Powering up: battery innovation offers new lease of life to EVs

What are the current issues with electric vehicles? Not a long enough range? The effort and time required to recharge when compared to a stop to fill up with petrol? These issues may be no more as Panasonic Energy swoops in to strike a supply deal with battery tech company Sila, whose new battery technology might make the teething issues of electric vehicles a thing of the past.

Panasonic is the main provider of EV batteries to Tesla, and its new partnership could mean that electric vehicles increase their range by 40 per cent and reduce the amount of time to recharge by 80 per cent, Wired has reported.

Silicon solution

But how do these new batteries work? Instead of using lithium, they contain silicon which is able to retain 10 per cent more power than their standard counterpart. Silicon batteries have been known to crack, which reduces the life of the battery significantly, but Sila’s new approach uses a scaffolding of carbon to support the silicone, allowing it to expand and contract without splitting.

Silicon also offers fewer challenges than those trying to get their hands on graphite, which is largely mined in China. As one the world’s most abundant resources, silicon is potentially a more sustainable alternative which can be sourced closer to battery production.

So, will this new technology transform commuting? It certainly creates the opportunity for electric vehicles to be rolled out on a larger scale with fewer downsides to buying, giving potential purchasers of EVs more reasons to invest.

Find out more about the latest advances in commuting technology in our Innovation Zone Technology Round-up here.

And access our Innovation Day 2023 sessions which aimed at redesigning the commute here.