It's the Batteries, Stupid!

[Nik]

If the method can be commercialized, it could lead to laptops that charge in a few minutes or cell phones that charge in 30 seconds.

I hope they use wireless charging, because a wall-wart charger with a 2-inch thick cable isn't going to be very portable.

 

[bolosky]

I hope they use wireless charging, because a wall-wart charger with a 2-inch thick cable isn't going to be very portable.

I don't think that would be necessary. A regular (US) wall socket is 110V/15A, from which you're allowed to draw 12A continuously, or about 1.3kW. Doing that uses an ordinary size wire (think of the wire on 1.3kW hair dryers, for instance). I just looked, and the batttery in my laptop claims to hold 73 Wh, which at 1.3kW would take between three and four minutes at 1.3kW, even if you make some allowance for charging inefficiencies.

 

[TEG]

Bill Gates Backs Liquid Metal Battery: Cleantech News and Analysis

 

[Norbert]

Lithium-Ion Battery Keeps Its Cool - Technology Review

Leyden Energy uses a graphite current collector and sodium imide in the battery's electrolyte. These materials enable the battery to last longer and withstand higher temperatures;

The company says the battery has an energy density of 225 watt-hours per kilogram. This falls at the high-end range of laptop batteries, and roughly 50 percent higher than lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.

Leyden's new technology will first show up in laptop battery. The company says these batteries will achieve over 1,000 charge and discharge cycles, compared with 300 cycles from a typical laptop battery, and will have a three-year warranty instead of the usual one-year warranty.

Patel says the batteries could use air cooling rather than liquid cooling, which would make them cheaper and lighter.

 

[doug]

The Knock-Down, Drag-Out Fight Over the Next Generation of Batteries

 

[user497]

Not sure if anyone saw this article in Wired (Video: Crazy Genius Charges EV by Towing It | Autopia | Wired.com) about a guy that recharged half the battery in his Leaf in just 10 minutes but towing the car and using the regenerative braking (he had to slightly press the brakes to engage the regenerative braking):

"It’s a tricky maneuver, because depressing the pedal too far engages the brakes, but if you use just the right touch, the regenerative braking will send energy to the pack. Everts got the pack up to 73 kilometers of range, about half of its capacity, within 10 minutes. The downside, however, is the car’s sophisticated energy management system had no clue what was going on, and there are probably all kinds of warranty implications."

As the article points out, the PEM may have freaked out but why would this recharge the batter so quickly? Could companies install rigs to spin the wheels to do something similar for quick charging (instead of having to plug the car in)?

 

[JRP3]

Regen just uses the motor as a powerful generator putting out hundreds of amps, you could use something to spin the wheels and charge the pack, but it would be an inefficient system.

 

[markwj]

Regen just uses the motor as a powerful generator putting out hundreds of amps, you could use something to spin the wheels and charge the pack, but it would be an inefficient system.

Figure I heard quoted was 20% (something like capturing 20% of the energy during regen).

 

[user497]

Figure I heard quoted was 20% (something like capturing 20% of the energy during regen).

Yeah but aren't gas engines only 20% efficient as well? What I am thinking is you should plug at home and get your 80% efficiency off the grid but if you are going long distance you can stop and get just-as-efficient-as-gas quick charging via wheel rotation instead of plugging in. So you trade efficiency for speed in this particular case. This would just to be able to let people go long distances without range anxiety but people would still do 99% of their charging at home.

 

[vfx]

The Knock-Down, Drag-Out Fight Over the Next Generation of Batteries

This was good.

 

[vfx]

New virus-built battery could power cars, electronic devices

Angela Belcher: Using nature to grow batteries | Video on TED.com

 

[Norbert]

New virus-built battery could power cars, electronic devices

Angela Belcher: Using nature to grow batteries | Video on TED.com

Fun stuff. Batteries will grow on trees. I'd like to see an animation of those viruses doing their work.

 

[clea]

New Battery Design Could Let EV Owners Say, Fill ‘Er Up!, | Autopia | Wired.com

 

[vfx]

Leading The Charge To Make Better Electric Cars : NPR

We have a book review thread if anyone reads this one.

 

[vfx]

Printed Electronics World: Senator Padilla announces $6M grant to build better EV batteries

This grant will help Quallion mass produce higher performing large scale Li-ion battery modules and make them more affordable, making electric vehicles more accessible to Californians while creating jobs,"

Car Traction Batteries- The New Gold Rush 2011-2021: IDTechEx

 

[edo]

New Battery Design Could Let EV Owners Say, Fill ‘Er Up!, | Autopia | Wired.com

Related articles at Autoblog, Brammo, MIT, and the technical article

 

[JRP3]

Important study we can use to counter those who think there aren't enough resources to make EV batteries:
Green Car Congress: Study finds resource constraints should not be a limiting factor for large-scale EV battery production

On the order of 1 billion 40 kWh Li-based EV batteries could be built with the currently estimated reserve base of lithium, according to a recent study by researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley. Lifetime system cost, and other factors, will likely limit scale up more than resource constraints, they found.

I think we'll be ok for a while.

 

[TEG]

"Tesla: The Battery Technology Behind the Wheel":
http://asia.stanford.edu/us-atmc/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ee402s-04022009-tesla.pdf

 

[TEG]

Future of electric cars hinges on better batteries - San Jose Mercury News

 

[dpeilow]

Software company predicts 25% battery boost will trickle down to vehicles Autoblog Green

The company says its software controls a battery's internal resistance and limits heat buildup during the discharge cycle, which allows efficient delivery of energy to the vehicle. Call us skeptical, but we're not quite convinced that would result in a claimed 25-percent boost in battery power.