Research Articles

Over 1GWh of batteries are now sailing on waters globally, reflecting 72% industry growth in 2022. Despite this, there have been several challenges that shipbuilders and maritime battery suppliers have had to navigate in recent years.

While abbreviations for Li-ion cell chemistries - NMC, NCA, LFP, etc. - typically refer to the cathode's elements, 'LTO' refers to a cell with a lithium titanate oxide anode that replaces graphite. LTO brings unique high-power cell characteristics, more comparable to a supercapacitor than a battery, creating new electrification opportunities for train OEMs.

There is no denying that silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs are the story of the next decade for electric vehicle power electronics. The material improves powertrain efficiency (EV range), operates at higher voltages for faster charging, and creates new materials opportunities, such as Ag or Cu sintering, as power densities and operational temperatures increase.

Across the land-based electric vehicle sectors tracked by IDTechEx, there is mostly a transition to battery-electric propulsion systems over the next two decades.

Today's rail networks largely consist of electric trains 'tethered' to electric overhead and live rail systems. However, this is not feasible everywhere due to the high infrastructure cost/mile, remote geographic locations, and the practicality of building through tunnels and bridges.

As electric vehicle (EV) power electronics undergoes a paradigm shift towards wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors, it is clear that silicon carbide (SiC) is becoming the material of choice, while gallium nitride (GaN) is often shoe-boxed into telecommunications or optoelectronics applications.

IDTechEx has published a series of articles recently covering hydrogen- and ammonia-powered fuel cell (FC) demand in shipping. One of the most common responses to this has been - what about methanol?

The demand for electric vehicle (EV) power electronics will increase dramatically in the next ten years, primarily driven by rapid growth in the BEV car market, where IDTechEx predicts a 15% CAGR globally over the next decade.

The maritime sector, which accounts for approximately 2.9% of global carbon emissions, is seeking to meet broader climate goals such as the Paris Agreement and 'Fit for 55' in Europe. Since it is the largest vessels, such as sea-going cargo vessels, which tend to contribute the most to maritime emissions, this presents a huge challenge.

It is becoming prosaic to say there is no 'silver bullet' for marine decarbonization. But it might be fitting to say 'multiple silver bullets' are emerging since between batteries, fuel cells (FC), green hydrogen, green ammonia, e-methane and carbon capture, decarbonization across all marine subsegments might just be possible.

It has been another momentous year for electric vehicle markets and technologies, with major policy developments, sales growth, and landmark models set to enter the market.

While electric cars will remain the largest electric vehicle market for the foreseeable future in terms of battery demand and market revenue generation, most transport sectors are facing a transition. In this article, IDTechEx summarizes key developments in non-automotive sectors, showing each sector's global battery demand (in 2021) for relative scale.

In 20 years, IDTechEx predicts electric cars will generate 76% of all e-transport revenues. Due to their scale, car markets create the largest opportunities for players in the electric vehicle supply chain, from advanced materials through to battery packs, power electronics, and electric motors.

While 2022 continues to add to the challenges electric vehicle (EV) makers face, markets are still growing. Indeed, electric car sales for the first half of 2022 reached ~3.5 million, according to IDTechEx research.

2022 continues to present great challenges for electric vehicle makers, but despite these challenges electric vehicle markets have continued to grow. However, in an era of shortages, disruption is inevitable. IDTechEx believes improvements to drive cycle efficiency and vehicle design, minimizing battery capacity and other material requirements per vehicle, must come to the forefront.

Elon Musk once made a prediction that every form of transport, with the exception of space-faring rockets, will become electric. This prediction is starting to materialize as markets for electric cars, trucks, buses, boats, two-wheelers and air taxis reached new heights in 2021.

The mobility sector continues to see a rapid pace of change, enabled by technological leaps in the underlying componentry and materials, but there is still a long way to go. In this article Luke Gear, Principal Analyst at IDTechEx, explores six key future mobility trends, drawing from IDTechEx Subscription research.

In automotive power electronics (inverters, onboard chargers, DC-DC converters), the transition to silicon carbide MOSFETs and high voltage systems above 800V has been increasing in pace in 2021.

In this article, IDTechEx analysts take a look back at the key events and trends from the future mobility world over the past year - and what to look out for in 2022.

Electric motors truly are the driving force behind electric vehicles (EVs). In addition to the batteries and power electronics, the electric motor is a critical component within the drivetrain. IDTechEx expects over 100 million electric motors to be required per year by 2032 to meet the demand for the growing EV market.

Semiconductors are the lifeblood of the modern age. From your watch to a washing machine, everything these days seems to be 'smart', 'connected' and therefore enabled by semiconductors. Unsurprisingly then, a massive shortage of chips present 'across all categories', according to some industry executives, is having a profound impact.

World Electric Vehicle Day is here, and, as an industry analyst, it presents a great occasion to take a retrospective look at the past decade of innovation and disruption.

China's electric two-wheeler market is the largest electric vehicle market in the world. Some 29.66 million were produced in 2020 (with sales typically at over 98% of production). Today, however, the market is no longer seeing the explosive growth of the past, the IDTechEx report "Electric Two-wheelers 2021-2041" finds.

The IDTechEx report "Electric Leisure & Sea-going Boats and Ships 2021-2040" reveals the battery demand expected from maritime transport over the next two decades, from leisure boats to ocean-crossing ships. In this article, IDTechEx summarizes the leading battery suppliers underpinning the industry.

The IDTechEx report "Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles and Fleets 2021-2031" finds that the total number of electric vehicle charging outlets surpassed 1 million in 2020, with both China and Europe at or below the optimum 10 electric vehicles per charging outlet.

Each year, April 22nd marks Earth Day, a worldwide event that aims to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement. To mark Earth Day 2021, here are some of the technologies that IDTechEx believes will be instrumental in winning the fight against climate change.

IDTechEx expects electric motorcycle sales in Europe to grow at least 50% year-on-year in 2020, building on the momentum of recent years.

Like the Beatles in the 60s, Tesla has arguably achieved the feat of being simultaneously the best and most popular at what they do. As the IDTechEx report "Electric Vehicles: Land, Sea & Air 2021-2041" discusses, Tesla enters a new market and quickly becomes the top-selling electric vehicle maker. In this article, we focus on Tesla's innovations in the field of power electronics and some of the new materials opportunities being created.

Tesla has plans to enter a new market: India. This story has unfolded only one way so far. Tesla decides to enter a new market and quickly becomes the top-selling EV maker by leveraging its powerful brand and class-leading technology at a competitive price. But will it be so easy in India?

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are an interim product. IDTechEx explains why PHEV potential is now limited.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused 2020 to become the pivotal year as the automotive industry goes through a once in a hundred-year transformation.

The IDTechEx report "Advanced Electric Cars 2020 - 2040" forecasts fuel-cell cars globally through 2040, and finds they continue to be a commercial failure for the next two decades.

The IDTechEx market for electric vehicles across land, sea and air will be 24 million unit sales this year, which represents a decline of roughly 19% year on year from the impact of COVID-19.

Autonomous shuttles could be a key element that connects the public transportation systems to reduce private car ownership in the future. The autonomous shuttle total market size will be over $18 million by 2040, according to IDTechEx's report Robot Shuttles and Autonomous Buses 2020-2040.

IDTechEx estimates the global plug-in electric vehicle (BEV + PHEV) population reached 8.1 million units (including light commercial vehicles) by the end of 2019, supported by roughly five million charging outlets. There will be over 111 million plug-in EVs in-use globally by 2031: a massive driver for the wide-spread deployment of charging infrastructure.

Electric ships have some of the largest individual batteries of any electric vehicle sector; below is a list of the largest projects IDTechEx have been tracking.