Ketumpatan tenaga 10 kali lebih tinggi daripada bateri litium? Porsche membangunkan bateri anod silikon dan merancang untuk -menghasilkannya secara besar-besaran dalam masa 5 tahun
Spain's "Public" daily website recently reported that battery production is an important source of carbon emissions in the manufacturing process of electric vehicles, accounting for 25 percent to 40 percent of total emissions. More and more manufacturers are working to reduce emissions in this area, but Porsche wants to go further. The company is developing a battery with better performance and a smaller carbon footprint. Is this a perfect battery?
Porsche akan melabur sekitar 1 bilion euro dalam tempoh 10 tahun akan datang dalam pelbagai langkah penyahkarbonan, termasuk mengurangkan pelepasan karbon dioksida daripada kilang pemasangannya, kata laporan itu. Pengeluaran Porsche Taycan di Zuffenhausen (di Stuttgart, Jerman) adalah neutral karbon dari awal, tetapi membina kereta adalah lebih daripada memasang semua bahagian pada barisan pengeluaran.
Bateri adalah salah satu sumber pelepasan penting dalam pengeluaran kenderaan elektrik. Dalam pautan ini, pelbagai langkah pengeluaran untuk menukar bahan mentah seperti nikel dan kobalt kepada produk ditapis yang boleh digunakan dalam bateri menggunakan sejumlah besar tenaga.
In a recent press conference, Benjamin Pasenberg, head of high-voltage systems at Porsche, said: "Having green energy is very important, especially in battery production, where it takes a lot of energy to heat things." However, using only Green (or low-emissions) energy sources to make batteries are not enough for Porsche (or other manufacturers) to meet their emissions targets. There is also a need to reimagine the battery itself to reduce the pollution that arises from battery manufacturing practices.
Untuk itu, Porsche sedang mengusahakan bateri baharu. Bateri dikatakan lebih berkuasa, mengecas lebih cepat, dan mempunyai jejak karbon yang lebih kecil daripada bateri semasa. Teknologi yang digunakan adalah menggunakan lebih banyak silikon dalam anod bateri, dan bukannya grafit yang biasa digunakan hari ini.
According to Otmar Beecher, head of electric vehicles at Porsche, silicon anodes are 10 times more energy dense. Porsche expects 20 to 25 percent more watt-hours per liter of volume than today's conventional lithium-ion batteries. That is to say, under a certain energy capacity, the battery volume is smaller. The improved energy efficiency of batteries, in turn, means fewer batteries are needed to power the vehicle, which reduces overall weight (and also reduces the space required for the batteries).
Berat kenderaan yang kurang juga bermakna penggunaan bateri yang lebih rendah, tetapi di manakah kesan positif terhadap alam sekitar? Pertama, reka bentuk sel baharu ini mengurangkan keperluan bahan untuk struktur sel aluminium (perumah) berbanding reka bentuk sel silinder. Pengeluaran aluminium adalah salah satu sumber pelepasan karbon yang penting untuk kereta. Menurut kajian terbaru oleh Volvo, aluminium menyumbang 30 peratus daripada pelepasan yang timbul daripada pengeluaran bahan kenderaan moden, malah lebih banyak daripada bateri itu sendiri. Oleh itu, mengurangkan penggunaan aluminium juga mengurangkan sebahagian besar pelepasan. Walaupun tiada butiran khusus dikeluarkan, Porsche berkata bateri juga akan dicas lebih cepat.
Sebaliknya, kandungan kobalt bateri tersebut akan berkurangan. Kini diketahui bahawa kobalt sukar diperoleh, sangat mahal, dan mempunyai kesan yang besar terhadap alam sekitar. Kobalt kini membentuk 20 peratus daripada bahan katod bateri Taycan, dan Porsche berharap teknologi baharunya akan mengurangkan bahagian kobalt kepada hanya 5 hingga 10 peratus.
To further reduce emissions, Porsche will focus on the supply chain. The German company will source cobalt, nickel and other raw materials as much as possible from Europe, so that it will be closer to where the new batteries will be produced, near Porsche's research and development center in Weissach. According to the relevant person in charge of Porsche, purchasing cathode materials from Schwarzheide, Germany instead of my country can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent .
In addition, Porsche is pushing its suppliers to make batteries and other components entirely from renewable energy. The German carmaker said it would no longer consider long-term contracts with suppliers who were unwilling to use certified "green" energy. Porsche says the supply chain accounts for about 20 percent of the automaker's total greenhouse gas emissions. That will rise to around 40 percent by 2030 as production shifts to electric vehicles.
The big question is, when will we see this "ideal" Porsche battery in a road car? Like many other technologies in the automotive sector, it will be used first in racing cars, where high performance and fast charging capabilities are paramount. Otmar Beecher said: "Typically, we are 2 to 3 years away from the transition to production cars. So we will see it in production cars after 2025." Porsche expects to commercialize the high-performance battery within five years.
Dari segi pengeluaran, matlamatnya adalah untuk mencapai keluaran tahunan minimum 100 MWh, cukup untuk menjanakan sekitar 1,000 kereta. Ini membawa kita untuk mempercayai bahawa ia pada mulanya akan ditujukan hanya untuk beberapa model bukan-produksi, mungkin beberapa kereta super-berprestasi sangat tinggi.
Of course, it's not a perfect battery. The perfect battery charges in seconds, doesn't overheat or lose capacity over time, and is lightweight and inexpensive to produce. We'll probably never see a battery with all these features in one, but in the short to medium term, Porsche's battery is getting pretty close to -- at least in theory -- the ideal battery. (compiled / Li Zijian)
