BMW says we need both battery and hydrogen EVs for a zero-emissions future

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Image Credits: Rebecca Bellan

Funding for green hydrogen startups — particularly at the growth stage — has dipped. Hydrogen plants and fueling stations across the U.S. have shut down. And automakers and governments seem to be on the battery electric vehicle (BEV) buzz.

And yet, BMW recently announced plans to work with Toyota to develop a hydrogen fuel-cell consumer car for series production in 2028.

Despite hydrogen’s challenges, BMW thinks the only way to actually achieve a shift to zero-emissions transportation is through a mix of BEVs and hydrogen vehicles. And it’s a view that other industry experts share. 

Juergen Guldner, general project manager of BMW’s hydrogen technology and vehicle projects, told TechCrunch that he (and his employer) thinks hydrogen vehicles can complement the growing market of BEVs by addressing the needs of customers who can’t or don’t want to have to charge their car like a phone. 

Hydrogen vehicles could offer a “best of both worlds” scenario, where you get the benefits of electric driving with the convenience of refueling like traditional gasoline cars, Guldner said while speaking at a BMW event during Climate Week NYC.

“If you want to change the behavior of people, then offering choice is always the better way forward, versus just taking something away and saying, ‘This is the solution. You’ve got to live with it from now on,’” Guldner said.

Jason Munster, principal and founder of hydrogen consulting firm CleanEpic, added that a mix of BEV and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is also more cost-effective and sustainable. “The thing about battery electric vehicles is that the more you put on the grid, the more the marginal cost goes up,” Munster told TechCrunch. “Right now in a lot of places, there’s excess grid capacity, so you can add fast chargers to the grid.”

Still, the challenges are substantial.

There is the cost to build out hydrogen infrastructure, which is much less developed than its battery electric counterpart. Hydrogen would need to be made using renewables, rather than fossil fuels, in order to make that zero-emissions claim. Both Munster and Guldner argue it’s possible if the whole ecosystem is taken into account.

“You can’t just have [hydrogen] fueling stations and vehicle companies working together,” Munster said, speaking about what went wrong with the rollout of Toyota’s hydrogen vehicle, the Mirai, in California. The state has the highest quantity of hydrogen stations in the country, but they weren’t plentiful enough for most Mirai owners to refuel with ease. 

“Without all parts of the chain — the production, distribution, and end use — having skin in the game together with contracts that actually have teeth for penalties, you aren’t able to replicate the success that battery electric has had,” Munster said. 

Guldner said BMW is working on building out such an ecosystem, in part by trying to drive demand through potential partnerships with commercial fleet customers. BMW has been testing a pilot fleet of hydrogen vehicles in more than 20 countries over the past 20 months and has received positive feedback so far, Guldner says. 

The automaker is also working with Urban-X, a tech startup platform and VC firm by Mini, to find companies that can fit into the hydrogen equation. 

The case against the VC model

Munster said that ultimately, the VC model is not well suited for hydrogen projects because of the long-term payback and the large capital requirements involved. 

The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was signed into law in August 2022, includes tax credits for clean hydrogen production. But two years later, a lack of clarity on guidance is “holding back the entire hydrogen industry” from experiencing the type of boom that the battery industry has seen, Munster said. 

He said the initial guidance for IRA hydrogen funding is “contentious,” “limiting,” and “not finalized.” The “three pillars” of the IRA hydrogen tax credit are incrementality, temporal matching, and deliverability. In other words, the goal is to ensure that hydrogen production truly results in reduced emissions by requiring new, dedicated renewable energy to power the electrolysis process (the separation of hydrogen and oxygen molecules to produce hydrogen). 

The strictness of those three pillars makes it difficult for companies to qualify for subsidies. Munster has suggested more relaxed rules that allow for fossil fuels from the grid to power existing electrolyzers (the apparatus that performs electrolysis) in the short-term until a more robust renewables ecosystem is developed. 

The total amount of the subsidy is also unknown — it could be anywhere from $30 billion to $300 billion.

“Everyone is really paused around their expansion plans based upon how big this subsidy ends up being,” Munster said.

Researchers develop hair-thin battery to power tiny robots

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Image Credits: MIT

The biggest limitation of tiny robots is, naturally, their size. The smaller the robot, the more difficult it is to develop components. Among the key challenges is finding a power source. Some systems utilize clever workarounds, like these cell-sized bots, which use a photodiode to access the minute level of electricity needed to do their jobs. More advanced systems, however, will require a devoted power source.

MIT this week showcased tiny batteries designed specifically for the purpose of powering these systems to execute tasks as varied as targeting drug delivery inside the human body to checking pipelines for gas leaks. The power source measures 0.1 millimeter long by 0.002 millimeter thick — roughly as thick as a strand of hair.

Despite the barely visible size, the researchers say the batteries can generate up to 1 volt, which can be used to power a sensor, circuit or even a moving actuator.

“We think this is going to be very enabling for robotics,” explained professor Michael Strano, who served as the paper’s senior author. “We’re building robotic functions onto the battery and starting to put these components together into devices.”

The systems are still tethered to an external device, though the researchers are convinced they will be able to design a version of the power source entirely enclosed by the little robot. The team is also working to increase the level of voltage the system can generate.

“This is going to form the core of a lot of our robotic efforts,” Strano added. “You can build a robot around an energy source, sort of like you can build an electric car around the battery.”

Ring’s new battery doorbell has head-to-toe video

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Ring Battery Doorbell

Image Credits: Ring

Ring announced on Wednesday the next generation of its Battery Doorbell. For $100, customers get extended battery life, color night vision, a head-to-toe view of visitors and a new push-pin mounting system. 

Head-to-toe HD video was previously only available with the Doorbell Plus and Pro models. Now, according to Ring, the Battery Doorbell provides a 66% taller view of visitors compared to Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Gen, the previous generation of the company’s budget-friendly battery-powered product. The addition of a 150-degree by 150-degree field of view allows customers to see a full top-to-bottom view of what’s on their doorstep, making it easier to check which packages were just delivered. 

Head-to-toe view has become a common and expected feature for users interested in advanced video doorbells. Ring was one of the first smart doorbells to enter the market and has faced competition from various emerging competitors. By adding head-to-toe video to its budget battery doorbell, Ring is now in line with competitors such as Arlo, Google Nest and Wyze, all of which offer this feature.

Image Credits: Ring

The new doorbell’s battery life has also been extended from the previous model, delivering up to 23% longer battery life. Ring made it easier to charge the battery with a redesigned mount system that allows customers to remove it from the door using a push-pin tool. 

Additionally, the color night vision feature enables them to see clearly day or night.

Every doorbell in Ring’s lineup is capable of sending motion alerts, providing a live view of the camera footage, enabling two-way talk and allowing for the customization of motion zones. Paired with the Ring Protect plan, which costs $5 per month or $50 per year, users can receive person and package alerts and access 180 days of video history.

Ring’s Battery Doorbell is available for preorder today on Ring.com and Amazon.com. It’ll ship out to customers starting on September 4.

GM’s versatile Ultium platform

GM hires ex-Tesla battery guru Kurt Kelty to beef up its battery efforts

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GM’s versatile Ultium platform

Image Credits: Steve Fecht / GM

General Motors has hired battery expert and ex-Tesla executive Kurt Kelty to be the automaker’s new vice president of batteries — a brand new role for the company. His first day will be February 19.

Kelty will join GM at a time when the company has struggled to increase the output of the battery packs for its new Ultium platform, which is supposed to power its next-generation electric vehicles.

“The foundation that GM has established coupled with Kurt’s exceptional battery expertise in leading battery chemistry development, establishing partnerships, building out supply chains and partnering closely with teams that have developed leading battery systems will help us achieve our electrification goals and position GM as a leader in EV technology,” GM president Mark Reuss said in a statement.

Kelty’s role will likely affect the Ultium program, although his job is designed to be far broader. GM has had teams dedicated to different pieces of the battery process. However, there has never been one role that strings together every step, including sourcing raw materials and identifying and testing out new technologies.

Kelty spent more than a decade as the head of Tesla’s battery team. He was there through the launch of Tesla’s first four cars: The Roadster, Model S, Model X and Model 3. He also used to work at Panasonic, Tesla’s partner in cell development at the Gigafactory in Nevada.

More recently, he was the vice president of commercialization at Sila Nanotechnologies, a company founded by early Tesla employee Gene Berdichevsky that has been developing a silicon-based anode that can dramatically increase the energy density of lithium-ion batteries.

OnePlus' Watch 2 gets 100 hours of battery thanks to a pair of chips and Wear OS tweaks

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Image Credits: OnePlus

OnePlus’ first smartwatch was a lot of things. Unfortunately, particularly good or memorable weren’t among them. If you’re going to enter a category as established as the smartwatch, you’re going to have to make a splash. Do something unique and different to convince potential consumers beyond your own rabid fanbase that yours is the device they need, rather than something made by Apple or Samsung (or Google, for that matter).

Officially unveiled this morning at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona after a few months of teases, the OnePlus Watch 2 does get some points for originality. As noted earlier, the battery is the thing here. It’s not just a good battery, however — that was, after all, one of the main qualities the original had going for it.

I’ll give you the customary caveat here of taking such things with a grain of salt, but OnePlus is claiming “up to 100 hours in full Smart Mode.” That last bit is perhaps a dig at features like Apple’s Low Power Mode, which sacrifices certain key features in order to eke out more than a day on a single charge.

Image Credits: OnePlus

Battery continues to be the lowest hanging fruit in the smartwatch world. These days, companies are talking up sleep-tracking capabilities, pointing to the need for a battery that can last — at the very least — a good 24 hours on a charge. Having to top the watch off little by little before bedtime isn’t a great user experience. It’s something Apple in particular needs to focus on with its next-gen device.

OnePlus’ 100-hour figure is based on what the company refers to as “regular use.” When you switch to “heavy use,” that number more than halves to 48 hours. That’s nothing to scoff at, mind. Two full days of life on a charge is still well beyond the capabilities of some smartwatches. How OnePlus quantifies abstractions like “regular” and “heavy” isn’t entire clear. You’ll want to wait until the review units are out in the world to get a better idea of what all of that means.

Apparently, Google’s Wear OS team was involved in helping these kinds of figures. “We’ve made significant updates to Wear OS’ hybrid interface to support new capabilities that run on OnePlus’ innovative Dual-Engine Architecture,” Google’s John Renaldi explains. “Through this collaboration, the OnePlus Watch 2 transparently switches between the low power and high-performance engines to deliver a feature-rich, premium smartwatch experience with optimized battery life.”

The key to that above quote is the word “hybrid.” The watch has two chips it toggles between to squeeze out as much life as possible. There’s the familiar Snapdragon W5, which powers the Pixel Watch 2 and a bunch of devices from companies like Oppo and Xiaomi, and the more power efficient BES 2700 MCU.

Image Credits: OnePlus

Like the Apple Watch, OnePlus’ Watch 2 has a Power Saving Mode. Here, however, it disables a lot more than Apple’s. The company notes:

WearOS apps and the Always On Display will not work when the device is in Power Saving Mode. Other features such as calling, messaging, and exercise modes will still work on Power Saving Mode; however, some of their more power intensive functions will be limited to preserve battery life, e.g., Smart Reply in Messages, accessing call records and Voice Guidance while running.

So, it becomes a smartish watch, I suppose.

The device is up for preorder beginning today for $300 — that’s nearly double its predecessor’s $159 price point. Clearly OnePlus is tackling an entirely different cross section of the market, with a price more in line with Apple and Samsung devices. It starts shipping next month.

Read more about MWC 2024 on TechCrunch

Porsche Ventures invests in battery startup South 8 to boost cold-weather EV performance

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An electric vehicle charges in the snow.

Image Credits: SOPHIE-CARON / Getty Images

All cars suffer when the mercury drops, but electric vehicles suffer more than most as heaters draw more power and batteries charge more slowly as the liquid electrolyte inside thickens. Drivers in Chicago found this out the hard way last January after many Teslas failed to charge during a deep freeze.

One startup, South 8 Technologies, says it can make cold-weather charging more reliable by filling batteries with a pressurized, liquified gas electrolyte instead of a liquid one. In the process, it hopes to slash the cost of lithium-ion batteries by 30%. 

For automakers, if that savings pans out, it might be too good to pass up. “The battery costs about a third of the entire car,” CEO Tom Stepien told TechCrunch. 

South 8 claims that its manufacturing technique can reduce the size of some of the costliest parts of a battery factory. And by injecting gas under pressure into the cell, South 8 can prevent the electrolyte from freezing until -100 degrees C, well below the point at which nearly every other solvent has turned into a solid.

“At -40 degrees C, we retain 75% of the energy capacity,” Stepien said. “Everything else is a brick.”

The company recently attracted new funding from Porsche Ventures in the form of a SAFE note, which will be applied to a Series B round that the company is starting to raise. Stepien said he could not disclose the size of Porsche Ventures’ investment.

Porsche Ventures appeared primarily interested in South 8’s low-temperature performance, Stepien said. “They want to keep their finger on the pulse of where things are headed,” he said. LG, Anzu Partners and Lockheed are prior investors. The startup was spun out of research at UC San Diego, which is basically an EV paradise — it last froze there in 1963.

South 8’s core technology, which it calls LiGas, is based on a gas that is most commonly used as a refrigerant. (Early scientific work published by the founding team suggests it’s difluoromethylene, otherwise known as R-32.) Getting the pressurized electrolyte into the cell, though, presents a couple challenges. First, the approach only works with cylindrical cells, the sort used in Teslas, Rivians and Lucids. Today, most automakers use prismatic or pouch cells. Stepien said that the company would consider applying the technology to prismatic cells in the future because they have a rigid can, but pouch cells do not, so they’re off the table.

In cylindrical cells, South 8’s pressurized electrolyte requires the end caps to be stronger. The top cap also has to be welded on, and it requires a new design to include a valve through which the electrolyte is injected. 

All that means different equipment, which poses a hurdle to adoption given the billions that battery manufacturers have invested in their gigafactories. Still, Stepien hopes that South 8’s technology will ultimately translate into savings that are too big to ignore.

For one, Stepien said South 8’s technology will speed production time because it can reduce the formation cycle, in which batteries are first charged and discharged. The process can take days, and it helps form a layer atop the anodes that helps the battery reach its potential. Stepien said South 8 can reduce that time by 90%.

“Our standard protocol here was about 100 hours for cells we make for our customers. We’ve done tests, and we’ve seen no difference in performance with 10 hours,” Stepien said. The gas in the cells is itself a potent greenhouse gas, generating over 600 times more global warming than an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide, according to the IPCC. Should billions of cells be manufactured with the electrolyte, battery recyclers will need to add new steps to their process to ensure the gas doesn’t escape to the atmosphere. Recyclers have similar protocols for handling air conditioning and refrigerator compressors, though on a much smaller scale. Still, if South 8 can help develop a recycling solution while also reducing the number of cells needed for cold-climate EVs, their liquified gas electrolyte could be a net benefit for the climate.

Correction: The headline has been updated to note that Porsche Ventures is the investor.