Panasonic has announced that it is aiming to develop a higher-capacity battery pack that could extend the range of electric vehicles within the next two years. According to Reuters, this was revealed by a company executive ahead of a presentation by the technology chief, Shoichiro Watanabe. The report notes that the technology is currently being pursued by many global battery producers.
The Japanese company aims to develop the battery without an anode (negative side) during the manufacturing stages to increase the energy density of the battery. Nevertheless, a battery works only with an anode and a cathode (positive side). To tackle this, the company has designed the battery in such a way that a lithium metal anode is formed in the battery after being charged for the first time.
This would free up room for more active cathode materials — nickel, cobalt and aluminium — to boost capacity without changing the volume. Panasonic stated that if this technology is successfully realised, battery capacity could increase by up to 25%.
This would enable a Tesla Model Y to gain an additional driving range of up to 145 km without increasing the size of its battery pack. Alternatively, the company could also use the technology to reduce the battery pack size without affecting the current driving range. This will result in much lighter and potentially cheaper batteries.
For reference, the currently unveiled Performance Model Y comes with a WLTP range of 579 km on a single charge. If the battery is successfully manufactured by Panasonic, it means that it may have a range of 724 km on a single charge.
(Source: Reuters)
