Abstract
Manufacturers are pushing back the technical boundaries of batteries used for
hybrid electric vehicles. Not so long ago, the automotive industry was
protecting an old technology yet nowadays it appears to have embraced the need
for hybrids and the use of advanced battery technology. According to
executives at Western Lithium Corp, macroeconomic, political and environmental
events such as oil dependency, new competition and increasing carbon emissions
have all contributed towards the new move to electrification of
transportation. They told just-auto: “New technology in the form of
lithium-ion batteries has facilitated the change away from old business models
that are not sustainable in the future. The economic recession has actually
forced governments, corporations and consumers to make decisions that will
return future benefits with respect to profitability and sustainability. The
automotive industry is quickly responding to the anticipated demand for
electric and hybrid cars and is working towards mass-producing them in a
profitable manner, with manufacturers like Nissan and GM leading the
way.”
Yet the sheer cost of such advanced batteries for electric vehicles appears to
be a stumbling block. Battery manufacturers report more and more governmental
authorities taking on a longer-range outlook as far as the environment is
concerned.
This just-auto sector report reviews the key market drivers, mainly for
starter batteries, but with the rise in interest of new battery technology, we
also look at new developments in areas such as lithium-ion. The report
includes our estimates of global market volume for advanced batteries fitted
to hybrid light vehicles (from 2008 to 2016).
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