Carmakers Race to Control Next-Generation Battery Technology
The New York Times
The prize: batteries that would be cheaper, faster to charge and less vulnerable to raw material shortages. Whoever gets there first will have a major advantage.
WOBURN, Mass. — Already far behind Asian manufacturers in building electric car batteries, U.S. automakers and their suppliers are racing to develop a new generation of batteries that are cheaper, can pack in more energy and charge faster.
It is a global contest with huge economic consequences for automakers, small battery start-ups and car buyers, who in a few years will chose from a dizzying array of electric cars that use different kinds of batteries as the combustion engine era recedes.
The chemical makeup of batteries — a technical subject that was the province of engineers — has become one of the hottest topics of discussion in the corporate boardrooms of General Motors, Toyota, Ford Motor and Volkswagen, as well in the White House.
