How Far is the Super Battery?

If an electric car takes only eight minutes on one charge can travel thousands of kilometers, people also need to exhaust pollution emissions of a conventional car? Current electric vehicles are still far from this goal, but if a graphene polymer material battery called “super battery” is mass-produced, this goal may be achieved.

Of the electric vehicles currently on the market, even the most powerful Tesla Model S has a maximum range of 502 kilometers, which is about half that of conventional cars. However, for some domestic relatively inexpensive small electric vehicles, most of the cruising range still only stays below 300 kilometers. Coupled with the charging time is too long, it is difficult to prevent owners from suffering from "mileage anxiety."

Most of these electric vehicles are powered by lithium batteries, mainly lithium cobalt oxide batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries, and lithium manganate batteries. Lithium cobalt oxide batteries have the highest energy density, but they are most unstable at high temperatures. The other two energy densities are not high. These defects seriously affect the battery life and charging performance of electric vehicles. Therefore, the industry has been looking forward to the emergence of "super batteries" to change this embarrassing situation.

Graphene may provide a viable answer. Graphene, which was born in 2004, is the thinnest of the known materials. It has only one carbon atom and has excellent properties. As an electrical conductor, it has the same excellent electrical conductivity as copper, and as a thermal conductor, it has better thermal conductivity than any other current material .

If this kind of material is used to make a battery, theoretically, the weight of the battery can be halved compared with a conventional lithium-ion battery, the thickness will be greatly reduced, the storage capacity will be several times higher, and the graphene anode material will be estimated according to researchers of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. It is 10 times faster than the graphite anode commonly used in lithium-ion batteries.

Spain's technological development in this area is currently in a relatively leading position. There are many start-up companies in the region that are committed to related research and development. A recent news from the media said that a Spanish company has collaborated with local universities to develop new types of graphene batteries, such as those used in electric vehicles, that can be recharged in just 8 minutes and have a range of up to 1,000 kilometers.

Graphene polymer material battery is so good, does it mean that the oil-burning car will be eliminated by the "super battery" car? This is not necessarily the case.

If electric vehicles are to replace traditional automobiles, in addition to the construction of charging infrastructure, the cost of producing batteries will also need to be significantly reduced. Graphene has been listed as an important material by major industrial countries for in-depth development, but the relevant production technology was not mature until 2010, and it is still at a relatively junior stage of application. In particular, single-layer graphene materials that can greatly reduce the size and weight of the battery have a low yield and a high production cost.

In addition, leading manufacturers of electric vehicles such as Tesla have invested heavily in the construction of lithium battery factories, so it is difficult to invest in the development of a new battery in the short term. Perhaps more realistic is to use the properties of graphene to improve the performance of existing lithium batteries. There are market rumours that Tesla's coupe is likely to use graphene technology to enhance the performance of lithium batteries.

Electric vehicles do provide more options for people to travel, but overall, electric vehicles are still far from the point of replacing traditional cars. Acquisition cost of electric vehicles compared to conventional cars do not have any advantage, the only competition is charging less than the cost of fuel, but if the oil price has remained low, coupled with the charging station coverage area gas station so minimal compared to It is difficult to impress most consumers. Therefore, the sales of traditional cars so far have not been much affected.

For the electric vehicle industry , in addition to battery technology innovation, it is necessary to harmonize the charging standards as quickly as possible, and promote the large-scale construction of the charging piles. Only in this way can we dispel the lingering doubts of consumers who are used to traditional cars.