Nikkei Electronics Asia -- February 2010
Cover Story: A New Era for Li-Ion Batteries [Part2]
The First Step is New Materials to Boost Capacity

E-Mail Article
Tweet This
Digg This
Share this with friends on Facebook
Buzz Up!
Feb 1, 2010 00:11 Kouji Kariatsumari, Hideyoshi Kume, Hiroki Yomogita, Phil Keys

Continued from the previous part

Volume production plans for large-capacity Li-ion rechargeable batteries are being finalized one after another, targeting electric vehicles (EVs) and other applications. Performance is still not sufficient, and the development of a new Li-ion rechargeable battery delivering improvements in capacity and safety would mean significant business opportunity: the worldwide competition to develop the next generation of batteries is on!

High-volume production plans are being budgeted and implemented around the globe, hoping to supply surging demand for large-capacity Li-ion rechargeable batteries. Many battery manufacturers have already made their choices for key components such as cathode and anode materials, separators, and electrolyte. In many cases, the materials chosen have been the ones developed by Japanese manufacturers, who took the lead in Li-ion rechargeable batteries for mobile telephones.

That is not to say that the Japanese materials manufacturers have any assurance for the future, though. Li-ion rechargeable batteries for EVs have only just reached the realm of commercial use, and the real competition for technology development is just heating up.

A source in the automotive industry complains that the performance of Li-ion rechargeable batteries is ¡Èstill not good enough¡É to power EVs capable of long-distance driving. Further improvement is needed in a number of areas, including energy density, output density, cost, and safety.

In particular, existing Li-ion rechargeable batteries occupy too much volume and cost for EVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) viewed by the automotive industry as trump cards to slash CO2 emissions. If the materials used in today¡Çs Li-ion rechargeable batteries are the first generation, then the second generation delivering roughly double the energy density (200Wh/kg to 300Wh/kg) needs to be developed, with a target implementation of 2015 to 2020 (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Targeting 500Wh/kg in 2030
R&D first hopes to achieve Li-ion rechargeable batteries with energy densities of 200Wh/kg to 300Wh/kg through changes in cathode, anode, and other materials. Entirely new rechargeable batteries are also being developing, with a target energy density of 500Wh/kg in 2030.