Battery Storage Costs Drop Dramatically, Making Way to a New Era

Clean electrification of transport vehicles is advancing at impressive, and rapid, rates. This is fantastic news given the number of electric vehicles donning our roads is increasing each year.

A report by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) that was published in late October confirms these advances are continuing to happen. The report is called Breakthrough Batteries Powering the Era of Clean Electrification.

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It's been a long time that clean energy enthusiasts have been saying that battery storage would drop in price like solar, wind, computers, flat-screen TVs, and other such technologies have in the past.

It seems like batteries have successfully been on this path too.

The breakthrough report

The "exploding investment in battery technologies is revolutionizing the sector much faster than expected and setting in motion a seismic shift in how we will power our lives and organize energy systems as early as 2030," read the RMI press release. 

New RMI report now available for download: 'Seven Challenges for Energy Transformation' outlines a path for world leaders and top energy sector actors to mitigate the #climatecrisis in the next decade. #SevenEnergyChallenges https://t.co/eo4ncfRNFC pic.twitter.com/FNRfTQ2cdn

— Rocky Mountain Inst (@RockyMtnInst) November 18, 2019

The team of researchers from the Institute focused on and analyzed data from the U.S., the E.U., China, and India.

The growth and development of battery technology is looking like it'll push the global energy transition more quickly, as the report stated "With more than $1.4 billion invested in battery technologies in the first half of 2019 alone, massive investments in battery manufacturing and steady advances in technology have set in motion a seismic shift in how we will organize energy systems as early as 2030."

#Cleanenergy like wind, solar, & energy storage are advancing faster than predicted. But there are still gaps in other areas that can be addressed through collective action from investors, policymakers, regulators, & more.
Learn more in our latest report: https://t.co/rL9SgWVMGr pic.twitter.com/9uEdRzyCFI

— Rocky Mountain Inst (@RockyMtnInst) November 25, 2019

This, in turn, will most likely place a strain on natural-gas plants, as per a Forbes article published in October. For the U.S., the RMI report states that this shift could happen as soon as 2021. This will push solar and wind power forward, and cut back the use of fossil fuels more quickly.

The three main takeaway points from the RMI report are as follows: 

1. Battery cost and performance improvements are quickly outpacing forecasts.
2. These improvements spell trouble for natural gas and internal combustion engine vehicle markets.
3. Lithium-ion, while still the leading batter technology, is likely not the universal solution of future energy storage technologies.

The report delves deeply into the electric vehicle market, as well as a large range of battery types and chemistries. 

Tesla may need to watch out, as the market looks like it'll become more competitive soon! 

Read on and join the Reddit conversation.