ENERGY STORAGE AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT : UK OPPORTUNITIES

Transcription

1 ENERGY STORAGE AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT : UK OPPORTUNITIES ENERGY STORAGE AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT WORKING GROUP: SEPTEMEBER 2013 This report published with support from

2 Helping to turn low carbon propulsion technology into products developed in the UK The Advanced Propulsion Centre was formed in 2013, demonstrating the commitment between the government and automotive industry through the Automotive Council to position the UK as a global centre of excellence for low carbon powertrain development and production. It is a central pillar of the Automotive Industrial Strategy created by the Automotive Council and focuses on five strategic technologies. The APC focuses on the four shown in green, whilst the Transport Systems Catapult addresses the fifth, Intelligent Mobility. If you... Are a company with a prototype, innovative low carbon propulsion technology. Want to turn your technology into an automotive product developed in in the UK. The Advanced Propulsion Centre can help you... Find partners and create a collaboration with other companies, suppliers and manufacturers. Access industry and government funding to share the risks and opportunities when preparing to bring your technology to market. The APC is an industry wide collaboration with government, academia, innovators and producers of low carbon propulsion systems. It facilitates and supports partnerships between those who have good ideas and those who have a desire to bring them to market. The APC is also the custodian of the strategic technology consensus roadmaps developed by the Automotive Council which inform the UK s research and development agenda. The services provided by the APC enable projects which provide profitable growth and sustainable opportunities for the partners involved and builds the UK supply chain. The APC s activities will build the UK s capability as a Propulsion Nation and contribute to the country s economic prosperity. Contact The Advanced Propulsion Centre University Road Coventry CV4 7AL info@apcuk.co.uk

3 CONTENTS FOREWORD (2015) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION THE ENERGY STORAGE AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT ROADMAP ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE - BACKGROUND THE FUTURE OF ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE R&D CURRENT UK INDUSTRY AND CAPABILITY MAPPING CONCLUSIONS 3

4 FOREWORD (2015) Considerable progress has been made in the field of Energy Storage and Management since the benchmarking and analysis were undertaken for the production of this report and technology roadmap in The resulting Electrochemical Energy Storage Technology roadmap has aided the targeting of technology focus towards upscaling of high potential chemistries and acceleration of R&D across the value chain. The state-of-the-art in this area has continued to evolve since 2013 and ongoing analysis and co-ordination will allow the UK to play an increasingly crucial role in support of R&D growth areas. It is particularly encouraging to see the subsequent progress of many of the recommendations that were made by the Energy Storage and Management workstream group. Following the production of the Roadmap and Conclusions, the government announced 9m funding to support the creation of a materials and battery cell pilot line which has been constructed as part of the Energy Innovation Centre at WMG at the University of Warwick. This national battery scale up facility was one of the key recommendations made by the working group and it has provided the initial infrastructure and critical mass required to capitalise on these new energy storage chemistries and drive forward progress. The UK battery scale up pilot line will provide a co-ordinated single facility for the development of new battery chemistries from concept through to fully proven traction batteries, produced in sufficient quantities for detailed industrial evaluation in target applications. The centre is ideally positioned to pull together research, scale up and energy management capabilities from across the UK and select and support companies with new and potentially winning battery technologies. The facility provides a focal point to link complementary academic research groups across the UK and establish the essential partnership between universities and industry. The evolution of knowledge and application in electrochemistry and energy systems technologies will necessitate continued monitoring and benchmarking of this field and to provide validation that direction and priorities remain challenging and relevant. 4

5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Energy Storage and Management is one of the most important factors affecting the speed of progress for widespread vehicle electrification. There are significant barriers to be overcome including cost, technology performance and public perception. For this reason, it has been identified as one of the five sticky technologies identified by the Automotive Council in The Automotive Council established the Energy Storage and Management workstream and tasked the group with undertaking an investigation into the current state-of-the-art, from electrochemical research through to industrial application, and identify the key recommendations and priority areas for future impact across the UK value chain. This report concludes the work of the Energy Storage and Management workstream. A key aspect of the work was benchmarking of activity across the UK and internationally in order to identify barriers and opportunities and, from this, identify practicable options for future development areas. The benchmarking exercise resulted in the identification of some promising chemistries for investigation and potential use in automotive energy storage applications and better understanding of the environment and national infrastructure required to bring these opportunities to realisation. The technologies identified were developed into the Electrochemical Energy Storage roadmap and further explanation of these particular chemistries are provided in this report. It is concluded that there are priority areas that should be focused on within the UK operations and R&D value chains and some key recommendations which should be implemented in order for these to be fully realised, including: A requirement for an open, national facility for materials scale up and pilot line activity Development of a pipeline of promising electrochemical formulations in line with the technology roadmap Continued benchmarking and evaluation to maintain a leading edge within the UK This report provides a summary of the information and consensus that was available as of Subsequent changes and technology developments will necessitate revisiting of the landscape and priorities identified here. 5

6 INTRODUCTION Energy storage plays a central role in enabling the next generation of CO2 reduction breakthroughs as identified in the NAIGT roadmap. It is the most important factor affecting the speed of progress of vehicle electrification and the uptake of hybrid and electric vehicles. As a result, it has been selected as one of the five sticky technology areas which were identified by the Automotive Council in 2010 as primary opportunities for creating future industry prosperity in the UK. Currently, there are two major barriers to be overcome before we see the widespread adoption of new battery technologies in the automotive industry. Firstly, cost of components in comparison to conventional vehicles the current cost of a battery pack can be around 10,000 which is a significant portion of the entire cost of a vehicle. The second barrier to adoption is range anxiety the fear that an electric vehicle will not be able to reach its destination due to its battery becoming discharged. Before these barriers can be broken and electric vehicles can be considered to match or better the performance of ICE powered vehicles, radical breakthroughs are needed in order to: Reduce costs Improve range / performance Extend battery life Reduce recharging times Maintain or improve safety Improved range and reliability requires the energy storage capability of the cells in the battery to increase by a factor of nearly 4 times and increased energy density would enable battery packs to be smaller and lighter and therefore easier to integrate into vehicle platforms. The energy density of a battery is determined by the materials it is made from and the chemistry is fundamental to battery cost reduction through the use of lower cost materials, avoiding rare metals and processing methods that are inexpensive. If this can be achieved, costs will fall by enough to make electric vehicles an attractive proposition to OEMs and consumers. Energy Storage offers many opportunities for the UK supply chain and a wide variety of alternative technology solutions are emerging. The UK automotive industry is not alone in recognising the challenges faced if it is to bring about a step change in vehicle propulsion away from traditional systems. A key part of the research for this report was a benchmarking exercise with the key international players in this field, in particular, Germany, France and the USA, where significant large scale recent investment is evident. This report considers the challenges and opportunities presented by new electrochemistries and energy storage technology, the infrastructure and business environment surrounding the industry and concludes with some observations and recommendations for next steps. 6

7 THE ENERGY STORAGE AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT ROADMAP The diagram below is the consensus view from the working group and looks ahead to It is a snapshot taken from 2013 and will be updated and re-issued with new content when relevant. Lithium mixed metal phosphate Lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide Lithium iron phosphate Adv lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide Adv lithium iron phosphate Lithium mixed metal phosphate Lithium titanate Adv lithium titanate Lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide Adv lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide Lithium iron phosphate Adv lithium iron phosphate Adv lithium mixed metal phosphate High energy (overlithiated) lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide v Silicon based composite electrodes Lithium manganese oxide spinel Lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide Lithium iron phosphate Adv lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide Adv lithium iron phosphate Lithium sulphur / Rechargeable Lithium-Air High energy (overlithiated) lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide v Silicon based composite electrodes 2010 Lithium titanate Lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide Lithium iron phosphate Adv lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide Lithium mixed metal phosphate Lithium titanate Adv lithium titanate Lithium iron phosphate Adv lithium iron phosphate Advanced Lead Acid eg Lead-carbon/asymmetric capacity Micro Hybrid (12v) Battery pure EV ( v) Plug in hybrid ( v) Mild hybrid (48v) Full hybrid (<400v) Source: Automotive Council Technology Group

8 ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE - BACKGROUND Electrochemical technology development is a key enabler for mass market uptake of Electric Vehicles and supporting the market growth of Hybrid Electric Vehicles. In vehicle powertrains, different chemistries bring different power and energy advantages and disadvantages, dependent upon usage requirements. For example, the key technical challenges for high charge/discharge rate (C rate) powertrain (>20C), such as in motorsport, would be thermal management and impedance, whereas, the key challenges in a current standard low C rate electric vehicle (<5C) would be energy density and cost per kilowatt-hour (kwh). In these cases, different battery technologies will be suited to the particular performance needs and, ultimately, the identification of a cost effective range of technologies will be required to define the products of the future. A wide range of technologies are being studied by industry and academia as shown in the Vehicle Energy Recovery and Storage overview. Vehicle Energy Recovery and Storage overview A wide range of technologies are being studied by industry and academia Energy Recovery / Storage Technologies Category: Electrical Mechanical/Kinetic Thermal Technology: Electro Chemistry Electro static Hi speed flywheel Comp Gas Cryogenic Fluids High Temp Low Temp Example: Lithium-oin Chemistines Nickel Metal Hydride VR Lead Acid Derivatives Sodium Chemistines Next Gen Air (Li, Na, Zn,AI) Super/Ultracapacitors Carbon Fibre/Mech Drive Carbon Fibre/Elec Drive Hydraulic Accumulator Air Expansion Engine Liquid Air/Expansion Engine LN 2 /Expansion Engine Liquid Aluminium/Rankine Molten Salts/Rankine Cycle Low temp Waxes and Salts Initial focus area Figure 1: Vehicle Energy Recovery and Storage overview Research being undertaken falls into three main categories: 1. Electrical (Electrochemistry; Electrostatic) 2. Mechanical / Kinetic (Flywheel; Compressed Gas) 3. Thermal (Cryogenic Fluids; High temperature; Low temperature) The team benchmarked this activity with R&D investment being made internationally in the area of Energy Storage / Recovery. They found clear evidence of a strong focus on Electrochemistry and this was identified as the initial focus area for further review, particularly Lithium-ion (Li-ion) chemistries which are the dominant electrochemistry used for current electric vehicle batteries. LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES (LI-ION) - STATE OF THE ART: Lithium-ion are a commonly used type of rechargeable battery which offer advantages over other types of battery chemistries, such as weight and voltage. However, they can also suffer from poor cycle life, instability with cycling and ageing and some safety concerns from overheating or overcharging. The active (e.g. energy-storing) components of a battery are made up of the anode and cathode. There are many different types of Lithium-ion battery, depending on the exact combination of materials used for the anode and cathode. Promising and existing cathode materials for Li-ion batteries are mapped below (Figure 2) in terms of voltage and specific capacity. 8

9 Potential vs. Li/Li + (V) LMO LFSF LCP LFP LCO LTS NCM Specific Capacity (mah g -1 ) NCA Figure. 2: Promising end existing cathode materials. Nitta, N., et al., Li-ion battery materials: present and future. Materials Today, (0) Fig. 2 shows the most common cathode chemistries in use today: LCO Lithium cobalt oxide LCP Lithium cobalt phosphate LMO Lithium manganese oxide LFP Lithium iron phosphate NCM Nickel cobalt manganese oxide LFSF Lithium iron flurosulfate NCA Nickel cobalt aluminium oxide LTS Lithiumtitanium sulfide Automotive applications are demanding higher energy densities to increase driving distance / capacity and reduce range anxiety. To accomplish this, cathodes with higher operating voltages and capacity are required. Although higher voltages result in higher energy densities there are issues with electrolyte stability (see below). Commercial Li-ion batteries use a graphitic anode. Graphite has a theoretical gravimetric capacity of 372 mah/g (Fig. 3). There has been considerable effort invested in studying high-capacity alternatives to graphite. Figure 3 charts the potential and theoretical gravimetric capacity for promising Li-ion anode materials (lower potential is better). Silicon (Si) is an obvious candidate to replace graphite (C) due to its low voltage and ~ 10X increase in gravimetric capacity. Li-ion batteries made from Si instead of graphite would be lighter and increase driving range (alleviating range anxiety). 9

10 2.5 Potential vs. Li/Li + (V) LTO Phosphides Sh Oxides Ge Si Specific Capacity (mah g -1 ) P Figure 3: Potential and theoretical gravimetric capacity for promising Li-ion anode materials Nitta, N., et al., Li-ion battery materials: present and future. Materials Today, (0) Ultimately the energy density of a battery will depend on all components that make it up, not just the active anode/cathode. For automotive applications there are two cell formats being considered, cylindrical cells (e.g. Tesla s s) and pouch cells (most other automotive companies). Figure 4: Cylindrical (left) and pouch (right) cell formats for Li-ion batteries Miller, P., Automotive Lithium-Ion Batteries. Johnson Matthey Technol. Rev, (1):p.4 Cylindrical cells arguably offer more safety protection on an individual cell basis, while pouch cells offer higher energy densities. Future Li-ion technology aims to incorporate high energy anode/cathode chemistries like the ones presented in Figure 2 and Figure 3. In addition to advanced anode/ cathode chemistries, electrolyte stability will also need to be addressed. Currently electrolyte chemistry is relatively stable at commercial operating voltages (e.g. 4.2 V), however performance degrades quickly as upper voltage is increased (which is required for the higher energy density cathode materials). New electrolyte formulations will need to be developed to accommodate these high voltage cathodes. 10

11 THE FUTURE OF ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE R&D Fundamentally different cell chemistry is required to move to the next generation of energy storage systems. Increases in Li-ion cell energy density over recent decades has been small and incremental and the kind of storage cells that the automotive industry will require in the future will need a rapid acceleration in technological change. Chemistry holds the key to battery cost reduction through the use of low cost materials (e.g. avoiding rare earth metals) and synthesis methods which are inexpensive (e.g. low temperatures, simple processes). In the report, the team have identified a number of candidate chemistries to be considered for scaling up for use in Micro Hybrid, EV, Plug-in Hybrid, Mild Hybrid and Full Hybrid applications in the short, medium and long term. Below is a brief description of these chemistries which have been identified on the roadmap for targeted research into their scale up and commercialisation potential. LITHIUM TITANATE (LTO): LTO has a lower energy density compared to graphitic anodes, however it can withstand very fast charge/discharge rates. It is also inherently safe and offers very long cycle life. LTO is usually used in applications that require high power and safety (often paired with LFP). LITHIUM IRON PHOSPHATE (LFP): The key benefits of LFP are enhanced safety, acceptable thermal stability, tolerant to abuse, high current rating and long cycle life. However, LFP suffers from lower energy density due to a low operating voltage and capacity. For these reasons LFP is usually used in applications that require high power and safety (often paired with LTO). LITHIUM NICKEL COBALT MANGANESE OXIDE (NCM): NCM is becoming the commercial cathode of choice. Nickel is known for its high specific energy but low stability; manganese has the benefit of forming a spinel structure to achieve very low internal resistance but offers a low specific energy. Combining the metals brings out the best in each. Furthermore, the chemistry can be tailored to offer high specific energy or high specific power, depending on the application. HIGH ENERGY LITHIUM NICKEL COBALT MANGANESE OXIDE (HENCM): HENCM is very similar to NCM, except that the structure has been stabilised to operate at higher voltages. Higher voltages result in increased energy density. LITHIUM MANGANESE OXIDE SPINEL (LMO): LMO has high thermal stability, enhanced safety and low cost, but compared to other cathode materials the capacity is low and cycle life is limited. LITHIUM MIXED METAL PHOSPHATE (LMP): LMP s such as Lithium cobalt phosphate are being studied for their high operating voltages. Higher voltage increases energy density. SILICON BASED COMPOSITE ELECTRODES (SI): Compared to graphite, silicon has ~ 10X the gravimetric capacity. A battery made with silicon instead of graphite would be lighter and/or store more energy. However, silicon based-electrodes do not offer long cycle life LITHIUM SULPHUR (LI-S): Li-S batteries are known for having high specific energy densities (but lower volumetric energy density compared to Li-ion). LITHIUM AIR (LI-O2): Lithium-air batteries are studied due to their very high theoretical capacity. However, the chemistry struggles with stable operation over many cycles and practical rechargeability Developing advanced versions of the chemistries above could result in improvements in rate capabilities, lower cost, higher operating voltages, higher energy densities and longer cycle life. Future projects and collaborative partnerships should focus on these chemistries and evaluating their viability for scale up and commercial application. 11

12 CURRENT UK INDUSTRY AND CAPABILITY MAPPING There are a number of key industry and academic players in the UK electrochemical energy storage value chain and this provides an opportunity for growing UK R&D capability to propose gap bridging solutions. A map was created to show existing UK Electrochemical Energy Storage capability covering research and industry (Figure 5). Figure 5: Map of UK Electrochemical Energy Storage capability The UK s Operations and R&D value chains were analysed and ranked in relation to: 1. Attractiveness 2. Barriers to entry 3. UK relative strength Figure 6 (below) shows the essential elements and processes inherent in both the Operations and R&D value chains of energy storage. They illustrate the kind of transformation required in energy storage. Operations Value Chain Cell Raw Materials / processes e.g. Lithium Carbonate Electroactive ingedients e.g. LIPF. LIFePO, LMO, Gr, etc Cell sub-component production/test e.g. electrodes, electrolyte, etc Cell Assembly and test Battery Assembly and test Battery pre conditioning e.g. FMC, Western Lithium, etc e.g. Phostech, Mitsubishi, etc e.g. Samsung, Sony A123 etc e.g. Samsung, Sony A123 etc e.g. SBLiMotive, A123, Axeon, etc e.g. SBLiMotive, A123 Axeon, etc Attractiveness Barrier to Entry UK Relative Strength R & D Value Chain Energy Storage Materials R&D Materials Optimisation/ Integration R&D Cell Design for Manufacture/ Process R&D Cell Cell Testing, Validation Assembly & Qualification and test Battery R&D Application R&D Attractiveness Barrier to Entry UK Relative Strength e.g. MIT or St. Andrews (UK) e.g. A123 or Nexeon (UK) e.g. A123 or AGM/ABSL (UK) e.g. A123 or Axeon (UK) e.g. A123 or Axeon (UK) e.g. BMW or JLR/TATA (UK) Covered By battery R&D Will Happen Anyway = Priority Target Figure 6: Analysis of UK Operations and R&D Value Chains 12

13 The Operations value chain runs from processing of raw materials required to create battery cells to battery assembly, testing and pre-conditioning. It was identified that the top three priority areas for UK capability development will be: 1. Development of electroactive ingredients 2. Cell sub-component production and testing (such as electrodes and electrolytes) 3. Battery assembly and test These are three areas where the UK can provide an attractive operating environment and, with focused investment, new market opportunities can be exploited. The R&D value chain provides clear opportunity areas where targeted support could significantly improve the UK s relative strength and develop capability in early stage materials development and testing to feed into the higher TRL application R&D undertaken by industry. Priority areas identified based on the analysis will be: 1. Energy Storage Materials R&D 2. Materials Optimisation / Integration R&D 3. Battery System R&D RESULTS OF THE BENCHMARKING AND ANALYSIS It was clear from the benchmarking exercise that the technical barriers to entry for developing next generation electrochemistries, such as improved energy density, are relatively low at small gram scale. This type of development can be achieved within academic laboratories and, indeed, the UK s universities already have a world class reputation in the R&D of advanced electrochemistry energy storage materials. For example, the majority of the Lithiumion batteries which are used in consumer electronic devices today, such as mobile phones and laptops, were invented at the University of Oxford in the 1980s but in all cases, these technologies were then commercialised overseas. The barriers to entry in moving from gram scale to kilogram scale are much higher. Increasing R&D from gram scale to kilogram scale is not as simple as making more of the same at increased volumes. The scale up process is a science in itself which has a direct impact on the electrochemical properties of the materials being used. It requires integration of materials for electrodes with electrolytes, electrode separators and materials for terminals. Whilst the UK is a world leader in the scientific understanding of these chemistries, targeted investment is needed to transfer advanced knowledge into large scale kilogram level technology and ultimately into commercial application. UK university grant funding mechanisms do not currently incentivise the research required to move from grams to kilograms this is classed as outside of basic research. The research has shown that the gap between university research and industrial application is too wide for universities to cross and for industry to speculate on the likely success of novel chemistries without proof of scale up viability. The capital levels required to move from gram to kilogram scale are around 5m and so industry needs evidence of performance to have the confidence to invest in new materials. Currently, only private companies have access to the required capital equipment to invest in significant scale up activity. Companies with access to the best materials will be at a significant market advantage and already there is evidence that they may not share this technology with competitors without incentive. There is a nonnegligible risk that as battery technologies advance, UK OEMs will be at a commercial disadvantage if their suppliers, based overseas, may be prevented by their OEM customers in selling the latest technology solutions to competitors. Governments in Germany, France and the USA have invested in strategic materials scale up and cell pilot line facilities within their National Labs. Governments in other leading economies are making significant investment in battery scale up and pilot line facilities in particular, Germany, France and the USA. 13

14 The clear result of this investment is the increased collaboration and risk-sharing throughout those countries value chains, including between universities and industry. This increases the probability of promising chemistries and scale up becoming commercially viable more quickly. In all cases the governments involved have funded the materials scale up R&D process to a very significant level. This allows industry to influence which materials are prioritised for development and enable fast tracked validation and testing. France 125m ( 100m) public funding to 2020 Germany 2bn ( 1.56bn) public and private funding ( ) USA $3.4bn ( 2.2bn) public and private All three governments in Germany, France and the USA have made significant investment in national battery scale up facilities, e.g. Germany Fraunhofer, Munster Electrochemical Energy Technology (MEET); France CEA, Grenoble; USA Argonne National Labs. These facilities are open and allow promising chemistries to be accelerated to kilogram scale and the resultant know-how and IP remains within the national competence. These national facilities act as a focal point and catalyst for aligning academic research with industry needs and also as a flagship to crystallise the strategy and direction of the national competence. The facilities enable vehicle OEMs, battery suppliers and materials companies to accelerate the higher levels of validation required and ensure that companies across the value chain remain at the leading edge. The UK requires a national open materials scale up and cell pilot line facility There is a strong recommendation that a Materials Scale Up Pilot R&D Line is commissioned in the UK to provide a uniquely integrated and open access R&D centre. It is proposed that the facility focuses on electrochemical energy storage in the short to medium term in response to the benchmark data from Germany, France and the US. The new facility should deliver the priority elements of the R&D Value Chain such as Materials Optimisation / Integration R&D and Cell Design for Manufacture / Process. The facility should provide a focal point for linking complementary academic research groups across the UK and would be ideally positioned to select and support highgrowth-potential companies and technologies. The centre should facilitate a cluster of UK universities who would be involved in the activities of the scale up line and bring their leading edge developments on materials at a laboratory scale into the centre for further R&D on upscaling. In the absence of such focused intervention for an open centre, the co-ordination of disparate and valuable expertise will not happen spontaneously. The creation of the capacity to integrate and exploit the expertise needed to develop radically new technologies on a single site would provide a major focal point for UK based energy storage R&D. It would provide significant benefits to the entire cell development chain (including cell design, materials, synthesis and scale up, materials optimisation and integration, and cell manufacture). Such capabilities would allow the UK to accelerate the pull-through of its inherently strong energy materials chemistry research at gram scale and develop synthesis routes to producing high quality, high performance materials in kilogram scale. 14

15 CONCLUSIONS The important messages to be drawn from this study are: The UK should urgently address the requirement for an open national facility for materials scale up and cell pilot line activity. In order to exploit the investment in novel advanced materials chemistry, we must bridge the gap between fundamental science and viability on a large scale and therefore enable a step change in energy storage performance application. If the UK succeeds in making this radical jump, this will provide major benefit to the UK supply chain and economy. The key challenges will be o Developing basic materials on a small (experimental) scale and engaging the UK academic network. o Developing know-how and processes to scale up to industrial level a combination of electrochemistry, chemical and manufacturing process engineering. A pipeline of promising future electrochemistry formulations will need to be fed through the scale up process to identify the potential materials and technologies of the future and expedite the investment and R&D in winning formulas. Particular focus should be given to those technologies identified on the Electrochemical Energy Storage roadmap, which have shown early promise and potential advantages in essential areas including safety, cost, density or cycle life. Benchmarking and evaluation should be an ongoing activity in order to maintain a watch on international developments and competitive landscapes. Electrochemical energy storage technology is an area where the UK has a recognised and proven strong indigenous capability and this provides a significant opportunity for industrial exploitation and to compete on an international level. The Automotive Council Energy Storage workstream have identified that existing barriers to entry can be bridged with a relatively modest investment on a national level. This promises enormous potential for the UK if it were to deliver results on electrochemistries (such as better performing, earlier, cheaper, more reliable, smaller or lighter) that prove to be early winners internationally. 15

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