Will advances in alternative battery technology overcome the challenge of lithium availability as demand for electric cars increases?

By Bill Hayward

Lithium availability is a long-term concern for vehicles like Teslas, which use lithium ion batteries. Yet alternative technologies are "waiting in the wings."
Photo by Bill Hayward

When it comes to increased market penetration of electric vehicles, one of the issues skeptics point to most frequently is the challenge of lithium availability for lithium ion batteries—currently the “power source of choice” for EVs.

But how valid is that concern? And if it is valid, what are there alternatives that could allow the EV market to continue to grow without deep concerns about the consistent availability of a primary ingredient of the power source?

On the lithium availability front, CNBC last year cited findings from a report from energy research and consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie that “As car manufacturers ramp up production of electric cars, metals used to make the vehicles’ batteries may face a supply crunch by the mid-2020s.”

That conclusion is the subject of debate, however. According to Battery University, an informational website operated by battery testing, analysis, charging, and monitoring device manufacturer Cadex Electronics, “With the advent of the electric vehicle, the demand could skyrocket but for now the world has enough proven lithium reserves.”

Meanwhile, proponents of alternatives are not standing still. Alternative battery architectures range from exotic-sounding technologies like solid state glass sodium batteries to old standbys like lead batteries—the latter of which some of us might mistakenly have dismissed as being as dead as an old lead doornail.

Recently, there has been a burst of chatter in the automotive media about whether “solid state” technologies, such as glass sodium batteries, could change the dynamic by increasing charge capacity and electric-vehicle range, and allaying fears about limitations of lithium availability as the market penetration of electric cars increases.

According to Reuters, “[L]ithium is the 25th most abundant element in the earth’s crust, … but commercially viable deposits are less common.”

Areas known to have high, relatively accessible lithium availability are somewhat limited. “Most of the known lithium supply is in Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Australia, and China,” according to Battery University. That could be problematic, given the tough lessons the U.S. has learned about the pitfalls of depending on foreign production of vital energy sources.

On the other hand, sodium, which, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s PubChem database, is the sixth most abundant element in the earth’s crust, is much more common than lithium. It’s in your salt shaker, of course and, as a salt compound, is a pervasive ingredient in the food supply.

According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), researchers have identified promising potential advantages of solid state batteries constructed with glass sodium electrolytes, instead of the liquid electrolytes used in lithium ion batteries. Among the benefits found is an energy-storage capacity three times higher, with an electrolyte that is “neither flammable nor volatile.”

Bearing in mind that lithium-ion batteries in products such as cellphones—and possibly even electric vehicles—have been known to sometimes catch fire, that’s a comforting potential advance in battery technology.

But what about the old-school technology that, chances are, still helps start your traditional internal-combustion-engine vehicle every day: the lead battery?

While there are efforts underway such as a Mazda–ELILY Power Co. collaboration to render lead-acid car batteries obsolete by replacing them with lithium ion batteries, lead-based batteries aren’t necessarily dead yet.

Even if their primary role ends up being as a storage medium for energy at charging stations for EVs powered by other types of batteries, modern lead-battery technologies may still have some form of presence in the evolving future of electrified transportation.

And that presence might be more pervasive than a lot of us currently think.

Advances that eliminate many of the pitfalls commonly associated with lead batteries include configurations that, according to AutoCar, use “dry accumulators with the electrolyte held in glassfibre fleece” instead of messy liquid acids.

As an illustration of how the lead battery industry is not standing still, consider the words of David Shaffer, who is president and CEO of battery manufacturer EnerSys and also heads up the board of directors at Battery Council International, the North American trade association representing lead-based battery manufacturing, supply, recycling and distribution companies.

“The goal of all our companies is to constantly improve performance in lead battery technology—especially cycle life and dynamic charge acceptance,” Shaffer said, in a statement from the Battery Council about a research project at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory that is exploring the untapped potential of lead batteries.

Shaffer added that the work at Argonne further underscores the importance of government collaboration with American industry to develop next-generation batteries, manufactured domestically for use in vehicle and grid applications.

Also cited by the Battery Council as key benefits of lead battery technologies are recyclability, with 99 percent of lead batteries kept out of landfills, along with the ability to rely on domestically sourced materials.

None of this entirely negates the idea that there will be some difficult obstacles to deal with as the transition to electrified transportation continues. But it does suggest that dismissiveness among naysayers and skeptics based solely on questions about lithium availability should be taken with grains of sodium—and maybe even lead.

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