TEXAS, USA - The recent Arctic blasts across the United States left some electric vehicle (EV) owners in a jam.
Fast-draining batteries, slow charging, long queues, and cars being towed after running out of power were reported from Illinois and Michigan to Texas.
Sub-zero temperatures aren’t great for EV battery life - neither, of course, are they for gasoline-powered cars which more frequently break down in freezing conditions. New research from a Norwegian breakdown service revealed that electric cars fail less in extreme cold than fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
Nevertheless, concerns about the range and longevity of EV lithium-ion batteries remain a sticking point for sales.
An Ipsos study last year found that along with the cost, the barrier for many people in buying an EV was concern about the lack of charging stations and battery life.
The findings signal a spanner in the works of US climate plans. More than a quarter of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation and to that end, the Biden administration is aiming for at least half of new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030. EVs currently make up about 9 per cent of new US vehicle sales, according to industry tracker EV Hub.
But a recent breakthrough by a team of scientists at Harvard University could help overcome these hurdles. Researchers from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) reported earlier this month that they have developed a new “solid-state” battery that can be charged in the time that it takes to fill up a tank of gas - and repeated at least 6,000 times.
At the moment, EVs, laptops and other electronics that need energy storage, typically use lithium-ion batteries in a flat, compact “pouch cell” design.
But the power of lithium-ion batteries, as demonstrated, can only take larger machines so far. There has also been evidence of these types of batteries catching fire.
Last June, four people died after a lithium-ion battery caught fire in an e-bike store in New York and spread to apartments above. In December, a fire broke out on a cargo ship carrying nearly 2,000 tons of lithium-ion batteries off Alaska’s coast.
