3 Technologies That Could Make EVs Go Farther

Electric vehicle adoption is on the rise, but there are some issues holding it back. While car buyers are bedazzled by phenomenal improvements to EV technology in recent years, some remain skeptical due to things like limited range.

However, if you’ve been paying attention to the latest auto news, you know that problems like these could be in our rear-view mirrors very soon.

In this brief article, we’ll discuss what’s new for cars in the EV space, particularly where driving range and charging are concerned. Keep reading to learn more.

1. Better Batteries

Currently, electric car batteries are made with liquid electrolytes. While this battery technology has given us some amazing cars, its potential is limited.

Manufacturers are hard at work on new types of batteries with better energy density. Known as solid-state and semi-solid-state batteries, they provide a much higher energy density per unit area. This is mostly due to their compact size.

As an early example, the Chinese company CATL recently announced the release of its Qilin battery. It allows EVs to travel as far as 1,000 kilometers on a single charge.

Depending on where the technology goes, it could soon make cross-country driving much easier for EV owners.

2. Smarter Battery Integration

It’s not enough to simply manufacture larger batteries to increase EV range. Those batteries have to fit somewhere inside the vehicles they’re made for. That’s been a tricky problem for automakers interested in the EV space.

The more effectively a car manufacturer can integrate EV batteries into a vehicle, the more energy density the car can have and the longer its range can be.

Manufacturers have come up with a few ways to better optimize battery packaging. For example, cell-to-pack technology, largely developed by CATL, directly integrates battery cells into battery packs.

Cell-to-body, created by BYD, integrates batteries into floor panels. The cell-to-chassis, made by Tesla, directly integrates battery cells into the vehicle’s chassis.

3. Faster Charging

It’s all well and good to have larger, more powerful batteries. But if it takes hours upon hours to charge those batteries, their benefits won’t be as significant. Fortunately, improving charging speeds is another keen area of focus in the new car industry.

But when it comes to fast charging, the primary area of concern is not electric vehicle batteries but the electrical grid they depend on. To deploy high-power-charging infrastructure on a wide scale, the power grid must be upgraded.

Upgrading power grids across wide areas requires the cooperation of different governments. But thanks to EV companies’ continuous efforts, changes are beginning to happen that could make fast charging a reality for all of us before long.

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We’re seeing improved infrastructure and better batteries. Before we know it, EV technology adoption could be on the horizon. One thing’s for certain: EV sales are only going to rise from here.

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