Electrochemical energy storage (i.e., batteries) is an enabling technology that holds the key to transitioning from fossil fuels for our vehicle needs and managing the intermittency of renewables on the grid. Over the last 5 years, numerous electric vehicles have entered the market and storage technologies are being deployed on various grid applications. These changes are mainly driven by innovations in lithium-ion batteries, both in materials and in manufacturing, that have resulted in the cost of the technology decreasing at a steady pace. This cost reduction is expected to accelerate in the near future, by leveraging economies of scale (e.g., Tesla’s recently announced Gigafactory) and vertical integration. However, despite these exciting changes, more is needed to ensure widespread deployment of electrified vehicles and stationary storage for grid-connected applications. Further decreases in cost, increase in cycle/calendar life and energy density, and significant improvement in safety will remain challenges. Advances in battery technology, ranging from incremental improvements to Li-ion technologies, “beyond” Li-ion concepts, and lower-cost technologies for grid storage, including flow batteries, are needed to enable an electrified future.

This talk will summarize the present status of battery technology for vehicle and grid applications and provide a gap analysis between the present status and the requirements. The talk will also describe the efforts now underway to bridge the gap, both in development of new technologies and in manufacturing of these systems with an eye on reduction in cost. Using techno-economic modeling efforts at ANL and elsewhere, we will summarize the prospects of Li-ion, Li-metal (including Li-air and Li-S), Mg-ion based systems, and flow batteries compared to the requirements.