Charging Forward: What’s Next in Advanced Energy
Mass adoption of advanced energy electric vehicles in the material handling industry is in the early stages, though, it’s been increasing in fits and starts since the turn of the century. With battery science and technology continuing to improve, the transition from gas-powered technology is expected to grow as we move into the second half of the decade. What does the future hold for advanced energy in the material handling industry? Since the future is notoriously hard to predict, let’s start with where we’ve been.
How’d we get here?
Manufacturing began transitioning from internal combustion engines (ICE) to electric rechargeable batteries in earnest 40 years ago. Those early batteries were based on lead acid technology, which has existed for over 100 years. That technology served the industry well for many years and still does today. However, as all technologies and applications evolve, so too have batteries that accommodate changing application demands with quicker recharge times and longer life. Today, the evolution to lithium-ion battery technology is more prevalent than ever.
Developed in the late 1980s/early 1990s, lithium-ion battery technology made dramatic leaps 15 years ago. Lighter weights, faster charging, increased safety, and longer lifespans allowed lithium technology to be practical enough for use in large applications like automobiles. A decade ago we began seeing an increase in lithium-ion batteries in forklifts, helping expand electrified forklifts from 35 to 40 percent of the material handling market 20 years ago to 65-70 percent today. However, obstacles, such as; cost, regulation, and user knowledge, still impede full market adoption.
Where are we now?
For lithium-ion technology to reach mass adoption, the technology must hit critical benchmarks. One such proposed set of benchmarks is the 5 Golden Rules of Electrification, developed several years ago by lithium science technology leader and battery guru Bob Galyen. To understand the inherent difficulties in battery technology is to understand that to be effective all batteries must reach all five of Galyen’s principles – safety, performance, life, cost, and environmental.
Safety – Keeps people, buildings, and environments safe from harm during production, use, charging, and storage.
Performance – Has high energy through-put levels and fast-charge capabilities while still being light enough to move and store.
Life – Will perform at the highest level for the longest time.
Cost – Allows producers profitability while being affordable to users with a reasonable ROI.
Environmental – Has environmental and social sensitivity throughout the battery’s lifecycle from raw material extraction to production, use, and afterlife.
Increasingly lithium-ion batteries are achieving these principles, however, reaching all five is difficult. For example, while a new and innovative battery may have incredible energy density and fast-charge capabilities, it can also have safety concerns like thermal runaway because of electrolyte instability at higher voltages. Or a battery system can be safely designed for an application, with incredible performance characteristics, but is so expensive that the ROI value proposition does not pencil out. Or a battery can have an excellent price point providing significant value but poor performance characteristics.
A lithium crystal ball
Today’s lithium-ion battery manufacturers have made great strides toward the 5 Golden Rules, but more challenges are ahead. These challenges include finding more raw materials, investment in raw material refining and battery production facilities, scaling the production of these facilities to meet demand, and figuring out what to do with batteries after their lifespan ends. Only some of these challenges can be solved by science. Others require more investment, time, public involvement, and political will. For example, finding the raw materials and processing raw materials for lithium battery production. The US has not specifically identified and processed large reserves of lithium or other battery elements, nor is there much battery production in the US. Meanwhile China leads as the world’s largest, most advanced and efficient lithium battery manufacturer, raising geopolitical concerns. It takes major capital investments, with potentially long payback periods resulting from production process refinement and scaling. To create lithium battery manufacturing facilities, state and federal governments would need to provide incentives and subsidies if they want more battery production in the US. Other long-term issues include upgrading electrical grids to handle the increase in electric powered vehicles, creating a US workforce with enough science and engineering knowledge to work in the industry, and shifting consumer demands for more energy at affordable prices. For these challenges, the crystal ball is a little foggy.
Beyond lithium
While lithium-ion adoption has advanced many applications, is there anything on the horizon that can do better? The short answer is maybe. Sodium-ion and solid-state battery technology are continuing to evolve and mature and as they do, production methods are expected to increase while costs drop. However, they aren’t widely considered ready for the market yet.
Solid-state batteries are those that use a solid electrolyte, such as glass or ceramic, to move the charge instead of liquid electrolyte giving them more thermal stability. Auto makers are leading the way in solid-state technology research because these batteries could offer high energy density and faster recharge times with increased safety, making them ideal for cars and potentially forklifts, if designed appropriately.
There’s tremendous interest in sodium-ion batteries because sodium is an abundant natural resource (saltwater!) and may prove to have better safety and recyclability characteristics. . Current technologies make sodium-ion batteries ideal for fixed-grid electrical storage, like storing extra solar power from a warehouse for example, however several of the world’s largest battery manufacturers are experimenting with prototypes in electric vehicles. Comparatively to lithium-ion batteries they excel in power density but still require research to increase life and energy density.
Developed together, these battery technologies could prove increasingly attractive to North America markets. However, even these new technologies must follow the 5 Golden Rules. While some new and innovative products have advantages in environmental, performance, or safety standards, there are still questions about lifespan and cost.
Charging on
While the advanced energy industry continues improving battery physiology, the real challenge is getting those improvements out of the laboratory, into production and finally out into the world. Despite the challenges, there’s much to look forward to as the industry continues charging forward.
Information provided by AEC Member – Michael Galyen of Concentric
For more information about the Advanced Energy Council: mhi.org/aec
For further articles from the Advanced Energy Council:
What Is a Battery Passport? A Ticket to Lithium-ion Battery Transparency
ROI of Energy Sources: Automation
Advanced Energy Solutions Deliver ROI
Achieving ROI with Advanced Power Sources
Advanced Power ROI: Efficiency
