Better batteries coming soon

When they are here and in cars, when they can be proven to last, then it will be big news. Lab experiences take time to translate into the real world. Factories have to be built, supply sources volume ramped up, etc.

 

The 2 battery company panelists are aligned with GM. LG Chem supplies the cells for the Volt and Spark EV and are rumored to supply the cells for a 2017 200 mile range Chevy compact. GM also just confirmed that Cadillac is also planning a 2017 200 mile range EV.

GM was an early investor in Sakti3 which was spun out of the University of Michigan which works closely with GM on auto technology. The Sakti3 effort sounds similar to the solid state battery that Toyota says they are working on.

With these and several other promising battery technologies it seems quite possible that 200-300 mile range EVs will be selling for mid-$20k 10 years from now.

 

i liked what she had to say, kinda brings the business side to the r&d and production. getting the raw material prices down will go a long way in bringing the current and close tech to a 200 mile range vehicle affordable.

 

Normally, I follow 'Autoline Daily' and 'Autoline After Hours' so I missed this 'Autoline This Week'. It is a nice summary of the state of the art. However, I do disagree with their dismissal of air-metal cells.

They call it a 'primary cell' and that is accurate but I don't consider that to be a fatal flaw. It just means refueling by other means. The energy density is pretty much the highest available.

Bob Wilson

 

Interesting.

I tend to believe in evolution, on all levels. Including improvements in technology and science.

I would speculate the only real variable is "Coming Soon".

 

Bob air cells may be rechargeable in 20 years, but right now they are recyclable. The easiest one to recycle is aluminum air, and alcoa is looking into that.

 

Optimism is easy, delivering is much harder. I know the technical hurdles will eventually be crossed, but it usually takes a lot more time and money than first imagined.

 

Rechargeable would be nice but IMHO not necessary as long as the owner/driver can handle the dump and load in typical refueling times. To my thinking, 120-150 minutes at 60-65 mph followed by 12-15 minutes of refueling:

• park over a dump station
• connect a fill hose

Examples:




The reason is:


Bob Wilson

 

Took a ride on a steam driven train this weekend with my grandkids. Oil fired boiler took 50 gallons for the fuel, 600 for the water to produce the steam.

Every other run they used a simple diesel electric engine to pull the train because they had to refill the steam engine with water.

Plus they had to have water towers available along the route which was only about 20 minutes out and another 20 minutes back.

Kinda like hydrogen or pure electric cars today. Long refills, gotta have infrastructure. OTOH, kinda like ICE only cars too, lots of pollution.

 

now this is thinking outside the box. i would like to know more about the possibilities!