A Battery That Could Change The World

Last week I happened to catch an intriguing documentary on NOVA called Search for the Super Battery.green Energy Storage Battery

The topic is of intense interest to me, as the development of better, cheaper batteries is critical for both the future of electric vehicles (EVs) and for the future electrical grid. Battery improvements are needed to increase the range of EVs, and cheaper batteries can help drive down the costs of EVs so more consumers can afford them.

For the electrical grid, increased penetration of renewables poses some challenges because of their intermittent nature. Since the wind could stop blowing at any time, and the sun's radiation can only be captured during the day, these sources of power need to be backed up. Cost-effective storage of power could enable essentially unlimited penetration of renewables into the grid.

Thus, tremendous effort has gone into battery development in recent years. The effort is paying off, with prices for battery cells falling by 70 percent between 2012 and 2017, according to PV Magazine. But costs need to continue to decline to make widespread use of utility-scale battery storage a reality.

Lithium-ion batteries have become the battery of choice in many consumer electronics such as laptops, and in electric vehicles such as those produced by Tesla. But there are a couple of problems with these types of batteries that need to be resolved.

For reasons that are explained in the documentary, the use of lithium-metal electrodes enables a greater energy density than conventional lithium-ion batteries. But lithium-metal electrodes can develop finger-like structures called dendrites that will eventually short-circuit the battery.

Tesla Leads The Way In Cheapest Battery Pack Costs

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), Tesla and its lithium-ion battery partner Panasonic are the leaders in EV battery technology, especially in terms of costs of the cells and packs.solar street light lithium battery

One of the reasons is low cobalt content in the cells (below 10% of cathode weight). Elon Musk said in June that the target for battery cell cost in 2018 is $100/kWh, and $100/kWh on the pack-level within two years.

In fact, Tesla already delivers the car with the cheapest cost per kWh in the form of the Model 3.

BNEF's research revealed that other suppliers offered cells for $120/kWh in 2017, but to reach $100/kWh on the pack-level is in general not expected for the industry until 2025.Anyways, the lowest battery costs gives Tesla an edge compared to other electric car manufacturers and BNEF expects that the advantage will carry on for several years.

Well, having cheaper batteries will definitely help Tesla to grow quickly in an increasingly difficult market where competitors are introducing long-range electric cars.

How we get to the next big battery breakthrough

You’re reading a Quartz member-exclusive story, available to all readers for a limited time. To unlock access to all of Quartz, visit our membership page.Lithium Battery Cell voltage

Electric planes could be the future of aviation. In theory, they will be much quieter, cheaper, and cleaner than the planes we have today. Electric planes with a 1,000 km (620 mile) range on a single charge could be used for half of all commercial aircraft flights today, cutting global aviation’s carbon emissions by about 15%.

It’s the same story with electric cars. An electric car isn’t simply a cleaner version of its pollution-spewing cousin. It is, fundamentally, a better car: Its electric motor makes little noise and provides lightning-fast response to the driver’s decisions. Charging an electric car costs much less than paying for an equivalent amount of gasoline. Electric cars can be built with a fraction of moving parts, which makes them cheaper to maintain.

So why aren’t electric cars everywhere already? It’s because batteries are expensive, making the upfront cost of an electric car much higher than a similar gas-powered model. And unless you drive a lot, the savings on gasoline don’t always offset the higher upfront cost. In short, electric cars still aren’t economical.

Similarly, current batteries don’t pack in enough energy by weight or volume to power passenger aircrafts. We still need fundamental breakthroughs in battery technology before that becomes a reality.

Battery-powered portable devices have transformed our lives. But there’s a lot more that can batteries can disrupt, if only safer, more powerful, and energy-dense batteries could be made cheaply. No law of physics precludes their existence.

And yet, despite over two centuries of close study since the first battery was invented in 1799, scientists still don’t fully understand many of the fundamentals of what exactly happens inside these devices. What we do know is that there are, essentially, three problems to solve in order for batteries to truly transform our lives yet again: power, energy, and safety.

Electric car battery with 600 miles of range? This startup claims to have done it

Electric carmakers have long been clamoring for a battery breakthrough that will improve the range of their vehicles while also extending their lifespans. Innolith, a Swiss startup, says its new high-density lithium-ion batteries can do just that.Electric Vehicle Battery technology

The company claims to have made the world’s first 1,000 Wh/kg rechargeable battery. (Watt-hours per kilogram is a unit of measurement commonly used to describe the density of energy in batteries.) By comparison, the batteries that Tesla uses in its Model 3 — the so-called 2170 cells — are an estimated 250 Wh/kg; the company plans to eventually push that to 330 Wh/kg. Meanwhile, the US Department of Energy is funding a program to create 500 Wh/kg battery cells. If Innolith’s claims turn out to be true, its high-density battery may have just leap-frogged over those targets.
It’s a big jump,” Innolith chairman Alan Greenshields said in an interview with The Verge. “It’s basically, in rough numbers, four times the current state-of-the-art for lithium-ion... Roughly three times what is generally accepted as being the next improvement in lithium. And it’s two times the energy density target [that] organizations like the US Department of Energy have set. So this is a big deal.”

A battery with that density would be capable of powering an electric car for 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) on a single charge. That’s far greater than the current lithium-ion batteries on the market today. Tesla’s batteries, which are produced by Panasonic, can support 330 miles of range in the most expensive models. Most major automakers are aiming for a similar range in their electric vehicles.
Others, like electric car manufacturer Henrik Fisker, are pinning their hopes on solid-state battery technology, which they claim can achieve up to 500 miles of range. Most current electric cars are powered by “wet” lithium-ion batteries, which use liquid electrolytes to move energy around. Solid-state batteries have cells that are made of solid and “dry” conductive material, but that technology is still stuck in the lab and hasn’t made it to production.

San Francisco closer to ban on e-cigarette sales

San Francisco supervisors moved a step closer to becoming the first city in the U.S. to ban all sales of justfog vape to crack down on youth vaping.

In a unanimous vote, supervisors approved a ban on the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes until the Food and Drug Administration completes a review of their effects on public health. Another proposal would ban the manufacturing of e-cigarettes on city property. The measures will require a subsequent vote before becoming law.

“We spent the ’90s battling big tobacco, and now we see its new form in e-cigarettes,” supervisor Shamann Walton said.The supervisors acknowledged that the legislation would not entirely prevent youth vaping, but they hoped it would be a start.“This is about thinking about the next generation of users and thinking about protecting the overall health and sending a message to the rest of the state and the country: Follow our lead,” Supervisor Ahsha Safaí said.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera said young people “have almost indiscriminate access to a product that shouldn’t even be on the market.” Because the FDA has not acted, he said, “it’s unfortunately falling to states and localities to step into the breach.”

Most experts agree that e-cigarettes are less harmful than the paper-and-tobacco variety because they do not produce all the cancer-causing byproducts found in cigarette smoke. But researchers say they are only beginning to understand the risks of e-cigarettes, which they think may damage the lungs and blood vessels.

Since 2014, e-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco product among young people in the country. Last year, 1 in 5 U.S. high school students reported vaping in the previous month, according to a government survey .

FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum said in a statement that the agency will continue to fight e-cigarette use, including preventing youth access to the products, taking action against manufacturers and retailers who illegally market or sell the products to minors and educating young people about health risks.

Leading San Francisco-based e-cigarette company Juul frames vaping as a healthier alternative to smoking tobacco. Juul has said it has taken steps to deter children from using its products. The company said in a statement that it has made its online age-verification process more robust and shut down its Instagram and Facebook accounts to try to discourage vaping by those under 21 years old
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The nicotine in e-cigarettes appears to impair mucus clearance

Vape Dropshipping with nicotine appears to hamper mucus clearance from the airways, according to new research published online in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

In "Electronic Cigarette Vapor with Nicotine Causes Airway Mucociliary Dysfunction Preferentially via TRPA1 Receptors," a team of researchers from the University of Kansas, University of Miami and Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach reports that exposing human airway cells to e-cigarette vapor containing nicotine in culture resulted in a decreased ability to move mucus or phlegm across the surface. This phenomenon is called "mucociliary dysfunction." The researchers report the same finding in vivo in sheep, whose airways mimic those of humans when exposed to e-cigarette vapor.

"This study grew out of our team's research on the influence of tobacco smoke on mucus clearance from the airways," said senior author Matthias Salathe, MD, chair of internal medicine and a professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center. "The question was whether vape containing nicotine had negative effects on the ability to clear secretions from the airways similar to tobacco smoke. "

Mucociliary dysfunction is a feature of many lung diseases, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cystic fibrosis. Specifically, the study found that vaping with nicotine impairs ciliary beat frequency, dehydrates airway fluid and makes mucus more viscous or sticky. These changes make it more difficult for the bronchi, the main passageways to the lung, to defend themselves from infection and injury.

The researchers note that a recent report found that young e-cigarette users who never smoked were at increased risk to develop chronic bronchitis, a condition characterized by chronic production of phlegm that is also seen in tobacco smokers.

Dr. Salathe said the newly published data not only support the earlier clinical report, but help explain it. A single session of vaping can deliver more nicotine to the airways than smoking one cigarette. Moreover, according to Dr. Salathe, absorption into the bloodstream is lower, possibly exposing the airways to high nicotine concentrations for prolonged periods of time.
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FDA Proposes New Deadline for E-Cigarette Applications

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told a court that it will move up the date for premarket tobacco applications (PMTA) for Vape Starter Kit to next year, instead of the 2022 date it had previously set.
The agency's new deadline is in response to a May 15 ruling by U.S. Judge Paul W. Grimm of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Grimm ruled that the FDA sidestepped its authority when it pushed back deadlines set by its deeming rule.
The agency released the long-awaited deeming rule in May 2016, and the regulations — with spelled out deadlines — included in it went into effect in August of that year. However, one year later the agency said it was delaying the provision requiring manufacturers to submit applications for products on the market as of Aug. 8, 2016, for agency review.
Under the revised timelines, applications for newly regulated combustible products, such as cigars, pipe tobacco and hookah tobacco, would be submitted by Aug. 8, 2021, and applications for non-combustible products such as electronic nicotine delivery systems or e-cigarettes would be submitted by Aug. 8, 2022, as Convenience Store News previously reported.
In a court filing on June 12, the agency proposed a 10-month deadline for e-cigarette and vapor companies to submit the applications after a final ruling, if the court decides not to remand the case back to the agency for further action, according to Reuters.Under its authority to regulate tobacco products, the agency must approve a PMTA to commercialize any tobacco product not on the market as of Feb. 15, 2007.
However, the groups that first brought the legal challenge against the FDA that led to the court ruling are asking for a much stricter deadline — 120 days.
According to Bonnie Herzog, managing director of tobacco, beverage and convenience store research at Wells Fargo Securities LLC, if the proposed shorter timeline for PMTA becomes a reality, Altria Group Inc. and Juul Labs Inc. would be well positioned relative to smaller manufacturers.
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No more vapes in India? Govt all set to ban e-cigarettes and e-hookahs

Going tough on cheap vape deals Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), including e-cigarettes, the health ministry has proposed to classify such alternative smoking devices as "drugs" under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, in a bid to ban their manufacture, sale, distribution and import.

According to official sources, the proposal has been approved by the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), the government's top advisory body on technical matters related to medicines in the country.

Some organisations claim that these devices help in smoking cessation and are less harmful alternatives to traditional cigarettes, while the government is seeking to ban them contending they pose health risks to users, similar to those of conventional cigarettes.

Indian drug regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), under the health ministry has proposed that manufacture, sale and distribution of ENDS, including e-cigarettes and similar products, should be prohibited under Section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, while their import should be outlawed under Section 10A of the egislation.

The proposal stated that under the provisions of 'drugs' in the Act, any item intended to be used as an aid to help quit smoking is covered under the definition of drugs.

Some states, including Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Mizoram, Karnataka, and Jammu and Kashmir, have already banned e-cigarettes as an unapproved drug. While all of them have banned it under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, some have added the Poisons Act, 1919.

Apex research body - the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended a "complete ban" on ENDS, saying their use can initiate nicotine addiction among non-smokers also.

In a white paper released last month, the ICMR said e-cigarettes adversely affects the cardiovascular system, impairs respiratory immune cell function and airways in a way similar to cigarette smoking and is responsible for severe respiratory diseases.

It also poses risk to foetal, infant and child brain development, the white paper claimed.A consumer body, the Association of Vapers India (AVI), has questioned the veracity of ICMR white paper on ENDS, saying empirical evidence from countries that have allowed e-cigarettes show "smoking rates have declined at a historic pace".

In August last year, the Union Health Ministry issued an advisory to all states and Union Territories to stop manufacture, sale and import of ENDS. The advisory was subsequently challenged in the Delhi High Court which ruled it to be non-binding on states and government bodies.
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San Francisco bans e-cigarettes: Is it legal? Is it safe?

San Francisco will become the first U.S. city to ban cheap vape deals sales, after a unanimous vote by its board of supervisors on Tuesday. The mayor has indicated she plans to sign the measure.

The city is legally able to pass the ban "unless and until it's challenged," according to CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman. In California, Klieman explained, there are ballot initiatives – and "Juul is already prepared to get the signatures to get on the November ballot to absolutely get rid of this ordinance."

"Juul may carry the day," she added, "because adults — particularly adults in places like California or San Francisco — don't like being told by legislators what they can and cannot do in their own private time."

Juul, which is based in San Francisco, is the most popular e-cigarette brand. The company said in a statement that "this full prohibition will drive former adult smokers who successfully switched to vapor products back to deadly cigarettes, deny the opportunity to switch for current adult smokers, and create a thriving black market, instead of addressing the actual causes of underage access and use."

E-cigarettes have not been approved by the FDA, which has said that e-cigarette use in young people is an "epidemic." CBS News contacted the FDA about the ban, but has not heard back.

Part of the problem is that the health risks of using e-cigs are still "unknown," according to CBS News medical contributor Dr. Tara Narula.

"Nobody was prepared for how prevalent this is, particularly in the youth market," Dr. Narula said. "We're really all playing catch up at this point. And the problem is, we don't have the benefit of research, and we don't have the benefit of time. So nobody can tell you, after 200 or 300 puffs of an e-cigarette over 20 years, what is the potential risk."
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Study finds electronic cigarettes damage brain stem cells

Present throughout life, stem cells become specialized cells with more specific functions, such as brain cells, blood cells, or bone. Far more sensitive to stress than the specialized cells they become, stem cells provide a model to study exposure to toxicants, such as Electronic Cigarette Wholesale smoke.

Electronic cigarettes, or ECs, are nicotine-delivery devices that aerosolize nicotine and flavor chemicals through heating. Researchers do not yet understand how the chemicals in ECs might affect neural stem cells, particularly their mitochondria -- organelles that serve as the cell's powerhouses and are critical in regulating cell health.

Using cultured mouse neural stem cells, the UC Riverside researchers identified the mechanism underlying EC-induced stem cell toxicity as "stress-induced mitochondrial hyperfusion," or SIMH.

"SIMH is a protective, survival response," said Prue Talbot, a professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology who led the research. "Our data show that exposure of stem cells to e-liquids, aerosols, or nicotine produces a response that leads to SIMH."

The study, performed on Vuse, a leading EC brand, appears in iScience, an open-access journal from Cell Press.

"Although originally introduced as safer, ECs, such as Vuse and JUUL, are not harmless," said Atena Zahedi, the first author of the research paper who received her doctoral degree in bioengineering this year. "Even short-term exposure can stress cells in a manner that may lead, with chronic use, to cell death or disease. Our observations are likely to pertain to any product containing nicotine."

Zahedi, the recipient of a 2019-20 UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship, explained that during SIMH, round punctate mitochondria fuse together to form long hyperfused networks in order to rescue each other -- making them less vulnerable to degradation.

"The high levels of nicotine in ECs lead to a nicotine flooding of special receptors in the neural stem cell membrane," Zahedi said. "Nicotine binds to these receptors, causing them to open up. Calcium and other ions begin to enter the cell. Eventually, a calcium overload follows."

Zahedi explained that too much calcium in the mitochondria is harmful. The mitochondria then swell, changing their morphology and function. They can even rupture and leak molecules that lead to cell death.

"If the nicotine stress persists, SIMH collapses, the neural stem cells get damaged and could eventually die," Zahedi said. "If that happens, no more specialized cells -- astrocytes and neurons, for example -- can be produced from stem cells."
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