One of people's biggest hangups with electric vehicles is battery life and worrying about EV batteries dying and leaving them stranded on the side of the road. However, EV manufacturer Tesla continues testing new technologies to put these worries out of consumers' minds.
As Electrek reported, Tesla has been working to boost the lifespan of manganese-rich batteries, which could fuel the EVs of the future.
Manganese batteries haven't been the best solution for powering EVs in the past because they deteriorate quickly. However, they are worth exploring further because of their affordable cost, low environmental impact, and impressive power.
Tesla recently patented a new version of manganese-rich cathode active materials that the company believes will make manganese batteries last longer. The patent application reveals that this version offers as much as 94% capacity retention at 50 cycles, significantly more than the original, standard ones.
"In some embodiments, the improved doped manganese-rich cathode active materials described herein may aid in reducing manganese dissolution from the doped manganese-rich cathode active materials, and thereby improve cycle lifetimes and capacity retention in energy storage devices," Tesla shared.
As Electrek points out, 50 cycles is still insufficient to power EVs. However, this significant capacity retention improvement indicates that the new batteries could have retention rates far beyond 50 cycles, making manganese-rich batteries a viable future option for EVs.
This technological development is important because it may help the EV industry overcome sustainability concerns with lithium-ion batteries.
Better battery solutions have the potential to make EVs more affordable, efficient, cleaner, and safer over time. These improvements will make EVs more attractive to broader audiences and work toward the global goals of achieving clean, carbon-free transportation.
Electrek commenters offered mixed opinions and skepticism. However, there is still hope that one of these revolutionary battery breakthroughs will propel EVs to the level needed to transform the transportation industry once and for all.
"Like with all the recent Tesla announcements, we shall see," one reader said.
"More research is always a good thing," another wrote.
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