The Great Battery Convergence: 2025 Is Set to Be a Transformative Year for EVs
Is it only coincidence? EV and battery-makers are all heading towards the same basic strategy
If all goes according to plan, Gene Berdichevsky’s advanced batteries will be in electric BMWs and Daimlers in 2025, providing at least a 20% jump in energy density. With that juice, their EVs may cost substantially less, go further on each battery charge, or a little of both. To get there, Berdichevsky’s company, Sila Nanotechnologies, has just raised $590 million, with plans to build a battery plant with triple the capacity of Elon Musk’s iconic Nevada Gigafactory, and produce the first commercial silicon anode, an elusive leap sought for decades by researchers around the world.
But, in a much-overlooked convergence of economy-moving technology, Berdichevsky’s batteries will have company: GM says it, too, will have a souped-up EV battery in the middle of the decade, with much the same advantages touted by Sila. So does VW — in its case a cutting-edge lithium-metal battery made by QuantumScape, which promises delivery in 2024. Solid Power, another lithium-metal anode startup, is aiming its battery for 2026. All will still have to contend with juggernaut Tesla, which says a top-to-bottom transformation of its battery will be ready by…
