Research Articles

As electric vehicles (EVs) become the norm, charging infrastructure must adapt to meet the diverse needs of drivers everywhere. In this short video, IDTechEx Senior Technology Analyst Shazan Siddiqi breaks down the key charging technologies shaping the future.

With growing concerns over energy security due to rising power demands and greater decarbonization targets, stationary fuel cells have garnered attention as alternative green power generation devices. But with various sectors aiming for decarbonization, which fuel cells will fit the mark, and which applications will be key to their success?

The applications for haptics are much wider than the vibration alerts we are most familiar with. In this short video, IDTechEx Senior Technology Analyst Sam Dale explains how the market is set to shift over the next decade.

A free collection of insights from our industry experts, sharing some of the key technology innovation trends shaping the next decade.

By 2035, IDTechEx forecasts that the continued growth of artificial intelligence will result in over 2000 TWh of energy being consumed by data centers. The expected increase in CO2 emissions from powering these new data centers creates a dual challenge for both governments with net-zero targets and tech giants with internal carbon neutrality pledges alike: how can the unprecedented rise of AI be supported without causing major harm to the environment?

In this short video, IDTechEx Technology Analyst James Kennedy discusses the impact of regulations on the adoption of bioplastics.

LiDAR has been touted as a solution to the automotive industry's endeavor to build safer and completely driverless cars, working towards a world with zero road fatalities and more accessible transport. So, after a decade of development, testing, trials, funding, partnerships, acquisitions, mergers, where is it? Why are there not more cars on the road running LiDAR?

Thursday 30 January 2025 - Introduction to diabetes and the role of medical devices in managing blood glucose; Roadmap of glucose sensing technologies including recent developments in continuous glucose monitoring; Discussion of insulin delivery options, including key challenges of each; Future of diabetes management technologies

The growing availability of retired EV batteries will be a critical factor that will influence the growing penetration of second-life battery storage technologies. However, key considerations related to EV battery chemistry and repurposing processes will dictate how techno-economically feasible it will be to develop and deploy these technologies at commercial-scale and how competitive they will be compared to incumbent first-life Li-ion battery energy storage systems (BESS).

The use of graphics processing units (GPUs) within high performance computing (HPC) has been increasingly adopted since the introduction of generative AI and large language models, as well as advanced memory, storage, networking, and cooling technologies. A major catalyst for growth has been the integration of AI into HPC workflows, where a convergence of the two unlocks opportunities in various fields by combining the powerful computational power of HPC with the intelligent data processing and "decision-making" of artificial intelligence.

Drawing on research from the IDTechEx report, "Wearable Sensors Market 2025-2035: Technologies, Trends, Players, Forecasts", this article brings together some of the major industries shaping the future of the wearable sensors market long term, and as such, some unifying features to expect across the next generation of sensing solutions.

The aviation industry encompasses a diverse range of aircraft types and sizes, each with unique use cases and vastly different power and energy requirements. In this brief video, Dr. James Jeffs, Principal Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, explains more about what this means for the future of sustainable aviation.

The growing suite of quantum sensors available today opens a diverse range of applications, including use in electric vehicles, GPS-denied navigation, medical imaging, communications, and quantum computing. In this article, IDTechEx provides an overview of the quantum sensor market today, and a glimpse of the factors predicted to drive this emerging market to reach US$2.2B by 2045

Tuesday 28 January 2025 - The opportunity for 3D Electronics; What is In-mold Electronics; Commercial progress of In-Mold Electronics; 10 year outlook

The automotive industry has been using radar for two and a half decades. During that time, it has transformed from enabling luxury features on the most expensive cars, to being used ubiquitously for basic safety features in almost all new cars. This article goes through the three most important takeaways from the report. Starting with the huge growth that will be driven by side radars used in short-range applications.

Thursday 23 January 2025 - Key drivers and challenges in each sector, as well as a snapshot of the electrification picture in 2024; Evolving global Li-on battery demand, and how battery performance requirements change for different applications; Market outlook until 2045

Robotaxis are proving they can offer driverless services in certain cities, as a means of accessible and modern public transport. In 2023, IDTechEx reports that 9 million registered autonomous vehicle miles were logged across the state. Key leaders in this commercial autonomous vehicle and robotaxi space are Waymo, having submitted half of all the miles recorded in California to date, and Cruise, which, although accounted for 30% of these miles, has recently been shut down.

By far, the biggest factor that determines the range and cost of an electric car is the battery. The now ubiquitous lithium-ion battery comes in a variety of chemistries. The first commercialized Li-ion batteries were lithium cobalt oxide (LCO), which remains the chemistry of choice in portable electronic devices, but the quest for a higher range has led to a search for new chemistries.

Solar power is one of the fastest growing renewable energy technologies. In 2023 alone, over 340 GW of new solar power was installed. With rising energy demands, concerns over energy security, and increasing decarbonization goals, solar power installations are only anticipated to rise.

Wednesday 29 January 2025 - State of the industry update on autonomous cars and factors driving demand for higher-performance radars; State-of-the-art technology from tier ones; Next-generation technologies from start-ups; Longer-term prospects for automotive radar

2024 was a year of progress for zero-emissions trucks (battery-electric and fuel cell) globally. With sales numbers, range, and model availability all increasing, the other part of the puzzle is refueling. For both electric charging and hydrogen refueling, barriers remain concerning grid capacity, costs, scalability, and sustainability.

Quantum computers can be built in many ways. You may be familiar with the competing modalities claiming to offer various advantages over others in terms of quality, scalability, cost, and more. However, it is increasingly apparent across them all that new generations of optics and photonics technologies will be essential. This opens an exciting supply chain opportunity for many players, old and new, in the photonics eco-system.

With over 800 million people with diabetes in the world today, the market for diabetes management is substantial. IDTechEx forecasts the market for diabetes management technologies to exceed US$44 billion by 2035, with continuous glucose monitors (CGM) and insulin pump markets driving growth in the next ten years.

Electrification is rapidly expanding beyond automotive, with IDTechEx predicting that by 2045, the electric vehicle market (ex. Automotive) will be worth US$1 trillion. IDTechEx's new report, "Electric Vehicles: Land, Sea, and Air 2025-2045", covers 11 key vehicle segments, breaking down historic and forecast growth across 148 forecast lines, including battery demand, drivetrain share, and market value. What is the outlook for such diverse sectors as buses, planes, boats, and planes?

IDTechEx's diverse portfolio of sustainability reports covers topics from PFAS to bioplastics, and explores regulations and emerging technologies that combined, highlight a growing global environmental awareness and the need for increased sustainability trends.

While EV market growth has slowed down, particularly in Europe and the US since 2023, China has maintained uptake and is currently the largest single market for EVs in the world. The new energy vehicle (NEV) market in China sees PHEV cars driving this strong growth in the future, with the market share for PHEVs having nearly doubled from 2023 to H1 2024.

Greater integration of electronics within 3D structures is an ever-increasing trend, representing a more sophisticated solution compared to the current approach of mounting rigid printed circuit boards (PCBs) behind decorative surfaces. In-mold electronics (IME) facilitates this trend by enabling integrated functionalities to be incorporated into components with decorative thermoformed 3D surfaces.

The HPC hardware market is set for enormous growth driven by the ongoing AI boom, with a market value exceeding half a trillion dollars predicted by 2035. HPC has long been an integral tool across critical industries, from facilitating engineering modeling to predicting the weather. AI has intensified development in the sector, growing the capabilities of hardware technologies, including accelerators, interconnects, and memory, at astounding rates.

Sensor technology comes in many shapes and sizes, designed to measure a wide range of metrics for a host of different applications. There are sensors to collect data from almost all physical parameters: motion, magnetic field, current, temperature, force-light intensity - the list goes on. These miniaturized components are everywhere, from our smart-phones and home appliances to within cars, factories, and satellites.

Hydrogen engines offer a fundamentally different approach to decarbonizing transport. IDTechEx Technology Analyst Mika Takahashi explains more about the technology in this short video.

Electric light commercial vehicles (eLCVs) now make up nearly 5% of the global light commercial vehicle (LCV) market - but an overwhelming majority of these have been battery-electric (BEV). With hydrogen fuel cell vehicles yet to impact in this segment of commercial vehicles, the question has to be asked whether they will ever have a place in the future of LCVs.

Global demand for low-carbon cement is increasing. Government regulation for low-carbon cement production is strongest in the European Union, and the US government has been particularly active in green public procurement. Private sector demand is growing, and the advent of book and claim systems could accelerate this market even further.

This article discusses the changes in battery pack design that impact which cell chemistries can be used in a commercially viable way. An overview is given for future adoption of new cell chemistries such as LMFP and solid state batteries, and how pack structure will impact their applicability.

There has been a slowdown in the growth of EV sales in Europe and North America. There are numerous reasons for this, including a lack of models and a difficult economic environment, but better and cheaper batteries and higher-performing EVs remain critical to convincing consumers to purchase them. Longer ranges, faster charging times and stable performance in colder weather could be important to accelerating the outlook for BEVs, and Li-ion batteries using silicon-based anodes offer one route to achieving this.

Chiplet technology is poised to revolutionize the semiconductor industry by offering a flexible, cost-effective solution that enhances performance while addressing supply chain challenges. As outlined in the IDTechEx report "Chiplet Technology 2025-2035: Technology, Opportunities, Applications," this technology will continue to create opportunities for innovation across various sectors, driving growth and fostering collaboration among industry players.

The data center cooling value chain is long, complicated, and chaotic, consisting of multiple stakeholders. Data center cooling happens on multiple levels including chip and server level, as well as the rack and facility level.