Newberry, Indiana – Tesla held their much hyped “Battery Day” on September 22nd and announced some important areas of focus for the company in the coming years. The big theme is driving battery costs down on a dollars per kilowatt hour basis using a multi-faceted approach involving a new cell design, streamlined manufacturing, new anode and cathode materials, and integration of the battery pack into the car chassis structure. Tesla’s recorded live streaming of the event can be found here: https://www.tesla.com/2020shareholdermeeting
The net effect of these planned changes is a projected 56% drop in the cost of the batteries to about the $50/kWh range. If Tesla achieves this in a time frame relevant to the projected rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) market then this will be truly revolutionary. Such a drop in the battery cost structure could make EV’s begin to compete with internal combustion engine cars on a head-to-head cost basis. According to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, their ultimate goal is to be able to introduce a $25,000 EV car for mass production before getting too far into the 2020’s.
“These are exactly the kind of incremental changes you would expect from a company with a lot of sophisticated streamlined engineering already going into its products and production methods” said Todd Peters, CEO of BrightVolt, Inc. Peters continues “If Tesla can operationalize even half of what they’re promising here, the buyers of electric vehicles will benefit with more EV choices on a cost competitive basis approaching that of fossil fuel cars.” Commenting upon the effects of these proposed changes on the battery supply chain, Peters said “there’s going to be some big winners and big losers in the evolving battery materials supply chain, but one thing is clear – anyone bringing to market battery materials or technology which knocks cost out of the equation is going to do well….very, very well.”
BrightVolt’s Chief Battery Scientist, Dr. Anaba Anani added “Tesla is pioneering some important technologies for the battery industry as a whole. If successful, their dry coating technique along with the development of new cathode and anode materials could step change the entire manufacturing process for EV batteries.”
BrightVolt, Inc. develops and sells proprietary battery materials including a novel solid-state electrolyte – the “Polymer Matrix Electrolyte” (PME). This patented solid-state electrolyte significantly enhances the capabilities of lithium-based batteries while reducing the cost of manufacturing. The PME electrolyte can be used in batteries in a wide variety of applications including Internet of Things, consumer electronics and e-mobility. The PME allows for greater energy density, a wider operating temperature range, and increased levels of safety all at a lower total cost of manufacturing.