New Batteries: It’s Not All Hype

I've often wondered where the Gartner Hype Cycle itself is on the Gartner Hype Cycle

“ The Trough of Disillusionment “ pretty much describes my life since 2009.

The problem with new battery tech is not what is possible, its what can be mass produced and had a long usuable lifespan. Most new battery tech fails at one or both of these checks. So when the press will glow about capacity or charge time and skip over those two points, then you know its bunk.

CATL has 18,000 (yes eighteen thousand) engineers and technicians working in R&D alone. 250 of which hold doctorates.

I didn't know I wanted a unicorn that does my taxes before I saw this video but now that is the only thing I want.

Thing is, for all the naysaying over the years, lithium ion batteries have in fact improved significantly over the past 20 years. I remember when Nokia phones used to have 1000 to 1400 mAh stubby but thick Li-Ion batteries, but now we routinely see 4000 to 5000 mAh batteries in much slimmer (although bigger horizontally and vertically) phones. The two things that reverse the undeniable progress of batteries is much more power hungry workloads - phones these days do a LOT more than play Snake and take GSM quality calls, but people also use their phones for much MUCH longer periods of time. Nobody was glued to their phone for hours at a time in the 90s and early 00s. Battery technology improvements are hyped way too much in the near term, but people are totally oblivious to how much better things have gotten over a 10 or 20 year time span.

You missed the opportunity here to write in the thumbnail "Charge is coming"

As far as I know Sodium-Ion is currently the only new battery you can actually buy as a normal person

I can't wait 5-10 years for those sodium-lithium batteries. Then I can be charged with a salted battery... 👉😎👉

The correlation (and related irony) between the hype cycle and Dunning-Kruger curves made me smile.

Since you have recently mentioned how you cannot stand if you are 5 pixels off center, I just wanted to mention that sometimes the stereo balance shift one side or the other. For example at 0:48 to 0:52. There are lots of places in older videos where this occurs. Mixing your videos to mono would solve this. I am not complaining, just informing :)

Gartner is not an IT company. It is a consultancy.

I'm in the "I believe it when I can buy it from a reputable vendor" camp. Fun fact: I'm currently watching this video on my PC that is powered by a prismatic LFP battery, charged by nuclear fusion power (solar panel).

One battery feture that is generally overlooked is operational temperature range. Vehicles have a wide temperature range in which they must operate. Charging and dischargine need to be effective at extreme temperatures before they are practical for many things, including vehicles.

It's like all those breakthroughs and hype around new reactor types that generate less atomic waste —and then you never hear about them anymore. ;)

Sabine inspired me to make my own YT channel. Thank you! 💛

Why isn't there a pit of ignorance hidden on the path to disillusionment, before the boat of productivity sails without delay?

In Canada electric power milk trucks achieved 25 MPH and delivered dairy products reliably. This practice began in the 1950s & ended in the 60s. The batteries slid in on rollers and were changed as needed. The oil boom arguably overwhelmed any desire to continue.

This is a great example of 2 things: 1) A mis-titled video 2) A video where the comments are worth reading way more than the video is worth listening to.

There is also the category of battery storage, which can be divided into three main categories: fixed storage, transportation storage, and personal device storage. Each of these categories can be further subdivided. 1. Fixed Storage: • Grid Storage • Home Energy Storage • Commercial and Industrial Storage • Utility-Scale Storage 2. Transportation Storage: • Electric Vehicles (EVs) • Hybrid Vehicles • Electric Bikes and Scooters • Marine Batteries • Aerospace Batteries 3. Personal Device Storage: • Smartphones • Laptops and Tablets • Wearables • Portable Chargers • Portable Medical Devices each catagory could demad a diffrent type of battery.