BATTERIES AIN’T BATTERIES

In the olden (petrol engine) days Castrol had an advertising slogan ‘Oils Ain’t Oils’, promoting better engine performance and longer life through superior lubrication.

These days the slogan could well be batteries ain’t batteries.

What’s under the hood is important. There’s a massive evolution going on in battery technology. Adopters of this new technology have every right to expect they’re getting the best. For a while it was considered OK if a big clunky battery pack was able to retain just 70 percent of its efficiency over 10 years. For some makers, that’s still the norm. The new standard is much better.

Lexus expects its new battery technology to provide better than 90 percent efficiency over a decade. That’s been hailed as a new global benchmark.

Lexus’s new batteries are smaller, lighter, less intrusive into the cabin space and are managed by more efficient on-board monitoring systems than have previously been available. Claimed output per cell is up by 70 percent, and for the first time each cell is individually monitored for performance and heat build-up throughout its life.

Lexus prefers to build its own batteries or to do it in collaboration with a trusted IT partner. It recently announced plans to build a new $5.6billion stand alone battery plant, and to spend $18.7billion on research and development into the next phase of electrification.