I think the primary issue that the article laid out was that investor overconfidence in lithium ion batteries is choking out competition from alternative chemistries and storage technologies that...
I also realize that one of the reasons electric vehicles are being held back is because of their range. However, as the article says, battery companies are not only ramping up production, but are "improving it bit by bit." So if prices are falling and the batteries are still getting better, what's the issue?
I think the primary issue that the article laid out was that investor overconfidence in lithium ion batteries is choking out competition from alternative chemistries and storage technologies that might be more suitable for certain use cases, a case of the lithium ion hammer making every problem look like a nail.
Many alternatives, from flywheels to flow batteries, have failed to catch on while the market grows more and more comfortable with lithium ion. Primus Power of California, for example, offers a flow battery that can produce 25 kilowatts of electricity for five hours, and Chief Executive Officer Tom Stepien said improvements to the current design could boost output to seven or eight hours. Flow batteries pump liquid electrolytes through the battery’s cells when electricity is needed.
“Lithium is a sprinter,” he said. “Flow is a marathon runner.” But Stepien acknowledges the difficulty of convincing potential customers to bet on less-familiar technology. Primus has deployed 30 of its systems to date, mostly over the last three years. “Lithium is more bankable, all the rage, what everyone is going to today—for sure,” Stepien said.
Using lithium ion batteries for grid storage is, IMO, almost criminally wasteful. Lithium ion batteries use a lot of rare materials in order to fulfill a chemistry optimized to deliver the most power for the least weight, and weight is totally irrelevant for grid storage. Utility scale storage should be using flow or salt water batteries made with more common materials instead, and leave lithium for phones, cars, and other weight-sensitive applications.
I think the primary issue that the article laid out was that investor overconfidence in lithium ion batteries is choking out competition from alternative chemistries and storage technologies that might be more suitable for certain use cases, a case of the lithium ion hammer making every problem look like a nail.
Using lithium ion batteries for grid storage is, IMO, almost criminally wasteful. Lithium ion batteries use a lot of rare materials in order to fulfill a chemistry optimized to deliver the most power for the least weight, and weight is totally irrelevant for grid storage. Utility scale storage should be using flow or salt water batteries made with more common materials instead, and leave lithium for phones, cars, and other weight-sensitive applications.