Plug-in hybrid cars in your future
As you know, most experts think that rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are causing global warming. Smoke from coal-burning power plants and exhaust from both internal combustion engines and turbines that use natural gas and petroleum products are major sources of growing atmospheric carbon.
Al Gore worked with Paramount Films to produce a film called "An Inconvenient Truth" about this problem. The previews are very scary. The release date is not fixed, but the movie is winning a lot of praise and recognition. Another film called "Who killed the electric car?" is coming out in June that suggests that a corporate conspiracy killed electric vehicles (EVs) and prevented the development of alternative transportation solutions. That may be a bit paranoid but it is a little scary to realize that GM recalled, then destroyed every EV car they ever produced, even when the leasees pleaded with the company to let them buy the car at the end of the lease period. Toyota produced a few RAV EVs which are still on the road (several hundred in all) with happy owners, but the company has no plans to build new EVs.
There are some interesting new developments that may result in the production of so-called "plug-in" hybrids. Essentially, these are hybrid cars with a much more robust battery pack and the ability to recharge the battery pack with 110 AC current, right from your garage, with no modifications of your home electrical network.
One of the new developers of the battery technology that will make such cars possible is a small, private company called A123.
February, 2006
A123Systems’ battery technology delivers up to 10X longer cycle life, 5X power gains and dramatically faster charge time over conventional high power battery technology, as validated by independent testing at commercial and government research labs.
A123 says it coats an aluminum electrode inside the battery with nano-scale particles, a few hundred atoms in size, of lithium metal phosphate. It declines to disclose more detail, but A123's spokesman, Dr. Chiang, says the phosphate is safer than the oxide-based chemistry used in lithium-ion batteries today. He says that when compared with the same weight of larger particles, the nano-scale particles release more ions, thereby freeing electrons to create an electric current.
A123 believes its lithium-ion batteries could pack the same punch as nickel-metal-hydride at 20% of the weight.
The Department of Energy is working with A123 to develop and test a battery "package for vehicular use," says Jim Barnes, technology coordinator for the agency's vehicle program, which provided $850,000 in early funding for A123. Specifically, the department is studying whether it can replace the 100-pound batteries in hybrid vehicles with lithium-ion batteries lighter than 20 pounds. Preliminary performance results show a technology with great promise for the future of electric and hybrid electric vehicles.
May 20, 2006
A123 Unveils Hybrid Vehicle Battery Pack
A123 unveiled a new hybrid battery pack this week at the Advanced Automotive Battery and Ultracapacitor Conference in Baltimore. It could be appearing in vehicles within three years, says Ric Fulop, one of the company's founders and its vice president of marketing and business development. He also said that they could make hybrid vehicles cheaper and more convenient, while maintaining or improving performance. The pack, smaller than a carton of cigarettes, weighs about as much as a small laptop computer. Ten packs would replace the 45-kilogram battery in the Prius, Fulop says; and if one failed, the consumer could continue to drive the car using the remaining batteries, then replace the faulty one as easily as changing the battery on a rechargeable tool.
Because the batteries put a lot of power into a small, light package, a much smaller battery is needed to power the car, which could reduce hybrid prices. As a result, cars could come with a hybrid option that costs about as much as the option for an automatic transmission, Fulop says.
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Others believe that such lightweight, high-powerd batteries will make plug-in hybrids possible by increasing the battery pack size so that the car can go 1,200 miles on a single charge and a 12 gallon fillup, and recharge in 10-15 minutes rather than overnight if plugged in to a 110V AC outlet. The battery life will be double or triple that of current batteries in the Toyota Prius, which are good for at least 100,000 miles - meaning battery life equal to the life of the car.
This is the way to solve the oil crisis, global warming, air pollution, and several other plagues that we currently endure and fear. Then we can drive SUVs to our heart's content, as long as they are plug-in hybrids.
Dad
Al Gore worked with Paramount Films to produce a film called "An Inconvenient Truth" about this problem. The previews are very scary. The release date is not fixed, but the movie is winning a lot of praise and recognition. Another film called "Who killed the electric car?" is coming out in June that suggests that a corporate conspiracy killed electric vehicles (EVs) and prevented the development of alternative transportation solutions. That may be a bit paranoid but it is a little scary to realize that GM recalled, then destroyed every EV car they ever produced, even when the leasees pleaded with the company to let them buy the car at the end of the lease period. Toyota produced a few RAV EVs which are still on the road (several hundred in all) with happy owners, but the company has no plans to build new EVs.
There are some interesting new developments that may result in the production of so-called "plug-in" hybrids. Essentially, these are hybrid cars with a much more robust battery pack and the ability to recharge the battery pack with 110 AC current, right from your garage, with no modifications of your home electrical network.
One of the new developers of the battery technology that will make such cars possible is a small, private company called A123.
February, 2006
A123Systems’ battery technology delivers up to 10X longer cycle life, 5X power gains and dramatically faster charge time over conventional high power battery technology, as validated by independent testing at commercial and government research labs.
A123 says it coats an aluminum electrode inside the battery with nano-scale particles, a few hundred atoms in size, of lithium metal phosphate. It declines to disclose more detail, but A123's spokesman, Dr. Chiang, says the phosphate is safer than the oxide-based chemistry used in lithium-ion batteries today. He says that when compared with the same weight of larger particles, the nano-scale particles release more ions, thereby freeing electrons to create an electric current.
A123 believes its lithium-ion batteries could pack the same punch as nickel-metal-hydride at 20% of the weight.
The Department of Energy is working with A123 to develop and test a battery "package for vehicular use," says Jim Barnes, technology coordinator for the agency's vehicle program, which provided $850,000 in early funding for A123. Specifically, the department is studying whether it can replace the 100-pound batteries in hybrid vehicles with lithium-ion batteries lighter than 20 pounds. Preliminary performance results show a technology with great promise for the future of electric and hybrid electric vehicles.
May 20, 2006
A123 Unveils Hybrid Vehicle Battery Pack
A123 unveiled a new hybrid battery pack this week at the Advanced Automotive Battery and Ultracapacitor Conference in Baltimore. It could be appearing in vehicles within three years, says Ric Fulop, one of the company's founders and its vice president of marketing and business development. He also said that they could make hybrid vehicles cheaper and more convenient, while maintaining or improving performance. The pack, smaller than a carton of cigarettes, weighs about as much as a small laptop computer. Ten packs would replace the 45-kilogram battery in the Prius, Fulop says; and if one failed, the consumer could continue to drive the car using the remaining batteries, then replace the faulty one as easily as changing the battery on a rechargeable tool.
Because the batteries put a lot of power into a small, light package, a much smaller battery is needed to power the car, which could reduce hybrid prices. As a result, cars could come with a hybrid option that costs about as much as the option for an automatic transmission, Fulop says.
------
Others believe that such lightweight, high-powerd batteries will make plug-in hybrids possible by increasing the battery pack size so that the car can go 1,200 miles on a single charge and a 12 gallon fillup, and recharge in 10-15 minutes rather than overnight if plugged in to a 110V AC outlet. The battery life will be double or triple that of current batteries in the Toyota Prius, which are good for at least 100,000 miles - meaning battery life equal to the life of the car.
This is the way to solve the oil crisis, global warming, air pollution, and several other plagues that we currently endure and fear. Then we can drive SUVs to our heart's content, as long as they are plug-in hybrids.
Dad
posted by Bob at 12:21 AM
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