The Intersection 11-13-22

As we wait to see if solid state batteries or another major EV chemical breakthrough finally emerges, keep a close eye on how battery makers are packaging today’s batteries.

“That’s where the real advancements” in EV battery performance stem from today, Conrad Layson, senior alternative propulsion analyst at AutoForecast Solutions LLC, told me.

In this week’s Automotive News, we take a look at the challenges facing the industry in finding that breakthrough in battery technology.

From a chemical standpoint, lithium ion battery development has more or less plateaued. But the industry doesn’t need to rely only on chemical breakthroughs to see marked improvements in battery performance. Innovative ways of packaging battery cells can also yield higher ranges, faster charging times or lower production costs.

Tesla’s 4680 battery is one of the most high-profile examples, with its cylindrical design allowing for increased range and cheaper production. Likewise, Chinese automaker BYD’s Blade lithium-iron phosphate, LFP, battery has drawn the attention of other automakers, such as Toyota. The battery is less bulky than a traditional LFP battery and achieves higher energy density because of its design.

The industry is still chasing after solid state batteries or other promising battery chemistries, and for good reason. A major breakthrough that greatly reduces charging times while sharply increasing range would serve to alleviate many consumers’ concerns about EVs and boost electrification efforts worldwide.

But even with unprecedented sums of money being poured into battery research, that will take time to come to fruition. How much time is impossible to know. In the meantime, though, improving present-day battery performance at the margins through innovative packaging designs or other means should still yield positive results — and make EVs that much more enticing to consumers.

— John Irwin   

In Monday’s Automotive News:

Cockpit of the future: Sensors that detect who is sitting where and what the family pet is up to, augmented reality overlays on displays, video gaming synced with a vehicle’s movement — the automobile cabin has evolved since the days of AM radio. Expect more dramatic changes as cars morph from machines into devices in the coming years. Here are 16 notable changes and four interviews with industry leaders behind the vehicle’s digital transformation.

High expectations: Volvo is setting lofty U.S. sales expectations for its EX90 electric crossover, the Swedish automaker’s most significant launch since the XC40 in 2017, foreshadowing the brand’s future technology, design and sustainability efforts. As Automotive News explains, the new crossover is built on an all-electric platform and will be the first EV assembled at Volvo’s plant in Ridgeville, S.C., an hour northwest of Charleston. Production begins in late 2023.

A digital shift: The nation’s public dealership groups say they saw continued digital sales growth in the third quarter, with some retailers selling thousands of vehicles through online sales platforms and others reporting at least half of their transactions involved some online activity.

Big Safford Automotive acquisition: Safford Automotive Group on Monday bought 16 stores in Maryland and Virginia from Brown Automotive Group, more than doubling its dealership count in the largest buy-sell transaction of 2022 so far. The deal adds 14 franchised dealerships, one used-vehicle store and a muscle and classic car store to Safford of Springfield, Va.

Musk wants Tesla competitors to keep Twitter ads: Elon Musk said rival automakers should continue to advertise on Twitter following his acquisition of the social-media company, pledging not to give unfair advantages to Tesla as he leads both companies. He added that he hopes his fellow auto executives will be more active on the platform.

Nov. 17, 1986: Paris was rocked by an act of terrorism. Radical leftists shot and killed Renault President Georges Besse outside his home in the 14th arrondissement.
There had been a wave of terrorism in Europe. Just a week before the assassination, a bomb set off by the same group that killed Besse shattered windows at Peugeot’s headquarters in Paris. The year before, the personnel head of a Daimler-Benz subsidiary was murdered in Munich by another leftist group.
When Besse’s death was reported, Richard Johnson, Automotive News’ Europe reporter, immediately flew from Frankfurt to Paris. 
The mood at Renault’s headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt was somber, he reported.
Besse had been a reclusive CEO since joining the company in January 1985. But at the Paris auto show a few weeks earlier, he blossomed into a high-profile figure in newspapers and on French TV.
Johnson later recalled “the distraught Renault PR leadership telling me that Besse’s new notoriety may have attracted the attention of terrorists.”