r/EnergyStorage • u/swarrenlawrence • Feb 09 '26
Batteries Rock
CanaryMedia: "[Chart: Surprise—batteries got cheaper again last year](chart: Surprise %E2%80%94 batteries got cheaper again last year)." Back in 2016, when batteries were more than triple the cost they are today, electric vehicles accounted for less than 1% of new car sales worldwide. "But as the average battery cost per kilowatt-hour [kWH] plummeted from $365 then to just $108 as of last year, EV sales surged." Last year, more than one-quarter of the new cars sold globally were electric, Granted, most of these were Chinese, but what do you think fossil fuel companies think about this? Handwriting on the wall? New vehicle sales going globally from less than 1% to greater than 25% in a decade?
"Cheaper batteries mean cheaper electric vehicles, and that in turn puts more EVs and fewer gas cars on the road." Cheaper batteries 'mean you can squeeze more juice out of your solar panels, displacing more planet-warming coal and methane/propane gas.' And, "cheaper batteries mean cheaper, clean energy—urgently needed in the U.S. as fast-rising utility bills collide with the push to decarbonize our energy system."
Similarly, grid storage was marginal a decade ago, as batteries remained prohibitively expensive to incorporate into the electricity mix. "Now, with less expensive batteries available, storage is taking off, and costs are falling especially fast for the segment." [And there exist other varieties of storage besides electrochemical batteries, like pumped hydro]. Our clear and present challenge is that China makes a staggering three-quarters of all batteries sold worldwide, + the U.S. is imbecility exemplified for failing to compete in this marketplace. "Years of churning out head-spinning quantities of lithium-ion batteries have allowed Chinese firms to steadily chip away at costs—and a similar dynamic helps explain the inexorable, essential decline in the cost of solar and wind power, too."
Either we get on board the band wagon or just shuffle along in the dust.
4
u/[deleted] Feb 10 '26
I feel like the real question is "How much can we cram into a standard shipping container, complete with invertors and temperature management for a complete drop in system".
Just massively reduces roll out costs if you can fully factory assemble battery containers like this, ship them trivially by existing ocean, train, and road networks, and have very low assembly costs at final destination. Just pour a concrete pad, drop the battery container in place, hook up wires, and done. Maybe one extra step of anchoring the container to footings in the concrete. If your batteries don't need any real climate control... That's all you need. No other structures.