Cost of Electric Car Batteries Poised to Plummet

While the cost of everything else seems to be going  up, there’s one bright spot on the horizon: Treehugger reported today that the cost of electric car batteries are set to drop by 70% by 2015.

Where does this surprising prognosis come from? Well, the writer of the Treehugger articke, Michael Graham, was in Detroit for the yearly Auto Show (going on right now). He was able to sit in on a talk given by Dr. Steven Chu, the U.S. Energy Secretary. The talk encompassed many things, but one of the things he talked about was electric car battery technology, and where it’s headed over the next 10 years.

Dr. Chu states that the Department of Energy has partnered with the industry to help it reduce the cost of the batteries, which so far is really high. And of course, the higher the cost to make these things, the more people are going to shun electric cars in favor of cheaper options.

Here’s what’s amazing, though. Dr. Chu states he’s seeing developments in battery technology that will take an average battery, which cost $12,000 in 2008, down to $3,600 in 2015. That’s an enormous difference that, if it comes to pass, could revolutionize the market and lead to some dramatic changes. He’s also projecting that by 2020, that cost will be down to $1,500. However, I don’t know if those numbers are adjusted for inflation.

The point, though, is that we are about to reach that elusive tipping point, where the performance of the batteries has improved, and the price has dropped, so that they become more appealing (and affordable) for a lot more people. But Graham, the initial writer of the piece, makes a great point: if there’s an unexpected development in the industry, or if oil prices climb quickly, this price drop could happen even sooner as more people start investing in electric cars.

So, this is a bit of good news for all of us!