Monday, August 31, 2020

Potential of Different Battery Chemistries for Electric Vehicles

 The battery technology for electric vehicles (EVs) has substantially evolved over the decades and this evolution has been largely driven by a certain degree of deficiency in one battery technology that subsequently incentivised the development and deployment of newer battery chemistries aimed at overcoming those deficiencies. Typically, the strength of such batteries is measured on parametres such as energy density, faster charging, a large number of duty cycles and wide operating temperature range. Further, the operating environment can largely dictate which battery chemistry will gain prominence in a certain region or country.


Lead acid was the first battery technology to be deployed in battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the early nineties – a technology that has been consistently worked on for several years. These batteries lost out on popularity owing to deficiencies such as lower energy density and lower life. “Lead acid batteries witnessed a decline in adoption in EVs as it had issues such as low energy density to the tune of 30-50 Wh/kg coupled with a lower life cycle (in terms of charge and discharge cycles) on account of erosion of plate materials in an acidic electrolyte during change discharge cycles. Further, the higher charging time of 8-16 hours also limited their usage in EVs. More importantly, the lead acid technology has been in the market for a long time and there is limited scope for further optimisation as several threshold values have more or less been achieved,” explained Ashim Sharma, Partner & Group Head, Nomura Research Institute.

Around the nineties the nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery technology also marked its arrival in the automotive space, but it was more widely deployed in hybrid vehicles. Typically, one of the critical battery requirements in a hybrid vehicle is longevity due to multiple change and discharge cycles during the course of operation, and this explains why NiMH batteries are deployed in hybrid vehicles. NiMH batteries did not quite gain market acceptance among battery electric vehicles because they have limited discharge current (0.2C-0.5C), limited lifecycle and generate heat during fast charging and discharging. These factors limited the performance of EVs, in terms of acceleration performance and fast charging capabilities that are considered crucial for battery electric vehicles.

Toyota has been at the forefront of deploying nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries in its hybrid vehicles in various models such as Prius and Camry Hybrid, etc. Vikram Gulati, Country Head & Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Public Relations, Corporate Social Responsibility & Corporate Governance, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, shared his perspective on NiMH batteries. “NiMH batteries have higher energy density and offers higher charge/discharge cycles resulting in high durability. Such batteries have no toxic content and can be efficiently recycled. Such batteries and lithium-based batteries have different advantages and are used based on criterion such as thermal management, energy density and specific application requirements,” said Gulati.

Over a period of time lead acid and NiMH battery technologies have had certain deficiencies that necessitated the need for a new EV battery technology. And such a scenario heralded the arrival of lithium-based batteries in the automotive space in the late nineties. Among lithium-based batteries lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) have emerged as prominent lithium battery chemistries for EVs. The prominence of these battery chemistries can be attributed to their substantial production scale-up over other chemistries over the past decade. “NMC and LFP have gained market acceptance because their prices also dropped drastically, which triggered customer demand. These chemistries score high on the reliability front owing to its extensive use. NMC and LFP will remain fundamental battery families for EVs as their cells have witnessed significant cost reduction,” explained Nakul Kukar, Co-Founder & CEO, Cell Propulsion.

NMC is considered a good option for long-range EVs, especially passenger cars, sedans and SUVs. “You need to pack in more energy in each cell of your EV battery pack to effectively manage the battery pack size while delivering long vehicle range. NMC makes more sense for long-range EVs because you can pack in more energy in the same dimensions and same weight constraints,” Nakul pointed out.

NMC is also considered a good option for the Indian two-wheeler segment that grapples with space constraints to install the battery pack. NMC can pack in more energy using a lesser number of cells, thus resulting in small compact batteries that can fit easily in two-wheelers.

It is also observed that NMC works well in countries that have colder climates, but can have issues if used in hot weather conditions. This battery chemistry brings in much more complexity in hot weather conditions and can be a riskier option and will need a complex and extensive cooling system and the range benefit is not worth the effort, especially in the Indian context, noted Nakul.

Among other lithium-based battery chemistries, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) is touted as a good solution for the Indian three-wheeler segment, wherein cost is the most important consideration than volume or even performance. LFP works well for three-wheelers in India as it is cost-effective and more reasonably priced than other chemistries although it cannot provide a longer range. Further, if three-wheelers desire long range capability they can explore NMC but it will only augment the cost and therefore it won’t make any sense for three-wheelers.

LFP can work well with long-haul buses as the latter have adequate volume and mass margin for heavier battery packs and are built with lower energy density cells that can offer required range. “LFP is a desired solution for buses due to its inherent safety and lower cost even though its energy density is lower since there is enough volume in such vehicles and they can easily carry extra mass – even if you add one ton of extra weight, still the bus body and structure will be able to handle it”, opined Nakul.

It is pertinent to note that buses typically pack in far more number of cells than any other vehicle, which necessitates the need for a reliable thermal cooling system to protect the battery cells or else the probability of something going wrong in the battery could be many times more. It is largely owing to inherent safety attributes LFP has emerged as an attractive option for buses as compared to using a large number of NMC cells for bus battery packs. Like long-haul buses, LFP can be deployed for heavy duty trucks up to 40 tonne GVW. 

Besides NMC and LFP, another lithium-based battery technology that is witnessing steady adoption is lithium titanate oxide (LTO). The biggest advantage of this battery technology is the very high cycle life of 10,000 plus cycles as well as extremely high temperature operating range. LTO is also not prone to thermal runaway and can support fast charging in high ambient temperatures. Besides this, LTO offers high discharge rates, which makes it ideal for high power applications. These characteristics make the battery ideal for applications such as hybrid vehicles (including PHEV), forklifts, tractors, mining and defense vehicles. However, the price of these batteries is on the higher side and the energy density is a bit lower. Efforts are being undertaken to improve the energy density and with scale prices of LTO should also come down.

According to Sharma, LTO can be good to use for intra-city cabs because it enables one to do fast charging and travel from point A to point B with lesser travel time. However, packing in a small battery means the battery range will not be very high but the charging time of 10-12 minutes is equivalent to a CNG refilling time, he observed.

Lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA) is another battery chemistry used in EVs but hasn’t gained much prominence. NCA shares similarities with NMC, in terms of offering high specific energy, good specific power and a long life span, but is costlier and is also regarded as a less-safer version of NMC.

At large, lithium-based batteries have several attributes that have enabled them to be a market mainstay but there is no denying the fact that there is a question mark over its long-term sustainability as some of the materials (lithium and cobalt) used for making such batteries are not widely available and are only confined to a few nations globally. There is a considerable amount of work happening to develop newer, viable battery technologies for EVs. One technology that appears promising and is tipped to be closer to commercialisation is solid-state batteries. This technology offers safety features more than what LFP can provide as well as provide energy density close to what NMC provides and also requires a lesser number of steps in production. “Solid state batteries are the best alternative to lithium batteries and should be commercially available over the next four-five years. In this Indian context, this technology can provide good range in hot conditions,” explained Nakul.

The sodium-ion battery technology is another technology that is considered a viable alternative to lithium-based batteries. This technology is similar to a lithium-ion battery, wherein only lithium compounds are replaced by sodium compounds. It may be noted that the development of sodium-ion batteries happened concurrently with lithium-ion batteries in the seventies but research on sodium-ion peaked from 2011. “The biggest plus point about this technology is that sodium is abundantly available across the globe unlike scarcely available lithium or cobalt and it can also be extracted from sea water, which thereby ensures adequate supply for all countries with a coastline, remarked Sharma.

Sodium-ion batteries offer several advantages such as low switching cost for manufacturers due to similarities in manufacturing processes/protocols between them and lithium-based batteries. This technology offers a lower pack cost due to use of cheaper materials (for example, aluminium is used in current collectors as opposed to copper being used in lithium-based batteries). The sodium-ion technology has the ability to ensure fast charging by leveraging a right combination of hard carbon anode and corresponding cathode to eliminate sodium plating as well as ensure easier transportation and storage as compared to lithium-based batteries, noted the senior Nomura Research Institute official. However, there are some challenges that have to be addressed before sodium-ion batteries can be ready for commercialisation – these challenges include development of an effective electrode & electrolyte material and improving the lifecycle, explained Sharma.

It is pretty clear that lithium-based battery chemistries will continue to hold relevance over the next decade or so. But there are reservations over long-term sustainability of lithium-based batteries owing to limited availability of lithium and cobalt as well as its vulnerability to warmer weather conditions. Various technologies such as aluminium air, zinc air, etc are in development stage, but only two technologies – solid state and sodium-ion battery technologies – appear closer to commercialisation. Of course, in an ever-evolving battery technology space, newer possibilities can never be ruled out.

Thursday, August 20, 2020

How 5G Technology Can Propel Supply Chain Innovation!

The 5G technology has generated plenty of hype and hoopla. One wonders why the 5G has created so much buzz all around - well, it is largely because this technology is touted to be smarter, faster and more efficient than 4G. No wonder, 5G is being talked about as a potential game-changer across the global marketplace.

It is now without reason that 5G technology is being talking about glowingly. The technology offers differentiators such as ultra-low latency, faster data speeds, enhanced reliability, wider network capacity, increased availability, etc. 5G has the potential to offer speeds up to 100 gigabits per second and is set to be as much as 100 times faster than 4G. The fact that the technology has generated a lot of excitement among businesses and technology influencers is easy to understand.

This fifth-generation technology brings so much to the table for the supply chain space. 5's impressive speed as well as its capability to manage volumes of data will have a massive impact on supply chain management. In fact, if findings of a recent survey is anything to go by, 5G subscriptions are expected to hit 190 million by 2020-end and touch 2.8 billion by 2025.

5G is poised to drive large-scale innovation in the supply chain space and this will be spurred by embracing technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and drones across the supply chain. IoT technologies can help accelerate supply chain management by identifying chips, sensors, communication devices, cloud computing networks, and data analytics engines all working together to drive better decision-making.

5G will help businesses bring about better end-to-end visibility across their supply chains, drive real-time data-sharing among all supply chain parties as well as enable organizations to streamline operations and scale up production. Further, 5G technology is expected to ensure substantial cost-savings as well as peace of mind for various supply chain stakeholders. Logistics companies can make the most of the 5G technology as they can label, track, and record all shipments automatically and deal with issues such as lost cargo, misplaced items, etc.

5G also help optimize another key area of inventory and warehouse management, wherein its high-speed network ensures a more transparent and efficient process of collection, delivery, and archiving of goods and products. The technology can also optimize critical processes as well as drive remote maintenance and control. It can be also handy in ensuring seamless fleet management operations. Owing to reduced latency 5g enables real-time vehicle status updates, collision avoidance, leveraging emergency services in the event of an emergency, etc.

There is no doubt about why enterprises are potty about jumping on to the 5G bandwagon. But they cannot cold-sholder the pressing need to reinvent some of their existing data infrastructure and embrace analytics solutions suited to the task ahead. This will ensure that their supply chains are better positioned to take advantage of the new opportunities.

Given the evolving market landscape, there is a crying need for businesses is to work closely with all their partners as one virtual organization with shared information, shared processes, and shared decision support. Businesses that adopt such a collaborative approach will stay relevant and competitive over the long-term.

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