Innovations in Electric Vehicle Batteries, with Micah Ziegler

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Micah Ziegler, an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, about the science, policy, and economics behind electric vehicle (EV) batteries. This episode continues a multipart series on EVs, which covers some of the most practical matters that EV users need to know. In this second episode of the series, Ziegler discusses the history of the development of EV batteries (which might be longer than you think), the materials that are used in batteries, and technological advancements that have improved battery efficiency over the past century. Ziegler also highlights policy tools that may be especially effective at reducing the costs of clean energy technologies such as EV batteries. Future episodes will dive deeper on charging stations and road trips—stay tuned for those. And as you listen, please let us know if we’ve missed any questions that you’re curious about; we may address those in a future podcast episode or blog post. And if you’d rather not spin your wheels on this topic, then tune back in after a few weeks, when we’ll return to our normally scheduled programming, which covers all kinds of matters related to environmental economics. ----- Related episodes in this series: Demystifying Electric Vehicle Ownership, with Sebastian Blanco; https://soundcloud.com/resourcesradio/demystifying-electric-vehicle-ownership-with-sebastian-blanco Innovations in Electric Vehicle Batteries, with Micah Ziegler; https://soundcloud.com/resourcesradio/innovations-in-electric-vehicle-batteries-with-micah-ziegler Expanding Access to Electric Vehicle Chargers, with Kimathi Boothe; https://soundcloud.com/resourcesradio/expanding-access-to-electric-vehicle-chargers-with-kimathi-boothe ----- References and recommendations: “Re-examining rates of lithium-ion battery technology improvement and cost decline” by Micah S. Ziegler and Jessika E. Trancik; https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ee/d0ee02681f “Determinants of lithium-ion battery technology cost decline” by Micah S. Ziegler, Juhyun Song, and Jessika E. Trancik; https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ee/d1ee01313k “Evaluating the causes of cost reduction in photovoltaic modules” by Goksin Kavlak, James McNerney, and Jessika E. Trancik; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421518305196?via%3Dihub “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301943/the-very-hungry-caterpillar-by-eric-carle/ “All the World” by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee; https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/All-the-World/Liz-Garton-Scanlon/9781481431217 “Energy Firms, Green Groups and Others Reach Deal on Solar Farms” by Ivan Penn; https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/business/energy-environment/solar-farm-agreement.html “Americans don’t hate living near solar and wind farms as much as you might think” by Allyson Chiu, Emily Guskin, and Scott Clement; https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/10/03/solar-panels-wind-turbines-nimby/ “Demand for minerals sparks fear of mining abuses on Indigenous peoples’ lands” by Julia Simon; https://www.npr.org/2024/01/29/1226125617/demand-for-minerals-sparks-fear-of-mining-abuses-on-indigenous-peoples-lands “The U.S. is expanding CO2 pipelines. One poisoned town wants you to know its story” by Julia Simon; https://www.npr.org/2023/05/21/1172679786/carbon-capture-carbon-dioxide-pipeline