Electric motor on a Tesla Model X full electric car chassis demonstration model on display at ... [+]
Concern over the longevity of the batteries powering Tesla electric cars seems to waning as the stock price pushes ever higher, and the Californa-based (for now) carmaker may soon offer drivers even more security in the form of a battery that will last for over a million miles worth of driving.
Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, better known as CATL, which inked a supply deal with Tesla in February, claims it is ready to produce a new battery that will likely outlast an owner’s time with the car - a situation that has ramifications beyond just driving on electricity.
To be clear, CATL’s battery tech doesn’t give drivers a million miles on a single charge (that day is still a ways off), rather, the company claims that the battery will work for over 1.2 million driven miles over the course of sixteen years, or about 75,000 miles a year. Driving range will ultimately be determined by the size of the battery pack fitted to the car, but current Tesla models are giving drivers between 250 and 390 miles of range before needing a recharge. depending on configuration and model.
Most car owners in the U.S. drive their cars less than 20,000 miles per year on average. According to the BBC, most EV makers currently warranty their batteries for 60,000 to 150,000 miles.
CATL says it has a two-year contract with Tesla to start putting the new battery in Model 3 units. Terms of the contract were not specified. A company spokesperson told Bloomberg that they stand ready to begin production pending any orders they receive and that the new battery will be a 10% premium over their regular offerings. The BBC reports that CATL is looking to start producing batteries at a plant to be constructed near the German town of Erfurt in 2021. Tesla is also building a new Gigafactory in Germany and hopes to have it up and running in 2021. CATL also indicated they will offer the new batteries to car companies besides Tesla.
After The Car
While a “million mile battery” sounds impressive, it’s unlikely that a large number of electric car owners will ever drive their vehicle that distance, and in time, the rest of the vehicle may end up as unusable due to wear and tear, accidents or other service-ending reasons. At the point, the still-useful battery could find service in another role - or possibly in another vehicle as a used electric vehicle market begins to form. The batteries could also be repurposed as home energy storage units or as part of a large-scale battery array that provides power to a community or as power backup for a remote hospital.
The Electric Achilles Heel - For Now
Electric cars (and soon: trucks) continue to gain in popularity, with the now-obvious benefits of impressive performance, quiet operation, less maintenance and low operational costs becoming selling points. But the key component of electric vehicles - the battery - still needs to overcome several hurdles before it can compete squarely with gas-driven machines. Battery costs, charging times, capacity and longevity remain challenging technological problems, and while those problems will likely be solved in the next decade or so, the companies that can up with the solutions stand to reap enormous rewards as all sectors of transportation begin to shift away from fossil fuels. The quest for ever better batteries is driving research and innovation at numerous companies around the globe, with an almost unlimited market as the prize. CATL’s battery tech is yet another possible step towards that eventual future.
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