Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improving Air Quality
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batteries can be reduced to less than $50/ kWh, they will have greater value
for grid energy storage applications, and sales volume will be significantly
greater. Battery manufacturing capacity in 2018 was more than 100 GWh per
year for EVs and electricity storage, with projections of about 500 GWh in
2022 (Ball, 2019).
Efforts for battery production are increasing. Tesla built a Gigafactory in
Nevada with a goal to produce 35 GWh/ year of lithium- ion cells in 2018
(Lambert, 2018a). China is advancing in the battery production market and
now has over 140 EV battery manufacturers. By 2020, China’s cell production global market share is expected to increase up to 70% (Perkowski, 2017).
Japan and South Korea have major manufacturing plants (Lutsey et al.,
2018). Many companies are working to make the battery making process as
sustainable as possible. One major factor in this is recycling the materials,
such as nickel, cobalt, and iron, from old batteries (‘Battery Recycling’, 2015).
Volkswagen is planning to make a $1.1 billion investment for a new battery
factory in Germany (Evarts, 2019a).
6.3 Battery Life
Battery life can be discussed in terms of two aspects: 1) the amount of time
a battery holds a charge, and 2) the number of charge/ discharge cycles
a battery can endure. Both aspects of the battery’s life can be affected by
external factors such as temperature or rates of charge and discharge.
Temperature can affect battery life in multiple ways. Most obviously, in
hot or cold weather, a portion of the battery’s energy must be used to cool
or heat the passenger cabin in an EV. Extreme temperatures decrease the
range because the energy that would have been used to power the vehicle in
moderate climates is now being used to control cabin temperatures, making
it necessary for the vehicle to be charged after a shorter distance. High or
low temperatures also affect the battery’s performance more directly. In cold
temperatures, batteries have a higher internal resistance and slower electrochemical processes, which cause the vehicle to accelerate more slowly
(Pesaran et al., 2003). High temperatures can be harmful to batteries because
the high temperatures cause more chemical activity, which speeds up battery
degradation and self- discharge (Lindgren and Peter, 2016). Temperature can
affect both the battery’s ability to hold a charge and the number of cycles the
battery can handle, especially at extreme highs and lows. It is also important to
note that differences in individual cell temperatures can shorten the calendar
life of a battery. According to Yang et al., the range of battery life is “between
5.2 years in Florida and 13.3 years in Alaska” (Yang et al., 2018). When cells
are operating at different temperatures, the cells at higher temperatures tend
to supply more power, which causes uneven degradation of the cells, which
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batteries can be reduced to less than $50/ kWh, they will have greater value
for grid energy storage applications, and sales volume will be significantly
greater. Battery manufacturing capacity in 2018 was more than 100 GWh per
year for EVs and electricity storage, with projections of about 500 GWh in
2022 (Ball, 2019).
Efforts for battery production are increasing. Tesla built a Gigafactory in
Nevada with a goal to produce 35 GWh/ year of lithium- ion cells in 2018
(Lambert, 2018a). China is advancing in the battery production market and
now has over 140 EV battery manufacturers. By 2020, China’s cell production global market share is expected to increase up to 70% (Perkowski, 2017).
Japan and South Korea have major manufacturing plants (Lutsey et al.,
2018). Many companies are working to make the battery making process as
sustainable as possible. One major factor in this is recycling the materials,
such as nickel, cobalt, and iron, from old batteries (‘Battery Recycling’, 2015).
Volkswagen is planning to make a $1.1 billion investment for a new battery
factory in Germany (Evarts, 2019a).
6.3 Battery Life
Battery life can be discussed in terms of two aspects: 1) the amount of time
a battery holds a charge, and 2) the number of charge/ discharge cycles
a battery can endure. Both aspects of the battery’s life can be affected by
external factors such as temperature or rates of charge and discharge.
Temperature can affect battery life in multiple ways. Most obviously, in
hot or cold weather, a portion of the battery’s energy must be used to cool
or heat the passenger cabin in an EV. Extreme temperatures decrease the
range because the energy that would have been used to power the vehicle in
moderate climates is now being used to control cabin temperatures, making
it necessary for the vehicle to be charged after a shorter distance. High or
low temperatures also affect the battery’s performance more directly. In cold
temperatures, batteries have a higher internal resistance and slower electrochemical processes, which cause the vehicle to accelerate more slowly
(Pesaran et al., 2003). High temperatures can be harmful to batteries because
the high temperatures cause more chemical activity, which speeds up battery
degradation and self- discharge (Lindgren and Peter, 2016). Temperature can
affect both the battery’s ability to hold a charge and the number of cycles the
battery can handle, especially at extreme highs and lows. It is also important to
note that differences in individual cell temperatures can shorten the calendar
life of a battery. According to Yang et al., the range of battery life is “between
5.2 years in Florida and 13.3 years in Alaska” (Yang et al., 2018). When cells
are operating at different temperatures, the cells at higher temperatures tend
to supply more power, which causes uneven degradation of the cells, which