Solid State Batteries - The End of Internal Combustion?
 

Joe Scott reports on solid state batteries:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0nA8CfxBqA

Among many other things, solid state batteries could mean that your average EV might have a 700 mile range.

Plus not exploding is a nice touch.

So we trade Big Oil for Big AC?

Since there appears to be effectively 0 demand for a 700 mile ev the OEMs will probably just put a smaller cheaper lighter battery in there and keep the range around 300 to 400 miles max.

Range is mostly unimportant if the battery can be quickly charged. 250 miles is plenty assuming the full range could be recovered rapidly. No point purchasing more battery than necessary and lugging around the extra weight and volume when not needed.

The model 3 gets a supposed range of 300 miles with just over half as many cells as the model S and X, so even in the heavier cars, imagine the range using the 2170 new cells with reduced amounts of cobalt making the cells a bit cheaper to make and less per battery overall.

And Musk is talking million mile batteries since he bought Maxell with their super capacitor technology.

Don't see any point in getting excited until they're rolling off the assembly lines...until then, it's just more big claims to get grant money.

Right - that is quite correct. I think the 700 mile versions would be less expensive than today's EVs.

As an aside - we use MOST of the cobalt to remove sulfur during the refinement of fossil fuels.

Sure, but how far out are we talking?

It's going to take a very long time for battery tech to offset the $7,500 federal tax credit that will/is going away.

Nowadays with so many hybrids out there, including the plug-ins, I'd not really hold my breath for an ultimate demise of the ICE, even though some kinda radical switch from reciprocating engines to microturbines might become relevant in a mid-to-long term due to the multifuel capability enabling them to resort to biofuels made out of organic waste which would otherwise become a pollutant if released untreated in the environment. Plus some weather conditions that lead to electric power shortages once in a while would still render the ICE desirable, not just in order to enable the vehicles to move but also eventually providing some backup power at home.