The electric car industry is dependent on the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the poorest and least stable countries in the world.
Cobalt is essential for stopping the battery from overheating and the stability it brings to the battery materials also allows users to charge and discharge their car over many years. But it is also the most expensive of the metals used — hindering the ability of carmakers to lower the cost of electric cars to compete against their petrol counterparts.
The first electrically conductive solid was discovered in the 1830s by British scientist Michael Faraday but it had never worked in a battery at room temperature. Working in his basement Mr. Zimmerman created a polymer material that could do just that. "There are still a number of challenging problems in order for an all solid state battery to be a commercially viable proposition," says Peter Bruce, a professor in the department of materials at Oxford university. "But they are now being addressed."
Most carmakers are moving towards batteries that use more nickel and as much as 75 percent less cobalt. These products are expected to pick up market share over the next few years. For his part, Mr. Zimmerman says the low-cobalt batteries still come with a considerable fire risk that will require expensive monitoring technology.
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