A China-based start-up says it will be selling electric vehicle batteries with a range of 1,000 kilometres by next year, while hydrogen-powered EVs remain a hard sell.
Gotion High-tech says it will begin mass production of its new lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) battery by 2024. “The 1,000-kilometre range from a single charge gives the battery a potential lifetime range of four million kilometres, far exceeding the average lifespan of a car,” writes the Independent.
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After 10 years of research and development, Gotion High-tech appears to have overcome the size and efficiency problems that once made LMFP batteries unsuitable for ordinary EVs, the news story states. Low conductivity, low compaction density, and the tendency of the manganese to dissolve at high temperatures were among critical issues to be resolved.
But Gotion says it made some design breakthroughs, “which reduced the number of structural parts by 45% and lowered their weight by nearly a third,” Wiring for the battery pack now extends just 80 metres, down significantly from the original 303. The company plans to build a US$2.3-billion battery factory in the United States, The Independent adds.
Meanwhile BloombergNEF’s seventh annual Electric Vehicle Outlook found that while passenger EV sales “increased globally by more than 60% in 2022,” strong policy is still needed to push the automotive market toward zero-emissions.
Sales in India and Southeast Asia, “traditionally small markets for EVs,” went up more than 200%, writes Bloomberg. But internal combustion engine (ICE) sales also continue to increase “year over year” in both those markets, so “it’s worth watching to see how long it takes for their triple-digit EV growth rates to reverse sales trends for ICE cars.”
BloombergNEF projects that more than 75% of all driving in 2050 will be accomplished behind the wheel of an EV, and “the power that tops them up will be more than four-fifths zero-emission,” Bloomberg News writes.
By contrast, the uptake on fuel cell vehicles powered with hydrogen remains “stubbornly small” and intensely regional, with fewer than 16,000 sold in 2022. Korea accounted for two-thirds of last year’s passenger fuel cell market, followed by the United States at 18%.
