Quick Look: The Battery Show

This week, I had a chance to spend a day at The Battery Show here in Detroit. Although I am not an electrical engineer, there was enough higher-level, non-granular content to bring me up to speed on some of the developments in the battery and EV space.

For those who have not attended, it’s quite a crowd of suppliers, engineers, and consultants filling the entire display floor of Huntington Place (formerly known as Cobo Hall, for those of you who have been here a while—and the site of the now-renamed Detroit Auto Show). If there is a technical aspect to battery development, production, recycling, or even firefighting, you will find someone here working on it. Side by side with the Battery Show is the Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Show, which occupies about one quarter of the display area and features suppliers offering a wide variety of supporting tech for today’s electrified mobility products. Over the course of a full day, I picked up a few interesting insights...

A panel on commercialization of battery technology focused on a number of key challenges in the US market, noting the easy availability of factories, land, and capital in China, and the perception that China thinks in decades while the US thinks in days. They noted that the Chinese government purchased the earliest-developed battery cells in China from local producers, even though they weren’t the best on the market. However, the government wanted to ensure the long-term success of local suppliers. They also talked about the challenges of site selection here in the US; even if you have the capital, you need the supporting infrastructure (like power, transportation, and education).

General Motors’ VP Kurt Kelty outlined the company’s future battery roadmap, and it appears GM is now pursuing a strategy that other competitors announced years ago: multiple formats, and multiple chemistries (including the recently announced LMR, or lithium manganese rich, which Ford Motor Company is also pursuing). LMR is due to launch in full-size electric trucks in 2028, claiming 33% higher power density versus LFP and a comparable cost; Kelty noted a Silverado EV would go 490 miles on an NMC battery, 350 on LFP, and 400 on LMR. Curiously missing from the roadmap were solid-state batteries (but the subject did come up in Q&A). While GM announced work in this area in June (as well as sodium ion), there doesn’t appear to be a timeline for implementation, which contrasts with competitors like Toyota (which announced plans to have this in-market by the end of the decade). Also curiously missing from the GM presentation was any reference to hybrids, despite the public announcement that GM will be adding plug-in hybrids to their portfolio

Both solid-state and sodium-ion battery technologies were discussed in several workshops. There was skepticism expressed over the term “semi-solid state” (which the Chinese are now putting into production); perhaps they are “gel batteries”? And while China appears to be taking the lead in sodium-ion technology, it’s still more expensive than LFP and better suited to the shorter driving distances of Chinese drivers. Benchmarking firm AUTODATAS expects the Chinese to launch a pure solid state battery in 2027, noting that big names BYD and CATL have partnered up on this technology (and have apparently launched trial cell production)

AUTODATAS also provided a benchmarking comparison of the (now five-year-old) Tesla Model Y and BYD’s latest, the Sealion 7. Although Tesla’s gigacasting, lower mass, and higher battery energy density give it an initial edge, BYD has several innovations that help cement its place as an EV leader. BYD is the only automaker to use refrigerant, not coolant, which allows for a less complex cooling system. They also have high-voltage interfaces on both sides of the battery pack to reduce harness length (and thus complexity, mass, and cost). Finally, BYD’s in-house-developed pulse self-heating technology helps reduce battery charging time in colder weather.

So, yes, it was rather like drinking from a fire hose, but definitely worthwhile in view of all the changes and challenges today’s auto industry is facing.