Monday, August 13, 2018

The US is losing the high-stakes global battery war

Though we rarely give them much thought, batteries — specifically lithium-ion batteries — enable modern life. They run our smartphones, yes, but they also power our Bluetooth speakers, toothbrushes, satellites, and pacemakers. In Australia, a partnership with Tesla will equip 50,000 homes with solar panels and battery packs, transforming them into a single “virtual power plant” capable of storing 250MW. Increasingly, batteries move us: from electric cars to pedal-assist bikes, scooters, trains, planes, and even boats. By 2025, it’s estimated that lithium-ion batteries will become a $94 billion global market.

Yet, genuine breakthroughs in battery technology are few and far between. The lithium-ion batteries we use today are iterations of...

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