With the world looking to steer away from fossil fuels and global policy pressure growing, EV interest is continuing to increase in consumers as more consider switching from internal combustion engines to a greener option. In 2022, the global number of consumers looking to buy EVs hit 52%, the first time 50% has ever been exceeded and representing a 22% rise in just two years. This confirms that EV adoption is expected to rise quickly to 2025.
On a global level, EV sale shares are anticipated to reach 39% of sales in 2025 in China and Europe, with the UK, France and Germany expected to hit 40-50%. Indeed, the two continents are set to account for an impressive 80% of EV sales in 2025, while the US catches up with 15%. How will EV adoption be facilitated on a world scale? From improved batteries to increased EV production and from a bigger range to new infrastructure to new chemistries, these are five trends to look out for in 2023.
1. Improved Batteries
One of the key factors to increasing EV adoption is a longer range. With li-ion batteries, including NMC, dominating a large part of the EV market, this battery chemistry is starting to reach its performance limits. As a result, battery manufacturers and OEMs are looking to make improvements to better address market requirements. Indeed, while li-ion batteries are expected to maintain their dominant position on the market, the industry is focusing on improvements in cell design, cathodes, anodes and energy density.
Additionally, the industry is also seeking to innovate the battery at the pack level. Indeed, materials including thermal interface materials, adhesives, impregnation, potting and fillers, among others, are needed to assemble a battery pack. Battery manufacturers are searching for ways to improve their structure by reducing the number of connections, cables and busbars linking the cells and modules together. Moreover, with supply chain issues and shortages hitting the EV industry, alternative materials and reducing amounts is also crucial.
2. Increased Production
As demand for EVs constantly increases, automakers must keep up. Indeed, with a number that keeps on growing every year, 10.5 million EVs were sold across the globe in 2022. This is the first time that the amount of EVs sold exceeded 10 million over the course of a year.
Indeed, while a total of 59,945 EVs sold in 2018, 2022’s final count was over 175 times bigger. As a result, the EV market must find ways to rapidly expand to increase availability and keep up with demand.
3. A Bigger Range and Faster Charging Time
With more and more options available on the market, living up to combustion engine cars is becoming more crucial. As such, EVs are constantly increasing their range to suit driver demand and reduce range anxiety. Indeed, back in 2012, a Nissan Leaf provided a 117 km range. However, drivers need more flexibility to drive beyond that range. Consequently, the average range of a new EV sold in 2021 was over 400 km, though most EVs tend to sit in between 200 and 400 km. In addition to this, the industry is focusing on improving charging times and bringing them as close as possible to the 5 minutes it takes to fill up a tank with gas. Currently, typical EV batteries (60kWh) take just under 8 hours for a full charge with a 7kW charging point, leading to most drivers topping up their battery rather than waiting for it to fully recharge.
4. Infrastructure Catching Up
With 10.5 million EVs sold in 2022 and an estimated 48 million EVs set to be in circulation by 2030, there must be enough EV charging stations to provide that level of energy. Furthermore, these need to be easily accessible and available in all different types of places. As a result, the development of EV charging facilities is quickly expanding in regions including the USA, Europe and China.
USA
In 2021 in the US, there were a total of 1,541,000 charging stations. However, most of them were privately-owned EV home charging ports, with only 159,000 available for public use. Additionally, the majority of these stations tend to have slower chargers that can take over an hour to charge a battery. A new program approved by the U.S. Transportation Department has the aim of building a system where EV charging stations are available every 50 miles along 120,700 km of highways. This infrastructure bill provides $5 billion in help for every state to install EV chargers along interstate highways over the next five years. Furthermore, the plan is for each station to have at least four fast chargers that can recharge an EV battery in up to 45 minutes.
Europe
Across the Atlantic in Europe, similar infrastructure changes are happening. With looming bans on the sale of diesel and petrol cars coming into force in 2030 in the UK, the amount of EVs on the road is expected to increase, as will the need for more charging stations. In July 2021, there were only 24,000 public EV charging ports. Earlier this year, The Department for Transport pledged £1.6 billion to reach a target of 300,000 public chargers by 2030. With the plan starting to come into motion as soon as possible, 2023 is expected to see an increase in EV charging points to the existing network. Moreover, local councils across the UK are also taking matters into their own hands by building new EV charging points.
In Germany, in the city of Frankfurt, 10% of all vehicles are either electric or hybrid. With the trend only set to grow, the city will provide 280 new charging stations in their urban car parks for EVs until 2023. These new ports are designed to charge EVs in city parking so that the car owner is able to drive home, especially if they made the trip in from outside the area.
China
As the US and Europe work towards increasing charging stations, China already has 65% of global public EV charging stations. With 1.15 million publicly available, over 40% of these stations already have a fast-charging capability. However, China is still planning its improvements as it plans to boost EV charging along the country’s highways. Indeed, China’s Ministry of Transport expects highways that connect provinces to provide charging services by the end of 2023, and routes connecting rural roads to be covered by 2025.
5. Emerging Chemistries and Advanced Battery Design
In the quest for enhancing battery performance, the EV and battery industries are continuing to work on improving battery chemistry and design. Indeed, solid state is one of the main chemistries that the industry is seeking to push, one startup shipping prototypes so that the receiving company can validate the technology for automotive use. Also, as the industry begins to adopt the concept of new battery design and 3D architecture for electrodes, it is helping to push emerging chemistries and improve the performance of existing ones.
With 2023 set to be another pivotal year for EVs across the world, new industry records are set to be broken as demand further increases. As the battery plays such an important role in EV development, it must meet and exceed the required standards. Addionics’ new battery design is one of the leading technologies that will help accelerate 2023’s trends by prolonging battery lifetime, enabling a long driving range and speeding up charging times.
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