INVITED: The Future of Energy Storage for Vehicle Applications

The year 2016 marked the 25^th anniversary of Sony’s announcement of the commercialization of Li-ion batteries. This not only precipitated a revolution in portable electronics, but also is now starting to transform the transportation sector. A significant factor has been the recent drop in cost of these batteries to $300/kWh or less, close to what automobile companies consider the tipping point of $150-200/kWh for widespread consumer acceptance of electric vehicles. Besides cost, energy density and safety are important parameters for battery-powered electric vehicles geared towards the general consumer market. All solid-state batteries with lithium metal anodes may have significant advantages in these regards, although they are in a much less advanced state-of-development for this application. This talk will cover requirements and recent trends in energy storage for electric vehicles, and briefly touch upon the speaker’s own research on ceramic electrolytes for solid-state batteries.