Co-founder and CEO of Group14a battery technology company that elevates all batteries with silicon to accelerate electrification.
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If you’ve been following market trends, you’ve probably noticed that battery technology startups continue to receive strong interest from investors despite market volatility. In 2021, funding for electric vehicle battery startups will triple year over year, raising more than $3.6 billion, and the momentum continues today. Batteries consisted of the largest category for energy technology financing so far in 2022. The main factor driving the accelerated flow of capital is the range of applications that will disrupt next-generation battery technology.
The 4 main markets affected by electrification
For decades, the same lithium-ion batteries have been the standard for keeping us connected in the modern age. But now, to keep up with rising energy demand, investors are backing new technologies with better performance capabilities to reinvent everything we do, touch and use.
While the use cases are virtually infinite, here are four key markets that new battery technologies can and likely will disrupt in the near future.
1. Mobility
Mobility as we know it is at a turning point. We are witnessing all major automakers, such as Porsche, Ford and GM, transitioning to all-electric lineups, with $515 billion projected to develop electric vehicles by 2030. The market potential is certainly incredible, but the one consumer bottleneck that continues to plague the widespread adoption of electric vehicles is the fear of charging.
A few years ago it would have been impossible to imagine driving an electric car from San Francisco to Los Angeles on a single charge or being able to top up the charge in just a few minutes. Utilities, new battery technologies dismantle current industry standards and create parity with traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. These new technologies could be key to accelerating EV timelines from design to consumer. We have the option to have a snack 30% of emissions only come from the mobility sector as we disrupt everything from lightweight trucks to micro scooters.
2. Electronics
The battery capacity in all of our electronics has come so far in the last decade. My first mobile phone was gigantic and I could only make a few calls before the battery died. Today, my smartphone is less than half that brick and can run dozens of applications at once. As technology advances, we can expect that see our appliances last longer.
Next-generation battery technologies have the potential to open doors for new inventions. They enable engineers to bridge the gap between great ideas and great execution. For example, many consumers have become accustomed to wireless earbuds and drones for everyday use such as photography. All of this has been made possible with better battery technologies, so imagine if the new crucial or just fun inventions could hit the market with more complexity and capacity.
3. Aviation
A three-hour drive from my company’s first plant in Woodinville, Washington, to another plant in eastern Washington could become a lot shorter with the promise of electric aviation. We probably though won’t have electric planes until battery technologies improveas aircraft still suffer from weight and power issues.
New battery technologies could make electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) and electric aviation a more realistic means of transportation. While reducing battery weight, we can enable them to go the distance. Opening the airspace to eVTOLs requires batteries to be able to charge extremely quickly. Like today’s fossil fuel planes, electric planes will need rapid charging to enable more flights (which equates to more customers).
Electric aviation’s transition from a novelty to real functionality is what we’ve been waiting for to radically reduce emissions from every flight. With new battery technologies, we may see cleaner ways to travel by air in the coming years.
4. Grid
Lithium-ion batteries are still the dominant energy storage technology for large-scale installations to power renewable energy networks even when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Today we see the development of large battery-powered systems, such as the world’s largest Moss Landing battery storage system with a capacity of 400 megawatts in California. Even with all the new factories popping up around the world, experts predict we won’t have enough capacity to meet current consumption demands.
As many U.S. power grids experience sustained voltage and blackouts amid fires, freezes, and other factors, keeping the lights on when the power grid goes down may be a matter of building new energy storage solutions that can use existing lithium-ion power complement.
Our lives are powered by batteries and as the energy transition progresses, batteries will play an even greater role in our daily lives. As we explore opportunities to electrify key industries, the technology that powers batteries is more important than ever. This is why the Biden administration has committed $3.1 billion to boost EV battery production, amid other policy changes supporting the development and commercialization of battery technology. For now, as long as manufacturers remain aligned with the new possibilities unlocked by better battery technologies, the world can expect innovation at a level never seen before.
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