I see the EV's of today being more like the ICE's of the 1920's. A 100 years later the ICE power plant has evolved a lot but still dumps 80 gallons of gas by products into our living environment for every 100 gallons we put into the gas tank. This is in your face and up your nose local pollution that is starting to bother me in a physical way. If this could be functionally address the car makers would have done so long ago instead of saying they are stopping development of ICE's.
Hydrogen fuel cell usage to power EV's can become a common place by 2050 I expect but there are many Cons besides pollution to be conquered over the next 30 years if this happens by 2050 it would seem.
12 Hydrogen Fuel Cells Pros and Cons Vittana.org
Today the development of batteries for EV's continue in most all countries and universities around the world. Solid state batteries could prevent hydrogen fuel cell usage ever going main stream in EV's.
The Inventor of the Lithium-Ion Battery Invents an Even Better One
Today's lithium ion technology is not without issues in performance and environmental impacts. My 2016 Nissan Leaf SV is showing a 35% degradation mileage wise at 21K miles so instead of a 107 travel range it is down to more like 70 miles like the former 24 kWh battery pack instead of the 30 kWh battery pack that I have. There is a software update that many owners say that reversed the perceived degradation and gave them back the full 107 mile range and made the state of Battery Health Meter (SOH) read 100% again. I bought the car with 9/12 SOH bars showing. When it hits 8/12 bars is when Nissan will look at and address the issue. One thing that indicates a software issue in my mind is this issue with the 30 kWh Leaf batteries are being reported on Leafs built in the USA (TN) but not ones built in the UK with the same size battery.
Usage and how they are charged can be a huge factor in the life and performance of lithium ion batteries. It is not a settled science because the technology changes all of the time. Tesla cars use several different types of batteries for example and changes can occur mid model year. Leaf got the 'lizard" technology being phased in in 2013 but did not make it the stated standard until the 2015 model year. This is one reason the 2015 year is popular. While some S trim 2016's got the 24 kWh battery some of the late 2016's actually got the 30 kWh batteries like the 2016 SV and SL models got started on 2016. All 2017 Leafs got the 30 kWh batteries. Gen 2 Leafs came with either the 40 kWh or 62 kWh batteries.
As you can see from the above there is a heck of lots of differences in Nissan Leaf and Tesla batteries that are currently in a state of flux.
Currently I am testing performance in miles and voltage of each of the 96 cells before I go for the software upgrade. In fact I do not know if it has or not has been upgraded yet.
Yes 20 years from now EV's will have fewer unknowns I expect but someone has adopt the early technology to get to better EV technology by trial and error. It is my guess the future EV's will not be lithium ion or hydrogen powered.
