In the shift to e-mobility, battery technology has received considerable press and R&D attention. That’s understandable, as it plays a key role in an electric vehicle’s (EV) range, performance, safety and cost. But the battery alone won’t determine the long-term success of electric transport.
“It’s clear that battery tech advances will be incremental and not result in large improvements over current state-of-the-art units unless a major breakthrough is achieved,” says Bilin Aksun-Guvenc, a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a research professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Ohio State University. “This means that the R&D focus on battery technology could be shifted in other directions receiving less attention.”
So if not the battery, where else should innovators turn their attention?
Tyres
Tyres are central to both electrification and the move towards a more sustainable industry. As combustion engine technology advances and EV numbers grow, tyre wear has become the biggest source of particle pollution in modern cars. EVs are generally heavier than their gasoline and diesel counterparts and have more torque, which means they have even higher tyre emissions. “It is a classic unintended consequences situation,” says Nick Molden, Founder and Chief Executive of Emissions Analytics. “The headlong rush to EVs is going to make the biggest pollutant from cars significantly worse, so it’s not a trivial matter.”
The problem isn’t so much in regulated air pollution, as this considers PM2.5 and PM10, of which tyres don’t produce much. However, they do produce a lot of ultra-fine particles, which are unregulated, and bigger particles that can leach chemicals into the surrounding environment. “The big impact will be on soil and water,” Molden tells Automotive World. “You will damage air quality, but not in a way that the official monitoring picks up. That’s the problem. Policymakers will erroneously take a relaxed attitude, because their PM10 and PM2.5 sensors won’t flag any problem. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem.”
A handful of players currently offer tyres marketed as specifically for EVs, though Molden is sceptical of their real-world impact, suggesting many of the claims are “marketing nothingness.” The challenge, in his view, is to more fundamentally re-engineered tyres for EVs to reduce their emissions. “The consensus at the moment is that the manufacturers haven’t come up with miraculous new compounds for EVs. There are some, but they’re much more expensive. Tyre technology needs to be stepped up massively. I strongly believe the manufacturers can do something about it, but they are not doing much at the moment because it makes the tyres considerably more expensive.”
Molden is not the only voice calling for greater attention on tyre emissions. Mark Robinson, Chief Executive of Flint Engineering, also flags this area as one that is under-represented on the innovation front. “All EVs are heavy,” he says. “Some companies are developing tyres better suited for heavier vehicles, but I don’t think it’s getting enough media time.”
Thermal management
Flint Engineering doesn’t have anything to do with tyres, but it hopes to revolutionise the EV industry with its innovative isothermal energy management system. The company’s IsoMat technology could transform the management of heat and cold in EV batteries, extending their lifetime and facilitating faster charging capabilities. Thermal management in general, according to Robinson, deserves greater attention.
EVs can lose a considerable chunk of range in cold or hot weather, when occupants use the heating and air-conditioning. He believes more can be done with thermal management strategies to avoid that range deterioration. “The heat that you are taking out of the batteries should be made available to the car. You should be able to harvest that energy and put it into something like the seating area whenever you want.” Flint Engineering claims that its IsoMat technology could facilitate this approach to thermal management. “I don’t think people have looked at it from a system point of view, taking into account the real-life consumer requirements,” adds Robinson.
Weight loss
Vehicle weight is another pivotal aspect of EVs that doesn’t necessarily grab the headline space it deserves. “If you could only have one piece of information to convey the environmental credentials of an EV, weight is an extremely good proxy,” says Molden. He wrote an entire book on the subject, ‘Critical Mass’, which explores this topic in much greater detail. “Most of the pollution from a car—emissions, road wear, infrastructure impact, CO2, etc.—which is problematic today is mass dependent.”
The lightest electric passenger car in Europe at the moment is the Dacia Spring, weighing in at 975kg. The Pop-Car initiative, under Capgemini and Movin’on, is working to introduce a new featherweight category of EV that is affordable, sustainable, safe and appealing. “Our proposal with Pop-Car is to introduce a target vehicle weight of 850kg in 2028 without changing any safety regulations,” says Capgemini’s Emmanuelle Bischoffe Cluzel, Vice President and Sustainability Lead for the Global Automotive Industry. “It would be as safe as any car in the street today.” Notably, this is not a microcar and would require the usual driving license and meet all existing safety regulations. The weight reduction is intended to come from using smaller batteries.
In the push towards lightweighting, Cluzel highlights the importance of smart design software within the engineering toolkit. “Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) tools have long existed, but we are now integrating that tooling with eco criteria,” she tells Automotive World. “These tools can take into account a wide range of criteria from the very start and help with comparisons. They allow teams to optimise for lifecycle carbon footprint.”
Weight is also top of the priority list at Everrati, an OEM that specialises in redefining iconic models of the past with sustainable, electric propulsion, and in a way that avoids the usual massive weight gain that comes with a switch to battery power. “Weight savings is one of the core Everrati brand traits,” explains Co-Chief Executive Rhodri Darch. “It’s really unusual to be able to swap out powertrains for an equivalent weight or even a reduced weight. One of the enablers for that is fast-charging batteries. Your battery doesn’t need to be so big if you can charge it in five or ten minutes. That means that the overall vehicle can be lighter. When the battery is lighter, you get this virtuous cycle: now my suspension doesn’t have to be so heavy, and nor do my brakes. It just goes on and on.”
Hybrids
For the IEEE’s Aksun-Guvenc, hybrids and extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) merit greater attention. “Hybrid technology has been around for a long time, and users have come to accept it. They are still green but do not have the limited range problems of EVs,” she notes. “It would have been wiser to keep improving from mild hybrids and progress to EVs with range extenders gradually, at an affordable cost, while waiting for user acceptance.”
She believes that not only would the foundational technology have improved in reliability during a slower transition, but the measured pace of developments would have helped automakers avoid the huge economic impact of quickly pivoting to EVs. “It is not too late, and some companies have let go of this aim of all-electric vehicles and are now using this approach,” she adds.
Connectivity, automation and emotion
Aksun-Guvenc also flags connectivity and automated driving as technology that can augment EV performance, noting: “These technologies could improve vehicle range close to or more than the incremental improvements in battery technology.”
If you could only have one piece of information to convey the environmental credentials of an EV, weight is an extremely good proxy
Nio’s Chief Engineer Danilo Teobaldi also flags digital technology as an area meriting greater focus, but for a different reason. “The important topic missing from the EV discussion is the vast potential these vehicles offer. Essentially, you’re driving around with a massive energy source at your disposal, unlocking incredible opportunities for the car to become a second living space—whether for gaming, movies, camping, or more.”
The Chinese brand prides itself on offering industry-leading connected and smart experiences in the vehicle. When Nomi launched, it arguably set the bar for in-car assistants. “The more that this potential is unlocked, and users discover what they can do in an EV, the more OEMs will need to be creative in incorporating the right features, as well as dropping ones that are no longer appealing,” notes Teobaldi. The key for success within EVs, he adds, is “fostering an emotional connection with users.”
Cupra Chief Executive Wayne Griffiths promoted a similar message during a March 2025 media roundtable, stating that emotional connection to consumers has become pivotal to brand differentiation: “You need an emotional appeal, and that covers design, what you see, and the way the car sounds and feels. Those are the things we’re working on—emotionalising the Cupra brand—and not just the ‘zero to 100’ acceleration in three or four seconds that many electric cars have.”
