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The future of the automotive industry depends on batteries. Research into new batteries is more intensive than ever before, including here.
After 2035, only electric cars will be allowed to be sold in the EU. In the US, several states have introduced similar deadlines, including California.
In future vehicles, the engine will no longer play the central role, but rather the battery. But this is new territory for Europe.
A new beginning for the auto industry
Since Sony introduced the lithium-ion battery 30 years ago, Europe has been importing power storage devices from Asia, now primarily from China. In 2022, the middle country produced more batteries than all other countries combined – a dangerous dependency for one of Europe’s largest industries. The European car industry now has a good decade left to make the transition.
But Europe is not just standing by and standing by. Switzerland plays an important role in this.
Neuchâtel: double storage capacity
At the “Battery Innovation Hub” of the Csem (Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique) in Neuchâtel, work is being done on incremental improvements to the current third generation of lithium-ion batteries.
The researchers have also developed a method for looking inside a battery from the outside without sensors. They stimulate the battery with certain frequencies and interpret the response, the resistance of the memory. The measurement data can be used to calculate how warm it is inside or whether deposits have formed. This way you can make the battery safer and have data on its capacity.
It’s about supplying the industry with innovations that make the industry in Europe competitive with China.
At the same time, Csem is also researching the fourth generation, so-called solid state batteries. It is assumed that the new technology will allow up to two and a half times more energy to be stored – and in the foreseeable future: while with the third generation of lithium-ion batteries it took ten years to double the storage capacity , it only takes five years for the fourth generation, says Andreas Hutter.
Thalwil: store a lot of electricity for a long time
The company “Unbound Potential” in Thalwil wants to solve another problem with a so-called flow battery. The young start-up is working on a battery that can store large amounts of electricity over a longer period of time, for example for photovoltaic systems or wind farms.
The energy is stored in liquid form in a tank and pumped through the battery. The size of the tank can be dynamically adjusted to the storage capacity.
The battery does not require any complicated components. They only needed three machines to construct the storage in the basement workshop, says “Unbound Potential” founder David Taylor. And because the chemicals are available in large quantities, the storage device could be produced quickly in large quantities.
Does Europe have a chance?
These examples show that we are also conducting research into storage technologies at a high level. Various players in the European battery industry have come together to form an association headed by Andreas Hutter from Csem. “It’s about supplying the industry with innovations that make the industry in Europe competitive with China,” says the researcher.
The American entrepreneur Bill Gates is convinced that this can be achieved. In an interview with “Handelsblatt” he recently said that China had won the first round of batteries, but that other applicants still had a chance in the battery market.