EV Evolution Demands Power Design Innovation

There’s revolution, or better said, evolution, brewing on the EV battery front. Last year, Toyota Motor TM announced its plans of releasing an EV by 2028 that will recharge in only 10 min while traveling 1,000 kilometers. 

But the fact that even the EV king, Tesla Inc TSLA isn’t providing updates on the battery front shows how daunting this pursuit is. After all, it’s not only about a battery that gets recharged quickly, but also about packing as much possible energy into as little material and weight as possible and for that battery to have a long lifespan and for it to work well across a variety of temperatures. Moreover, that safety and assurance also needs to be affordable.

Recent reports showed that Tesla drivers had difficulties in cold weather, as batteries died in freezing temperatures while power stations either not working or taking longer than usual to charge EVs. Also, Recurrent's research showed that below-freezing temperatures reduced the driving range of 18 popular EV models up to as much as 30%.

Although Tesla still doesn’t have a complete answer for freezing weather, the pickup parts player, more precisely, tonneau cover maker, Worksport Ltd WKSP is taking action to address this issue with its products.

Worksport just revealed it joined forces with Infineon Technologies AG IFNNY to reduce weight and cost of portable power stations, ensuring power-dense converters for its COR system product line. Worksport developed COR, a portable battery system, together with SOLIS, a solar-powered tonneau cover. Unlike SOLIS, COR can be used independently, but it can also be integrated into a pickup truck. It can be recharged through a wall outlet or any solar panel.

Worksport has been rigorously testing its COR battery power system since November to ensure high performance in extreme situations, including extreme cold and hot climates, rigorous terrain, humidity. Worksport will also conduct shock tests to account for unforeseen events.

Empowered by Infineon, Worksport can create the next generation portable power stations with GaN power semiconductors. By replacing the former silicon switch in the power converter with Infineon’s GaN power semiconductors and operating the transistors at higher switching frequency, Worksport will be able to reduce the battery system weight by 33% and system costs by up to 25%. 

Moreover, through this collaboration and GaN game changing technology, Worksport will be able to lower CO2 emissions through its manufacturing process. For data centers alone, this technology has a global energy savings potential that equates to 10 million tons of CO2.

To be rescued, the EV revolution needs battery and power innovation.

This winter brought out one of the many barriers to global EV adoption, range anxiety or more precisely, the reliability of battery. Tesla ended 2023 by getting surpassed by BYD during the last quarter for the first time and it entered 2024 with its battery failing to perform on Chicago roads. Its response, for now, is the recommendation to leave vehicles plugged in whenever possible as keeping the charge level above 20% when unplugged will reduce the impact of bitter cold temperatures. Worksport’s upcoming COR battery system seems like a better way to assure drivers and encourage EV adoption.

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This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga's reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.