Porsche is confident that in the medium term it will be able to produce electric cars with a range of more than 1,300 km per charge. Although the German manufacturer is working on its own solid electrolyte batteries, considered the Holy Grail of the industry for their high energy density, this technology will not be necessary to achieve this reach.
Porsche plans move forward optimize the anode of your batteries, changing the graphite for silicon, which offers up to 10 times more storage capacity. Also, cells equipped with this type of electrode should be able to charge in less than 15 minutes (5-80%), a really competitive figure.
The main problem with this alternative is that the silicon particles expand up to 300% when they absorb lithium, which negatively affects battery life. For this reason, Porsche develops hybrid anodes with 80% silicon. In parallel, the nickel percentage of the cathode is also increasing.
“In the medium term, we can expect that the combination of the new anode chemistry with a denser packing of the cells will allow a range of 1,300 km”it states Maximilian FichtnerDirector of the Helmholtz-Institut Ulm and Head of the Energy Storage Systems research unit at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
Porsche also aims to reduce charging times
“On the current Taycan, a charge time of 22.5 minutes could be achieved when charging from 5 to 80%”explains on his part Markus Graffdirector of operations of Cellforce Group, whose majority shareholder is precisely Porsche. “With silicon as the anode material, values of less than 15 minutes in the medium term and significantly lower in the long term can be achieved.”
falko schappacherThe Commercial and Technical Director of the Battery Research Center MEET (Münster Electrochemical Energy Technology) at the University of Münster believes that “We will see range increases of 30-50% for premium vehicles in the future. More important than just increasing range is fast charging capability.”
As we indicated at the beginning of the article, Porsche is also dedicating resources to solid electrolyte batteries, which could offer 50% more energy density and even shorter charging times. Due to the higher power that the points will require (more than 500 kW), as these solutions are deployed, it will be necessary to install stations with active cooling systems.
