Are we stuck with LITHIUM-ION?

As companies continue to trumpet their next-gen EV battery tech, it seems like new chemistries face more momentum from the established champ, lithium-ion.

There's no shortage of alternatives to lithium-ion EV batteries in development. From lithium-iron phosphate to sodium-ion to multiple solid-state chemistries, companies are racing to perfect these technologies and figure out how to manufacture them at scale.

But to an outside observer, it can feel like breathless coverage of future battery technology is much ado about not much. Lithium-ion batteries seem to have all the momentum, seeing as they're the power supply of choice for most EV manufacturers. And if there's anything that's true in the automotive industry, it's how hard it is to buck momentum. Here are just a few of the big issues lithium-ion batteries have in their favor:

Already built factories that manufacture batteries and face tremendous costs to retool for a different technology.

An economy of scale that has driven down the cost per kilowatthour from $732 in 2013 to $139 in 2023.

The vehicle development curve can be seven or more years before hitting production. That means betting on a technology and a mining and manufacturing ecosystem that hasn't been fully tested.

Some companies are slowing EV launches and reconsidering investment in new technologies given the recent slowdown in the growth of EV sales.