The emergence of new battery technology has Mercedes-Benz claiming it could be a major leap forward for the electric vehicle market.
Back in February, Mercedes put "the first car powered by a lithium-metal solid-state battery on the road," using a slightly modified version of its EQS class car. At the time, MB engineers said the car would be able to reach a driving range of more than 620 miles on a single charge.
However, further testing has shown the battery is far more capable than even that assessment, with a modified EV recently making a 750-mile trip from Stuttgart, Germany, to Malmö, Sweden, while still having 85 miles of range remaining at the end.
"The solid-state battery is a true game-changer for electric mobility," said Markus Schäfer, Mercedes' chief technology officer. "[It] delivers not only in the lab but also on the road."
Something that's easy to forget about now that electric vehicles have been on the market for so long is that, similarly to the process for making gas-powered cars, the technology behind producing EV batteries is still growing by leaps and bounds, and its full capabilities remain largely unknown.
The effect of this is that the gap between electric vehicles and their gas counterparts is only going to continue rapidly increasing in the coming years, both from an environmental and a consumer perspective.
EVs save customers money on everything from fuel to routine maintenance tasks like fluid and oil changes, while they also have much quieter engines and don't produce massive amounts of tailpipe pollution. Plus, if you own an electric vehicle, it can also become a boon for your home and your energy bills, because you can then install solar panels and solve two problems at once.
Along these lines, installing solar panels on your home can dramatically increase the cost savings associated with EV ownership, as fueling with solar energy is much cheaper than using public charging stations or relying on the energy grid at home. To aid in your search, consider using EnergySage, which makes it easy to compare quotes from vetted local installers and save up to $10,000 on solar installation.
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