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You May Remember 2020 as the Year the ‘Super-Battery’ Became Real
Tesla, VW, QuantumScape, and GM are vying to produce the norm-shattering battery first
After years of fitful development, doubt, miscues, and embarrassments, the humble battery seemed — in 2020, finally — to vault within reach of the promise that entrepreneurs since Thomas Edison and before have had for it.
In a key development, the cost of lithium-ion batteries is now near $100 per kWh, an inflection point that would give electric vehicles (EVs) cost parity with their gasoline-driven competition, according to BloombergNEF, a renewable energy research group. At the same time, multiple teams of researchers report a breakthrough in a new type of battery — a long-sought anode containing pure metallic lithium. The breakthrough has ignited a fierce contest among major automakers GM, Toyota, and VW to be first to bring EVs containing such super-batteries to market first. The middle of the decade has shaped up as a collision point between the carmakers and Tesla, which is carving out its own path to the super-battery.
Yesterday, yet another big name was reported to be entering the contest: Apple has plans to debut an electric driverless vehicle as early as 2024, according to Reuters.
