Battery Breakthrough?
by Richard T. Stuebi
I recently was sent an article about electric cars. It profiles the Lightning GT, a 700 hp electric sports car that can accelerate to sixty mph in four seconds. To me, the news is not so much about the Lightning GT as it is about the batteries being used in the car.
The claim is that the battery, a Lithium-ion (Li-ion) type called Nanosafe being developed by a company called Altairnano, is able to provide a useful operating range of 250 miles, a full recharge time of 10 minutes, and a useful life of 12-20 years through 15,000 charge/discharge cycles.
If a battery can produce this kind of performance, and if large-scale production can enable the battery pack to be profitably sold at a few thousand dollars, mass adoption of electric vehicles cannot be far behind. This is because recharging an electric car from an socket produces a “fuel” that costs about the equivalent of $0.60 per gallon -- about 1/6th the current cost of gasoline at the pump.
That’s a game-changer that could end our addiction to oil. While potentially a big threat to the big petro-companies, such a development would be a huge boon to electric utilities, which all of a sudden would have a major overnight load to soak up off-peak excess capacity.
And, the big long-term winner would be the environment. Even if the electricity comes from coal, the emissions profile of an all-electric car is much better than even a highly-efficient gasoline or diesel car. If the electricity is produced by renewables such as solar and wind, then we’re talking about virtually a zero-carbon car.
Richard T. Stuebi is the BP Fellow for Energy and Environmental Advancement at The Cleveland Foundation, and is also the Founder and President of NextWave Energy, Inc.
Labels: Batteries, cleantech, electric vehicles, green tech, Lithium ion
Check it Out on Cleantech.org
posted by Richard T. Stuebi @ 11:07 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
You might be interested in our latest book "The Zero-Carbon Car: Building the Car the Auto Industry Can't Get Right" by William Kemp. Our website for more information is
www.aztext.com
Richard,
Just would like to point out that Altairnano is one of many companies in the industry who are gradually moving the ball forward in terms of cycle life, safety and energy and power density. To charge in 10 minutes, you need a cable the size of my forearm. For a 220VAC with 50 amps - similar to a hot tub connection at home - it will take 3 - 4 hours. There are a couple companies like Altainano in the industry whose claims are more harmful than good.
Lithium-ion batteries are the future of automotive power but it will be a steady progression.
Hey thanks for the great blog, I love this stuff. I don’t usually do much for Earth Day but with everyone going green these days, I thought I’d try to do my part.
I am trying to find easy, simple things I can do to help stop global warming (I don’t plan on buying a hybrid). Has anyone seen that www.EarthLab.com is promoting their Earth Day (month) challenge, with the goal to get 1 million people to take their carbon footprint test in April? I took the test, it was easy and only took me about 2 minutes and I am planning on lowering my score with some of their tips.
I am looking for more easy fun stuff to do. If you know of any other sites worth my time let me know.
I do hope that it catches on. I bought an entry-level ZAP PK mainly just to support the idea of the future of electric cars. I don't think that the ZAP will be the leader , but I do feel that these fledgling companies need to be supported or we won't see the generation. It really does cost 3 cents per mile to drive. I use it every day to drive back and forth to work. It works for 90% of my driving, but I did keep my full size pickup to do the heavy work. I would hope that a new company would come along and take a market share away from the major car companies.
Jim
Did you ever try to figure out what kind of charger your dream car might require. A car that can go 250 miles on a charge requires on the order of 15 kW for 4 hours or 60 kWhr of electricity. Recharging in 10 min requires at least a 360 kW charger. Since the transformer supporting a typical house is a 25 kW unit you might find it rather challenging to support the recharge.
You would plug it in at home for an overnight charge and If you needed a charge on the road there will be many converted Gas stations with quick recharge stations, or supermarkets. (what a good use of all that Parking space)
Post a Comment
<< Home