Ned Curic, the chief technology officer of Stellantis, said that the company aims to develop lighter electric vehicle batteries, cutting weights in half to improve sustainability. He said that current EV batteries are “just too heavy”, making vehicles “not compatible” with sustainability purposes.
There are a few reasons why EV batteries need to be lighter. First, weight is a major factor in the range of an electric vehicle. The heavier the battery, the less range the vehicle will have. Second, weight affects the performance of an electric vehicle. Heavier vehicles are less agile and take longer to accelerate. Third, weight affects the efficiency of an electric vehicle. Heavier vehicles require more energy to move, which reduces their range.
There are a few ways to make EV batteries lighter. One way is to use lighter materials. Lithium-ion batteries are currently the most common type of EV battery, but they are made with heavy materials like cobalt and nickel. Other materials, such as sodium and magnesium, are being explored as potential alternatives.
Another way to make EV batteries lighter is to improve the energy density of the batteries. This means increasing the amount of energy that can be stored in a given volume of battery. This can be done by using new battery chemistries or by optimizing the design of the batteries.
Stellantis is not the only automaker that is working on developing lighter EV batteries. Other automakers, such as Tesla and Ford, are also investing in this technology. As the demand for electric vehicles grows, the need for lighter batteries will become even more important.
It is still too early to say what the EV batteries of the future will look like, but it is clear that they will need to be lighter than current batteries. This is a major challenge, but it is one that automakers are committed to solving.
