Latest Question:
September 6, 2024
How much has the cost of a lithium-ion battery pack for an electric light-duty vehicle declined between 2008 and 2023?
30%
50%
70%
90%
See the answer
90%
The Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office estimates that the cost of a lithium-ion battery pack for a light-duty electric vehicle fell a whopping 90% between 2008 and 2023, assuming a scale of production of at least 100,000 units per year and using 2023 constant dollars. In 2023, the cost had fallen to $139/kilowatt-hour (kWh). Key factors driving this decline include advancements in battery technologies and chemistries, along with manufacturing improvements and increased production volumes.
Since 2023, lithium-ion battery prices have continued to decrease, particularly in China, where the cost is now around $50 per kWh. Over the last 18 months raw material prices, including the cathode—the most expensive part of the battery—have dropped significantly. The cathode now represents 30% of the total battery cost, down from 50%. Overcapacity in China, where battery production exceeds global EV demand, has also led manufacturers to reduce prices to maintain market share.
The sustained low cost of batteries has significant implications for both the automotive and power industries, making the technology viable today rather than a distant future possibility. EVs are already sold at prices equal to or lower than those of combustion-engine cars in China; now pricing for EVs is starting to shift in areas outside of China. Additionally, large-scale energy-storage installations are now more economic in price, making them much more attractive to build.
Previous Question:
August 30, 2024
For more than a third of customers, the wait time for a drink at Starbucks now tops how many minutes?
One minute
Two minutes
Five minutes
Ten minutes
See the answer
Five minutes
According to surveys from researcher Technomic, wait times for drinks at Starbucks now top five minutes for more than a third of customers. Elongated wait times for beverages are largely attributed to the large menu of drinks available to customers, their desire to customize them through features such as shots, cream, foams, and syrups, and the ease in doing so when placing orders online (74% of Starbucks orders are now drive-through, mobile, or delivery). For example, the number of permutations for a latte alone total nearly 383 million! Two of every three drinks ordered at Starbucks—which sells 15 million cups of brewed coffee each month in the US—have included requests for customizations.
These added “extras” also add to the price and have helped company profitability improve by nearly US$1 billion, but the increasing customization and complexity of drinks has overwhelmed workers, a contributing cause to their recent unionization efforts. Starbucks is now spending billions of dollars to try to shave the time it takes to make custom drinks–including changing how coffee is brewed, how cold foam (wildly popular) is made, and even the shape of the ice cubes being used (smaller cubes are easier to scoop)—and help with barista retention.
Other improvements to make coffee more efficiently include a portable cold foamer that makes it easier for baristas to move between hot and cold bars, and a reverse French press machine, which can grind beans and brew coffee in 30 seconds when a button is pressed, instead of manually grinding, batching in paper filters, and brewing an urn every 30 minutes.
