‘On average, an e-car battery lasts more than 300,000 kilometers’

Mr. Mayerhofer, your company Aviloo has developed a test that independently checks the battery status of e-cars. How long do the batteries actually last with daily use?
On average, it seems that a battery lasts more than 300,000 kilometers. We also see outliers that survive 600,000 kilometers or that are already defective at 100,000 kilometers or are well below 70 percent of the original capacity. So it makes sense to check the condition of the battery when buying a used car.

Why do batteries get weaker in the first place?
A battery can be compared to us humans. It ages and is ephemeral. As with the body, the rate of aging is determined by how you treat it. Constant fast charging is just as unhealthy as chain smoking. Always fully charging the electric car and leaving it at 100 percent is just as harmful as excessive alcohol consumption. And constantly relaxing for many miles is just as detrimental to battery health as running a marathon every day. The sum of all three vices causes the battery to age particularly quickly.

And which of these is particularly bad for the battery?
The battery feels most comfortable when it is about half charged. The closer to 0 or 100 percent and the longer the charge level stays there, the worse it is. The worst thing for the battery is therefore socket parkers who plug in after every short journey and do not limit the charge to 80 percent, but always fully charge it. In this worst case scenario, the battery is almost fully charged 24/7.

How harmful are fast charging stations?
Fast chargers should only be used if absolutely necessary. The lower the battery level, the less harmful fast charging is.

Yet batteries of electric cars last much longer than batteries of smartphones. Why?
First, almost all e-car manufacturers install a buffer during charging to protect the battery. When the charge level reads 100 percent, the battery is actually about 95 percent charged. This buffer up and down is critical to battery health.

Secondly, unlike electric cars, smartphones are usually charged daily or more often. So they achieve about 500 charge cycles per year, or 1000 charge cycles after two years. E-cars are charged much less often – 0.1 charge cycles per day are typical. That is why an e-car only reaches 1000 charging cycles after about 300,000 kilometres, while an intensively used mobile phone reaches the same number of charging cycles after only two years.

And third?
Thirdly, e-cars have a very advanced temperature regulation system that ensures an optimal battery temperature, which in turn has a positive effect on their lifespan. And last but not least, smartphone batteries are also not designed for long life, as consumers replace their cell phones much faster than their cars.

Speaking of ecology, e-car manufacturers are increasingly relying on lithium iron phosphate batteries without cobalt. That sounds good, or is there a catch?
From an environmental point of view, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries are better because they contain fewer controversial metals than conventional lithium-ion batteries. LFP batteries are also cheaper to produce, making them a mass product for low-end EVs where range is less important. However, their main advantage over previous lithium-nickel-cobalt-manganese (NMC) batteries is their much higher cycle stability, ie their longer life. LFP is also a very robust battery technology that is much less sensitive to fire.

Why aren’t LFP batteries widely used in cars?
Lithium iron phosphate batteries have one major drawback: their energy density is relatively low. This means that LFP batteries are heavier per kilowatt hour than lithium-ion batteries, ie the range is shorter for the same mass.

Are these new batteries easier to recycle?
I am not an expert on battery recycling. So much: Even if the recycling rate for LFP batteries could reach 99 percent compared to the supposed 90 percent for NMC batteries, the market or the legislation will decide whether it will. And we’ll see how it goes. Electronic devices end up in Africa and the children there die of lung disease from inhaling toxic fumes from dismantling electronic waste with Bunsen burners. These children are dying because we are too lazy and greedy to recycle ourselves. Huge efforts are needed worldwide if we want to solve the problem.

Which battery type will prevail in the future?
Definitely lithium iron phosphate batteries, they are the better choice economically and ecologically. Hardly anyone can afford a new car these days, and LFP batteries are an opportunity for e-cars to get cheaper. I myself opted for a Tesla Model 3 with an LFP battery because it costs 10,000 euros less.

Chinese battery manufacturers are one step further. For this year you have announced the first cars with even cheaper sodium-ion batteries that do without the controversial lithium.
For me, this is music of the future. Let’s wait and see when these cars really come and then we’ll talk about it again.

A few days ago, the world’s leading battery manufacturer CATL presented an alleged “super battery” that should electrify even aircraft. Can this work?
I think that’s a shame. Even at the promised 500 watt-hours per kilogram, kerosene has an energy density about nine times higher. Millionaires will probably be able to buy a light electric plane in the future, but for commercial jets I think that’s about as realistic as battery electric trailers, to say the least. Also in the transport industry, the rechargeable battery is not yet very suitable for mass use over long distances.

After all, a battery with a double energy density would make electric cars massively lighter.
Weight does not play a major role in electric passenger cars. On the other hand, things get interesting with the vans for shorter distances. With heavy batteries they hardly have any charging capacity, so lighter batteries would be extremely exciting for the transport industry. For passenger cars, the higher energy density mainly means more range. The route from Vienna to Zurich would be feasible without a charging stop.

Rechargeable batteries have become enormously cheaper in the last ten years. Will the prices of new electric cars drop to the level of petrol cars in the coming years?
Gasoline cars have become enormously more expensive in the past three years and e-cars have certainly not become cheaper. I also don’t think that electric cars will become much cheaper any time soon, on the contrary. I think sales will drop because the manufacturers are mainly interested in high profits. Personally, I’m afraid that many e-cars can’t afford them, as the supposed price advantages will never reach the end customer.

At market leader Tesla, prices have been falling for months. The competition will have to follow.
Maybe. But if anyone can afford price cuts, it’s Tesla, with multi-billionaire Elon Musk also driven by profit. Industry-wide price cuts only come with cheaper lithium iron phosphate batteries, which deliver slightly less range. But also for LFP batteries, sharp price reductions are no longer possible because the share of the battery in the total costs is no longer as high as it used to be.

Solid-state batteries promise a leap in range for e-cars. When do you expect the market launch?
In the mass market I don’t expect this to happen within ten years, in luxury cars maybe within five years. With current lithium-ion technology, it took decades before it was used in electric cars. Now many more companies are exploring it, but an affordable solid-state battery still won’t appear overnight. In addition, the cell factories that are now springing up from the ground will probably not be so easy to convert to future technology.

Is the e-car already the better choice for everyone than a petrol engine?
My personal opinion: Electromobility is great for commuting, shorter family trips, excursions and sometimes even business trips. But when I go on vacation with the whole family and have to travel hundreds of miles, I want the time to be as stress-free as possible. It’s just that the kids don’t need a break to eat, pee, or change diapers, just when it would be ideal to recharge. Stress is inevitable.

Many electric car owners drive their electric car on holiday without any problems.
Everything is always not a problem for e-car enthusiasts, but if you are honest, you cannot say that it is the same as it is now. Recently I was in a hotel with 1000 beds and only four charging stations. You had to unlock it with an app, which was not possible as there was no cell phone reception in the underground car park. When I imagine the fast charging stations, which will probably become increasingly overloaded in the future, I get the horror. To make electric mobility socially acceptable to everyone, there is an urgent need for an immediate expansion of the charging infrastructure.