electric vehicle battery Archives – The Green Optimistic

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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Soon, Supercharger Network Not Just for Teslas Anymore

Annika Tostengard — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 10:31:13 +0000

Tesla wants electric vehicles to change transportation. To accomplish that goal, the company needs other electric vehicles, not just Teslas, to be able to use their Supercharger network. The biggest obstacle for many consumers when deciding whether or not to purchase an electric car are the limitations imposed by the distance each charge can travel. Tesla […]

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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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Carbon Nanotubes-Based EV Batteries Don’t Heat Up, Last Longer

Annika Tostengard — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 18:13:52 +0000

Researchers in Germany have found a way to use carbon nanotubes to heat cars in cold weather, meaning that electric vehicle batteries won’t be responsible for providing that extra energy. That means more miles driven before charging and since the nanotubes can change temperature immediately, drivers won’t need to wait for their cars to heat up […]

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Electric Vehicle Battery Prices Forced Down by VW

Benji Jerew — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 20:22:38 +0000

Demand and deployment for electric vehicles remains low, but automakers tend to agree that the technology could be the biggest shift in automotive technology since the invention of the automatic transmission. The problem, of course, that electric vehicle batteries are far more expensive than any conventional powertrain. A brand new four-cylinder engine might cost $4,000, […]

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Nanosheets of Manganese Dioxide to Revolutionize Li-S Batteries

Mila Luleva — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 10:46:05 +0000

Researchers from University of Waterloo might just have found the missing ingredient that kept lithium-sulfur batteries from becoming the one and only desired energy storage for electric vehicles. It is a nanomaterial that is cheap, light and efficient. It is quite well established by now that although sulfur in lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries ticks all […]

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Volkswagen Electric Vehicles’ Range to Triple in the Future

Benji Jerew — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 19:42:46 +0000

Currently, Volkswagen electric vehicles, as well as every other electric vehicle, use conventional lithium-ion battery technology. On the energy storage level, practically the only thing that separates the Volkswagen electric vehicles from Tesla Motors electric vehicles, such as the e-Golf and Model S is the configuration and capacity of the lithium-on battery pack. Indeed, the […]

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Structural Electric Vehicle Batteries Will Make Electric Vehicles More Efficient

Benji Jerew — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 21:16:38 +0000

At first, electric vehicles were no more than conventional vehicles with the conventional powertrain replaced by an electric one, but this isn’t a very efficient way of doing things. In fact, the electric vehicle is evolving quite like the conventional vehicle has evolved over the last hundred years. For example, conventional vehicles were built with […]

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Embedded Sensors Could Improve Electric Vehicle Battery Packs

Benji Jerew — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 18:18:22 +0000

Electric vehicle battery packs aren’t as simple as a nickel-metal hydride [NiMH] rechargeable “AA” battery, but then, is even the rechargeable lithium-ion [Li-ion] battery that powers my laptop? Electric vehicles are significantly cleaner than their conventional counterparts, but can’t be driven exactly the same, that is, recharging on practically any corner after a few hundred […]

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Princeton University to Develop Alkaline Electric Vehicle Battery Packs

Benji Jerew — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 15:29:23 +0000

Electric vehicle battery technology is constantly advancing and, thanks to Department of Energy [DOE] grants and loans under the Robust Affordable Next-Generation Energy Storage Systems [RANGE] program, universities and battery companies are taking a crack at it. The way things are going with electric vehicle battery packs, energy density is constantly rising, while costs are […]

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A $9,999 Electric Vehicle to Upset the Automobile Market, Says Shai Agassi

Benji Jerew — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 15:18:08 +0000

Electric vehicles are not like conventional or even hybrid electric vehicles, and hard lessons have been learned by startup and established automakers alike. Don’t forget the lessons that drivers need to learn, as well! Shai Agassi, founder of now-bankrupt electric vehicle startup Better Place, still thinks the best way to produce a market-upsetting electric vehicle […]

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General Motors Hints at Electric Vehicle Battery With Triple Capacity

Benji Jerew — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:33:20 +0000

General Motors has been fairly tight-lipped about its future electric vehicle developments, but we do know they are working on an 200mi-range vehicle which could see the light of day by 2014. The small battery pack in the Chevy Volt only has a range of 38 miles or so, after which the backup generator kicks […]

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Water-Cooling Plate Developed for Electric Vehicle Batteries, Calsonic Kansei

Benji Jerew — Tue, 28 May 2013 17:12:17 +0000

The flow of electrons generates heat, and in an electric vehicle battery pack, excessive heat may damage the cells. In order to keep an electric vehicle battery running at its most efficient and maximize lifespan, an efficient cooling system is necessary. Depending on the design, air flowing over the battery can work, such as in […]

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Chevy Volt Batteries to be Manufactured by LG Chem in July, Finally

Benji Jerew — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:58:13 +0000

Sales of the Chevy Volt extended range electric vehicle [EREV] has been slow, but steady, meaning that support companies like battery suppliers aren’t as productive as they could be. True, the market for electric vehicles as a whole hasn’t been enough to justify handshakes and champagne. Much to the contrary, aside from dashing success Tesla […]

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Vanadium Oxide and Graphene Ribbons Increase EV Battery Lifespan

Benji Jerew — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:28:38 +0000

One concern of electric vehicle owners is battery lifespan, which could cost many thousands of dollars to replace, but a new development by Rice University could increase the lifespan of these expensive components. Rice University researchers have been looking into the electrical and ionic characteristics of vanadium oxide and graphene. While oxides are slow to […]

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Battery Technology Accelerator Started by CalCharge and San José University

Benji Jerew — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:54:34 +0000

Rechargeable battery technology development isn’t dead by any means, and still needs plenty of research to perfect and improve it. There are perhaps billions of people on the planet who have a great idea on how to make something better. Tinkers, inventors, researchers, and scientists have all this in common, but to get an idea out to […]

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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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Battery-Swapping Project Better Place Signs Important Deal With Chinese Utility

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:34:34 +0000

Besides being a place where you can manufacture things cheap, no matter what the processes' cabon dioxide emissions are, China is one of the most advanced countries when it comes to electric cars and electrification, in general. Project Better Place, an Israel-based company aiming at developing more efficient charging infrastructures has just signed an agreement with one of the largest Chinese utilities.

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Researchers Study How Electric Car Batteries Could Get Second Life After Losing Capacity

Mike Sandru — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:42:54 +0000

Officially, car batteries are supposed to have a life span of 8 to 10 years, or at least that's what engineers are trying to achieve. They do have to admit that charge after charge, the battery is not the same any longer: for example, the Chevrolet Volt's battery will probably lose about 60 to 65% of its initial capacity, according to GM.

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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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