WhichEV.Net
  • Buying Advice
  • Events
  • Features
  • News
    • All
    • Charging
    • Commercial Vehicles
    • Consumer Vehicles
    • Cool Car Tech
    • Curiosities
    • Design
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Industry
    • Legal
    • Market
    • Motorsport
    • Public Sector
    • Records
    • Rumours
    • Safety
    • Sharing

    Hyundai unveils design of IONIQ 6 Streamliner

    Volkswagen premieres its first fully-electric ID. AERO saloon

    InstaVolt sets up eight-charger hub on A5 in Wales’s Rhug Estate

    US highways regulator gives greenlight to Einride’s autonomous electric freight vehicles

    Electrogenic launches ‘drop in’ kit to electrify Land Rover Defenders

    McMurtry’s electric car breaks speed record at Goodwood

    Trending Tags

  • Reviews
No Result
View All Result
WhichEV.Net
  • Buying Advice
  • Events
  • Features
  • News
    • All
    • Charging
    • Commercial Vehicles
    • Consumer Vehicles
    • Cool Car Tech
    • Curiosities
    • Design
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Industry
    • Legal
    • Market
    • Motorsport
    • Public Sector
    • Records
    • Rumours
    • Safety
    • Sharing

    Hyundai unveils design of IONIQ 6 Streamliner

    Volkswagen premieres its first fully-electric ID. AERO saloon

    InstaVolt sets up eight-charger hub on A5 in Wales’s Rhug Estate

    US highways regulator gives greenlight to Einride’s autonomous electric freight vehicles

    Electrogenic launches ‘drop in’ kit to electrify Land Rover Defenders

    McMurtry’s electric car breaks speed record at Goodwood

    Trending Tags

  • Reviews
No Result
View All Result
WhichEV.Net
No Result
View All Result
Home Features Analysis

EV Technology Trajectory in 2020: Where are we at?

Laura McCoubrey by Laura McCoubrey
27th January 2020
in Analysis, Features
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Source: Volkswagen

Source: Volkswagen

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A recent scientific paper from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has laid out where the global EV market is in terms of innovation and new technology. By analysing the U.S. patent system, MIT has estimated the rate at which various EV technologies are progressing. The researchers have also defined the key industry players in the field and described which particular technological areas may hamper the widespread uptake of EVs.

MIT’s research has found that the annual improvement rates for four main subsets of EV technology are as follows: 23.8% for charging and discharging, 18.3% for power electronics, 11.7% for batteries, and 7.7% for electric motors. With higher percentages showing greater rates of innovation, it is clear to see that technology within charging/discharging and power electronics is progressing faster than batteries and EV motors.

Basically, an EV is an amalgamation of several subsystems including energy storage, electric propulsion, a body, chassis, and auxiliaries. Whilst many components of an EV are essentially the same as a petrol/diesel vehicle, the charging, power electronics, batteries and motor are fundamentally unique. Power electronics technology is related to the control systems within EVs that allow power conversion essential for movement. Charging describes the supply of energy to an EV battery, whilst discharging signifies the transfer of energy within the battery to the electric motor. The electric motor can convert electric energy made available by discharging into mechanical energy that propels the vehicle.

Read next: A new breakthrough in battery tech could allow electric cars to fully charge in under ten minutes

Charging and discharging, power electronics, batteries, and electric motors are known to be the critical technologies within EVs, and are experiencing major changes with EV development. MIT have suggested that the relatively low improvement rates for electric motor and battery technology have the potential to hinder the widespread global uptake of EVs. The researchers have advised that to ameliorate such innovation disparity, policymakers who encourage EV development should issue greater incentives to improve EV batteries and motors.

With rare metals such as lithium and cobalt increasingly in short supply, the EV supply chain may also be subject to difficulties if alternative battery technologies are not commercialised. MIT have described E-One Moli Energy Corp, Panasonic, and Toyota as the leading industry players within lithium-ion battery, electric motor, and discharging technologies, respectively. Notably, Toyota was found to hold the highest number of patents relating to all EV technology and is one of several Japanese corporations pioneering the EV field.

Another key innovator within the battery domain is the Taiwanese E-One Moli Energy Corp (also known as Molicel). As a lithium-ion battery supplier, E-One has produced batteries for Ford and the Mini Electric, and owns the first North American high-volume manufacturer of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in Canada. Within the same field, Toyota announced a partnership in 2019 with Panasonic to develop EV batteries; a cooperation that further increases both companies’ share of the market. MIT recommends that a collaborative business strategy is something that other enterprises should strongly consider in order to share expertise and drive innovation.

2020 is set to be a year of great growth for EV technology. Policymakers in numerous countries, including Sweden, China, Malaysia and Korea have already engineered incentives to promote technological innovation for EVs. With the world finally waking up to the devastating threat of climate change, the decarbonisation that global EV adoption could bring is more relevant than ever. Along with technological innovation, the viability of an all-EV future lies with proper policymaking, infrastructural design, and the insurance of a robust and sustainable supply chain.

Tags: Battery Cell TechnologyPanasonicToyota
Previous Post

Audi launches e-tron Charging Service in the UK

Next Post

Volkswagen Group’s Carbon Fund has saved 170,000 tones of CO2

Laura McCoubrey

Laura McCoubrey

Laura is a registered pharmacist and a PhD candidate at UCL. She researches transformative pharmaceutical technologies, and is currently working on 3D printing of medicines. Generally, Laura is interested in sustainability. In her free time she trains and competes in taekwondo, and practices yoga.

Related Posts

Has India been a latecomer to the EV party?

24th June 2022 - Updated on 25th June 2022

Driving electricified classic cars with Electrogenic

24th May 2022 - Updated on 25th May 2022

AVA Croxford Defender: an EV with a serious story

29th April 2022

WhichEV guide to EV charging made easy

19th April 2022
Next Post

Volkswagen Group’s Carbon Fund has saved 170,000 tones of CO2

Discussion about this post

Review Finder

Latest News

Hyundai unveils design of IONIQ 6 Streamliner

4th July 2022

Volkswagen premieres its first fully-electric ID. AERO saloon

1st July 2022

InstaVolt sets up eight-charger hub on A5 in Wales’s Rhug Estate

1st July 2022

Trending

  • Elon Musk announces Tesla will switch to hydrogen in 2024

    4367 shares
    Share 1747 Tweet 1092
  • Was Nikola Trucks the biggest scam yet in electric vehicles?

    1691 shares
    Share 676 Tweet 423
  • Future electric cars: Best upcoming electric cars, SUVs and pickup trucks – 2021 UPDATE!

    1332 shares
    Share 549 Tweet 326
  • How to turn your favourite classic car into an EV

    1235 shares
    Share 511 Tweet 302
  • What makes an EV charging station accessible for people with disabilities?

    1129 shares
    Share 452 Tweet 282
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact the WhichEV team today

© 2022 WhichEV. Limited - All of the independent news and expert reviews you need in one publication.

No Result
View All Result
  • Buying Advice
  • Events
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews

© 2022 WhichEV. Limited - All of the independent news and expert reviews you need in one publication.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.