electric car battery Archives – The Green Optimistic

Henrik Fisker Back in the EV Game, Announces Breakthrough Battery Tech

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 22:09:45 +0000

If you remember a few years ago, there was a car company named Fisker. They made an electric hybrid sportscar, called Karma. But the karma of the Karma wasn’t so positive, and after the New York floods caused by hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Fisker went bankrupt and got sold to a Chinese company. Now, unable […]

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50 kWh Bosch EV Battery will Soon Weigh Just 190 Kilograms

Annika Tostengard — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 06:54:23 +0000

German company Bosch’s current goal is to create a 50 kWh battery that weighs only 190 kilograms. Based on recent comments by a company researcher and how much money the company is funneling towards electric car battery research, Bosch is working very hard to achieve their goal. They predict that 15% of all cars sold […]

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4 Battery Chemistries that Could Change Electric Vehicles

Annika Tostengard — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 20:40:07 +0000

Right now, lithium-ion technology is king when it comes to electric vehicle batteries, but scientists are hard at work to find something even better. In a matter of decades, new battery technology for cleanly-fueled cars will drop prices and increase efficiency more than lithium-ion technology could ever accomplish. In the future, look forward to letting these get […]

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Georgia Tech Supercapacitors Could Outperform Batteries Thanks to New Compound

Annika Tostengard — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 21:22:41 +0000

The future of electric cars will likely involve a shift from the batteries currently used to capacitors instead. Even in 2011, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors knew that capacitors would outstrip the battery in both performance and cost. While replacing batteries with capacitors is still out of the realm of possibility, a new […]

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How to Get Rid of (Recycle) Electric Car Batteries

Annika Tostengard — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 06:20:29 +0000

Electric cars are sometimes criticized for being less eco-friendly than they seem. The vehicles won’t last forever, and one day will need to be thrown away. Batteries in particular can be harmful to the environment when dumped into landfills because they could leach harmful chemicals and metals into the soil. The President of Retriev Technologies, […]

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EV Batteries Last More Than You’d Expect, Survey Finds

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 17:02:51 +0000

A recent survey by Plug In America suggests that electric car batteries last much longer even than what the manufacturers predicted in the first place. For instance, the battery in a Tesla Roadster only drops to 80 – 85% after 100,000 miles of driving. Tesla, on the other hand, had originally estimated that the battery […]

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“Flash Thermography Measurement” Technique Sees Battery Electrode Defects Before Assembly

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 11 May 2013 07:17:39 +0000

A team at Purdue University have discovered a method of detecting defects in lithium ion battery anodes as they are manufactured, before installing them in actual batteries. Their discovery relies on thermal imaging and could increase the reliability of lithium ion cells used in electric cars. Anodes and cathodes are the two electrodes of a […]

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New Polymer from Waste Sulfur Enhances EV Batteries

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:59:04 +0000

Waste sulfur could see new life due to a chemical process discovered recently by University of Arizona scientists. The lightweight plastic they created can be used to enhance lithium sulfur batteries and improve the range of electric cars or be used in optical systems. “We’ve developed a new, simple and useful chemical process to convert […]

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Lithium-Sulfur Battery with Lifespan of Lithium-Ion, Invented at Stanford

Benji Jerew — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:51:57 +0000

Researchers at Stanford University have recently discovered how they can increase the lifespan of lithium-sulfur batteries, by up to ten times. Lithium-ion batteries may be the accepted norm for most automotive traction applications, and with good reason. Lithium-ion can withstand thousands of cycles without losing too much of their capacity, and they are the most energy-dense batteries […]

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NREL’s AMPED Project Boosts Battery Efficiency by Better Management

Benji Jerew — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 07:31:18 +0000

The three main factors that affect the life of a rechargeable battery, any rechargeable battery, is chemistry, management, and usage. The same goes for the massive batteries that we find in hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] and electric vehicles [EV]. For the most part, regarding chemistry, Toyota is sticking with tried-and-true nickel-metal hydride [NiMH] battery packs, […]

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Higher Ranged EV Battery Possible with Lithium and Sulfur

Benji Jerew — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 07:38:21 +0000

Current lithium-ion [Li-ion] batteries, while more energy-dense than their nickel-cadmium [NiCad] and nickel-metal hydride [NiMH] predecessors, are still limited to 200 watt-hours per kilogram [Wh/kg]. While Li-ion technology is fine for laptops and mobile devices, the inherent density limitation of Li-ion batteries has made the adoption of electric vehicles [EV] difficult. Aside from the density […]

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European SmartBatt Seeks Lighter EV Battery Packs

Benji Jerew — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 20:06:55 +0000

Electric vehicles [EV] are designed to make the most of their limited battery charge. To that end, EV designers focus on weight reduction, aerodynamics, and efficient electrical systems. Still, the lithium-ion [Li-ion] battery packs in today’s EVs are a major part of the weight that needs to be hauled around, whether fully charged or not. […]

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ebuggy: The Ultimate Battery Solution for EVs Cheaper Than Gasoline Cars

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:45:41 +0000

For them to become a transport solution accepted by everyone, electric cars have to get at least as cheap as ordinary gas-powered ones. A trailer-like battery called ebuggy has been unveiled in Germany. It promises to revolutionize the future of transportation by providing virtually limitless electricity to EV owners through a network of charging stations. […]

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GM to Use Envia’s Breakthrough EV Batteries for 100+ Miles EV Range

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:23:58 +0000

Envia Systems is GM’s newest “protegee” in what their interest in EV battery in concerned. Envia has recently announced a breakthrough in a battery that’s as cheap as the ones used nowadays in the Volt and also has a high energy density. Dan Akerson, GM CEO, said “I think we’ve got better than a 50-50 chance […]

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Lithium-Air Battery Breakthrough Gives Hopes to EV Industry

Maria Reyes — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:56:15 +0000

The Lithium-air battery technology is a promising solution to make the range of electric vehicles comparable to gasoline-powered vehicles. It has the potential to store ten times more energy than the best lithium-ion battery available in the market nowadays. However, no stable battery configuration had been designed until now. In order to operate, the components […]

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New EV Battery Case from NTS Works Makes Replacing Individual Faulty Elements a Breeze, Lowers Price

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:17:52 +0000

Even if their price plummeted in the last two to three years by 30%, batteries are still the most expensive part of an electric vehicle. What’s most troubling about such a battery is that if it breaks, only specialized factories are able to fix them, because they are welded together for maximum electrical conductivity. Neal […]

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EV Batteries Price Dropped 30% Since 2009, BNEF Says

Guest Contributor — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:23:52 +0000

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) has recently reported a 14% decrease in electric vehicles’ lithium-ion battery prices. In a statement, BNEF made this comparison to what the average price was in the past year. BNEF attributes this fall to shifts in production capacity exceeding demand. The London-based research company compared the average batteries cost of […]

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U.S. EV Battery Maker A123’s Shares Drop to 82 Cents After Defect Scandal

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 08:46:11 +0000

A123, the famous U.S.-based electric car battery maker has big problems. Yesterday, their shares closed at 82 cents, after news spread out on March 26 revealed they had issues with some of the batteries that had delivered and that they are going to replace them. That meant a 49.7% drop since the day the news […]

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New Zinc-Air Battery Gets Charged by Swapping Its Electrolyte in Under 3 Minutes

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:47:24 +0000

In a time when people are trying to find a reason to buy an electric car, because of the time it takes to charge, Eos Energy Storage has seemingly found the solution. Why bother charging the battery from the grid, when you can basically swap its electrolyte with a newly-charged one in under three minutes? […]

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Tesla Motors CEO Foresees EV Battery Prices Will Soon Drop Under $200 per Kilowatt

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 23:52:58 +0000

Electric car batteries are going to get cheaper, or at least that’s what Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, said in a conference call aimed to show the fourth quarter 2011 financial results. Musk went as far as saying that the costs will go as low as under $200 per kilowatt, when asked by a […]

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DBM Energy's Ultra-Fast & Potent EV Battery Independently Verified by German Government

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:46:32 +0000

They say that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger - DBM Energy submitted their claims and prototype to German government officials who tested a 68 kWh lithium-metal-polymer battery pack and found out it could carry a car as far as 284 miles (454 kilometers) on one charge.

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Illinois Researchers Create 3D Battery Electrode That Could Make EVs Charge In Minutes

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:13:54 +0000

The big problem with nowadays' batteries is that they charge and discharge slowly. They can be made to charge and discharge faster at the price of their shortened lifetime, but that's not a solution at all. Supercapacitors may offer fast charge/discharge rates, but their capacity is just not very high. A hybrid of these two would be perfect.

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Tesla Motors Official Discloses Interesting Information About Their EV Battery

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:30:02 +0000

In an interview given to TechOn!, Kurt Kelty, Director of battery technologies at Tesla Motors, explained a few historic facts which led to the Roadster's success. One of them was the adoption of laptop lithium ion batteries, and building a safe and robust energy storage out of them.

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Ultra-Efficient Silicon Battery Anode Made By Lockheed Martin and Rice University

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 11:49:56 +0000

Lockheed Martin and Rice University scientists have recently discovered how to use the all-abundant silicon to make battery electrodes that could hold up to 10 times more lithium and enhance the battery's overall capacity from 300 mAh/gram to more than 3,000 mAh/gram. This could lead to an unprecedented rise in storage capacities for electric car batteries, in a crucial moment for their development.

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Mitsubishi Proposes Highway Mobile Chargers for Electric Vehicles

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:36:26 +0000

The Vehicular Technology Conference, hosted in Ottawa, Canada, next week, will be the place where Zafer Sahinoglu at the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his colleagues will present an innovation aimed to patch the issues electric cars and their limited battery range have: the mobile battery charger.

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Ford Focus Electric's Battery Will Feature Heating/Cooling Before Charging

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:00:32 +0000

Ford wants to implement cooling/heating mechanisms for the batteries they will include in their future Focus Electric. The engineers at Ford designed a thermally conductive liquid that circulates throughout the battery.

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9 Electric Car Battery Factories Opened in Michigan: Experts Say Too Many

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:07:31 +0000

Michigan, once a prosperous area for the auto industry, saw a decline once the economy collapsed. Now, because of government incentives through grants under the Recovery Act, nine electric car battery factories have reborn there, creating new jobs and putting things on track again.

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Japanese Super Rapid Charging System for Electric Cars Unveiled by JFE Engineering

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:05:16 +0000

You would normally fuel up your car's tank in about three minutes. Now, with the quickened adoption of electric cars for the sake of the environment, you may also want your future EV to charge in three minutes, right? The industry said it's not possible to do so, at least with currently acceptable technologies. Until now.

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Japanese Joint Venture Proposes EVs as Buffer for Nighttime Excess Wind Power

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 12 May 2010 19:40:30 +0000

As electric vehicles seem to increase their market share in the next few years, alternative energy companies think of methods to store the excess power produced during the night, when electricity utilities don't buy their energy, because of reduced consumption.

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Automatic Electric Car Battery Swapping System by Better Place

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:23:46 +0000

I was talking in an earlier article about the possibility of electric car battery swapping systems installed on the roads, instead of gas stations. Mercedes did some testing back in the 70's, and concluded that a battery swapping system was both inefficient and dangerous if it would have been implemented with the technology existing at the time.

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Ultracapacitors Made of Bulk Glass Tripled Their Storage Capacity

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:48:39 +0000

I guess I don't have to emphasize the importance of batteries in an electric car economy of the future. I also don't have to tell anyone that many manufacturers pursue making ultracapacitors for their ability to quickly charge, discharge, and store a huge amount of energy - the perfect combination for an on-the-fly highway recharging.

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Hitachi Announcing 4.5kW Car Li-Ion Battery Soon on Market

Ovidiu Sandru — Sun, 03 May 2009 09:27:00 +0000

Although it has many opponents even among green technology sustainers, the good-old battery still evolves to help us have those all-electric vehicles beneath us, and make us drive cleaner and faster than ever.

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New "Spin Battery" Storing Energy into Nano-Magnets

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:22:08 +0000

US Researchers from the University of Miami and Japanese researchers from the Universities of Tokyo and Tohoku invented a new type of battery that could revolutionize the way we think of a battery in all the aspects, from their charging speed to their capacity and discharging power.

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New Nano-Materials Mix Boosts Li-Ion Battery Capacity

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:55:55 +0000

Carbon nanotubes have been in the focus of many scientists and universities studying battery technologies recently. Now, a group of Rice University researchers found out the novel properties of carbon nanotubes surrounded by metal-oxide arrays for use in lithium ion batteries.

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