Why electric car haters need to calm down: EV battery tech is getting better and heading towards 1000km range | Opinion

Electric cars and range anxiety. The two concepts have been inextricably linked as we struggle with the seismic change in the cars we drive.

But when do we stop worrying? At what point should our anxiety start to subside and give way to acceptance? Is it 500km? 750km? 1000km?

To be blunt, there aren’t many internal combustion cars with a driving range beyond 1000km. People who need to travel long distances in remote areas should not be considering an EV unless they have a specific need for it and charging infrastructure in place.

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But what about the rest of us? Those who predominantly live in urban areas and travel relatively short distances? 

The reality is EV battery technology is advancing at a rapid rate and range is increasing accordingly. It wasn’t long ago that EVs were capable of just 150km or so before they needed recharging. Mercedes-Benz has already demonstrated with the Vision EQXX concept that it can drive more than 1000km on a single charge, and did so back in 2022.

Since then, Chinese technology specialist Contemporary Amperex Technology, more commonly referred to as CATL, has launched a production-ready lithium-ion battery that it claims is capable of driving up to 1000km.

Chinese carmaker Zeekr is launching in Australia later this year.

Known as the Qilin battery, this lithium-ion unit features what’s known as a 'blade' design, which means the battery cells are narrow, stacked vertically and each one is separated by a thin panel filled with coolant. By doing this CATL claims it’s a far more efficient use of energy and is up to 50 per cent more thermal efficient, which has a significant impact on range.

Zeekr, the Chinese luxury brand that recently announced its expansion into the Australian market, already offers the Qilin blade battery in its 001 ‘Shooting Brake’ in its domestic market, but there shouldn’t be any significant obstacles to offering it here.

And if you’re thinking ‘big deal, hardly anyone will buy a Zeekr’, you should know that CATL is one of the biggest suppliers across the automotive industry with deals with Tesla, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW and more. So there is a clear pathway for technology like Qilin to become widely available across multiple brands and models in the near-future.

Mercedes-BenzVision EQXX concept has driven more than 1000km on a single charge.

CATL also builds an alternative version of the Qilin battery, which uses lithium-ferro-phosphate chemistry, and has a potential range of up to 800km.

And this is only the beginning as more research into new technologies is emerging. In 2023 the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory revealed it has created a lithium-air battery (replacing the more common lithium-ion type), which it claims is four times more energy dense than any existing technology. Because of this the researchers claim a lithium-air battery could be capable of up to 1600km on a single charge - that’s almost enough to get you from Sydney to Melbourne… and back again.

Surely 1600km would be enough to quell even the most extreme sufferers of range anxiety…