers are eyeing significant potential in the electric vehicle segment for the near future, and are, therefore, centering investments towards electric vehicle battery production.
SK Innovation announced plans for building a factory dedicated to building electric vehicle batteries with an investment of $1.67 billion. The mass production is expected to begin in 2022.
Automakers are considering partnerships and collaborations as an effective approach to foster their electric vehicle battery production efforts. Panasonic Corp and Toyota Motor Corp recently announced the launch of their joint venture in 2020 for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries, thereby leveraging the solidity of the automaker and battery market for expanding their electric vehicle push. 51% of the joint venture will be owned by Toyota, and Panasonic will own the rest. Both the companies would assemble part of their existing equipment related to battery and engineers to the joint venture.
Northvolt, a Swedish company and manufacturer of high-quality green batteries, recently unveiled plans to build the largest lithium-ion battery factory which could produce 32-gigawatt hours of battery cells every year by 2023, competing with the US-based factory of Tesla. Ahead of the plan to raise about 1.5 billion euros in equity and debt, the company partnered with German-based BMW for building an initial capacity. Northvolt has requested a 400 million euro loan from the European Investment Bank and is taking help of Siemens to build the factory to whom Northvolt would become a preferred lithium-ion battery supplier.
An India-based conventional battery maker—Amara Raja Batteries Ltd has also expressed plans to build a lithium-ion assembly plant in an attempt to grab a share of the lucrative electric vehicle battery landscape.
Key Innovations Focused on Changing Requirements: Refillable Electric Vehicle Batteries Garner Attention
The hours-long charging time associated with an electric vehicle battery has been a restraining factor for the overall electric vehicle business. Various efforts are taken to tackle this challenge and achieve rapid charging.
Scientists are working to design refillable or flow batteries for electric vehicles that can be refueled quickly. This significant shift could make electric vehicles a more attractive variant for drivers who are cautious of long charging times. A leading researcher and professor of earth and atmospheric sciences and mathematics at Purdue stated that the use of liquid battery enables drivers to drain their vehicle tank and refill it with liquid in no time.
As stated by Professor Lee Cronin—the Regius Chair of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, UK, a new type of liquid battery which is nearly ten times more energy-dense compared to existing models could possibly eliminate these drawbacks. Their new liquid electric vehicle battery allows the end-users to pump out the depleted liquid when it runs out of charge and refill the ready-charged liquid, thereby enabling rapid refueling of electric vehicles.
Peak Developments Carried out on the Recycling Front
The growth of the electric vehicle landscape across the world’s leading and emerging nations has created major demand for an electric vehicle battery. The increasing consumption of electric vehicle batteries has further created the need for effective approaches to reuse and recycle an electric vehicle battery.
Various initiatives are focused on studying the reusability of an electric vehicle battery. University of Warwick’s innovation hub planned to research future automotive supply chains, use and reuse of resources, challenges of vehicle electrification. One of the research projects was to study circular business models for the supply, reuse, and refurbishment of batteries for the electric automotive supply chain.
CarTakeBack, a scrap recycling company in the UK has expressed positivity to support a domestic facility for electric vehicle battery recycling. The project includes the research into methods for dismantling batteries and plans to foster an electric vehicle battery recycling plant in the UK.
BMW has also set goals for giving an electric vehicle battery a new life. The company’s partnership with Northvolt and Belgian recycling company—Umicore would repurpose electric battery cells and utilize them for energy storage before their raw materials could be used in other products.
Readers can gain a detailed understanding of the electric vehicle battery market by referring to the thorough insights and findings compiled in a market study. Download the sample of the study.