Research Articles

While battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continue to grow in model availability, sales numbers, and available charging infrastructure, the same cannot be said about fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). IDTechEx reviews the on-road fuel cell electric vehicle market and assesses whether passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, buses, and medium and heavy-duty trucks will use fuel cell technology in 20 years.

Data centers can be likened to an ecosystem of computing facilities that contain many facets required to store and handle data. IDTechEx's latest report, "Sustainability for Data Centers 2025-2035: Green Technologies, Market Forecasts, and Players", unpacks efforts being made in the data center sector towards increased sustainability in response to the rising CO2 emissions from the development of AI.

Since 2020, the emergence of aerogels as a fire protection material for electric vehicle (EV) batteries has provided a new and rapidly growing opportunity for the aerogel market. According to the latest IDTechEx market report, "Aerogels 2025-2035: Technology, Market, Forecasts", the adoption in EV thermal barriers has helped drive the aerogels market to exceed US$1 billion in 2025.

The automotive industry faces increasing pressure to improve sustainability, with material choice at the forefront of this transformation. With over 14 million tonnes of plastics used in passenger vehicles each year, addressing the sustainability of these materials is critical. Two leading solutions are recycled plastics and bioplastics. But what is the future of sustainable cars?

EV adoption is taking off, but regulation remains the driving factor behind the shift from traditional ICE vehicles in many cases. However, governments and OEMs are adjusting their EV targets amid a challenging market situation. How will these changes affect the growth of EV sectors and markets?

Wearables, including medical devices, hearables, XR, and smartwatches, will be the main drivers for flexible battery developments - specifically bulk batteries. Companies are looking for new features and form factors from batteries to best suit the development of smaller and lighter devices, particularly in the medical and fitness sectors, where the Internet of Things and interconnected devices will become a large part of remote patient monitoring and health tracking.

How electric 2-wheelers (E2Ws) are used and how their batteries are designed is very different from the car market. IDTechEx's report, "Fire Protection Materials for EV Batteries 2025-2035: Markets, Trends, and Forecasts", finds that the market for fire protection materials in E2Ws will grow by 12 times compared to its 2024 size.

Chiplets allow for GPU, CPU, and IO components to become miniaturized to suit the rise of smaller and more compact devices and hardware and can bring about a means of integrating various functions into a more simplified, unified design.

As regulatory frameworks such as the EU's Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW) near enforcement, automotive OEMs increasingly integrate in-cabin sensing technologies with software-defined vehicle architectures. This shift, evident at CES 2025, marks a pivotal moment in the automotive industry as OEMs leverage existing hardware—such as infrared and RGB cameras—to develop new revenue streams and enhance user experiences.

As the United States withdraws from the 2015 Paris Agreement, which established globally shared goals that pledged to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, concerns about the future of sustainable technologies are growing. However, IDTechEx identifies key areas where sustainable growth can remain a reality.

Key trends are emerging that suggest where the second-life battery market will develop and what applications these technologies will be used for. As written in their recently updated market report, "Second-life Electric Vehicle Batteries 2025-2035: Markets, Forecasts, Players, and Technologies", IDTechEx predicts that by 2035, the global second-life EV battery market will be valued at US$4.2 billion.

The rapid expansion of electrification, enabled by lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), demands urgent actions to secure a stable and responsible supply of critical minerals for LIBs. The growth in battery material demand varies across different materials, driven by several factors including the demand for LIBs of different chemistries, material intensity variations across battery chemistries, and ongoing developments in lithium-ion cell design.

In the last few months, three of the world's largest tech giants made waves with their announcements in quantum computing. But what will the impact of Microsoft's Majorana 1, Google's Willow, and Amazon's Ocelot be once the dust has settled, and is it just big tech making strides in developing quantum computers?

Demand for micro EVs will grow substantially, with the market set to reach US$90 billion by 2045. This article highlights the role of micro EVs in the evolution of the mobility industry and discusses the technical and market factors that will drive their growth over the next 20 years.

By 2035, the EU plans to impose a ban on all cars and vans that produce emissions, with the UK potentially bringing this date forward to 2030. There are nearly 30 low or emission-free zones across 18 European countries, meaning there is lots of incentive for electrification. In some cities, such as London, there is a charge for driving through emission-free zones, meaning eLCVs may become increasingly necessary.

Wednesday 19 March 2025 - Will Solid-State Batteries Revolutionize Energy Storage or Fall Short of the Hype? Insights into SSB technology benchmarking and market forecasts from IDTechEx's report; An analysis of shifting technological and business focuses post-2025; Updates on scaling-up efforts for commercialization and manufacturing; Exploration of supply chain disruptions driven by new materials and geographic strategies; A critical discussion on safety as a decisive factor in SSB adoption

The automotive radar market is forecast to hit 500 million annual sales in 2041. Learn more about key growth opportunities in this short overview.

Wednesday 26 March 2025 - Benchmarking lithium metal technologies; Discussion of lithium dendrite solutions; Lithium metal player and region market analysis; Application market analysis for lithium metal batteries

In 2023 alone, semiconductor giant TSMC reported consumption of a staggering 101 million m3 of water, highlighting the scale of thirst in this fast-growing sector. Furthermore, as node technology advances, so do the number of manufacturing process steps, and the usage of single wafer tools instead of batch tools, making the task of reducing water usage both challenging and even more critical.

Germany has one of the strongest battery energy storage systems (BESS) potential worldwide, with an already large uptake of residential battery storage, meaning market growth is set to succeed within the next decade.

It should come as no surprise that PIC transceivers are fast becoming essential tools in the AI revolution, where they speed up connections between nodes in data centers whilst reducing power consumption, allowing larger AI models to be trained and executed. IDTechEx's recent report on the topic, "Silicon Photonics and Photonic Integrated Circuits 2025-2035: Technologies, Market, Forecasts", predicts this application to be the major contributor to its US$54 billion forecast for the PIC market in 2035.

Thursday 27 March 2025 - Meeting Emerging EV Thermal Runaway Regulations Through Material Choices; An overview of the thermal runaway regulations; Options and examples for fire protection materials in EV batteries; Fire protection material benchmarking; How material choice can aid battery designers; Market share predictions

Thermal filler materials make up a large portion of the formulation for thermal interface materials, and each has its own benefits and disadvantages, including conductivity, cost, and mechanical properties.

Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects millions of people worldwide. The condition requires close and careful management to avoid severe health consequences. Today, people with diabetes have access to sophisticated automated insulin dosing (AID) systems that help in many aspects of diabetes management. IDTechEx forecasts that with further developments in AID systems, the diabetes management market can reach US$44 billion by 2035.

Public awareness of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) is hitting a new high as headlines concerning "forever chemicals" continue to appear in prominent news outlets. Whether it be news about PFAS bans in different industries, lawsuits against PFAS manufacturers and users, detection of PFAS in various locations and products, and treatment of PFAS in drinking water, there is no doubt that for many, PFAS is one of the foremost health issues of the 2020s.

Newly established radar startups worldwide have raised nearly US$1.2 billion over the past 12 years; approximately US$980 million of which is predominantly directed toward the automotive sector. Through more than 40 funding rounds, these companies have driven the implementation and advancement of radar technologies in key areas such as autonomous driving and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).

Thursday 13 March 2025 - Why Photonic Integrated Circuits are at the Heart of the AI Revolution; What is a PIC?; The role of PICs, including silicon photonics, in data center transceivers; How the growth in AI accelerator demand is shaping the PIC transceiver market; A roadmap for the future of datacom transceivers; An insight into IDTechEx's ten-year forecasts for the PIC market

The solid-state battery (SSB) industry is transforming and is driven by advanced technologies and rising application demand. Offering breakthroughs in safety and energy density, SSBs could reach a US$9 billion market by 2035.

The rise of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) has reshaped the diabetes management technology market. With the market projected to reach US$44 billion by 2035, CGM technology is transforming diabetes care by replacing painful fingerstick tests and providing real-time glucose insights.

Thursday 20 March 2025 - PFAS: Changing Regulations and Increasing Scrutiny for Forever Chemicals; PFAS definitions and concerns about PFAS exposure; Regulatory updates impacting PFAS; Impact of regulations on PFAS in sustainable food packaging

The advancement of fuel cell technologies, combined with the global commitment to sustainable aviation, creates a significant opportunity for hydrogen-fuelled planes to enhance the sustainability of air travel.

The EV revolution is driving demand for a huge variety of materials used in battery cells and packs. With new chemistries emerging to bridge cost and energy density gaps, the landscape is evolving rapidly. However, battery pack designers face complex challenges.

Emerging image sensors are being developed with capabilities beyond well-established CMOS detectors, with the possibility of detecting broader parts of the light spectrum that are beyond human vision. IDTechEx's report, "Emerging Image Sensor Technologies 2024-2034: Applications and Markets", covers new technologies including hyperspectral imaging and event-based vision.

Numerous barriers and challenges have made trucks (both medium and heavy-duty) more difficult to electrify than lighter vehicle segments. However, within these categories, some considerations make certain applications more easily electrifiable with current technologies, while other applications will require further improvements to electric vehicle (EV) technologies to become viable.

Sourcing the most effective means of keeping vehicle batteries cool is a task explored extensively in IDTechEx's latest report, "Thermal Management for Electric Vehicles 2025-2035: Materials, Markets, and Technologies". The report covers many thermal management approaches for electric vehicles, including immersion cooling, and the respective players aiming to make their uptake more widespread.

Silicon-based solar technologies continue to dominate the market; however, there is rising interest in an emerging technology known as perovskite. Perovskites have the potential to enhance existing silicon solar supplies, but which applications can perovskite solar be used for, and how will it compete in a market dominated by an already well-established technology?