Will the epidemic accelerate the automotive electrification revolution?

March 25 to April 25, 2017 to 2019

March 25 - April 25, 2020

Source: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio

As the world continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused a huge loss of life and brought the world economy to a critical standstill, we can begin to look ahead to what the world will look like after the pandemic. While there will undoubtedly be changes in the way we interact with each other, the healthcare industry, and the people who serve it, the pandemic will have indirect and unintended impacts on the environment that are rarely discussed.

The global stay-at-home order, which lasted for months to contain the spread of the coronavirus, has also given rise to the prospect of achieving carbon neutrality, or a significant reduction in carbon emissions in the future. As cars, ships and planes have been used less frequently during the pandemic, the negative impact we have had on the environment over the past few decades has become more visible. Photos and videos taken by people of real environmental conditions before and after the quarantine have caused a sensation. Residents of Punjab, India, saw the Himalayas 150 miles away for the first time in more than 30 years because of reduced air pollution, and in the canals of Venice, people saw marine life that had not been seen for many years because of the cessation of ship traffic in the area and reduced water pollution. In Beijing, New York and Paris, emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide have dropped significantly.

The natural environment begins to recover, if only for a moment. While indefinitely suspending transport and transportation infrastructure in the name of environmental protection is not a viable solution and would certainly weaken the world economy, achieving carbon neutrality through electrification would allow the best of both worlds.

At the heart of the more sustainable electrified future the world is committed to is the electric vehicle (EV). According to the World Economic Forum, “By 2030, there will be 215 million electric passenger cars on the road. This represents an annual growth rate of 23% between 2018 and 2030.” With global EV adoption expected to grow at this pace over the next decade, demand for supporting technologies will continue to increase. New EV adoption incentives have been introduced in almost every region of the world, and all major OEMs are working on electrifying their vehicle lineups. The world is ramping up its investment in electrification. Now is the time to drive faster adoption of electrification technologies, but this will take time and will not happen overnight. Across the electrification ecosystem, there are still many barriers that prevent EV adoption.

Unfortunately, today’s grid infrastructure cannot keep up with the growing demand for electricity from electric vehicles. Moreover, electric vehicles have not yet reached price and performance parity with internal combustion engine vehicles to inspire consumer demand. In addition, automakers are still searching for a more efficient and economical way to promote electrification technology in their vehicle lineups. In addition, today’s EV battery recycling and reuse programs are not cost-effective and resource-efficient enough to ensure widespread adoption. Without the ability to reuse and recycle EV batteries for second life, many EV batteries will end up in landfills. This defeats the purpose of promoting environmental protection through electrification.

➤ Energy storage systems, battery formation and testing, battery chemistry

Energy storage has become a global focus in recent years, driven by the expected adoption rates of electric vehicles and other electrification technologies . As the world becomes increasingly reliant on electrification, the strain on existing power grids can be significant. Energy storage systems (ESS) enable modern grids to stabilize by using large batteries as buffers to store off-peak power generated by renewable resources and to deliver power to all users and all applications, including electric vehicle charging, at all times during peak demand. Energy storage systems can utilize multiple buffers placed near the load point, allowing the existing grid to deliver more power without adding wires or power plants, thereby reducing the costs associated with infrastructure upgrades.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), by 2030, 65% of new energy storage capacity will be used to connect various renewable energy sources to the grid and provide various grid services; 30% will be used to power residential, commercial and industrial facilities; and the remaining 5% will be used to support electric vehicle infrastructure.

Battery formation and testing is a critical part of the EV battery manufacturing process because it is where the battery is judged to meet key performance and safety standards. If these standards are not met, the battery may not be usable or its efficiency may be adversely affected during use and cascade use. The battery formation and testing process involves extremely precise management of current and voltage over a 24 to 36-hour period. Too fast or too little precision can damage the active chemical components inside the cell, greatly reducing the overall capacity and life of the battery.

Emerging battery chemistries are further challenging equipment and battery manufacturers by making already difficult battery formation and testing even more difficult. New chemistries require a higher degree of electrical measurement accuracy under the most stringent production conditions while also keeping costs in check. Additionally, rapid scalability requires manufacturers to reduce the size of existing formation and test equipment.

About 40% of an electric car's sticker price is related to the battery

Today's electric vehicles typically have a range of 60 to 400 miles, and require a charging time of 30 minutes to 12 hours, depending on the vehicle model and the type of car charger, making them ideal for short trips or commuting that can be charged at home. However, range and charging time are extremely important factors for the entire automotive market. In addition, the electric vehicle market is expected to grow tenfold in the next decade, and in order to power millions of electric vehicles, there will be an increasing need for efficient battery management systems (BMS) to monitor, manage and maintain high-performance batteries.

BMS electronics require the highest accuracy over the entire lifecycle of the vehicle and under all operating conditions to maximize the range per charge of the electric vehicle.

Unlike a single energy storage element, such as a fuel tank, an electric vehicle’s battery pack consists of hundreds or thousands of cells working together. As power flows into or out of the battery pack, all cells must be managed with extreme accuracy to ensure maximum range per charge. In addition, while the cost of the electronics is only a small part of the battery cost, it is a major factor in determining vehicle range, safety, and cost. For example, to ensure maximum usable battery capacity over the life of the vehicle, good accuracy must be maintained under all operating conditions and harsh environments, including extreme temperatures, electromagnetic and electrical noise (over the 15-year life of the vehicle). The highest accuracy currently available is 2 mV, which must be achieved for every cell in a 400 V to 800 V battery pack. To ensure safety, electronics must be carefully designed from the outset to fully comply with all stringent and evolving safety standards around the world. These standards are not limited to ASIL-D standards, and innovative battery functional architectures must be developed.

In addition, disruptive technologies are emerging for BMS, and they are wireless. The wireless battery management system (WBMS) recently developed by Analog Devices is built , eliminating the need to use signal sampling lines to connect the battery, saving engineering design and development costs, and eliminating the associated mechanical challenges and complexity caused by the wiring harness. It also makes the battery pack design highly modular and customizable, so it can be used repeatedly in multiple automotive designs. In addition, because each battery module is wireless, data can be collected and stored throughout the process from battery formation to storage and assembly to use in the car, thereby realizing battery status calculation and giving the remaining power of the battery pack. This reduces the cost of the battery and makes the battery's ladder use (or secondary life) more effective, such as in storage, recycling or other applications, reducing the total cost for manufacturers and car owners and limiting the impact on the environment.

By 2035, the total energy storage market is expected to grow to $546 billion in annual revenue.

Source: Global Energy Storage Market 2019 Report

While electric vehicles have been touted as a green alternative to internal combustion engines and fossil fuels, they have one glaring Achilles' heel - what to do with the half-ton battery when it can no longer store enough electricity to power the car?

Today, recycling is a very common option, but the process only recovers some of the raw materials (such as cobalt and lithium), not all of them. Recycling is costly, unregulated, and lacks a clear supply chain. As a result, the Institute for Energy Research predicts that by 2025, the number of electric vehicle batteries discarded worldwide will exceed 3.4 million, 55,000 more than the previous year.

Battery second-life is an alternative to recycling, or more accurately, a transitional approach. After eight to ten years of use, when the charge capacity of a car's lithium-ion battery drops to 70% to 80% of its initial capacity, it can no longer power the car and needs to be replaced. The growing number of these no longer-used batteries is creating a new market opportunity, which some call the battery second-life market or the battery second-life market .

Second-life battery applications may extend the battery's service life by 5 to 10 years, but how long it can be extended depends on the initial use of the battery. Wireless battery management system technology (WBMS) continuously collects battery data and transmits and stores it in the cloud, making it an ideal tool for recording detailed historical data. Due to its wireless nature, WBMS can store battery data in the battery cell before the battery is put into use.

During vehicle operation, the battery's state of use (SoH) is calculated and continuously updated according to driving conditions and environmental conditions to provide effective data to help users understand the remaining life of the battery pack. This sets a residual value for the battery pack, helps reduce overall costs, and also sets the direction for the next stage of battery cell use.

Wireless BMS is a disruptive technology that simplifies the process of batteries entering their second life and drives the entire industry into a sustainable future.

Before a battery enters end-of-life use, sellers can use this data to generate a detailed health history, allowing buyers and sellers to assess the value of the battery and agree on a fair transaction price.

McKinsey Consulting said: "Finding places for these still useful (electric vehicle) batteries can create huge value and ultimately even help reduce the cost of energy storage, thereby further integrating renewable energy into the grid." Even if electric vehicle batteries no longer meet electric vehicle performance standards, they can still enter a second life and be used in energy storage systems with relaxed battery performance requirements.

As the world rapidly moves toward environmentally sustainable applications, it is important to consider the impacts and barriers that exist across the entire electrification ecosystem. A greener future cannot be achieved by focusing on just one area. By understanding all aspects of the electrification ecosystem, infrastructure, operations, and second life, and developing solutions to complement the entire ecosystem, Analog Devices is uniquely positioned to deliver a carbon neutral future on a global scale.

Electricity is vital to all of our lives. Hospitals, schools, homes, streetlights and communications all rely on it to power our modern society. Now, more than a century after the first wires were strung across a city, the power industry is undergoing a second revolution that will change not only the mix of energy sources that power the grid, but also the distribution system itself - from centralized to decentralized. Only by striking a balance can we keep our planet and ourselves healthy.

Nearly half of the pollution that causes global warming is caused by burning fossil fuels to generate electricity or heat. Battery recycling can help reduce resource consumption and reduce ecological toxicity. Energy storage systems can fulfill the promise of an electrified future by storing excess solar and wind energy generated locally and selling it to very power-hungry energy networks. The increasing development of electric vehicles compared to high-gas-guzzling cars can eventually reduce air pollution in urban areas by 50% to 90%.

The result is a vision of a bright, renewable, electrified future where all people have the opportunity to live healthier lives and realize their full potential in a cleaner environment.