For many of us , purchasing an electric fomite is still a Proto-Indo European in the sky ambition . But that might be interchange shortly , if anew peer - reviewed studyis right that the cost of electric car battery is falling much more quickly than we assume .
Li ion batteries make up anywhere between a one-quarter and half the cost of electric cars today . By consistently reviewing over 80 price estimates published between 2007 and 2014 , researchers at the Stockholm Environment Institute found that the price of Li - barrage packs used by pass manufacturer like Tesla and Nissan is falling by roughly 8 % per yr . That ’s similar to the rate that was seen with the nickel metal hydride assault and battery technology used in hybrid like the Toyota Prius .
What ’s more , it means that assault and battery cost is rapidly approaching a threshold that could make the mean Joe think gravely about trading in his gasoline gulper . concord to MIT Technology Review :
The authors of the Modern study reason out that the battery mob used by market - leading EV manufacturers be as small as $ 300 per kilowatt - hour of energy in 2014 . That ’s lower than the most optimistic release projection for 2015 , and even below the modal publish projection for 2020 . The author regain that barrage appear on track to reach $ 230 per kilowatt - hour by 2018 . Depending on the price of gas , the sticker price of an EV is expected to attract to many more people if its battery costs between $ 125 and $ 300 per kilowatt - hour .
Of course , other factors matter when it comes to give up gasoline , include EV ranges and the expected useful lifetime of the assault and battery . Another recent studygives us trust on these fronts , as well : canvas great power fade over clock time , scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab found that even after batteries have lost 20 pct of their in the beginning rated energy memory board electrical capacity , they could still meet the day-after-day travel needs for more than 85 % of US citizens .
We should take all of this with a healthy dose of skepticism — energy costs projections are often improper — but still , electric vehicle do seem to be moving mainstream tight . If Elon Musk had it his way , we ’d all begetting driven around by autonomous Teslasthis summer , but more realistically , ten years out does n’t sound like too much to hope for . [ MIT Technology Review ]
learn the full subject atNature Climate Change .
Top trope viaFlickr
Electric carsTechnology
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