New battery technology will double EV range by 2020

German company Bosch – the world's largest supplier of automotive components – is developing a new battery technology that it claims will double the range of electric vehicles by 2020.

Bosch has announced a new battery technology for electric vehicles (EVs), based on solid-state cells, which could double their driving range while lowering costs and is likely to be production-ready in as little as five years. The recent acquisition of U.S. start-up Seeo Inc. – based near Silicon Valley – will make this possible. As well as its own experience in the area of battery technology, Bosch now has crucial know-how in innovative solid-state cells for lithium batteries, along with exclusive patents.

"Bosch is using its knowledge and considerable financial resources to achieve a breakthrough for electromobility," says Dr. Volkmar Denner, the firm's chairman of the board. "Solid-state cells could be a breakthrough technology. Disruptive start-up technology is meeting the broad systems knowledge and financial resources of a multinational company."

Using solid-state cells, Bosch sees the potential to more than double energy density – while at the same time reducing size requirements by 75% and improving safety with non-combustible materials. A comparable electric car that has a driving range of 150 kilometres today would be able to travel over 300 kilometres without recharging – and at a lower cost.

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In current lithium-ion batteries, one of the major reasons energy capacity is limited is because the anode consists to a large degree of graphite. Using its new solid-state technology, Bosch will manufacture the anode out of pure lithium. In addition, the cells will function without the need for ionic liquid, meaning they are not flammable.

In 2014, Bosch joined Mitsubishi Corporation and GS Yuasa in establishing the joint venture Lithium Energy and Power, whose objective is to develop a more powerful generation of lithium-ion batteries. Seeo Inc.'s technology complements the work done thus far with Bosch's Japanese partners. The result will be a combination of groundbreaking start-up technology with Bosch's systems and technology know-how, GS Yuasa's cell competence, and Mitsubishi Corporation's broad industrial base.

"The pure lithium anode represents a huge innovative leap in battery cell construction," says Denner. By 2025, the company forecasts that 15 percent of all new cars built worldwide will have at least a hybrid powertrain. In Europe, more than one-third of all new cars will be electrically powered.