Battery Costs have Dropped 88 percent Within the past decade

Expand (charge: Eric Bangeman / Ars Technica)

The typical price of a lithium ion package dropped to $137 per kWh in 2020, as shown by a new business survey in BloombergNEF. That is an inflation-adjusted decrease of 13 percent because 2019. The most recent statistics continue the surprising improvement in battery technology throughout the previous ten years, with bunch prices falling 88 percent because 2010.

Large, cheap batteries will likely probably be necessary to weaning the worldwide market fossil fuels off. Lithium-ion batteries would be the primary enabling technology for electrical vehicles. They are also required to smooth out the irregular power produced by windmills and solar panels.

However, until lately, batteries were just too expensive for those programs to create fiscal sense without mandates and subsidies. Now, that calculus has become less and less accurate. BloombergNEF quotes that battery-pack costs will drop to $100 from 2024. That’s approximately the level required for BEVs to become price-competitive with traditional automobiles without subsidies. Given that electrical vehicles are inexpensive to control and will probably require less upkeep than a traditional automobile, they’ll be an increasingly demanding option during the next ten years.