The HELENA project has come to change the market and the future of electric cars thanks to a new solid-state battery. We tell you.
One of the biggest obstacles that consumers encounter when buying an electric car is autonomy. And they see it as necessary to have batteries with greater energy capacities, so that they are comparable to those of combustion cars.
Well, in recent days there has been talk about a battery called 'HELENA', which is going to change the future, as well as the perception of electric cars in Europe. We tell you about it in this article.
Solid state batteries
In this sense, it should be noted that the key to this new project is a solid-state battery. Unlike current lithium-ion batteries, solid-state batteries have a larger energy capacity, as well as faster recharge times.
Most electric cars on the market today offer ranges of between 300 and 400 kilometers. Although it is true that few of them reach 500-600 kilometers, which would make more consumers opt for electric ones.
Solid-state batteries are made up of many cells, inside which there are many cells composed of a cathode and an anode that are in an electrolyte but, unlike lithium-ion batteries, the electrolyte is not liquid, but is in solid state.
Among other things, this prevents dendrites from forming, which is what ends up reducing the performance of batteries over time. The liquid electrolyte usually solidifies, which can cause the battery to overheat and, in many cases, explode.
Advantages of solid state batteries
The most important advantage is that they can store up to almost three times as much energy as lithium-ion batteries. This translates into greater autonomy with each recharge. Furthermore, its energy capacity does not decrease in the cold.
Likewise, these batteries reduce recharge times, something that we have been commenting on. On the other hand, they are smaller and weigh less, which also benefits battery consumption and vehicle performance.
They are safer since, as the electrolyte is solid, there is no risk of overheating. However, the obstacle we found is that it is still expensive to produce solid-state batteries on a large scale, especially because it increases the final price of the vehicle.
Helena, the revolutionary solid state battery
The HELENA project has announced the successful achievement of the construction of solid-state battery cells but, in this case, using a halide electrolyte. This advance is significant, especially because it brings closer the possibility of incorporating these batteries in the electric vehicle industry.
As we mentioned, one of the problems with lithium-ion batteries is that, as the electrolyte solidifies, the energy capacity decreases. In the case of the HELENA project cells, they have a metallic lithium anode, as well as a nickel-manganese-cobalt cathode.
But it must be taken into account that cobalt is one of the rarest minerals, so it cannot supply all the demand for electric cars currently. Not to mention that it is a very expensive item, and that it is only found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In this case, if we add all these factors, we realize that it is a mineral that is really difficult to obtain. In the case of HELENA, it has designed this new battery so that 90% of the cobalt can be recycled and used in new batteries.
Where does the name 'HELENA' come from?
A priori it may seem quite strange that a project dedicated to the production of batteries for electric cars receives the name HELENA. Well, we are going to explain why, and the curious thing is that the meaning is found in its name itself.
HELENA is the acronym for <
This is a project financed entirely by the European Union, and it should be noted that it allows research to continue, and that we will soon be able to see cars with greater autonomy thanks to this type of batteries.
“With the progress made so far, the HELENA project is on track to successfully complete its objectives within the established deadline, which include the development of safe and efficient solid-state batteries, with high energy density and power, based on a material high-voltage active, a high-capacity lithium metal anode and a conductive lithium halide electrolyte,” stated HELENA.
“With this development, the end user will be able to benefit from improvements in performance in electric mobility for long distances and fast battery charging. Furthermore, the scaling of technology will allow a reduction in costs in the manufacturing of these storage devices,” he concluded.