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EV Batteries: Quality or Quantity?
Hint: It’s both. This week we’re talking about the startup detecting flaws during EV battery production. Why, you may ask? Because their work is continually improving the manufacturing process and reducing waste.
— Written by Shayna Berglas
The Problem: We Need Better Batteries, and Fast 🔋
It’s an exciting time to be working in the EV market. The battery industry is playing a pivotal role in our transition to a greener future. As we work towards mitigating climate change, it's important to understand the impact of battery technology and how we can harness it to our advantage. But just how pivotal are the energizer bunnies to our EVs? To put it in perspective…
According to the International Energy Agency, the number of electric cars on the road could reach 145 million by 2030, up from 11 million in 2020.
The global lithium-ion battery market is expected to grow from $44.2 billion in 2020 to $94.4 billion by 2025.
The production of lithium and cobalt - key materials used in batteries - could increase by 500% by 2050.
The words “scale” and “sustainable” often don’t compliment each other, but they don’t have to be mutually exclusive. It’s within our power to control whether or not the battery industry contributes positively to the fight against climate change.
That means:
Fully capitalizing on renewable energy sources that reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and keep driving down emissions (you see the pun, I see the pun, we all see the pun, right?) 🚘.
Investing in sustainable mining practices that minimize environmental impact and ensure ethical treatment of workers.
Increasing battery efficiency to reduce the amount of material needed to produce them, but also to decrease the amount of energy required to charge them.
Liminal Insights: The Tech in Action 💪 ⚡
To get to 100% EV adoption, we're going to need 20x more battery production than we do today.
Liminal’s EchoStat technology uses ultrasound imaging and machine learning analytics for fast, efficient, high-quality inspection and process control in battery manufacturing.
In the short-term, this allows battery manufacturers to ramp up production and meet the growing demand for electric vehicles while minimizing risk with early flaw detection. In the long-term, the startup is helping make batters lower cost and higher quality to enable the proliferation of EVs around the world.
Watch how a group of Princeton graduates started this sonic boom in the battery industry.
What We’re Watching 🎥, Reading 📚, and Listening to 🎧
Searching for more positive and informative climate content? Look no further!
In Case You Missed It 🔍
Get your free tickets now for Playground Earth: Activating Climate Emotions, an MTV Mental Health Action Day event on May 18th in Los Angeles. This community-focused and youth-led event centers the discussion of the mental health impacts of the climate crisis with a film screening of Gen Z Mental Health: Climate Stories and clips from Overheated: The Documentary; a panel discussion on climate mental health moderated by Leah Thomas of Intersectional Environmentalist; and activation tables for mental health and climate actions.
Interested in getting involved? Email [email protected] to learn more about partnering or volunteering for the event!