The two biggest drawbacks of electric cars – limited range and slow charging – will likely persist until battery manufacturers can solve the dendritic problem.
That solution will be worth billions, and a series of startups often backed by auto makers are praising their early successes. Investors swarm around one of the few publicly traded competitors, QuantumScape Corp., which was worth more than Ford Motor Co. for a while last year.
In the human body, dendrites are extensions of nerves that transmit signals between cells. In lithium-ion batteries, they are tiny, needle-like deposits of lithium that resemble microscopic tree branches. They can grow inside the batteries, which can lead to a short circuit or even fire.
Batteries used in cars today require a slower charge, partly because of the risk of dendrite formation. Too fast a charge can cause dendrites to build up. Since QuantumScape’s batteries seem to have solved the dendritic problem, they can be recharged faster.
“If you can build a better battery, you can build a better car,” said QuantumScape Chief Executive Jagdeep Singh.