You’ve seen the headlines: This battery breakthrough is going to change the electric vehicle forever. And then … silence. You head to the local showroom, and the cars all kind of look and feel the same.

WIRED got annoyed about this phenomenon. So we talked to battery technology experts about what’s really going on in electric vehicle batteries. Which technologies are here? Which will be, probably, but aren’t yet, so don’t hold your breath? What’s probably not coming anytime soon?

“It’s easy to get excited about these things, because batteries are so complex,” says Pranav Jaswani, a technology analyst at IDTechEx, a market intelligence firm. “Many little things are going to have such a big effect.” That’s why so many companies, including automakers, their suppliers, and battery-makers, are experimenting with so many bit parts of the battery. Swap one electrical conductor material for another, and an electric vehicle battery’s range might increase by 50 miles. Rejigger how battery packs are put together, and an automaker might bring down manufacturing costs enough to give consumers a break on the sales lot.

Still, experts say, it can take a long time to get even small tweaks into production cars—sometimes 10 years or more. “Obviously, we want to make sure that whatever we put in an EV works well and it passes safety standards,” says Evelina Stoikou, who leads the battery technology and supply chain team at BloombergNEF, a research firm. Ensuring that means scientists coming up with new ideas, and suppliers figuring out how to execute them; the automakers, in turn, rigorously test each iteration. All the while, everyone’s asking the most important question: Does this improvement make financial sense?

So it’s only logical that not every breakthrough in the lab makes it to the road. Here are the ones that really count—and the ones that haven’t quite panned out, at least so far.

It’s Really Happening

The big deal battery breakthroughs all have something in common: They’re related to the lithium-ion battery. Other battery chemistries are out there—more on them later—but in the next decade, it’s going to be hard to catch up with the dominant battery form. “Lithium-ion is already very mature,” says Stoikou. Lots of players have invested big money in the technology, so “any new one is going to have to compete with the status quo.”

Lithium Iron Phosphate

Why it’s exciting: LFP batteries use iron and phosphate instead of pricier and harder-to-source nickel and cobalt, which are found in conventional lithium-ion batteries. They’re also more stable and slower to degrade after multiple charges. The upshot: LFP batteries can help bring down the cost of manufacturing an EV, an especially important data point while Western electrics struggle to compete, cost-wise, with conventional gas-powered cars. LFP batteries are already common in China, and they’re set to become more popular in European and American electric vehicles in the coming years.

Why it’s hard: LFP is less energy dense than alternatives, meaning you can’t pack as much charge—or range—into each battery.

More Nickel

Why it’s exciting: The increased nickel content in lithium nickel manganese cobalt batteries ups the energy density, meaning more range in a battery pack without much more size or weight. Also, more nickel can mean less cobalt, a metal that’s both expensive and ethically dubious to obtain.

Why it’s hard: Batteries with higher nickel content are potentially less stable, which means they carry a higher risk of cracking or thermal runaway—fires. This means battery-makers experimenting with different nickel content have to spend more time and energy on the careful design of their products. That extra fussiness means more expense. For this reason, expect to see more nickel use in batteries for higher-end EVs.

Dry Electrode Process

Why it’s exciting: Usually, battery electrodes are made by mixing materials into a solvent slurry, which then is applied to a metal current collector foil, dried, and pressed. The dry electrode process cuts down on the solvents by mixing the materials in dry powder form before application and lamination. Less solvent means fewer environmental and health and safety concerns. And getting rid of the drying process can save production time—and up efficiency—while reducing the physical footprint needed to manufacture batteries. This all can lead to cheaper manufacturing, “which should trickle down to make a cheaper car,” says Jaswani. Tesla has already incorporated a dry anode process into its battery-making. (The anode is the negative electrode that stores lithium ions while a battery is charging.) LG and Samsung SGI are also working on pilot production lines.

Why it’s hard: Using dry powders can be more technically complicated.

Cell-to-Pack

Why it’s exciting: In your standard electric vehicle battery, individual battery cells get grouped into modules, which are then assembled into packs. Not so in cell-to-pack, which puts cells directly into a pack structure without the middle module step. This lets battery-makers fit more battery into the same space, and can lead to some 50 additional miles of range and higher top speeds, says Jaswani. It also brings down manufacturing costs, savings that can be passed down to the car buyer. Big-time automakers including Tesla and BYD, plus Chinese battery giant CATL, are already using the tech.

Why it’s hard: Without modules, it can be harder to control thermal runaway and maintain the battery pack’s structure. Plus, cell-to-pack makes replacing a faulty battery cell much harder, which means smaller flaws can require opening or even replacing the entire pack.

Silicon Anodes

Why it’s exciting: Lithium-ion batteries have graphite anodes. Adding silicon to the mix, though, could have huge upsides: more energy storage (meaning longer driving ranges) and faster charging, potentially down to a blazing six to 10 minutes to top up. Tesla already mixes a bit of silicon into its graphite anodes, and other automakers—Mercedes-Benz, General Motors—say they’re getting close to mass production.

Why it’s hard: Silicon alloyed with lithium expands and contracts as it goes through the charging and discharging cycle, which can cause mechanical stress and even fracturing. Over time, this can lead to more dramatic battery capacity losses. For now, you’re more likely to find silicon anodes in smaller batteries, like those in phones or even motorcycles.

It’s Kind of Happening

The battery tech in the more speculative bucket has undergone plenty of testing. But it’s still not quite at a place where most manufacturers are building production lines and putting it into cars.

Sodium-Ion Batteries

Why it’s exciting: Sodium—it’s everywhere! Compared to lithium, the element is cheaper and easier to find and process, which means tracking down the materials to build sodium-ion batteries could give automakers a supply chain break. The batteries also seem to perform better in extreme temperatures, and are more stable. Chinese battery-maker CATL says it will start mass production of the batteries next year and that the batteries could eventually cover 40 percent of the Chinese passenger-vehicle market.

Why it’s hard: Sodium ions are heavier than their lithium counterparts, so they generally store less energy per battery pack. That could make them a better fit for battery storage than for vehicles. It’s also early days for this tech, which means fewer suppliers and fewer time-tested manufacturing processes.

Solid State Batteries

Why it’s exciting: Automakers have been promising for years that groundbreaking solid state batteries are right around the corner. That would be great, if true. This tech subs the liquid or gel electrolytes in a conventional li-ion battery for a solid electrolyte. These electrolytes should come in different chemistries, but they all have some big advantages: more energy density, faster charging, more durability, fewer safety risks (no liquid electrolyte means no leaks). Toyota says it will finally launch its first vehicles with solid state batteries in 2027 or 2028. BloombergNEF projects that by 2035, solid state batteries will account for 10 percent of EV and storage production.

Why it’s hard: Some solid electrolytes have a hard time at low temperatures. The biggest issues, however, have to do with manufacturing. Putting together these new batteries requires new equipment. It’s really hard to build defect-free layers of electrolyte. And the industry hasn’t come to an agreement about which solid electrolyte to use, which makes it hard to create supply chains.

Maybe It’ll Happen

Good ideas don’t always make a ton of sense in the real world.

Wireless Charging

Why it’s exciting: Park your car, get out, and have it charge up while you wait—no plugs required. Wireless charging could be the peak of convenience, and some automakers insist it’s coming. Porsche, for example, is showing off a prototype, with plans to roll out the real thing next year.

Why it’s hard: The issue, says Jaswani, is that the tech underlying the chargers we have right now works perfectly well and is much cheaper to install. He expects that eventually, wireless charging will show up in some restricted use cases—maybe in buses, for example, that could charge up throughout their routes if they stop on top of a charging pad. But this tech may never go truly mainstream, he says.

The precise technological definition of 6G networks is still some time away, but it seems clear that one of the biggest anticipated challenges of 6G network roll-outs will be coverage limitations inherent in 6G’s higher-frequency spectrum, and looking to alleviate the issue, Nokia and Rohde & Schwarz have created and tested a 6G radio receiver that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to overcome potential limitations.

The global comms tech provider and test and measurement company are confident that the fruits of their work – namely AI-powered receiver technology using machine learning – can greatly enhance future 6G coverage, creating cost savings and accelerating time to market.

From a core technological basis, the AI technology is designed to identify and compensate for distortion in wireless signals, leading to substantial improvements in 6G uplink coverage.

Specifically, the machine learning capabilities in the receiver are designed to boost uplink distance greatly, enhancing coverage for forthcoming 6G networks. This will help operators roll out 6G over their existing 5G footprints, reducing deployment costs and accelerating time to market.

Nokia Bell Labs developed the receiver and validated it using 6G test equipment and methodologies from Rohde & Schwarz. The firms say they tested the AI receiver under real-world conditions, achieving uplink distance improvements compared with current receiver technologies ranging from 10% to 25%.

The testbed comprised an R&S SMW200A vector signal generator, used for uplink signal generation and channel emulation. On the receive side, an FSWX signal and spectrum analyser from Rohde & Schwarz was employed to perform the AI inference for Nokia’s AI receiver.

In addition to enhancing coverage, the firms noted that the AI technology also demonstrated improved throughput and power efficiency, multiplying the benefits it will provide in the 6G era.

Assessing the work done on the project, Peter Vetter, president of core research for Bell Labs at Nokia, said: “One of the key issues facing future 6G deployments is the coverage limitations inherent in 6G’s higher-frequency spectrum. Typically, we would need to build denser networks with more cell sites to overcome this problem. By boosting the coverage of 6G receivers, however, AI technology will help us build 6G infrastructure over current 5G footprints.”

Michael Fischlein, vice-president of spectrum and network analysers, EMC and antenna test at Rohde & Schwarz, added: “Rohde & Schwarz is excited to collaborate with Nokia in pioneering AI-driven 6G receiver technology.

“Leveraging more than 90 years of experience in test and measurement, we’re uniquely positioned to support the development of next-generation wireless, allowing us to evaluate and refine AI algorithms at this crucial pre-standardisation stage. This partnership builds on our long history of innovation and demonstrates our commitment to shaping the future of 6G.”

The work with R&S comes just a week after Nokia announced a strategic partnership with Nvidia to add the former’s AI-powered RAN products to Nokia’s RAN portfolio, enabling communication service providers to launch AI-native 5G Advanced and 6G networks on Nvidia platforms.

With their AI-RAN systems, Nokia and Nvidia are confident that mobile operators can improve performance and efficiency as well as enhance network experiences for future generative AI and agentic AI applications and experiences. They will be able to introduce AI services for 6G with the same infrastructure, powering billions of new connections for cars, robots, drones, and augmented and virtual reality glasses that demand connectivity, computing and sensing at the edge.

Electrification of vehicles is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but in Quebec the increasing weight of the battery-powered vehicles could cause electricity demand to rise well beyond projections.

That’s the conclusion of an analysis by Université de Montréal researchers Frédérik Lavictoire and Simon Brassard, supervised by Normand Mousseau, a professor in the Department of Physics.

Their results are published in the journal Sustainable Futures.

Cars are getting heavier

Between 2011 and 2021, the average weight of vehicles sold in Quebec increased by 11 kg per year for over 10 years, from 1,566 kg to nearly 1,700 kg.

New vehicles weigh an average of 135 kg more than the existing fleet average, while vehicles that are being retired are 104 kg lighter. A vehicle purchased today weighs an average of 110 kg more than the one it replaces.

With 60,000 vehicles being added to Quebec’s fleet each year, the cost of maintaining the road network—and the electrical grid—is likely to be steep, the UdeM researchers say.

Small SUVs, which accounted for 12.6% of the fleet in 2011, have surged in popularity to reach 28.3% in 2021. They have been the leading category since 2020.

Meanwhile, compact vehicles declined from 28.5% to 25.4% of vehicles on the road, and sedans and minivans fell from 19.7% to 14.6%.

With their heavy batteries, EVs in Quebec now weigh about 23% more than gas-powered vehicles, or an extra 344 kg.

Heavier vehicles also take a toll in terms of premature wear and tear on the roads and more serious injuries in accidents. And as they continue to get heavier, they also put a strain on Quebec’s power grid.

Between 2021 and 2040, the UdeM researchers project that the amount of electricity used by EVs in the province will increase from 0.24 terawatt hours (TWh) to 29.03 TWh.

Harsh winters increase demand

EVs accounted for about 13.6% of Quebec’s total electricity demand in 2019. By 2030, when the government aims to have two million EVs on the roads, EV consumption would reach 7.68 TWh.

That’s roughly consistent with Hydro-Québec’s projection of 7.8 TWh for 2032.

However, Mousseau is concerned about the grid’s capacity in the province’s harsh winter months, when cold spells can be protracted and extreme.

EVs use more power in winter than in summer because cold temperatures reduce battery efficiency, increase tire friction and increase air density.

In January, when the average temperature is -10.3°C, monthly EV consumption will rise to 3.1 TWh once Quebec’s vehicle fleet is fully electrified, compared with 1.9 TWh in August, the UdeM researchers project.

At -20°C, the required capacity is almost double that on a summer day.

“In winter, we need to control electricity usage because adding capacity to meet peak demand costs $150 to $200 per kilowatt,” Mousseau said.

“With a fully electrified fleet in 2040, EVs would require an average additional capacity of 5,261 megawatts when the temperature is -20°C. That’s 12.1% of the total peak demand recorded in 2022.

“If the increasing weight of the EV fleet adds another gigawatt to peak demand, it will cost hundreds of millions of dollars more to generate that electricity.”

Three possible scenarios

The researchers modeled three scenarios for the period 2021-2040.

In the first, they allow the trend toward heavier vehicles to continue without intervention. In this case, the average mass would increase to 2,114 kg by 2040. The fleet’s annual electricity consumption would increase to 29.03 TWh and the additional required capacity on a cold winter’s day would be 5,261 megawatts.

In the second scenario, the increase in weight is limited to the weight of the EV battery: on average in Quebec, about 344 kg.

In the third scenario, the average vehicle weight is frozen at the 2021 level of 1,566 kg. This would reduce EV electricity demand by 17.6% in 2040, from 29.03 to 23.91 TWh. The required capacity on a -20°C day would drop from 5,261 to 4,332 megawatts.

The saving of almost 6 TWh is equivalent to three percent of Hydro-Québec’s current total production. It would avoid the need to build costly infrastructure that would be needed only for a few hours a year, during winter peaks.

In scenario 1, by 2035, EVs will require additional capacity of 3,232 megawatts when the temperature is -20°C. That is 40.4% of all the additional power projected in Hydro-Québec’s action plan by 2035.

“Electrification of the vehicle fleet will entail system costs that will have to be borne,” said Mousseau. “We believe that reducing the average weight of vehicles is one solution that should be explored.”

Regulations could make batteries lighter

How can the weight of EVs be reduced? The researchers suggest several possibilities.

One is to reduce the weight of the battery, a significant technological challenge but one they believe is achievable with technological progress.

“Between 2017-2018 and 2021-2022, batteries were improved to increase range, but unfortunately, this improvement also increased the weight of the vehicles,” Mousseau said.

The simplest solution would be to amend the existing “Act to increase the number of zero-emission motor vehicles in Québec,” he suggested.

“Manufacturers could be required to comply with a specific average weight, or to offset the additional weight by paying a fine or tax.”

This approach, which has proven effective in stimulating the production of EVs, could also be used to control their weight, Mousseau said.

“For example, Tesla has benefited from the credit transfers allowed by the Act, demonstrating that it is possible to have manufacturers, not consumers, bear the cost of design choices.”

‘Strong global pressure’

Although the Quebec government recently backtracked on banning the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, Mousseau is confident about the future of electrification.

“There is strong global pressure: the electrification of road vehicles will happen,” he said.

By postponing electrification, “Quebec is temporarily burying its head in the sand, but it cannot indefinitely block access to more efficient and less expensive electric vehicles, such as those made in China.”

Mousseau also pointed to an important economic issue: “For 20 years, we have watched other countries develop green technologies. What will we be producing 20 years from now, if we keep letting others take the lead? If we don’t put our foot on the accelerator, there’ll be significant economic risks.”