With all the electric vehicles that are being made available now and in the years to come, many are hailing the changing point towards a greener transportation industry as starting right here and now. Most electric cars also boast about how quickly they can be charged, frequently offering a quick charge mode and an overnight figure. The key to all of that, however, is the very battery that must charge the electric vehicle. Without the battery, after all, there would be an integral component missing in the car that would leave it sitting dead and useless. Unfortunately for some, the battery also tends to be one of the most expensive parts of the electric vehicle design.
According to current studies, many believe that the key to driving down the prices of electric vehicles in the coming years will be to find a way to produce an efficient, more affordable battery. They key place to start when looking for such a battery is believed to be with currently existing lithium ion battery designs. In the electric vehicle market now, lithium ion batteries are among the most common batteries found in most models. Tesla is one of the leading lithium ion battery supporters with all of their current models utilizing lithium ion battery cells and any work they have in store with Toyota bearing a similar mark. The Nissan Leaf, which has begun to see deliveries to consumers in the United States as early as last week, also uses lithium ion batteries.
Koji Endo, a research analyst with Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo, has said that he believes that the sale of lithium ion batteries with go up three times from the current demand in the next ten years. As the demand increases, Endo believes that the price of lithium ion batteries will need to come down to make the price of electric vehicle competitive with other forms of transportation. To achieve this end, it is believed that manufacturers will begin developing more cost effective ways of creating the batteries.
One area that electric vehicle manufacturers have been paying special attention to thus far as this information has come to light is laptop batteries. Tesla already utilizes rows of lithium ion batteries similar to those used in laptops to charge and power their own electric vehicles models. According to some reports, companies like Toyota, likely along with their newer Tesla counterparts, and BMW have been looking at the way lithium ion batteries are used in laptops in their quest to find lower priced battery alternatives.
As the demand for electric vehicles increases over the next several years, it would be critical for the car manufacturers to find a way to bring down costs and make reasonable prices. As they do, it will be interesting to see how pricing changes for electric vehicles and whether or not they stay competitive with fossil fuel cars or simply blow them away.
Article by Richard Cooke, appearing courtesy Justmeans.
