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The Battery Battle

Energy Storage

Last Post by JamesPa 1 hour ago

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Toodles

(@toodles)

Illustrious Member Contributor

Joined: 3 years ago

Posts: 2056

Topic starter 26/08/2025 9:52 am

Had I money that I wanted to invest in ‘The Battery of the Future’, (I haven’t, this is purely hypothetical and out of interest in others’ views please) where would I start investigating before investing?

Almost daily, announcements are being made about new developments in rechargeable battery technology; with lithium out front in terms of of capacity / weight but somewhat less so in terms of safety and social responsibilities, other runners are beginning to look more and more promising as far as I can see. Aluminium (yes, good old British spelling please!) looking very promising and if Graphene manufacturing costs can be reduced, many new formulations look very promising. I suppose various types will be needed to satisfy different types of application but they all share the same interests in being cheaper, lighter, higher capacity and longer life, ability to charge more quickly, be socially acceptable etc. etc. etc.

All these developments are very exciting but they make me think, (After having had fingers burnt when investing in a wind turbine project that collapsed when the company floundered.) which battery design is likely to flourish? Trying to back a winner in this race looks like being a very risky business!

I also wonder why there is so much range anxiety for EV batteries now, after all, I think that a smaller battery could still outrun the average driver’s bladder constitution / safe driving duration and would result in a lighter vehicle and longer tyre life - just a muse on my behalf! Regards, Toodles.

Toodles, he heats his home with cold draughts and cooks his food with magnets.

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Old_Scientist

(@old_scientist)

Honorable Member Member

Joined: 1 year ago

Posts: 219

26/08/2025 10:20 am

Posted by: @toodles

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I also wonder why there is so much range anxiety for EV batteries now, after all, I think that a smaller battery could still outrun the average driver’s bladder constitution / safe driving duration and would result in a lighter vehicle and longer tyre life - just a muse on my behalf! Regards, Toodles.

I agree. I think a lot of it comes down to people's resistance to change, and an expectation of an experience similar to what they had before with an ICE vehicle. The notion that they cannot just pull into a service station and fill up instantly adds to this. Providing there is a free charger available, I see nothing wrong with the notion of plugging in for 20mins whilst one stretches their legs and uses the facilities. We should all be taking regular breaks when driving longer distances.

Developments in rapid charging will certainly help as it reduces the inconvenience factor if you can usefully top up in 15mins as opposed to 1h, and should free up charging slots if people are not having to stay plugged in for longer periods of time.

One of the biggest obstacles to EV take up I see is properties where a home charger is not practical so the user is restricted to more expensive commercial charging, negating much of the cost benefits of going electric. If I were a renter, I'm not sure I'd want an electric vehicle either. Would my landlord be willing to install a charger, and what happens when I have to move (all factors outside of my control)

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downfield

(@downfield)

Estimable Member Member

Joined: 9 months ago

Posts: 75

26/08/2025 10:46 am

I agree that range anxiety goes away after a few months with an EV, and I am now OK with running the SoC down below 10% on longer trips.

But it's not quite as simple as "take a break every few hours and recharge for 20 mins" because the charger has to be where you want it to be and you need a nearby way to usefully spend that 20 minutes.

As a real life example, over the last weekend we travelled from Hertford to Wroxham in Norfolk and then to Cromer and then to King's Lynn, with various events at each stop. Neither Wroxham nor Cromer had convenient chargers and I didn't think I could make it to Kings Lynn as we were down to 15%.

So stopped at Fakenham for a top up at Morrisons 50kW charger for 15 mins. Interestingly Morrisons have done a deal with mfg who had built a super fast hub in the car park - 8x 350kW chargers but they weren't open yet!

On to King's Lynn where we stayed at the Premier Inn and there was a FastNed hub next door. But I had to sit in the car for 35 mins in the dark while it went from 9% to 85%. Enough to get to 2 events and then back home the next day with 25% remaining.

Perfectly satisfactory overall but we did end up doing the 2 top-ups where there was nothing else to do but wait.

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JamesPa

(@jamespa)

Illustrious Member Moderator

Joined: 2 years ago

Posts: 2726

26/08/2025 10:50 am

Posted by: @old_scientist

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One of the biggest obstacles to EV take up I see is properties where a home charger is not practical so the user is restricted to more expensive commercial charging, negating much of the cost benefits of going electric. If I were a renter...

The problem is bigger than rented properties, it applies to any property without off street parking adjacent to the house. It's not just a cost issue it's also a matter of convenience. If you can't charge overnight and need to get to work in the morning what do you do?

The cost disparity is enormous. I pay 6.5 p/kWh to charge my EV, one tenth of many commercial rates.

This needs fixing by regulation imhp, forcing councils to allow cross pavement conduits, forcing landlords to permit EV charger installation and forcing builders to make provision for EVs for any property which does not have off street parking.

This post was modified 1 hour ago by JamesPa

4kW peak of solar PV since 2011; EV and a 1930s house which has been partially renovated to improve its efficiency. 7kW Vaillant heat pump.

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