Global automotive engineering alliance FISITA has released a comprehensive technological roadmap designed to accelerate mass-market electric vehicle adoption and navigate the next phase of development.

The paper examines the six technological pillars shaping the next phase of EV development

Advancing Battery and EV Technologies: Strategies for Widespread EV Adoption and the Post-Chasm Era has been developed by FISITA’s Battery Technology Expert Group, bringing together battery and automotive experts from leading organisations.

The paper examines the six technological pillars shaping the next phase of electric vehicle development – cost, charging, driving range, standardisation, safety and sustainability. It sets out how coordinated progress across these areas can help the industry move beyond early-adopter enthusiasm towards true mass-market acceptance.

With batteries accounting for 30-40% of total EV cost, affordability remains the defining barrier to adoption. The white paper highlights emerging strategies to reduce battery costs, including low-cost chemistries, manufacturing innovations to reduce energy consumption, and system-level efficiency gains through integration.

Together, these approaches support the industry’s goal of achieving cost parity with internal combustion vehicles.

While driving range has reached a point where most consumers consider it sufficient, the paper shows that charging infrastructure is now a stronger indicator of consumer confidence. Regional imbalance and insufficient availability remain central barriers. The authors argue for a balanced strategy: expanding accessible AC charging while deploying fast charging where economically justified, enabling more affordable EV ownership and smoother adoption.

Battery standardisation is a major enabler of scale, reducing development effort and processing costs without constraining innovation. Safety and sustainability also remain foundational, with the paper emphasising defect-minimising manufacturing, structural fire containment, carbon-footprint disclosure, recycled content and resilient mineral supply chains as essential components of a mature EV ecosystem.

Collectively, these six pillars form an integrated roadmap for overcoming the EV ‘post-chasm’ challenge and enabling a sustainable, accessible, mass-market EV future.

Martin Kahl, FISITA’s director of technical, said: “This white paper reflects the collaborative strength of our Expert Group, bringing together every part of the battery value chain – from OEMs to testing organisations – to build a shared understanding of the technological pathways ahead. As EVs enter the post-chasm era, the industry must move beyond isolated breakthroughs and towards coordinated, system-level progress. Cost, charging, safety, sustainability – these are not separate challenges but interconnected – that will define the pace of global EV adoption.”

The Battery Technology White Paper is available to download here.