Mercedes: Next-gen batteries will double density, halve costs
Mercedes, which is racing to introduce rivals to Tesla鈥檚 electric Model S and Model X cars, is investing almost $8 billion over the next two years to develop "green" car technologies, including more efficient and inexpensive batteries.
A staff member cleans a Mercedes-Benz S500 eL plug-in hybrid car during the Auto China 2016 show in Beijing.
Jason Lee/Reuters/File
The biggest hindrance to electric cars has been their limited range and poor battery durability.
However, thanks to companies such as Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] electric cars are starting to catch up with their internal-combustion counterparts as we now have some that can聽聽and run for years without trouble.
And this is only set to improve as new battery technology is developed.
This week Mercedes-Benz made a series of announcement regarding its upcoming 鈥済reen鈥� technology, which the automaker is investing almost $8 billion in over the next two years to develop.
One of the announcements concerned next-generation batteries for electric cars, often referred to as post-lithium-ion batteries. According to Mercedes, these will be introduced 鈥渨ithin the next decade.鈥�
Lithium-ion batteries are the best solution at present when it comes to quality, durability, density and costs, and there鈥檚 still plenty of potential in the technology. With post-lithium-ion batteries, Mercedes says we can expect density to double and costs to halve from current levels.
The major breakthroughs will come from material-related improvements and increasing economies of scale. Mercedes says lithium-sulphur technology looks to be the most promising. Researchers at Toyota are also looking at聽.
So far Mercedes has only made piecemeal efforts in the area of electric cars but it鈥檚 now racing to launch proper rivals to Tesla鈥檚 Model S and Model X. The first of these will be previewed in concept form at the 2016 Paris Auto Show this September and go into production towards the end of the decade. Mercedes is thought to be working on at least four electric cars:聽.
They will ride on a聽聽that houses its batteries flat in the floor and features an electric motor at either axle, i.e. the same 鈥渟kateboard鈥� arrangement used by Tesla. They will use lithium-ion batteries that promise a range of over 300 miles on a single charge.
Mercedes will source all of its batteries from Deutsche Accumotive. The fellow Daimler subsidiary already聽聽in some markets and is聽聽in preparation for Mercedes鈥� new electric cars.
This article first appeared in .