Panasonic, the Japanese manufacturing big, says it’s engaged on a brand new battery cell that may add 90 miles of vary to the Tesla Mannequin Y – pushing it to over 450 miles (725 km).
In fact, it may additionally simply use fewer batteries and cut back the burden of the car or different EVs.
Panasonic deserves appreciable credit score for the electrical revolution within the automotive business this millennium.
When Tesla sought to include Li-ion batteries into electrical automobiles, Panasonic was the one battery cell producer to affix the hassle.
The partnership helped Panasonic considerably increase its battery enterprise, however Korean and Chinese language battery cell producers quickly surpassed it.
Now, the corporate is trying to meet up with a brand new novel battery chemistry.
Panasonic’s proposed design eliminates the anode throughout manufacturing. As a substitute, a lithium metallic anode kinds naturally contained in the cell after the primary cost. This strategy frees up area for extra lively cathode supplies — nickel, cobalt, and aluminum — rising capability with out altering the general cell quantity.
The corporate believes that it’s going to lead to a 25% enhance in power density, which may add about 90 miles of vary on a Mannequin Y (by way of Reuters):
If achieved, the development would result in a 25% enhance in battery capability, thus boosting the driving vary of Tesla’s most reasonably priced sport-utility car, the Mannequin Y, by nearly 90 miles (about 145 km), at present battery pack measurement, Panasonic mentioned.
Panasonic states that the brand new battery know-how might be accessible by the top of 2027. It didn’t focus on price.
Electrek’s Take
I’m all the time cautious of “battery breakthrough” bulletins, as they not often pan out to something substantial, but when they will ship a 25% enhance in power density at an affordable price with longevity, it might be a winner.
The issue is that new batteries typically fail in a kind of facets.
I hope it’s not the case for this mission as a result of competitors is nice, and I’d prefer to see Panasonic put some stress on the Chinese language and Korean battery producers.
