Max is the lead analyst in Wood Mackenzie’s Electric Vehicle & Battery Supply Chain Service with a focus across the battery value chain. He covers analysis of end-use sector demand for batteries, the supply of critical battery materials, and developments in battery component and cell production. He also focusses on the developments in battery technologies as well as the increasingly important lithium-ion recycling industry. He previously worked as a research scientist at QinetiQ, developing new materials and devices for the defense sector as well as niche battery applications. He also worked with university and industry partners to evaluate and develop new battery materials and devices to scaled manufacture. In his education, after graduating from the University of Cambridge, he studied MSc Materials for Energy and Environment at UCL, where he focused on assessing high-power anodes for sodium-ion batteries.
Right now, the target for OEMs is to reduce the price of the EV, while improving efficiency, having higher autonomy, and delivering ultra-fast charging capabilities. Charging targets are much higher than ever before; OEMs are looking for a 10% charge to 80% charge in 10-12 minutes. Ultimately, buyer decisions are down to charging time and range. What the end user is seeing is ‘How many kilometres can I drive and how long does it take to recharge the vehicle?’.
How quickly a vehicle charges and how far it goes on one charge is down to the battery’s power density and weight. You can put a larger, higher voltage battery in a vehicle, but that will jeopardise weight and cost. You can find a higher energy density in different cell chemistries, but you then need to enhance your thermal management system and safety system to make the device safe and working under all conditions. This will also add cost.
While batteries have not yet reached their theoretical limits concerning energy densities, and making sure batteries remain light and more energy-dense is a high priority, OEMs are facing a real conundrum. This is a tricky trade-off triangle.
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