Research Articles

IDTechEx Technology Analyst Dr David Wyatt has recently published a report update "Electric Truck 2020-2030", focusing on electrification in the medium and heavy-duty truck markets, providing a comprehensive set of market forecasts.

Recycling waste plastics is essential to creating a circular economy. Current recycling methods are hampered by issues such as societal perceptions of recycling, to economic barriers and technological; however, over the past few years the number of technical innovations to improve polymer recycling have substantially increased.

IDTechEx has issued the first in-depth report on this called, "Robot Shuttles and Autonomous Buses 2020-2040". Robot shuttles are an important new, reconfigurable form of transportation for goods and people that may even function as mobile offices, workshops, restaurants and more.

New IDTechEx report on AR, VR and MR products by Technology Analyst Dr. Charlotte Coles discusses the technology, market, and players of the past, present and future. XR, or extended reality, products are at the forefront of technological change. Virtual reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality. With so many different XR products now available for a variety of use cases, it is important to understand how the different technologies are used, and companies which create them.

Last mile delivery is the most expensive part of the delivery chain, often representing more than 50% of the overall cost. This is mainly because it is the least productive and automated step. As such, many are seeking to bring automation into the last mile.

Few of the giant car makers have shown urgency in transitioning away from the internal combustion engine. What's more, the automotive market is set to decline once again in 2019 whilst electrifying newcomers made huge gains in front of sleeping incumbents' noses. Although a large fraction of this is orders (not deliveries), if OEMs do not wake up now, they never will.

Central to any circular economy is polymer recycling. Current mechanical recycling processes face many issues from societal perceptions of recycling, to economic and technological barriers; however, there are a number of companies whose innovations are changing the face of polymer recycling. From IDTechEx's latest report, "Green Technology and Polymer Recycling: Market Analysis 2020-2030" by Dr Bryony Core, here is a rundown of some of these key companies.

2019 has been a big year for plant-based meat substitutes. Spurred on by consumer perceptions of healthiness and a global megatrend towards conscious consumptions, sales of plant-based meat grew by almost 40%, compared with 2017. In the three months after going public, plant-based burger maker Beyond Meat's share price surged by 500% and rival Impossible Foods secured an additional $300 million in funding.

Will the hamburgers of the future be made from animal cells grown in a lab instead of inside a cow? Cultured meat, also known as "cell-based" or "clean" meat, could soon be making its way to our dinner plates, completely bypassing the need for animal slaughter and overcoming some of the major environmental issues that currently plague the global agriculture industry. Even though no products have yet been released and there are major challenges with cost, regulation and scale up, the industry is growing rapidly, with investment reaching a new high in 2019.

Thermal interface materials (TIM) play a crucial role in numerous sectors, from lithium-ion batteries to 5G base stations, LEDs, consumer electronics and more. Heat dissipation is often on the of the limiting factors as many industries look to increase power and reduce the size.

IDTechEx is hosting a free webinar on Thursday 16 January 2020 titled Innovations in Cardiovascular Disease Management.

The trend of investment in and acquisition of mobile robotic companies seeking to automate the movement of goods within warehouses, fulfilment centres, and manufacturing facilities is still rising.

In the past decade, progress continues in the development and deployment of autonomous driving technologies. IDTechEx forecasts that autonomous car and mobitliy services will become a $2.5 trillion market by 2040.

Automation in the delivery/logistic and warehousing/fulfilment chain is a growing market. A particularly exciting subset of this is the use of mobile robots, drones, and autonomous vehicles for automation of movement-based tasks.

IDTechEx will be hosting a webinar on 17 December titled RFID: Progress, Trends and Where Next.

Farad Power Inc took home the Best Technical Development within Energy Storage Award from the recent IDTechEx Show in Santa Clara. Their submission on 'Solid State Sodium Ion Batteries for Grid Energy Storage' caught the attention of the independent group of judges, which included Engie Storage, UL and Enevate.

At the recent IDTechEx Show in Santa Clara, C2Sense took the award for 'Graphene & 2D Materials - Most Significant Advancement In Graphene, CNT, Or 2D Material Commercialization'. Their application was on 'Selective CNT Gas Sensors' and was a popular choice with the independent judging panel.

Thermal Interface Materials (TIM) are not glamourous but are often an essential component found in all manner of electronic and energy storage applications. Indeed, they are absolutely pervasive. They are truly a diverse technology in terms of suppliers, material options, deposition techniques, applications, market requirement and performance levels. This makes them difficult to analyse.

Autonomous driving technologies are disrupting the business models for the traditional auto industry. Latest research from IDTechEx forecasts that autonomous driving technologies will accelerate the arrival of peak car sales, in 2031.

As developers' understanding of this disease grows, so will the range of devices at their disposal to address it. They have only scratched the surface of how technology can improve CVD patients' lives and, as they dig deeper, they will continue to unlock the potential of this growing market.

The idea of growing meat outside an animal has been around for a long time. In 1931, Winston Churchill wrote that by the 1980s "we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium." Although his timing was off by four decades, his predictions are beginning to materialise as the world looks for new ways to feed its burgeoning population whilst overcoming the environmental problems of conventional animal agriculture.

It is happening rapidly now. The startups Sono Motors and Lightyear announced solar family cars available next year. They have solar bodies rather than the useless scrap of solar roof seen on other cars. That means many owners will never plug in. They do not have the acceleration of a Tesla, but Lightyear cheekily points out that its Lightyear One will go 740 km faster than any Tesla because the Tesla would have to stop and plug in.

Will market growth in thermoelectric energy harvesting primarily come from low or high power opportunities? Which researchers and manufacturers have the products with the most potential? Forecasts by industry? Significance of latest advances? Most active countries? It is all here in the new IDTechEx report, "Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting and Sensing 2020-2030"

RFID Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2019-2029, the global annual survey of the RFID industry by analysts IDTechEx, reveals that in 2019 the number of passive RFID tags sold will increase by 13% over 2018.

Held over 20 - 21 November 2019 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, USA, the latest edition of the IDTechEx Show! will once again feature the application of emerging technologies to the healthcare industry.

Find out how companies are continuing to improve cell and battery performance and the post Li-ion batteries being developed to break through these limits at Energy Storage Innovations USA, hosted by IDTechEx.

From consumer electronics to electric vehicles and stationary storage, high power and fast charge capability are key performance metrics for Li-ion batteries. Pure battery electric vehicles can now offer range in excess of 300 miles per charge, but a full recharge can take hours. How can this be improved?

Lidar technologies and markets are rapidly evolving, and IDTechEx are tracking more than one hundred 3D lidar companies worldwide. This two-part article presents insights from the new IDTechEx report titled Lidar 2020-2030.

IDTechEx Analysts review the future of Energy Storage and Electric Vehicles in India. Find out more at the upcoming Business & Technology Insight Forums On Electric Vehicles and Energy Storage, 3 - 4 December 2019 in Stuttgart, Germany, hosted by IDTechEx.

These are exciting times for radar technology. Many changes are taking place. In this article, we outline some key trends from the recent IDTechEx report "Radars 2020-2030: Technologies, Future Trends, Forecasts".

3D printing has been touted as being a manufacturing cure-all for a whole host of different applications. The reality is very different, but this doesn't stop the onslaught of news articles proclaiming 3D printing to be the answer. Here's a roundup of the weird and wonderful world of 3D printing in 2019.

Autonomous driving holds great promises for increasing road safety and efficiency, as well as for decreasing future travel cost. According to IDTechEx's forecasts, global autonomous car (SAE Level 3+) and robotaxi services will become a $2.5 trillion market by 2040.

In-mold electronics (IME) - or in-mold structural electronics (IMSE) - is about to enter a period of rapid revenue growth, with IDTechEx forecasting the overall market to exceed $1bn within a decade.

Printed electronics has many successful market creation stories and certain materials or components have moved rapidly but sometimes, inventing the enabling technology is only half the work.

The ear has long been touted as an excellent place for technology to exist on the body. Over 5 years of gradually gaining momentum, the topic of "hearables" is finally being recognized more widely for the excellent opportunity which it presents.

Learn more at the IDTechEx Show! November 20-21, Santa Clara Convention Centre, CA or in the new IDTechEx report RFID Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2019-2029.