Best of LinkedIn: Electrification & Battery Technology CW 38/ 39

00:00:00: brought to you by Thomas Ulgeyer and Frennus.

00:00:02: This edition highlights key LinkedIn posts on electrification and battery technology in weeks thirty-eight and thirty-nine.

00:00:09: Frennus supports automotive enterprises and consultancies with market and competitive intelligence, so product teams and strategy leaders do have the optimal base for their strategic decisions.

00:00:19: Welcome.

00:00:20: And if you're following the mobility space, you'll know the pace of changes.

00:00:23: Well, it's not just fast anymore.

00:00:25: It's really accelerating into commercial reality.

00:00:27: That's right.

00:00:27: Just over the last couple of weeks, we've really seen things like V-to-X and heavy-duty charging, sort of leapfrogs, the R&D stage.

00:00:35: You know, big commitments from OEMs, utility partnerships.

00:00:39: It's happening.

00:00:40: Absolutely.

00:00:41: And our mission today for you listening is really to give you the shortcut.

00:00:44: We're boiling down the key electrification and battery tech trends from LinkedIn, specifically weeks thirty-eight and thirty-nine.

00:00:51: We're clustering all that info into themes that you can actually use.

00:00:54: Right.

00:00:54: We're covering quite a range from the, let's say, revolutionary economics of your parked car all the way up to the megawatt charging needed for global logistics.

00:01:03: Okay.

00:01:04: So let's start right there with that economic revolution.

00:01:07: Theme one.

00:01:08: bidirectional, V-IIX, and this whole concept of the vehicle as a power plant.

00:01:14: It's a huge shift.

00:01:15: For ages, the car just used energy.

00:01:17: Just

00:01:17: a consumer.

00:01:18: Exactly.

00:01:18: Now it's becoming potentially a crucial energy asset.

00:01:22: And it's not just theory.

00:01:23: We saw Patrick Fang sharing his actual experience.

00:01:26: He used the V-IIL that's vehicle to load on his BYD Ato III during a power cut.

00:01:31: Really?

00:01:32: What did he?

00:01:32: power?

00:01:33: plugged in his fridge and freezer, kept him running.

00:01:35: I mean, that's the basic, most relatable value of V-two X right there.

00:01:39: You know, V-two L, V-two H for vehicle-to-home, and the big one, V-two G, vehicle-to-grid.

00:01:44: It makes total sense.

00:01:45: And the market's definitely responding.

00:01:46: We saw Mercedes-Benz, AG, and the mobility house are planning a V-to-G product launch for twenty twenty six.

00:01:52: Yeah, that's not far off.

00:01:53: No, it's really not.

00:01:54: And what makes this feasible, what's really interesting is the cost drop.

00:01:58: Manfred Pritzabillo pointed this out.

00:01:59: These bi-directional DC wall boxes, they used to be maybe ten thousand euros.

00:02:03: Wow.

00:02:04: Yeah, way too much for most people.

00:02:05: Right.

00:02:05: Now they're showing up on price lists around, get this, two thousand ninety four.

00:02:09: Okay, that changes everything.

00:02:11: That kind of drops signals real market maturity, doesn't it?

00:02:14: Manufacturing scale must be kicking

00:02:16: in.

00:02:16: Precisely.

00:02:17: It takes bi-directional charging from, you know, niche pilot projects to something that could become a standard home feature.

00:02:23: And that feeds right into the commercial models we're seeing, especially in Europe.

00:02:27: Exactly.

00:02:28: Like EON and BMW.

00:02:29: They've launched the first commercial VTG offering in Germany, specifically for BMW iX-III owners.

00:02:35: And the hook is free charging at home.

00:02:37: Essentially, yes.

00:02:39: Alexander Gaetan-Giev actually calculated that the compensation from this V-to-G setup could cover about fourteen thousand kilometers of driving per year

00:02:48: for free.

00:02:49: Fourteen thousand kilometers?

00:02:51: That's a massive incentive.

00:02:52: That's a game changer.

00:02:53: It really is.

00:02:54: But you know, the regulations are still playing catch-up.

00:02:57: Patrick Fang also mentioned this regarding the Netherlands.

00:03:00: VDG and VDUH are hitting snags there with things like double energy taxation.

00:03:04: Ah,

00:03:05: the regulatory hurdles.

00:03:06: Yeah, though the government is apparently aiming to sort that out by twenty twenty-five.

00:03:10: It does seem like policy coordination is kind of the final bottleneck now.

00:03:14: That sounds familiar.

00:03:15: We saw that echoed elsewhere too, right?

00:03:17: Absolutely.

00:03:18: Look at the US.

00:03:19: Kevin Knight highlighted the first residential V-to-G distributed power plant in Baltimore.

00:03:24: It uses Ford F- one fifty lightnings

00:03:26: the Ford trip project right with BGE and Sun Run.

00:03:30: That's the one.

00:03:31: and Luis Galar's this take was spot-on.

00:03:33: the tech works Ford GM.

00:03:36: They've proved it.

00:03:38: The real challenge is getting the business models aligned between the car makers the utilities and well all the regulators.

00:03:44: So it's moved beyond a hardware problem.

00:03:46: It's more of an institutional coordination problem now.

00:03:48: You got it And to help with that, Bastian Vilbrun shared news from California.

00:03:53: They funded a trial for the world's first curbside V-IIG EV charger.

00:03:57: Curbside, that's interesting.

00:03:58: Developed by It's Electric.

00:04:00: Yep, that's crucial for cities, right?

00:04:02: Where lots of people park on the street, not in garages.

00:04:04: Getting that public right-of-way integration is key.

00:04:07: Okay, so that's the V-IIX picture.

00:04:08: Let's shift gears now.

00:04:09: From passenger cars providing power, let's talk about powering the really big vehicles.

00:04:14: Right, theme two.

00:04:15: Heavy duty.

00:04:16: megawatt and high power charging.

00:04:18: If VTG is managing local energy, This is about enabling, well, global supply chains.

00:04:24: And scaling up that infrastructure, especially the megawatt charging system, MCS, that needs serious coordination.

00:04:30: Christoph LeFillibair and Moritz Warnfeld both stressed this.

00:04:34: Success really hinges on the whole ecosystem playing together.

00:04:37: OEMs, charger makers, grid operators.

00:04:40: Otherwise, you end up with stranded assets that just don't work together.

00:04:43: Yeah, interoperability is paramount.

00:04:45: And what's fascinating is seeing how close the battery performance in these trucks is getting to what fleets expand.

00:04:50: You mean range?

00:04:51: Range, exactly.

00:04:53: Rustam Coacher had a really interesting observation.

00:04:55: He pointed out that current battery tech, like in the Mercedes E-Aktro, is actually matching or even beating fuel cell efficiency for long hauls now.

00:05:04: We're talking four hundred and eighty to six hundred kilometers.

00:05:06: Wait, four hundred and eighty to six hundred kilometers range on battery?

00:05:10: If that's closing the gap, then MCS, the fast charging part, becomes even more critical.

00:05:15: It sort of chips away at hydrogen's main advantage, doesn't it?

00:05:18: It really does.

00:05:19: If you can add That's a five hundred kilometers of range in maybe twenty minutes.

00:05:23: Does the whole fuel cell debate change?

00:05:26: It's a good question.

00:05:27: And

00:05:27: the infrastructure rollout seems to be following that logic.

00:05:30: It does.

00:05:31: Adrian Breveson announced BP Pulse and Moto are putting MCS chargers into three major UK motorway service areas.

00:05:38: These are key locations for logistics.

00:05:40: And we saw huge investment news from the US too.

00:05:43: Oh yeah, EV Realty.

00:05:44: They secured seventy five million dollars for heavy duty charging hubs in California.

00:05:48: Steve Greenfield shared details on one site, San Bernardino, I think.

00:05:52: What's

00:05:52: special about

00:05:52: it?

00:05:52: Designed for volume.

00:05:54: Four pull through stalls using MCS plugs.

00:05:57: They estimate it can charge over two hundred class eight trucks daily.

00:06:00: That's real scale.

00:06:01: Two

00:06:01: hundred trucks a day?

00:06:02: Okay, that's serious deployment.

00:06:03: And the hardware needs to be flexible too.

00:06:06: Ting Chi noted a new dispenser design that has dual CCS-II connectors.

00:06:10: Ah, so it works with current trucks too.

00:06:12: Exactly.

00:06:13: offers flexibility now while the platform itself evolves towards MCS.

00:06:17: It's like building a bridge to that megawatt future.

00:06:19: Makes sense.

00:06:20: And while we're talking high power, we shouldn't forget passenger cars are pushing boundaries too.

00:06:25: Ultra fast charging.

00:06:26: Right.

00:06:26: Marcus Schaefer and Justin Park confirmed Mercedes-Benz is equipping its network with Alpetronic HYC- one thousand chargers starting in twenty twenty

00:06:35: six.

00:06:35: HYC- one thousand.

00:06:37: How fast is that?

00:06:38: up to six hundred kilowatts per charging point.

00:06:41: Six hundred?

00:06:42: Wow, what does that mean in range?

00:06:43: We're saying up to three hundred twenty-five kilometers in just ten minutes.

00:06:46: Ten

00:06:46: minutes?

00:06:46: Okay, that's basically a quick stop at a gas station.

00:06:49: That really tackles charging anxiety.

00:06:51: It

00:06:51: absolutely does.

00:06:52: But then, then you see the really extreme end of innovation.

00:06:56: And Angola highlighted BYD's Super E platform.

00:07:00: Super E platform?

00:07:01: What are they claiming?

00:07:02: Get

00:07:02: this.

00:07:03: Capability for a full megawatt.

00:07:05: One thousand kilowatts.

00:07:06: One thousand kilowatts.

00:07:08: That's the claim.

00:07:09: They say it translates to four hundred kilometers of range in just five minutes.

00:07:12: Five

00:07:13: minutes for four hundred kilometers.

00:07:14: That's incredible, but it must raise huge technical challenges, right?

00:07:17: Heat.

00:07:18: Grid impact.

00:07:19: Massive challenges.

00:07:21: Managing that kind of power.

00:07:23: The heat.

00:07:24: The sudden load on the grid.

00:07:25: It requires radical steps in battery thermal management.

00:07:29: Grid stability.

00:07:30: which actually brings us perfectly to our next theme.

00:07:33: Right.

00:07:33: Theme three.

00:07:34: Grid integration, storage, and energy management.

00:07:37: Because all this talk of megawatt charging, V-to-G, electric fleets, it all comes back to the grid.

00:07:44: How do we handle these huge power demands and integrate renewables effectively?

00:07:49: And the answer seems to be moving towards decentralized management.

00:07:53: Janesh Vinayashandran detailed a really interesting DC microgrid architecture from Eaton and ChargePoint.

00:07:59: How does that work?

00:08:00: Basically, it centralizes the AC to DC power conversion away from the individual chargers.

00:08:05: Makes it set up simpler, cheaper, and crucially, it acts as a buffer.

00:08:09: It shields the main utility grid from those massive sudden spikes when multiple cars start fast charging.

00:08:14: Okay, so the microgrid absorbs the shock locally instead of hitting the main grid directly.

00:08:18: Precisely.

00:08:19: And what if the grid connection itself is just limited?

00:08:23: That's where storage comes in.

00:08:24: Chow Gong described a system that integrates the charging unit directly with its own storage cabinet.

00:08:30: Uses custom blade cells.

00:08:31: So the charger has its own battery backup?

00:08:34: Kind of.

00:08:34: It lets multiple fast chargers run at full power, even if the grid feed is modest.

00:08:39: The storage buffers the peak demand.

00:08:41: You turn a weaker connection into a high power hub.

00:08:44: Clever.

00:08:45: Are we seeing this kind of smart management deployed widely?

00:08:48: We are.

00:08:48: Nicholas Lurch noted that ORCAN, the charging operator in Iceland, adopted something called the Harmony Energy Management System.

00:08:55: Harmony?

00:08:56: What does it do?

00:08:57: It actively balances the charging loads across their network.

00:09:00: It shaves off the peaks in demand on the grid, especially during busy times.

00:09:04: It's smart grid management in action, particularly important somewhere like Iceland with its unique grid challenges.

00:09:10: And this kind of active management, it ties back to policy changes too, doesn't it?

00:09:14: Directly.

00:09:16: Eugen Philippenko Siebert and Christoph Metz highlighted a really key proposal from the German Bundesnetzagentour.

00:09:23: That's their Federal Network Agency, the grid regulator.

00:09:25: Okay, the German regulator, what's the proposal?

00:09:28: It basically allows... Private energy storage, think home batteries, and yes, bi-directional EV charging to actively participate in the energy market.

00:09:37: Actively participate,

00:09:39: meaning... Meaning households with EVs or batteries aren't just consuming power, they can become flexible resources for the grid.

00:09:46: They can essentially buy energy when it's cheap and plentiful, store it, and potentially sell it back or provide grid services when demand is high.

00:09:54: prosumers.

00:09:55: Wow.

00:09:56: So your car or your home battery becomes an active player in the energy market.

00:10:00: That really is the convergence of mobility and energy.

00:10:03: The car is not just transport anymore, it's an economic unit.

00:10:05: Exactly.

00:10:06: Which leads us nicely into the final theme, looking at the core technology itself.

00:10:11: Theme four, battery tech.

00:10:13: safety and circularity.

00:10:14: Right, the battery itself.

00:10:15: What's new on the tech front?

00:10:17: We saw some movement in solid state, right?

00:10:18: He did.

00:10:19: Leo G reported EV Energy has started production of solid state batteries at a facility they call Long-Quantu.

00:10:26: Solid state.

00:10:27: That's been the goal for a while.

00:10:28: Are they aiming for cars yet?

00:10:29: Not mass market cars, not yet.

00:10:31: They're targeting high power niches first, things like robotics, UAVs, drones.

00:10:35: They're claiming three hundred watt hours per kilogram energy density, which is good.

00:10:40: But it seems like a smart strategy.

00:10:42: Yeah.

00:10:42: prove it out in specialized high-margin areas first.

00:10:45: Okay, refine the tech before going big.

00:10:48: Makes sense.

00:10:49: What about safety for the batteries we have now?

00:10:51: Huge focus there.

00:10:53: Anand Gulla noted CATL's shing-sing pro-battery.

00:10:57: It's an LFP chemistry lithium-iron phosphate which is already known for being stable, but CATL is guaranteeing no fire, no smoke.

00:11:05: even after a thermal

00:11:06: runaway event.

00:11:06: No fire, no smoke, that's a big claim.

00:11:08: That's massive for confidence, both for consumers and regulators.

00:11:11: Absolutely

00:11:11: monumental.

00:11:12: And then on the really conceptual side of safety, Riesel and Kapustin discussed a prototype system.

00:11:17: That's pretty wild.

00:11:19: It proposes ejecting the battery pack at high speed.

00:11:22: The instant thermal runaway is detected.

00:11:24: Think like an airbag deploying, but for the battery.

00:11:26: Ejecting the battery, wow, that's a completely different approach to managing the risk.

00:11:30: It really is.

00:11:30: It just shows how seriously safety is being taken.

00:11:33: Now, Shifting from the start of life to the end.

00:11:37: Let's talk circular economy.

00:11:39: We have to address that landfill myth.

00:11:42: Ah, yes.

00:11:42: The idea that EV batteries just end up in landfill.

00:11:45: Exactly.

00:11:46: Jordan Marsden tackled this really well.

00:11:48: He pointed out that demand for second life EV batteries is actually surging, especially for stationary storage.

00:11:55: Why stationary storage specifically?

00:11:57: Why are old car batteries good for that?

00:11:59: Well, Even when a battery isn't quite good enough for a car anymore, it still holds a lot of charge compared to a typical home battery unit.

00:12:07: An old EV pack is often about five times more powerful.

00:12:10: They still have significant capacity and are pretty durable.

00:12:13: Five times more powerful.

00:12:14: OK, I can see why they'd be valuable for say businesses or grid buffering.

00:12:18: Definitely.

00:12:19: And that value is fueling startups.

00:12:21: Gavin Mooney mentioned a wave of new.

00:12:23: Second life battery companies popping up in Australia, they were repurposing packs for homes, farms, businesses.

00:12:29: And we saw this elsewhere too.

00:12:30: Yeah, Nick Nesbick confirmed the same trend in Canada.

00:12:33: He highlighted MapleView Energy in Ontario, specifically turning old EV batteries into energy storage systems.

00:12:41: So there's a real growing market for these used batteries.

00:12:44: There is.

00:12:45: And supporting this whole cycle, from making new batteries to repurposing old ones, George Kazansis and Omid Kazemi announced Henkel opened a new battery application center in North America.

00:12:55: Henkel,

00:12:55: the materials company.

00:12:56: That's them.

00:12:58: This center is all about hands-on material development working directly with customers in the region to innovate faster.

00:13:04: It helps accelerate everything from first-life performance to making second-life reuse easier.

00:13:09: Okay, that really brings us full circle, doesn't it?

00:13:12: Looking back at these two weeks, the big takeaway for me is just how intertwined mobility and energy have become.

00:13:17: It's not two separate industries anymore.

00:13:20: It's converging into one integrated system, and it's being pushed by hardware costs, dropping like a stone, much smarter energy management, and crucially, those policy shifts happening globally.

00:13:31: Absolutely.

00:13:32: If you enjoyed this deep dive, new episodes drop every two weeks.

00:13:36: Also, check out our other editions on future mobility and market evolution, next-gen vehicle intelligence, and commercial fleet insights.

00:13:42: Thank you for joining us.

00:13:44: Subscribe to ensure you never miss a deep dive.

00:13:47: And just before we sign off, here's a final thought for you to chew on, something Andreas Thorsheim pointed out.

00:13:52: A single, one hundred kilowatt-hour EV battery holds enough energy to power an average five-person home for about five days.

00:14:01: Five full days.

00:14:02: Now think about those new terrace and grid programs designed to actually pay customers to connect their EVs and help stabilize the grid.

00:14:09: Consider the incredible untapped value sitting right there in cars parked in driveways and on city streets all over the world.

00:14:16: So the question to Mollover is, what's the real economic future of a car that might actually earn you money while it's just sitting there

00:14:23: parked?