It's the Batteries, Stupid!

[stopcrazypp]

Green Car Congress: Researchers Develop Solid-State, Rechargeable Lithium-Air Battery; Potential to Exceed 1,000 Wh/kg

Rechargeable lithium-air battery. 1000Wh/kg may be exceeded in practical application. So a battery like the Roadster's will be only about 50-100kg (110-220lbs).

 

[Norbert]

Green Car Congress: Researchers Develop Solid-State, Rechargeable Lithium-Air Battery; Potential to Exceed 1,000 Wh/kg

Rechargeable lithium-air battery. 1000Wh/kg may be exceeded in practical application. So a battery like the Roadster's will be only about 50-100kg (110-220lbs).

One of the authors is K. M. Abraham, who has a webpage about Lithium Air here:

Lithium Topics, Lithium Ion Batteries, Lithium Ion Electrolytes, Li-ion batteries, Li-ion battery

He reported prototypes in 2006 already. It seems the authors consider these new prototypes a major step forward, however it is not clear to me why exactly. Because of the solid-state, or the measured cycle life? It seems that one of the major problems, the protection from humidity/water in the air, has not been solved yet. But any step forward, towards 1000 Wh/kg, is potentially hugely important, of course.

EDIT: --------

Here is a link to the announcement by University of Dayton Research Institute itself, which explains my question above, and what is important about the new protototypes:

http://www.udri.udayton.edu/News/2009/Pages/BatteryBreakthrough!.aspx

The primary component of the new electrolyte is a glass-ceramic material which is very stable, even when in contact with water.

This appears to solve the previous problems Lithium-Air batteries were said to have with water in the air. (Hopefully). So that would be an important step forward.

 

[dpeilow]

Nissan Electric Car Battery May Be Ready by 2015, Nikkei Says - Bloomberg.com

 

[Tdave]

Nissan Electric Car Battery May Be Ready by 2015, Nikkei Says - Bloomberg.com

The new battery will be able to power an electric vehicle for 300 kilometers (186 miles) on a single charge, about twice the distance currently possible, the newspaper said.

Hello! There are about 1000 of us who can already do better than that now.

 

[dpeilow]

Will hydrogen breakthrough come in the form of a better battery? Maybe YESS! — Autoblog Green

 

[Iz]

Hello! There are about 1000 of us who can already do better than that now.

They must be quoting EV1 ranges based on lead-acid batteries. Even the NiMH EV1 had an EPA certified range of 140 miles/charge.


To contact the reporter on this story Keiko Ujikane in Tokyo at [email protected]

 

[dpeilow]

I think they are quoting the mark1 LEAF range.

 

[mt2]

Hello! There are about 1000 of us who can already do better than that now.

Gah... I hate sensationalistic spin. 300km with what weight penalty? "Twice the capacity" implies that it would take a Roadster 700km or so, or more than 400km at half the weight. And what car, exactly, would it take 300km? A Mini? An SUV? The Aptera? How about the B52's "I got me a Chrysler that seats about twenty" car?

Come on, guys, add a couple of words to the press release and tell us something meaningful.

 

[dpeilow]

BBC News - Battery made of paper charges up

 

[dpeilow]

Welcome to the electric future - Green cars

His company can already produce a single cell which is 30 times more powerful than a laptop cell, So if his batteries were in a Tesla it would only need 700 cells, rather than the 6831 it currently needs. That, mixed with vastly improved ways of making battery packs, would also mean it would be half the weight: around 400-500lbs, rather than the sports car’s current 1100lb battery pack.

 

[Iz]

700 cells rather than 6831. This however implies the same range. How about 1400 cells rather than 6831. That would up the range to > 450 miles.

 

[bolosky]

700 cells rather than 6831. This however implies the same range. How about 1400 cells rather than 6831. That would up the range to > 450 miles.

I read the article, and it says that the batteries are more "powerful" than the laptop cells. I'm guessing that the author of the article doesn't know the difference between energy and power, and that the claim about 700 cells is based on power, not energy. If that's the case, then the smaller battery would provide the same acceleration (power) but have smaller range (energy).

 

[Iz]

the smaller battery would provide the same acceleration (power) but have smaller range (energy).

What range estimate do you think 700 cells would provide?

 

[vfx]

More $$ from Chu

cars21.com - everything electric

 

[johnr]

More $$ from Chu

cars21.com - everything electric

That's very good news - hopefully this new funding will make it possible for exciting experimental battery technologies such as lithium air to leave the lab and enter production within the next few years.

 

[vfx]

Batteries to get better

Motoring News - - Verdict On Cars

 

[Norbert]

Batteries to get better

Motoring News - - Verdict On Cars

30 times? Ok. When?

 

[dpeilow]

Cedric Lynch: Batteries the bottleneck to gasoline-level performance — Autoblog Green

 

[Norbert]

Cedric Lynch: Batteries the bottleneck to gasoline-level performance — Autoblog Green

Never?

 

[JRP3]

Luckily since EV's are so much more efficient we don't really need batteries with the same energy density of gasoline.