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WOBURN, Mass. – Anyway Far behind Asian producers While producing electric car batteries, US automakers and suppliers are racing to develop a new generation of batteries that are cheaper, can store more energy and charge faster.

It is a global competition with huge economic consequences for automakers, small battery starters and car buyers to choose in a few years. a dizzying array of electric cars those who use different types of batteries as the combustion engine age declines.

this chemical structure of batteries As a technical issue, engineers have become one of the hottest topics of discussion on the corporate boards of General Motors, Toyota, Ford Motor and Volkswagen, and in the White House.

With the financial and technological backing of the government, these giant companies are embracing start-ups working to remake the battery so they don’t get left behind. the industrial revolution unleashed by the electric car.

Automakers’ ability to specialize in battery technology can help determine which companies are successful and which ones are. surpassed by Tesla and other electric car enterprises.

Batteries will help determine the price of new cars and can become the defining feature of vehicles. Like the megapixels in cameras or the processing speed of computer chips that consumers were once obsessed with, the characteristics of batteries will be the benchmark by which cars and trucks will be judged and bought.

“This will be the new brand differentiation going forward – the battery in electric vehicles,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s head of product platform and operations. “So we’re making a big effort.”

Of course, batteries will also play a central role in the fight against climate change, helping to shift cars, trucks and the power sector away from oil, coal and natural gas.

Automakers are taking a crash course in battery chemistry as demand for electric cars increases. Companies have to figure out how to make batteries cheaper and better. Today, batteries can make up a quarter to a third of the cost of electric cars. And most of these batteries are made by several Asian companies.

Even Tesla, the dominant manufacturer of electric cars, relies on Asian suppliers and is trying to bring more production into its own system.

President Biden encouraged companies this month moving more of the battery supply chain to the United States. The Russian invasion of Ukraine underlined the strategic importance of such efforts. Volkswagen was forced to temporarily close its main electric vehicle plant in Germany after conflicts interrupted the supply of parts produced in western Ukraine.

like auto giants stellantisIt spends cash on startups like Factorial Energy, which owns Ram and Jeep and employs fewer than 100 people in an office park in Woburn, near Boston.

Plant managers, who have stopped calls from automakers offering bags of cash, are developing a battery that can charge faster, hold more energy, and is less likely to overheat than existing batteries.

“Money can come and go,” said Siyu Huang, co-founder of Factorial, who started experimenting with battery technology as a graduate student at Cornell University. “We want to offer the safest battery and change the way people live.”

Senior officials of the Biden administration said they wanted to help, recognizing that the United States is doing a bad job leveraging domestically created battery technologies. Many of these inventions gave rise to a large industry in China.

The Department of Energy is considering funding companies that manufacture batteries or supply the parts or critical minerals needed to build them. According to an agency tally, the agency has at least 10 pending applications seeking a total of more than $15 million to support these battery-related projects.

Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said last month that a failure to innovate has wreaked havoc on his hometown of South Bend, Ind., which was once home to Studebaker. Unemployed in the 1960s.

“Innovation is at the heart of the past, present and future for our auto industry, and we see this now with the opportunity to lead America’s electric vehicle revolution.”

Cheaper and More Durable Batteries

The fastest change coming is in the building blocks of batteries.

Most lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, nickel, manganese and cobalt. But some automakers, including Tesla and Ford, are starting to use batteries in at least some of their vehicles based on the lithium iron phosphate popular in China.

These LFP batteries, as they are known, cannot store as much energy per pound, but they are much cheaper and last longer.

Tesla plans to offer LFP batteries in shorter-range, lower-priced electric vehicles. Ford plans to use them in some trucks sold under the Ion Boost Pro brand for fleet owners.

“It could be delivery, it could be plumbers, electricians, landscapers working in a fixed geographic area,” said Ford manager Mr. Thai-Tang.

Mr. Thai-Tang said Ford is working with SK Innovation of South Korea to make its batteries, but hopes to bring most of that production to the United States. “This will alleviate some of the geopolitical and just logistical cost challenges.”

But the LFP battery is not a complete solution. Using these batteries, Teslas can only go about 270 miles on one charge. about 358 miles For similar models powered by nickel and cobalt batteries. Also, LFP batteries may lose some of their power when the temperature drops below freezing and takes longer to charge.

New Designs and Materials

Ford’s new electric F-150 pickup truck, which is not on sale but already has 200,000 reservations, will rely on batteries with a higher percentage of energy-intensive nickel, also manufactured by SK Innovation.

tesla Said it was February It has already produced one million cells for the next-generation “4680” battery, which it started using in Model Y crossovers. Elon Musk, CEO of the automaker, said that the battery will have 16 percent more range due to its unique honeycomb design. “Hard until discovered, then simple” He said 2020.

GM claims ultium battery cell 70 percent less cobalt requirement More than the cells used in the Chevrolet Bolt electric hatchback. The company has added aluminum to its battery. The GMC Hummer pickup, which GM has recently started selling, is the first vehicle to feature this battery.

GM in partnership with South Korea LG Chemistryis building a $2.3 billion battery factory in Lordstown, Ohio. at least one 13 large batteries Factories under construction in the United States.

Batteries are already becoming essential for car branding – GM Advertising for Ultium batteries. This increases the obligation to ensure that batteries are reliable and safe. GM had to recall Bolt to correct a battery defect that could cause a fire.

Most automakers are willing to reduce their reliance on cobalt, in part because it comes mostly from cobalt. Democratic Republic of Congowhere it is mined Chinese-funded companies or sometimes by freelancers who employ children.

“This is a possible violation of human rights, child labor or artisanal miners digging under very difficult conditions – that is the biggest concern we have,” said Markus Schäfer, Mercedes-Benz senior manager for research and development.

The auto industry is also worried about nickel, as Russia is a major supplier of the metal.

A team of about 25 government scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory Tennessee wants to push these innovations even further.

Conventional electric car batteries were placed next to it. an experimental cobalt-free alternative. Scientists spend weeks charging and discharging them to gauge their performance. Ilias Belharouak, who runs the Oak Ridge Battery Manufacturing Center, said the goal is to cut battery costs in half, increase their range to over 300 miles, and cut charge times to 15 minutes or less. (Existing batteries usually take 30 minutes to 12 hours to charge, depending on vehicle and outlet.)

Some of these studies will be funded by 200 million dollars The Department of Energy allocated it to seven national laboratories last year. Episode one this month “virtual field festival” where battery designers present their ideas scientists, government officials and industry executives.

In Search of Solid State Batteries

Factorial Energy and other US start-ups such as Solid Power and QuantumScape aim to not only replace components but revolutionize the way batteries are made. Batteries today rely on a liquid solution for the electrolyte that allows electricity to flow between different components.

Solid state batteries do not have a liquid electrolyte and will therefore be lighter, store more energy and charge faster. They are also much less likely to ignite and therefore require less cooling equipment.

Most major automakers have placed big bets on solid-state technology.

Volkswagen has invested its money in San Jose, California-based QuantumScape. BMW and Ford are betting on Solid Power in Louisville, Colo. GM has invested in SES AI Corporation, which originated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is headquartered in Woburn.

However, it is unclear when solid-state batteries will arrive. Stellantis said it hopes to launch mass-market vehicles with these batteries. until 2026but executives at other companies say the technology may not be widely available until around 2030.

Whichever automaker introduces solid-state batteries first will have a tremendous advantage.

Ms. Huang from Factorial said that it is not unusual for her and her business partner, Alex Yu, to work all night while competing to achieve the technical benchmarks.

He said he was motivated by memories of the polluted air he breathed while growing up near Shanghai. “Our company’s founding mission is to strive towards a fossil-free future,” said Ms. Huang. “I strive for that in my life.”

Finally, Factorial, which Mercedes and Hyundai he has also invested, looking to build factories around the world – an ambitious goal considering the company has just moved to the second floor.

In a series of labs, workers wearing white coats and expressive expressions are testing prototype cells.

Despite this frenzied activity, the auto industry may struggle to meet demand for new batteries as the world cannot extract and process all the raw materials needed. especially for lithiumsaid Andrew Miller, chief operating officer of Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, which tracks battery manufacturers and supplies around the world.

“All the models announced are everything these companies want to do in the next three years,” Mr. Miller said, adding that “I don’t know where the raw materials are coming from.”