How Elon Musk aims to revolutionise?battery technology

By Justin Rowlatt

Chief environment correspondent

BBC business

Elon Musk has perhaps the most exciting portfolio of businesses on the planet.

Elon Musk?神人埃隆·馬斯克工程師、慈善家、PayPal貝寶（最大的網(wǎng)上支付公司）聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人。以及Spacex太空探索技術(shù)公司、環(huán)保跑車公司特斯拉（Tesla）以及SolarCity三家公司的CEO。

Revolutionise/,rev?'lju???na?z/：徹底改變

There's SpaceX?with its mission to Mars, and Tesla?with its super-fast hi-tech electric cars.

SpaceX和Tesla都是Elon Musk的公司，SpaceX專注太空技術(shù)，Tesla專注新能源跑車。

He claims his Hyperloop?concept could revolutionise public transport. And even his Boring Company is kind of interesting - it aims to find new ways to dig tunnels.

Hyperloop：超級高鐵 Hyperloop 假想的亞音速浮空列車系統(tǒng)建議一個(gè)局部真空的管度系統(tǒng)承載膠囊型列車，以大大降低空氣阻力。 ?按照設(shè)想，工程人員將在地面上搭建作用類似鐵路軌道的固定真空管道，在管道中安置“膠囊”座艙。 ????????“膠囊”列車“漂浮”在處于真空的管道中，由彈射裝置像發(fā)射炮彈一樣啟動(dòng)座艙，無間斷地駛往目的地。由于運(yùn)行空間真空，沒有摩擦力，“膠囊”車廂運(yùn)行速度最高可能達(dá)到每小時(shí) 6500 公里。

So which one will end up changing the world most? It is my contention that it will be his battery business.

Doesn't sound that scintillating does it?

But the compact, lightweight lithium?batteries that mean you can now stream movies?on wafer-thin?phones will soon be powering much more of your life.

scintillating?/?s?nt?le?t??/ very clever, amusing and interesting 才情洋溢的；妙趣橫生的

lithium /?l?θi?m/鋰???lightweight lithium?batteries超輕薄鋰電池

Stream：我們常見的含義是小溪，這邊是一個(gè)很少見的計(jì)算機(jī)專業(yè)術(shù)語含義： to play video or sound on a computer by receiving it as a continuous stream, from the Internet for example, rather than needing to wait until the whole of the material has been downloaded 用流式傳輸，流播（無須待整個(gè)文件下載到計(jì)算機(jī)便可播放互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上的視頻或音頻文件）

wafer-thin/?we?f? ?θ?n/超薄

Business Daily: Justin Rowlatt looks at how batteries are powering ahead

You're probably already interested in the potential of electric cars.

But maybe you also have the usual concerns about actually buying one: the price, the range, and worries about where you are going to charge the thing and how long you'll be stuck there.

Yet the market certainly seems to?reckon?they are the future. Just look at the Tesla share price.

?reckon/?rek?n/?to think sth or have an opinion about sth 想；認(rèn)為??[ V (that) ]?I reckon (that) I'm going to get that job. 我認(rèn)為我會得到那份工作。

Last week it briefly nudged ahead of Toyota to become the world's most valuable car firm, even though the Japanese giant sold 30 times as many vehicles last year.

?nudge/n?d?/

1.to push sb gently, especially with your elbow, in order to get their attention （用肘）輕推，輕觸?He nudged me and whispered, ‘Look who's just come in.’ 他用胳膊肘碰了我一下，低聲說：“瞧誰進(jìn)來了?！?

2.[ VN + adv./prep. ] to push sb/sth gently or gradually in a particular direction （朝某方向）輕推，漸漸推動(dòng)??She nudged me out of the way. 她將我慢慢地推開了。

3.[ + adv./prep. ] to move forward by pushing with your elbow 用胳膊肘擠開往前走·He nudged his way through the crowd. 他用胳膊肘開路穿過人群。

4.[ VN ] to reach or make sth reach a particular level （使）達(dá)到，接近?·Inflation is nudging 20%. 通貨膨脹即將達(dá)到20%。

One reason is that Elon Musk has been teasing investors and rivals with the promise of "battery day" some time soon, at which he will announce a series of advancements in battery tech.

World's biggest batteries

And cars are not the only vast new battery market.

You might have seen a story I wrote about how?the world is slowly weaning itself off coal.

?weaning?/'wi?n??/ 斷奶的，斷絕的??weaning itself off coal：減低對煤的依賴

Well,?gigantic?batteries connected to our electricity grids?are going to be central to the great renewable energy revolution too.

"We are entering into a nearly exponential?growth phase", says Prof Paul Shearing. He's an expert on emerging battery technologies at University College London.

gigantic/d?a??ɡ?nt?k/ extremely large 巨大的；龐大的

exponential/?eksp??nen?l/ 1.of or shown by an exponent 指數(shù)的；冪的；由指數(shù)表示的???an exponential curve/function 指數(shù)曲線╱函數(shù)??2.( formal ) ( of a rate of increase 增長率 ) becoming faster and faster 越來越快的??·He expects electric vehicles alone to drive European battery demand up by a factor of 10 this decade.

But this explosion in demand will only be possible if we can make batteries cheaper, more durable and more efficient.

That is a big ask for any technology but fear not, Mr Musk's proposed "battery day" comes thanks to a whole cascade?of breakthroughs.

cascade/k??ske?d/

1.a small waterfall , especially one of several falling down a steep slope with rocks 小瀑布（尤指一連串瀑布中的一支）；2.a large amount of water falling or pouring down 傾瀉；流注??a cascade of rainwater 如注的雨水；3.( formal ) a large amount of sth hanging down 大簇的下垂物??Her hair tumbled in a cascade down her back. 她的長發(fā)瀑布般地傾瀉在后背上。 4.( formal ) a large number of things falling or coming quickly at the same time 傾瀉（或涌出）的東西

Million mile battery

The first of these was announced just last week when the Chinese battery-maker that supplies most of the major car makers, including Tesla, revealed it had produced the first "million mile battery".

Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL)?says its new battery is capable of powering a vehicle for more than a million miles (1.2 million, to be precise - or 1.9 million km) over a 16-year lifespan.

Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL)?寧德時(shí)代新能源科技有限公司(CATL)

Most car batteries offer warranties for 60,000-150,000 miles over a three to eight-year period.

This is a huge improvement in battery life, but will cost just 10% more than existing products, says CATL chair, Zeng Yuqun.

Having a battery you never need to change is obviously good news for the electric car industry. But longer-lasting batteries are also essential for what's known as?"stationary" storage too.

stationary/?ste???nri/1.not moving; not intended to be moved 不動(dòng)的；靜止的；固定的；不可移動(dòng)的??I remained stationary. 我待著沒動(dòng)。 2.not changing in condition or quantity 不變的；穩(wěn)定的

These are the batteries we can attach to wind turbines?or solar panels?so renewable energy is available when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing.

wind turbines： /?t??ba?n/ 風(fēng)力渦輪機(jī)? ?solar panels：太陽能板

Fairly soon you might even want?a stationary battery in your home?to store cheap off-peak electricity, or to collect the power your own solar panels generate.

The cheaper option

The next barrier that is likely to be broken is price.

The landmark challenge in the electric vehicle industry is to get a battery costing under $100 (￡78) per?kilowatt?hour.

kilowatt?：kilo-watt 千瓦

"At that point you start to get electric vehicles that are cheaper than the equivalent internal combustion?vehicles," says Seth Weintraub, a US battery technology journalist.

combustion?/k?m?b?st??n/1.the process of burning 燃燒2.( technical 術(shù)語 ) a chemical process in which substances combine with the oxygen in the air to produce heat and light 燃燒過程

Once that happens the internal combustion engine will be effectively dead, he says, comparing it to how digital killed off film cameras a decade ago.

"In car?dealerships?we're going to go from one electric vehicle in the back lot somewhere, to one gas vehicle in the back lot somewhere."

Dealership：汽車經(jīng)銷商

So when will this crucial price-point be passed?

He believes it already has.

Mr Weintraub says his sources tell him these batteries are going into Teslas right now, and thinks this will be one of Mr Musk's "battery day" revelations.