Battery costs to limit widespread adoption of electric cars

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Battery costs to limit widespread adoption of electric cars – report


Although electric-car battery costs are expected to fall sharply over the coming decade, they are unlikely to drop enough to spark widespread adoption of fully electric vehicles without a major breakthrough in battery technology, according to a new study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The study, released 7 January, concludes that the long-term cost target used by many carmakers in planning their future fleets of electric cars — US$250 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) — is unlikely to be achieved unless there is a major breakthrough in battery chemistry that substantially increases the energy a battery can store without significantly increasing the cost of either battery materials or the manufacturing process.

“Given current technology options, we see substantial challenges to achieving this goal by 2020,” said Xavier Mosquet, Detroit-based leader of BCG’s global automotive practice and a coauthor of the study.

“For years, people have been saying that one of the keys to reducing our dependency on fossil fuels is the electrification of the vehicle fleet. The reality is electric-car batteries are both too expensive and too technologically limited for this to happen in the foreseeable future.”

Most electric cars in the new decade will use lithium-ion batteries, which are lighter and more powerful than the nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries used today in hybrids like the Toyota Prius.

Citing the current cost of similar lithium-ion batteries used in consumer electronics (about US$250 to US$400 per kWh), many original-equipment manufacturers hope that the cost of an automotive lithium-ion battery pack will fall from its current price of between US$1,000 and US$1,200 per kWh to between US$250 and US$500 per kWh at scaled production.

But consumer batteries are simpler than car batteries and must meet significantly less demanding requirements, especially regarding safety and life span, BCG said


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