The most important technological challenges in the development of electric vehicles can be summarized in two fundamental blocks:

• New battery technologies.
• Energy planning for battery recharging.

New battery technologies

Currently, the main challenges when it comes to improving the design of cells are the following:

• Increase the durability and autonomy of the cell
• Decrease cell weight
• Reduce recharge times, achieving a high useful life
• Reduce the risks derived from the supply of the minerals necessary for its manufacture (supply risks, political risks, etc.)
• Use renewable sources to manufacture the cells (both the minerals that make it up and the production process itself).
• Achieve a 100% recycling rate for lithium batteries, as is the case with current acid batteries.

Currently, new types of cells are being developed that try to respond to these previously posed challenges. Current trends are focused on developing the following technologies:

• Ion-Li batteries improved through the use of minerals that replace lithium in the cathode (totally or partially)
• solid state batteries
• Aluminum-Ion Batteries

THE PARADIGM OF THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENT

On the other hand, many manufacturers are working on the challenge of eliminating the possibility of a lithium battery exploding, with the risks that this implies. For this, the focus is placed on the replacement of lithium as a fundamental element in the cell and the change from liquid to solid electrolyte.

Finally, regarding the challenge of battery recyclability, two main ways are being implemented:

• Recycling of lithium to be able to be reused in the manufacture of batteries, which is an issue that is technically solved, but that must be properly industrialized so that it does not imply a high cost.
• Reuse of battery packs for domestic and industrial applications, where the efficiency levels typical of the automotive sector are not required.