Best of LinkedIn: Electrification & Battery Technology CW 42/ 43

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

00:00:02: This edition highlights key LinkedIn posts on electrification and battery technology in weeks forty-two and forty-three.

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

00:00:20: Welcome to the deep dive.

00:00:21: So our mission today Tracking the top electrification and battery technology trends we've seen bubbling up on LinkedIn these past two weeks.

00:00:29: Yeah, we're really looking past the initial hype,

00:00:31: aren't we?

00:00:32: Exactly.

00:00:32: Focusing on the practical side, the interoperability, the ecosystem.

00:00:36: that's actually, well, starting to take shape.

00:00:38: Finally.

00:00:39: Right.

00:00:39: The sources we've gathered show some real movement beyond just promises.

00:00:43: We're seeing stuff around grid integration, reliability.

00:00:45: And crucially, the actual user experience.

00:00:48: Yes.

00:00:49: It feels like there's more focus on execution discipline now, not just grand visions.

00:00:53: Yeah.

00:00:53: Which honestly is a great sign for the industry's maturity.

00:00:56: Definitely.

00:00:57: Okay, so where should we start?

00:00:58: Let's dive in.

00:00:59: Okay, well... The biggest conceptual shift, I think, that we saw trending was how people are viewing the electric vehicle itself.

00:01:07: Uh-huh.

00:01:07: Not just transport anymore.

00:01:08: Not just transport.

00:01:09: It's being seriously looked at as a mobile energy asset, and that's driving this intense focus on vehicle-to-everything, V-to-X.

00:01:17: Right.

00:01:17: And specifically, vehicle-to-grid V-to-G.

00:01:20: Exactly.

00:01:20: V-to-G technology.

00:01:22: And

00:01:22: this is where, you know, the theory really hits the pocketbook.

00:01:24: Yeah.

00:01:25: Shrini Kasturi.

00:01:26: highlighted the actual real-world potential right now.

00:01:29: Oh, yeah.

00:01:30: What did he find?

00:01:31: He cited these UK trials using bidirectional charging on the Nissan Leaf.

00:01:35: Yeah.

00:01:36: Owners were getting between like, three hundred and eight hundred pounds a year.

00:01:39: Wow.

00:01:40: Just in savings or actual earnings?

00:01:41: Both.

00:01:42: Savings or direct earnings.

00:01:43: That's a pretty decent utility offset, right?

00:01:45: That really changes the calculation and it adds resilience too.

00:01:48: Lubomila Jordanova was talking about the value of that stored energy.

00:01:52: How so?

00:01:53: She pointed out that a standard EV battery, even a smaller, forty kilowatt or one, up to maybe one hundred and twenty kilowatts, holds enough juice to power a typical home during a blackout.

00:02:02: For how long?

00:02:03: For days, not just a few hours.

00:02:05: It's kind of like the backup generator of the future built right into your car.

00:02:09: Okay.

00:02:10: And if we connect that potential, that sort of mobile power plant idea to the wider grid, Katelyn Harrison showed why this is becoming essential.

00:02:18: Right,

00:02:19: for managing peak demand.

00:02:20: Exactly.

00:02:21: Especially in places like California, batteries are already helping avoid firing up those expensive polluting gas peaker plants.

00:02:28: I saw that.

00:02:29: In June, utility-scale batteries met something like twenty-eight percent of the evening peak demand.

00:02:35: Yeah, roughly twenty-eight percent.

00:02:36: That's huge.

00:02:37: And VDG could... potentially let millions of cars provide that same kind of grid service.

00:02:42: And this potential, it's actually driving policy now too.

00:02:45: Marco Muller reported on Germany's new charging infrastructure master plan, twenty thirty

00:02:50: plus the focus there.

00:02:51: Bidirectional charging is flagged as a key innovation area.

00:02:54: They're promising future funding and even simplifying tax rules for V-to-X systems.

00:02:59: So policy is starting to catch up.

00:03:01: That's good.

00:03:01: It is.

00:03:02: But all this investment, all this policy, it kind of hinges on the car manufacturers actually committing to the feature, right?

00:03:09: And here's the snack.

00:03:10: Yep.

00:03:11: Dougie Blair spotted what could be a really crippling roadblock.

00:03:14: It's about the Volkswagen ID buzz.

00:03:17: The

00:03:17: discharge limit.

00:03:18: Exactly.

00:03:19: It apparently has a lifetime discharge limit of only ten thousand kilowatts.

00:03:23: Ten thousand?

00:03:24: Wait, that sounds

00:03:25: low.

00:03:25: It's, as Daggy Blair put it, an insanely small number.

00:03:30: Think about it.

00:03:31: If you're using V-to-G regularly, maybe earning that five hundred pounds a year we talked about.

00:03:36: How

00:03:36: long would it take to hit that limit?

00:03:37: Maybe just twelve to twenty-four months.

00:03:40: A year or two.

00:03:41: Wow.

00:03:42: Okay, so if that limit is hard-coded... Mm-hmm.

00:03:45: What does that mean for the owner?

00:03:46: Well, it forces this choice, doesn't it?

00:03:49: Use the V-to-G feature you bought the car for, or preserve the car's resale value.

00:03:53: Because who wants to buy a used EV that can't do V-to-G anymore?

00:03:56: Precisely.

00:03:57: It basically undermines the whole idea of the EV battery as a long-term energy asset.

00:04:01: Well, it collapses the business case for V-to-G.

00:04:03: So the solution has to be better integration.

00:04:07: standards.

00:04:07: Yes,

00:04:08: seamless integration.

00:04:09: Yeah.

00:04:09: Shrini Kasturi noted that standards like ISO one one eighteen twenty technically make bi-directional charging straightforward.

00:04:15: The hardware is ready.

00:04:16: The protocols are there.

00:04:17: Seems so.

00:04:18: The bottleneck is really the slow adoption and deployment by the manufacturers.

00:04:22: They seem hesitant to fully enable it across their fleets.

00:04:25: And that hesitation leads to fragmentation.

00:04:28: Sylvain Juteau really stressed the need for universal interoperability.

00:04:32: Like

00:04:32: the Sygynergy and Tyga motors.

00:04:34: V-to-X testing collaboration you mentioned?

00:04:36: Exactly.

00:04:37: We need to avoid proprietary roadblocks, otherwise we end up repeating the early supercharger network.

00:04:42: mess, right?

00:04:42: Yeah,

00:04:43: but applied to energy transfer, which is arguably even more critical.

00:04:46: So

00:04:47: the big V-to-G vision, it's kind of stalled by standards adoption and these manufacturer limits right now.

00:04:52: Which actually brings us nicely to the next point.

00:04:55: Speaking of standards and operational discipline, or the lack thereof, let's talk about the current charging experience.

00:05:02: Ah, yes.

00:05:03: Moving from the future vision to the sometimes painful reality of public charging today.

00:05:09: The main pain point.

00:05:11: Still brutally simple.

00:05:12: Uptime and utilization.

00:05:13: Right.

00:05:14: And what's really fascinating here is the contradiction in the numbers people are reporting.

00:05:18: Angela E. put it really well.

00:05:20: Scale without discipline just multiplies inefficiency.

00:05:23: He cited this study.

00:05:24: twenty thousand public chargers.

00:05:27: Functional uptime averaged just seventy-three point seven percent.

00:05:31: Seventy-three, wow.

00:05:34: That's miles away from the ninety-nine percent.

00:05:36: Minimum operators often claim, isn't it?

00:05:38: Miles away.

00:05:39: But here's the kicker.

00:05:40: Go on.

00:05:40: If uptime is that bad, why is utilization also so low?

00:05:44: You'd think people would be fighting over the working chargers.

00:05:47: Good point.

00:05:48: What's the average utilization?

00:05:49: In the

00:05:50: U.S.,

00:05:50: the national average is only around sixteen percent.

00:05:53: Sixteen.

00:05:54: Okay, so it's not just a lack of plugs then.

00:05:56: Exactly.

00:05:57: That low utilization suggests the problem isn't just availability, it's, well, it's trust.

00:06:02: And the horrible user experience, the UX?

00:06:04: People don't trust that the charger will work or that they'll be able to figure it out if it does.

00:06:08: Precisely.

00:06:09: Nobody wants to drive somewhere expecting a charge only to find it's broken or impossible to use.

00:06:13: Yeah, that user experience is still a huge blocker.

00:06:16: Yeah.

00:06:16: Debt Trug shared this really telling personal story.

00:06:19: He had to basically teach his wife.

00:06:21: who he described as a non-car person, all the complexities, you know, power limits in the chain, finding stations that actually work with plug-in charge.

00:06:28: Even navigating the car

00:06:30: apps.

00:06:30: Yeah, apps failing to give clear instructions on setup or how to start the charge.

00:06:35: He felt the car manufacturer just dropped the ball on making it seamless.

00:06:39: And CPOs, the charge point operators, they're finally getting that reliability isn't just a marketing slogan, it's their entire business model.

00:06:46: They have to be.

00:06:47: This

00:06:47: one of those laid out ten key factors for designing stations strategically.

00:06:52: Things like grid readiness, scalability.

00:06:55: But also the basics.

00:06:56: Right.

00:06:56: Like clear signs.

00:06:57: Yeah.

00:06:57: Decent lighting.

00:06:58: Exactly.

00:06:59: And proximity to amenities, restrooms, coffee.

00:07:02: It all adds up if you want people to actually use the chargers to get that utilization above a dismal sixteen percent.

00:07:09: Okay, so improving the basics.

00:07:11: What about other solutions?

00:07:12: We're seeing more about energy storage at stations, aren't

00:07:14: we?

00:07:15: Huge traction there.

00:07:16: Especially where the grid is constrained.

00:07:19: how on-site batteries, BESS, can supplement the grid.

00:07:23: How does that help the CPO?

00:07:24: Well, it helps them keep those expensive grid demand fees down.

00:07:28: And potentially, they could even sell services back to the grid operator, make the station an asset itself.

00:07:33: Kimon Beckman reinforced that too, right?

00:07:35: Saying BS is becoming almost standard for ultra-fast charging.

00:07:39: Pretty

00:07:39: much.

00:07:40: because it helps manage those huge instantaneous power sparks when a car plugs into a really fast charger.

00:07:46: It smooths things out for the grid.

00:07:47: And we're seeing solar integrated too.

00:07:50: Muhammad Ahmadullah highlighted using solar car ports for smart charging.

00:07:54: How

00:07:54: much power can those generate?

00:07:55: About nine to ten kilowatts per parking space, which is pretty significant.

00:08:00: Enough to offset the station's own power use, like for lights and cameras.

00:08:04: Yeah,

00:08:04: enough to cover the whole auxiliary load lights, CCTV, payment screens with zero cost energy, and still offset some of the energy going into the cars during sunny periods.

00:08:13: Smart, okay.

00:08:14: And on the expansion front, any interesting partnerships?

00:08:17: Bill Pierce reported on the Iona and Casey's partnership.

00:08:20: They're putting four hundred kilowatt or fast charging into underserved areas in the Midwest.

00:08:24: Casey's.

00:08:25: Like the convenience store chain.

00:08:27: Exactly.

00:08:28: Embedding high-speed charging where people are already stopping anyway.

00:08:31: It's a smart play focused on driving utilization, not just planting flags.

00:08:36: Makes sense.

00:08:37: But we keep circling back to the standards issue undermining the experience.

00:08:41: CasterH Rasmussen had a pretty stark point about OCPP, two point zero point one.

00:08:46: Yeah, that's the protocol for plug and charge and smart charging, right?

00:08:48: It is.

00:08:49: And five years after its release, adoption is still below one percent across networks.

00:08:53: One percent?

00:08:55: Seriously, that's, well, that's pretty staggering.

00:08:57: It

00:08:57: really is.

00:08:58: And it directly explains why users like Dottrom's wife are still, you know, fumbling with apps and different authentication methods.

00:09:05: The technology to fix the main UX.

00:09:07: pain point exists.

00:09:08: But the industry just isn't deploying it.

00:09:10: why.

00:09:11: Okay, let's shift gears completely.

00:09:13: Heavy duty.

00:09:14: Logistics.

00:09:15: That sector seems to be moving at, well, megawatt speed.

00:09:19: Literally.

00:09:20: Marcus Hellebrand highlighted the new Mercedes E-Actro's six hundred.

00:09:23: What's the range on that?

00:09:24: Over five hundred kilometers, powered by Hefti's six hundred kilowatt or LFP batteries, makes long distance electric trucking really viable for everyday use.

00:09:33: And the

00:09:33: key is the charging, right?

00:09:35: How it fits the operation.

00:09:36: Exactly.

00:09:37: The mandatory, forty-five minute driving brake truckers have to take.

00:09:42: That can now be used for charging using the new megawatt charging systems, MCS.

00:09:46: So downtime becomes productive charging time.

00:09:49: That's clever.

00:09:50: It solves a big piece of the long-haul puzzle and the infrastructure is rolling out fast.

00:09:55: Juno Torres announced Finland's first MCS installation is already live.

00:10:00: And Stian Matheson shared news from Norway.

00:10:02: Yeah, ASCO installed a two point four megawatt system.

00:10:05: Their Scania trucks can charge at seven hundred and fifty kilowatts right now, with the potential to hit the full one point two milliw later.

00:10:12: The scale is just massive.

00:10:14: Europe seems to be building the backbone for this.

00:10:16: Jorge Hueso-Pucurl discussed violence.

00:10:19: That's the joint venture, Volvo, Daimler, Traiton.

00:10:23: Right.

00:10:23: They're creating an MCS corridor from Antwerp all the way to Stockholm, aiming for thirty-thirty-five minute charge times for long haul trucks.

00:10:30: And crucially, a unified tariff across different countries.

00:10:33: That's essential for smooth cross-border logistics.

00:10:35: Definitely.

00:10:36: But this scale, it forces fleets to rethink their own operations too.

00:10:40: Christoph LaFillibere made that point.

00:10:41: About

00:10:42: depot charging.

00:10:42: Yeah.

00:10:43: It's not just kilowatt hour anymore.

00:10:44: It's megawatt hours.

00:10:45: Complex patterns.

00:10:47: Fleets need really holistic energy management.

00:10:50: They need to turn their depots into actual energy hubs.

00:10:53: Makes sense.

00:10:54: It's a completely different energy profile.

00:10:56: And while commercial is focused on this practical scale, the consumer side is seeing some almost wild tech pushes.

00:11:03: Like what?

00:11:04: Toby Clark highlighted a new BYD family SUV.

00:11:08: It's got a thousand volt architecture.

00:11:10: Okay.

00:11:11: And a thousand kilowatt peak charging capability.

00:11:14: That's supposedly four hundred kilometers of range in just five minutes.

00:11:18: A thousand kilowatts.

00:11:19: Wow.

00:11:20: Can it even use that anywhere yet?

00:11:21: Well, it can apparently plug into two chargers simultaneously, maybe overkill for most people's daily drives, but it's certainly a statement about their innovation capability.

00:11:30: Definitely pushing the envelope.

00:11:32: Okay, let's maybe zoom out for our last theme.

00:11:34: the macro context, policy, sustainability.

00:11:37: Right,

00:11:37: because none of this happens in a vacuum.

00:11:38: The conversations around material security, for example, they're getting much louder.

00:11:43: Martin Camara had a point about that, didn't he?

00:11:44: It's not that the minerals are rare.

00:11:46: Exactly.

00:11:47: The minerals themselves aren't necessarily rare earth elements in the strictest sense, but the processing power is concentrated.

00:11:54: China dominates.

00:11:55: Holds

00:11:56: ninety percent plus of rare earth refining and huge chunks of lithium cobalt nickel processing too.

00:12:02: And why is that a strategic risk beyond just sourcing?

00:12:06: Because it means crucial complex steps in building a battery are almost entirely controlled by one geopolitical player.

00:12:13: It introduces fragility, potential leverage.

00:12:16: It's a massive concern for governments and companies in the West trying to build resilient local supply chains.

00:12:22: And tied into that is recycling, right?

00:12:24: keeping materials circulating domestically.

00:12:26: Yes.

00:12:26: Kadishah raised a really critical issue about battery recycling specifically in the U.S.

00:12:31: These end-of-life EV batteries are like a goldmine of reusable minerals.

00:12:35: Google

00:12:36: Lithium Nickel.

00:12:37: all that good stuff.

00:12:38: But there's no national US law for extended producer responsibility, EPR.

00:12:42: Explain EPR quickly.

00:12:44: It basically mandates that the manufacturer is financially responsible for managing the product when it reaches end of life.

00:12:50: Think collection, recycling.

00:12:51: And

00:12:51: without that national mandate in the US.

00:12:53: There's no consistent funding or volume guarantee for domestic recyclers.

00:12:58: So most of that valuable battery material currently gets shipped overseas for processing.

00:13:02: Which slows down building the very domestic recycling capacity.

00:13:06: US needs to counter that reliance on form processing we just talked about.

00:13:10: Exactly.

00:13:11: It's a frustrating loop.

00:13:12: Hmm.

00:13:13: So this whole deep dive, it really shows the industry juggling a lot at once, trying to fix these fragmented user experiences, like with OCPP adoption lagging.

00:13:23: While

00:13:24: simultaneously rolling out next gen tech like MCS for heavy duty trucks across continents.

00:13:29: And still grappling with these fundamental strategic questions.

00:13:32: Yeah.

00:13:32: Is VDG truly viable with limits like VWs.

00:13:36: How do we secure the materials we need long term?

00:13:39: It's definitely a messy phase, but also pretty exciting.

00:13:42: We're seeing real execution now.

00:13:43: Absolutely.

00:13:44: Well, if you enjoyed this deep dive, remember new additions drop every two weeks.

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00:13:52: And definitely check out our other additions too.

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