Electric Vehicle Batteries: Past, Present, and Future

Electric vehicles (EVs) were first commercialized over 100 years ago, using lead-acid batteries. Due to low battery energy density limiting the vehicle range, EVs were surpassed by gasoline powered cars that have dominated the auto industry until now. It took electrochemists 100 years to achieve the order of magnitude increase in specific energy needed for electric vehicles to become competitive. The Nobel prize technology of the lithium-ion battery has provided the necessary high energy density together with other excellent performance attributes including high power and long life in an affordable package for the modern EV. This breakthrough has enabled a return to commercialization of electric vehicles this time with excellent performance. Millions of electric vehicles are now being produced and sold globally with huge investments being made in EVs and Li-Ion batteries by the automotive and battery industries.