New materials are the key to EVs boost: Fit-and-forget is becoming the mantra
Electric vehicles have almost no maintenance because they have less to go wrong and most of the parts last for the life of the vehicle. The so-called More Electric Aircraft EVR progresses a similar change in the sky with small aircraft even going fully battery-electric. That is why Textron, owner of combustion aircraft manufacturers Cessna and Beechcraft, bought Pipistrel that makes battery ones.
New needs drive fit-and-forget
With deep mines becoming unmanned and increased military investment, the need for fit-and-forget parts increasingly beats any worry about up-front cost being greater. Attention to total cost of ownership also drives this. The flood of purchases of large lithium-ion batteries for grid storage to cover the intermittency of wind and solar power is an historical aberration because they only last a few years. Mercifully, replacements such as redox flow batteries RFB and gravity storage lifting blocks are coming along that should last up to 100 years with minimal repair and they even viably store electricity for one month — a new need caused by wind and solar winning.
