The (Midterm) Future of Energy Storage is Lithium.
The world’s first true battery was invented in 1800 by the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta. The invention represented a remarkable breakthrough, but since that time there have been only a handful of significant innovations.
The first was the lead-acid battery, which was invented in 1859. This was the first rechargeable battery, and is still the most common battery used to start internal combustion engines today.
There have been some innovative battery designs in the past two centuries, but it wasn’t until 1980 that a real game-changer was invented. That was when John Goodenough invented the lithium-ion battery. In this type of battery, lithium metal migrates through the battery from one electrode to the other as a lithium ion.
What’s so special about lithium? Lithium is one of the lightest elements, and it has the strongest electrochemical potential of any element. This enables a lithium-based battery to pack a lot of energy storage in a small, light battery. As a result, lithium-ion batteries have become the battery of choice in many consumer electronics such as laptops, and in electric vehicles.
Because of the inherent advantages in lithium-ion batteries, sales have grown exponentially since the turn of the century. This has helped drive down costs consistently. According to the research organization BloombergNEF, the volume weighted average lithium-ion battery pack (which includes the cell and the pack) fell 85% from 2010–18, reaching an average of $176/kWh. BloombergNEF further projects that prices will fall to $94/kWh by 2024 and $62/kWh by 2030.
This declining cost curve has important implications for any company that utilizes batteries in its service. To date, most lithium-ion battery sales have been in the consumer electronics sector, but future sales will be increasingly driven by electric cars and heavy industrial applications.
One company working to increase penetration of lithium-ion batteries into industrial applications is Irvine, California-based OneCharge. OneCharge is a leading developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for heavy-duty applications such as material handling and transport. These applications include lift trucks, sweepers and scrubbers, airport ground support applications, and automatic guided vehicles (AGVs).
This markets are traditionally served by lead acid batteries. What factors might compel a company to switch to lithium-ion batteries?
THE KEY REASON FOR THE SWITCH TO NEW TECHNOLOGY IS THE INCREASE IN EFFICIENCY OF WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS AND REDUCED LABOR COSTS WITH LOWER SAFETY RISKS.
We compare li-ion to lead-acid batteries, the dominant market standard of electric industrial trucks.
· Li-ion operate at least 2 times longer shifts. Combined with stable voltage (lead-acid lose around 20% of power by the end of the shift) this means that li-ion batteries operate with 100% speed and power through 2–3 shifts operations. With lead-acid you’d have to have multiple batteries per truck and change them every 8 hours. Taking a heavy battery out of the truck and putting in a fresh one with a crane is an everyday source of equipment damage and injury risk.
· Li-ion are fully charged in 2 hours (compared 8 with lead-acid), there is no after-charge cooling (8 hours for lead-acid) and can be opportunity charged as often as there is a 15 min break or lunch break. There is no “memory effect” with li-ion.
· No daily and weekly preventive maintenance for li-ion, while you need to water and sync-charge lead-acid batteries.
· No toxic acid fumes and no acid spills, which is often the case with lead-acid, and hence there is no need for a ventilated battery room inside the warehouse.
· Electricity consumed for charging is lower with li-ion, bringing the costs down and consequently reducing company’s carbon footprint.
When these benefits are factored into the total cost of ownership it becomes obvious — the switch to li-ion brings in significant savings on the 2–4 year horizon and eliminates major complexities and safety hazards of the old lead-acid technology.
Similar logic can be applied to lpg (natural gas) powered trucks. The growth of electric trucks share will mostly be based on li-ion.
One li-ion battery costs around 2 times more than lead-acid, but you’ll need 2 or often 3 lead-acid batteries per truck, and then there are maintenance and service costs, electricity costs, battery room costs… the calculations of users show 30–50% savings in a few years, depending on the application and fleet size.
Another great opportunity for Li-ion battery users is the total flexibility in weight and capacity. Where lead-acid battery needed the full volume of the battery compartment, smaller and lighter Li-ion battery can use the space to add additional counter-weight, or add power capacity.
Moreover, the same power can also be achieved with higher voltage and better overall effectiveness.
Warehousing and logistics are areas where a little detail can cause big trouble if it goes wrong. The managers are naturally risk-averse in this industry and the inertia is strong. Nevertheless when they see the successful cases of li-ion adoption by their counterparts, they are ready to move.
Just how safe are OneCharge li-ion batteries?
We have all heard stories about li-ion batteries catching fire — in cell phones, laptops, hoverboards. OneCharge Li-ion Batteries use cells with a different kind of chemistry than is used in those devices. We use LiFePO4 or Lithium Iron Phosphate. It has been in use for over 2 decades in the electric bus market! So it’s definitely been tested and proven for use in electric vehicles worldwide. Now you can take advantage of this technology.
A LiFePO4 cell will not catch fire until 518 degrees Fahrenheit (or 270 celsius). But you don’t even have to worry about that because the OneCharge Battery Management System shuts the battery down at a cool — 150F (or 65C). That’s a 368F (205C) cushion of protection!
OneCharge is developing the State-of-the-art BMS and biggest data infrastructure in the industry of industrial trucks. Here’s just a few things a standard OneCharge Battery Management System can do:
· synchronize the discharge of each cell to fine-tune a battery to optimum performance real time;
· provide early diagnostics of potential failure;
· offer wifi connectivity for real-time remote diagnostics;
· want data to help keep your truck fleet at top performance? OneCharge BMS generates data on battery charging events and performance level over time.
