Best of LinkedIn: Electrification & Battery Technology CW 36/ 37

00:00:00: Hey there and welcome to the deep dive.

00:00:02: Glad to be here.

00:00:02: This edition brought to you by Thomas Allgaier and Frennis is really focused on the hottest electrification and battery technology trends we've seen bubbling up on LinkedIn.

00:00:13: Yeah,

00:00:13: specifically over the past couple of weeks, calendar weeks, thirty six and thirty seven.

00:00:17: Exactly.

00:00:18: And Frennis, just so you know.

00:00:20: They're fantastic at helping automotive businesses and consultancies stay ahead with top notch market and competitive intelligence.

00:00:27: Basically, they give product teams and strategy leaders the solid groundwork they need for those big strategic decisions.

00:00:35: And today, yeah, we're diving deep into those absolute top trends in electrification and battery tech.

00:00:41: We're going beyond just the headlines, right?

00:00:43: Looking at everything from, say, ultra fast charging breakthroughs

00:00:47: to how your EV could actually become.

00:00:49: like a mobile power plant.

00:00:51: It's pretty cool stuff.

00:00:52: And also the crucial policy side of things, the market dynamic shaping it all.

00:00:55: Can't forget those.

00:00:57: Definitely not.

00:00:58: So we're here to unpack what industry leaders are genuinely talking about, highlight maybe some surprising facts, and just give you a shortcut to getting up to speed on the cutting edge of mobility.

00:01:09: Considerate your quick download.

00:01:11: Key insights straight from the source.

00:01:14: Okay, so let's kick off our deep dive.

00:01:15: Where should we start?

00:01:17: Maybe with something foundational, like charging infrastructure.

00:01:21: Sounds good.

00:01:22: It's always evolving.

00:01:23: Yeah,

00:01:23: and obvious speed is a big deal.

00:01:25: Everyone talks about that.

00:01:26: But there seems to be a bigger picture emerging now about how charging really fits into our lives.

00:01:32: Absolutely.

00:01:33: Andrew Cornelia, in one of his LinkedIn posts, really hit the nail on the head there.

00:01:37: Oh, yeah.

00:01:38: What do you say?

00:01:39: Well, he pointed out that while, you know, five-minute EV charging grabs headlines.

00:01:43: Which it does.

00:01:44: The truly transformative part isn't just the raw speed.

00:01:48: It's the frictionless experience.

00:01:50: Okay.

00:01:51: He talks about needing context-driven charging, customer-focused experience, and, like, seamless integration between the car and the whole infrastructure setup.

00:02:00: That makes so much sense.

00:02:01: It's not just about plugging in fast.

00:02:03: It's about it being easy, fitting into your routine.

00:02:06: Exactly.

00:02:06: Like grabbing a coffee, as you said before we started, that level of ease.

00:02:10: But how close are we really?

00:02:12: I mean, outside of maybe some ideal test cases, what are the big hurdles to making it that smooth everywhere?

00:02:18: Yeah.

00:02:18: That's the challenge, isn't it?

00:02:19: Often it's the user experience quirks, not the core tech.

00:02:23: But on the tech side, wow, we're seeing huge leaps.

00:02:27: Like what?

00:02:27: Felix Hamer highlighted Mercedes pushing past eight hundred and fifty kilowatt of charging.

00:02:32: Eight

00:02:32: fifty.

00:02:33: Yeah.

00:02:34: And he mentioned Alpetronix HYC.

00:02:36: one thousand ultra fast chargers could be popping up across Europe soon.

00:02:40: We're talking potentially four hundred kilometers of range in just five minutes.

00:02:44: Okay, hold on.

00:02:45: four hundred kilometers in five minutes.

00:02:47: That's the promise.

00:02:48: That genuinely changes the game for road trips.

00:02:50: Makes it almost like a petrol stop.

00:02:51: Pretty much.

00:02:52: But, okay, quick question.

00:02:54: How do our grids handle that kind of power spike?

00:02:56: And what does that super fast charging do to battery health long term?

00:03:00: Are people talking about that?

00:03:02: Oh, definitely.

00:03:03: Grid impact and battery degradation are huge discussion points.

00:03:06: Absolutely core considerations.

00:03:08: Right.

00:03:08: And it's not just passenger cars getting this focus.

00:03:11: Think heavy duty.

00:03:13: Moritz Wornfeld shared a big milestone.

00:03:16: For trucks.

00:03:17: Yep, a megawatt charging session hit eight hundred and sixty four kilowatts for Scania trucks up in Sweden.

00:03:23: Okay, megawatt charging MCS.

00:03:25: That's the

00:03:25: one designed for the big rigs.

00:03:27: And what was cool about this test was showing that MCS and the standard CCS plugs.

00:03:32: The ones most cars use.

00:03:33: Can actually coexist in the same charging system.

00:03:36: Okay.

00:03:37: That coexistence is key, right, for scaling up electric long-haul trucking.

00:03:40: Absolutely crucial.

00:03:41: You can't have totally separate systems everywhere.

00:03:44: It simplifies everything.

00:03:45: And Adam Jones from Eon Drive Infrastructure also chimed in on this, didn't he?

00:03:49: Highlighting their own MCS testing.

00:03:51: He did.

00:03:51: They're pushing hard on efficiently powering zero emission freight.

00:03:54: The momentum is definitely building.

00:03:56: So how fast do you reckon we'll see these MCS chargers along major trucking routes?

00:04:00: Is it still years away?

00:04:01: It's a massive infrastructure project, so yeah, it'll take time.

00:04:05: But the pilot's approving it works.

00:04:07: Okay.

00:04:07: But what's also fascinating is looking beyond just the tech at the whole ecosystem.

00:04:13: Oh, so.

00:04:13: Rohan Puri observed something interesting, EV charging.

00:04:17: It's not niche anymore.

00:04:19: Definitely not.

00:04:19: It's

00:04:19: this huge convergence point.

00:04:21: You've got oil and gas, automakers, retail, energy companies.

00:04:26: They're all meeting here, and there's real profit involved.

00:04:29: A convergence point.

00:04:30: I like that.

00:04:31: Yeah.

00:04:31: And he suggests the company's winning are the ones designing business models where all these forces actually help each other

00:04:37: out,

00:04:37: finding where the real margins hide, as he put it.

00:04:40: That's a powerful way to look at it.

00:04:41: It's less about just the charge or more about the whole value play strategic business model.

00:04:46: Exactly.

00:04:46: So for the, let's say, traditional players in oil or retail, what's their biggest hurdle in adapting and finding those margins?

00:04:54: Is it just legacy thinking?

00:04:56: That's often a big part of it, shedding old ways, embracing collaboration.

00:05:00: But you know, with all this growth and money flowing, there's risk

00:05:04: too.

00:05:04: Like what kind of risk?

00:05:05: Tom Butcher raised a really important flag about fraud and EV charging.

00:05:09: Fraud how?

00:05:10: Things like QR code, payment scams, messing with billing systems, cyber vulnerabilities, and the chargers themselves.

00:05:18: It's apparently on the rise.

00:05:19: Oh

00:05:19: wow.

00:05:20: I hadn't really thought about that aspect.

00:05:21: And he stresses preventing this isn't just a tech fix.

00:05:24: It's fundamental to building trust.

00:05:27: He calls it a core enabler of clean mobility.

00:05:31: If people don't trust the payment system, they won't use it.

00:05:34: That makes total sense.

00:05:35: Trust is everything.

00:05:36: Yeah.

00:05:36: And it links to usability too, right?

00:05:38: Dirk Fitzer's usability index finding.

00:05:41: What was it?

00:05:42: Only one in three charge points works seamlessly.

00:05:45: Yeah, something like that.

00:05:46: Terrible satisfaction scores in some cases.

00:05:48: And that directly hits the charge point operator's bottom line.

00:05:51: So

00:05:51: you've got fraud risks on one side and basic usability issues on the other.

00:05:55: How do we tackle both?

00:05:57: Is it just better tech better standards?

00:05:59: It's a mix.

00:06:00: definitely needs industry collaboration better standards more robust systems.

00:06:04: But you know that actually leads us nicely into the next big theme.

00:06:07: Okay,

00:06:08: we've talked about getting power into the car fast and easy.

00:06:11: But what if your EV could give power back

00:06:14: by directional?

00:06:15: V to

00:06:16: X exactly vehicle to everything.

00:06:18: V to G for the grid V to H for your home V to L to power devices.

00:06:22: This is moving fast from just being a cool concept to well actual reality.

00:06:26: Okay.

00:06:27: This is where I think it gets really exciting.

00:06:29: Nero's Kumar single.

00:06:30: I saw his post.

00:06:32: he painted this picture of EVs as mobile power plants.

00:06:35: That's the vision.

00:06:36: your car powers your house during an outage or supports the grid when demand spikes.

00:06:42: And you could even earn money doing it.

00:06:44: You mentioned what, over twelve hundred dollars a year?

00:06:46: Yeah,

00:06:46: potentially.

00:06:47: By smartly charging when power is cheap and selling it back or using it when it's expensive, it turns every parked EV into a grid asset.

00:06:55: Creates these virtual power plants.

00:06:57: Virtual power plants made of cars.

00:06:58: Wild.

00:06:59: And it's not just theory.

00:07:00: Jeff Berger actually compared several real V-to-G offers available now in Europe.

00:07:04: Oh really?

00:07:05: Who's offering them?

00:07:06: Big names, BMW with EON, Mobilize, which is Renault's brand with the mobility house, Octopus Energy, they all have contracts out there.

00:07:14: And what's the deal for the customer?

00:07:15: Basically, they enable an average user to drive for free for somewhere around eleven thousand to fourteen thousand kilometers a year.

00:07:22: Drive for free.

00:07:23: By using the car's battery flexibility.

00:07:26: Charge low, discharge high.

00:07:28: The savings or earnings cover the driving costs.

00:07:30: Wow.

00:07:31: Okay, that is a massive selling point.

00:07:33: Driving fourteen thousand kilometers for free, that could seriously boost EV adoption if it's easy to do.

00:07:38: Yeah.

00:07:39: What's the setup like?

00:07:40: Do you need tons of special gear?

00:07:41: It's

00:07:41: getting simpler, and we're seeing the products hit the market.

00:07:44: Mar-Alan and Marania fellow Jacobs, Bianca Brenner, they shared news about EON and BMW launching Germany's first proper V-two-G tariff.

00:07:52: With Viscar.

00:07:53: the new BMW ix III.

00:07:55: And Dr.

00:07:56: Jens Berger and Philip Guerrero gave more details on that car.

00:07:59: It's got an eight hundred volt system, four hundred kilowatt DC charging, and importantly, full bi-directional capability, V-to-L, V-to-H, V-to-G.

00:08:07: So the

00:08:07: car itself is ready.

00:08:08: Exactly.

00:08:09: They're positioning it not just as a car, but as a key part of the energy system, a storage device.

00:08:13: Right.

00:08:13: But the wall box, the charger at home, that needs to be special too, right?

00:08:17: Yeah.

00:08:17: And probably expensive.

00:08:18: Well, that's the surprising part.

00:08:20: Manfred Prisabilla pointed out BMW launched a DC bitty wall box.

00:08:25: That's the bi-directional one for just two thousand one hundred and seventy

00:08:29: five.

00:08:29: Wait, only around two thousand euros.

00:08:31: Yeah.

00:08:32: People expected these to be much, much pricier.

00:08:34: Hmm.

00:08:36: That's aggressive pricing.

00:08:37: What does that tell you?

00:08:37: Are they trying to kickstart the market?

00:08:39: Seems like it.

00:08:39: It makes V two X suddenly look much more accessible for homeowners.

00:08:43: broadens the market considerably.

00:08:45: And it supports that whole idea, John Reister mentioned right, that EVs aren't a burden on the grid, they're actually a resource.

00:08:51: Precisely.

00:08:53: He highlighted BTU storage solutions using five hundred retired EV batteries for grid storage down in Texas.

00:08:59: Second life batteries.

00:09:00: Yep.

00:09:00: Doubles the value of the minerals, helps smooth out renewables.

00:09:03: Great example of the circular economy.

00:09:05: That is brilliant.

00:09:06: Using old batteries to solve a grid problem.

00:09:08: Yeah.

00:09:09: Love it.

00:09:09: But okay, for this whole V-to-X thing to really take off everywhere, You need the policies and the standards lined up.

00:09:14: Absolutely

00:09:15: critical.

00:09:16: Boniface Rudolph mentioned Switzerland's new electricity law coming in January, twenty twenty six.

00:09:21: It removes the last hurdles for V two X there.

00:09:23: That's the kind of clarity needed.

00:09:25: And standards.

00:09:26: Are they keeping pace?

00:09:27: Getting there from twenty twenty seven.

00:09:29: ISO one five one eighteen twenty becomes mandatory for new wall boxes in the EU.

00:09:34: ISO, one, five, one, eighteen, twenty.

00:09:36: Okay, what is that, too?

00:09:37: It

00:09:38: basically ensures everyone's speaking the same language for bi-directional charging over the CCS plug.

00:09:43: Harmonized protocol means better interoperability, less hassle for users.

00:09:47: So my car can talk to any compatible charger, regardless of brand.

00:09:51: That's huge for confidence.

00:09:52: Exactly.

00:09:53: And Michael Keller from Sharon also stressed they're moving VTG from just paper standards to actual real-world testing, making it happen.

00:10:00: Good.

00:10:00: What about the data side of VTG?

00:10:02: Who owns it?

00:10:03: Who gets paid?

00:10:04: Ah,

00:10:04: good question.

00:10:05: Davide DeMikino explained how the EU Data Act and the updated Renewable Energy Directive, RE-III, are sorting that out.

00:10:12: He suggests OEMs might use a freemium model.

00:10:15: Basic data, like battery state of charge, is shared freely for grid services.

00:10:19: But maybe more detailed data or premium V-to-G services could have a fee.

00:10:23: A freemey model for car data.

00:10:25: Interesting.

00:10:25: Balance is accessed with a business case.

00:10:27: That seems

00:10:28: to be the idea.

00:10:29: Ensure interoperability, but let OEMs monetize value-added services.

00:10:33: But coordinating all this, the tech, policy, data, standards, hardware, It sounds incredibly complex.

00:10:40: It is.

00:10:41: And Oliver Hill really hammered this point.

00:10:43: It needs collective action.

00:10:45: What kind of action?

00:10:46: He called for financial incentives, fiscal frameworks to support bidirectional charging rollout, grid fees that actually reward V-to-G for its grid benefits, faster smart meter deployment, and, crucially, guaranteed interoperability.

00:10:59: The

00:10:59: whole ecosystem effort.

00:11:00: Truly,

00:11:01: a connected future for energy and mobility.

00:11:03: And Russell Ver also gave an update showing demonstration.

00:11:06: programs like the Mass CC V-to-X one are proving these concepts work in the real world.

00:11:11: Pilots are moving to installs.

00:11:13: Okay, it's clear the EV future is way more plugged into the grid than maybe we first thought.

00:11:18: But let's shift gears.

00:11:19: Let's talk about the heart of the EV, the

00:11:21: battery,

00:11:22: and the whole supply chain behind it.

00:11:24: Critical stuff.

00:11:25: Couldn't be more critical.

00:11:26: Santosh Singh put it really well.

00:11:28: For an EV, the batteries, the engine, fuel tank, and performance brain all rolled into one.

00:11:33: Engine, fuel tank, and brain, I like that.

00:11:35: And

00:11:35: to get this, nearly forty percent of an EV's price, it comes from the battery pack.

00:11:40: Forty percent, wow.

00:11:42: Yeah.

00:11:42: So it immediately tells you why making batteries cheaper, better, lasts longer.

00:11:47: It's the absolute key to getting EVs into everyone's driveway.

00:11:52: Mass adoption hinges on

00:11:53: it.

00:11:53: No kidding.

00:11:54: Forty percent is huge.

00:11:56: Really drives home.

00:11:57: why every bit of battery innovation matters so much.

00:12:00: And you also touched on the geopolitics.

00:12:02: Lithium, nickel, cobalt.

00:12:05: Access to these minerals is sparking intense global supply chain battles.

00:12:09: Right.

00:12:10: We hear about that constantly.

00:12:11: So on the innovation front, what's exciting right now?

00:12:14: What's pushing the tech forward?

00:12:15: Olivia Morgan shared some cool updates from Europe.

00:12:18: Mercedes-Benz, for example, they have a solid state prototype.

00:12:21: Solid state, the holy grail.

00:12:22: Getting closer.

00:12:23: This prototype went seven hundred and forty nine miles on a single charge.

00:12:27: Seven hundred and forty nine miles.

00:12:28: Seriously.

00:12:29: Seriously.

00:12:30: It's a massive step towards making those high density, potentially safer solid state cells commercially real.

00:12:36: Okay, that's a genuine range anxiety killer right there.

00:12:39: Absolutely.

00:12:39: And then there's a Dutch startup, Laienjar.

00:12:42: They raised twenty three million to scale up production of Silicon anodes.

00:12:46: Silicon anodes.

00:12:47: What's the benefit there?

00:12:48: Potentially boosting battery capacity by up to fifty percent.

00:12:51: Huge jump in energy density.

00:12:52: Fifty

00:12:52: percent more capacity.

00:12:54: Combined with solid state range, the next generation of batteries sounds incredible.

00:13:00: How soon could we see this stuff in actual cars we could buy?

00:13:02: Is it still like ten years out?

00:13:05: Some solid-state applications might appear sooner, maybe within the decade in niche areas first.

00:13:10: Silicon anodes are already starting to be blended in, and the big players are strategizing.

00:13:14: Thomas Schmall outlined VW Group's plan for their unified cell from PowerCo.

00:13:19: Unified cell.

00:13:20: Yeah, the idea is one core battery cell design platform for up to eighty percent of their vehicles.

00:13:25: Standardized, flexible, scalable, cheaper.

00:13:28: High energy, fast charging.

00:13:29: And it can handle different battery chemistries.

00:13:31: That's

00:13:31: key.

00:13:32: Flexible enough for current tech like NMC and LFP, but also ready for future stuff like solid state.

00:13:37: Adaptable.

00:13:38: Felix Mausner also highlighted their role in BMW's new ix-three battery cells, pushing range towards like, eight hundred and five column middle WLTP.

00:13:46: So progress is happening now too.

00:13:48: That unified cell approach, being flexible on chemistry, sounds incredibly smart from a manufacturing and supply chain perspective.

00:13:55: Adapts to whatever tech wins out, or whichever materials are available.

00:13:59: Exactly.

00:14:00: Hedging bets, maximizing efficiency.

00:14:02: But it's not just about new batteries, right?

00:14:04: The whole life cycle, recycling.

00:14:07: That's crucial, too.

00:14:07: Hugely important.

00:14:08: Lillian Schwitz made a strong case for sticking to Europe's twenty-thirty-five-zero emissions target for cars.

00:14:15: Why?

00:14:16: She argues that clear regulatory deadlines like that are what really drive innovation, especially in areas like battery recycling, you need that certainty.

00:14:24: Makes

00:14:25: sense.

00:14:25: Investment follows certainty.

00:14:26: And she mentioned CILIB.

00:14:28: They're building Europe's biggest EV battery recycling plant, aiming for over ninety percent recycling efficiency.

00:14:34: Ninety

00:14:34: percent efficiency.

00:14:36: at scale.

00:14:36: That's the goal.

00:14:37: Yeah.

00:14:37: Improved circular economy models aren't just theory.

00:14:40: They can work and massively reduce the need for new mining.

00:14:43: That's fantastic news.

00:14:45: It tackles one of the biggest criticisms of EVs head on the environmental cost of batteries.

00:14:50: Does recycling actually make economic sense now or does it still need subsidies?

00:14:54: It's getting much better, especially as raw material prices fluctuate and regulations tighten.

00:15:00: The economics are improving.

00:15:01: Good

00:15:01: to hear.

00:15:02: And speaking of raw materials and global flows, Oigan, Filipinko, Siebert pointed out a pretty dramatic shift.

00:15:08: Oh,

00:15:09: yeah.

00:15:09: What shift?

00:15:10: Korean lithium-ion battery exports to the U.S.

00:15:13: They surged, like, thirteen, three hundred, twenty percent year over year.

00:15:17: Whoa, thirteen hundred percent.

00:15:19: Yep.

00:15:20: Well, at the same time, Chinese battery imports to the U.S.

00:15:23: dropped sharply.

00:15:24: Okay, that clearly shows the geopolitical plate shifting.

00:15:28: Pariffs, strategic partnerships like the IRA and the U.S.

00:15:32: It's redrawing the map.

00:15:33: Absolutely.

00:15:34: It's not just about the best tech anymore.

00:15:35: It's about secure, friendly supply chains, national strategy playing out, and battery imports.

00:15:40: It

00:15:40: really is a fundamental reshaping of global manufacturing.

00:15:44: Fascinating and maybe a little scary.

00:15:45: Definitely dynamic times.

00:15:47: Well, this has been a packed deep dive.

00:15:49: If you enjoyed this, remember new editions jam every two weeks.

00:15:52: You can also check out our other deep dives covering future mobility and market evolution, next-gen vehicle intelligence, and commercial fleet insights.

00:15:59: And I think what we've really seen today is that electrification, it's way beyond just faster cars or slightly bigger batteries now.

00:16:06: It's fundamentally about weaving mobility into the entire energy system.

00:16:10: Right.

00:16:11: Every EV becomes a potential grid asset.

00:16:13: Exactly.

00:16:14: Moving towards that future where your car isn't just transport, it's an active player in energy management, grid stability, maybe even your home's power backup.

00:16:24: So maybe the final thought, the critical question for everyone listening, especially those in the industry.

00:16:29: Are we really ready culturally and technically to embrace these vehicles, not just as things we drive, but as these mobile power plants?

00:16:38: Are we ready to actively participate in shaping that smarter, more resilient grid?

00:16:43: A

00:16:43: lot to think about there.

00:16:44: Definitely.

00:16:44: Thanks for joining us on this deep dive.

00:16:47: Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss our next edition, where we'll keep unpacking the most important insights shaking up the world of mobility.