It's the Batteries, Stupid!

[TEG]

Make me even happier I bought more AONE the other day on the drop before the news :love:

Yes, I saw the pop today and wish I had done the same!

 

[Norbert]

Sounds like welcome news...

Other than being great news for US battery manufacturing (and making JRP3 happy), it says that GM expects to sell pure EVs in volumes of at least multiple 10,000s. If anyone still had doubts that pure EVs will sell more than to a limited group of enthusiasts and then be done with, this is the time to put them aside. Also, using A123 makes it likely that fast-charging is part of the game (I'd expect). I think this also good for Tesla (and not only for pure EVs), since it will expand the market more than being competition.

 

[TEG]

Also, it may mean that A123 is getting costs down. From what I know, A123 has been a 'premium' battery company, and their biggest downside was comparative cost.

 

[JRP3]

That's for sure, next to Altairnano A123 is one of the highest cost per kWh. High C rate cells cost more than high energy density cells but A123 has improved their density and hopefully been able to address their cost issues as well. Increased volume should help reduce costs even more.

 

[Doug_G]

Thin Films Could Boost Car Battery of Future

Design News - Captain Hybrid - Thin Films Could Boost Car Battery of Future

One maxim of electric car battery design is that energy and power are a tradeoff. Boost the energy, and you lose power, and vice versa.

Now, though, a professor at the University of Illinois has developed a battery structure that changes all that, and he hopes to have it in production applications within three years. Paul Braun, a professor of material science, says his structure could enable users to boost energy without sacrificing power.

 

[Lloyd]

Also from this company: A Battery that Charges in minutes for a car. Seconds for a cell phone!

http://www.xerionmaterials.com/downloads/Xerion%20Press%20Release%20FINAL.pdf

 

[Doug_G]

Also from this company: A Battery that Charges in minutes for a car. Seconds for a cell phone!

Sounds like the charger will need 1.21 GW.

 

[Lloyd]

Yes, I would think that they would need a large bank of capacators to make that commercially viable.

 

[JRP3]

I'm rather bored with articles claiming quick charge times that will be almost impossible to implement in the real world. Give me lower cost per kWh, better wh/kg, with good cycle life, and reasonable C rates. I don't care if I have to wait 10 minutes or 20 minutes after 200 miles of driving.

 

[vfx]

The automotive industry – more specifically, plug-in vehicles – will be the driving force for demand for lithium-ion batteries by 2015, surpass the laptop computers that today hold the top spot.

http://green.autoblog.com/2011/08/24/lithium-ion-vehicle-batteries-to-outnumber-laptop-computer-packs/

 

[JRP3]

Have I been in a coma and it's actually 2020 today? If not the prices for 2011 are way off.

 

[Todd Burch]

Haha...if I believe that chart the 300mi Model S battery will cost $90,000! Haha better start saving!

 

[dpeilow]

cars21.com Exclusive interview with Huw W. Hampson Jones, CEO, OXIS Energy

Great to see this company progress. A colleague visited six years ago but at the time the cycle life was about 60 x. Surprised manufacturers are asking for 5000 though.

 

[Norbert]

cars21.com Exclusive interview with Huw W. Hampson Jones, CEO, OXIS Energy

Great to see this company progress. A colleague visited six years ago but at the time the cycle life was about 60 x. Surprised manufacturers are asking for 5000 though.

Sounds like another promising candidate. My impression would be that altogether there is a really good chance for having a major step forward for batteries in 5-10 years.

 

[JRP3]

Surprised manufacturers are asking for 5000 though.

It does seem rather excessive but it would do two things for OEM's, take away any worry of warranty issues due to pack degradation, even in extreme use, and it pushes off the recycling issues far into the future, which OEM's will presumably be responsible for and may not yet have a clear path for at the moment.

 

[vfx]

Maybe Tesla can power their utility golf carts with these as a test.

 

[Norbert]

Battery Storage Could Get a Huge Boost from Seaweed - Technology Review

Lithium-ion batteries could hold up to 10 times as much energy per cell if silicon anodes were used instead of graphite ones. But manufacturers don't use silicon because such anodes degrade quickly as the battery is charged and discharged.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Clemson University think they might have found the ingredient that will make silicon anodes work—a common binding agent and food additive derived from algae and used in many household products. They say this material could not only make lithium-ion batteries more efficient, but also cleaner and cheaper to manufacture.

The full potential of a silicon anode can't be exploited until researchers develop a matching cathode capable of handling the same amount of lithium ions. But even with existing cathodes, alginate-silicon anodes could increase the capacity of lithium-ion batteries by 30 to 40 percent, according to Yushin.

 

[Norbert]

Green Car Congress: New ORNL titanium dioxide material shows high-rate capability and long-time cyclability for Li-ion batteries

[...] and shows superior high-rate charge–discharge capability and long-time cyclability for lithium-ion batteries, according to their paper published in the journal Advanced Materials.

The new material allows the battery to be charged to 50% of full capacity in six minutes while the traditional graphite-based lithium-ion battery would be just 10 percent charged at the same current, said Hansan Liu, lead author of the paper. Compared to commercial lithium titanate material, the ORNL compound also boasts a higher capacity—256 vs. 165 mAh g-1—and a sloping discharge voltage that is good for controlling state of charge.

He also observed, however, that the production process of this material is complex and involves many steps, so more research remains to determine whether it is scalable.

 

[Doug_G]

Electric Car Battery Makers Face Shakeup Amid Soft Demand

Design News - Captain Hybrid - Electric Car Battery Makers Face Shakeup Amid Soft Demand

The laws of supply and demand may be about to deal a nasty blow to electric vehicle (EV) battery makers over the coming decade, as high government expectations and low EV sales combine to carve a number of unlucky manufacturers out of the market.

 

[TEG]

Oh no! A glut of cheap batteries is coming! What will we ever do? :wink: