ev battery Archives – The Green Optimistic

Renault Launches Europe’s Largest Energy Storage Project

Matthew Fiala — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 20:06:57 +0000

French company Renault is launching the biggest energy stationary storage system from EV batteries in Europe, and just introduced Advanced Battery Storage, a stationary storage system for energy developed exclusively from EV batteries. For electric vehicles and their pricey battery packs to meet sales targets set out by governments and automakers, the energy storage challenge […]

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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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Used Electric Vehicle Batteries to Power European Data Centers

Mila Luleva — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 19:33:27 +0000

It is well known that large data centers account for quite a large portion of the total energy consumption around the world, and the numbers are only expected to grow. Although many tech giants, including Google and Apple, are now turning to renewable energy sources to power their new facilities, generally most wind and solar […]

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New EV Battery Lab Getting Built by Ford and University of Michigan

Mila Luleva — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 15:11:34 +0000

Owning an electric car these days is considered a more of a luxury rather than an environmentally friendly alternative to a conventional diesel-burning vehicle. The main reason for this is the cost, and regardless of how many of us care about environmental pollution and our health, only a limited few can afford a green drive. […]

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New Molten-air Battery Has the Highest Storage Capacity Ever Seen

Mila Luleva — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 18:19:28 +0000

Researchers from George Washington University showed off with a “molten-air battery“, which not only has the highest capacity among all other energy storage devices, but it is also rechargeable. According to the founders, it has the potential to replace conventional electric vehicle batteries and be used in the electric grid. What stops the technology of […]

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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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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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Titanium-Based Battery Cathode from Toshiba Could Double Range of EVs

Benji Jerew — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:50:47 +0000

Toshiba has developed a titanium-based battery cathode that doesn’t swell as much as carbon ones currently used in lithium ion batteries. This could double the range of electric vehicles. The ideal rechargeable battery pack for an electric vehicle can probably be summed up with three words, powerful, durable, and dense. Sealed lead acid [SLA] batteries […]

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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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Leyden Energy – Plenty of Innovation Left in Lithium Batteries

Benji Jerew — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:07:16 +0000

Currently, the best rechargeable battery technology that we have available, whether it be for laptops, mobile devices, smartgrid applications, or electric vehicles [EV], is lithium-ion [Li-ion]. There are other battery chemistries out there that promise increased capacity and efficiency, but haven’t been perfected yet, and this is part of the reason why, especially in relation […]

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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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Prolonging Battery Life to Power Electric Locomotives

Mila Luleva — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 15:55:54 +0000

One of the greatest challenges in front of transport infrastructure engineers, who aim to design electric locomotives, is to find a cost effective and efficient way to extend battery life. The example that illustrates this is the first all-electric, battery-powered locomotive in the U.S. called Norfolk Southern Railway No. 999. It runs on one thousand […]

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Nissan’s New Battery Policy Could Increase EV Adoption

Benji Jerew — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 17:50:03 +0000

Here at The Green Optimistic, we firmly believe in electric vehicles [EV] as the cleanest transportation available and most certainly the future of transportation as we know it. However, we recognize that EVs have their limitations in comparison with petroleum-powered vehicles. The reality is, though, these perceptions aren’t entirely based on reality. We’ve all heard […]

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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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SiC [Silicon-Graphene] Anodes Could make Electric Vehicles Viable

Benji Jerew — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 20:36:36 +0000

Electric vehicles [EV] suffer a major problem with public perception, specifically their battery packs. EV battery packs are prohibitively expensive when it comes to increasing range. Affordable EVs are limited in range, which keeps many customers from considering them. The battery packs constitute such a big proportion that high-range EVs cost up to $100,000, but […]

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Theoretical Model of Charging Explains Battery Degrading Performance

Mila Luleva — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 14:36:57 +0000

One of the main limitations of batteries is their degrading performance. Researchers base their studies on this process in their attempts to develop promising new designs. What was lacking, however, was a functional theoretical model that can describe battery degradation and therefore speed up the development of new, more efficient batteries. At the Massachusetts Institute […]

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Premium EV Battery Maker A123 Systems Files for Bankruptcy

Benji Jerew — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:02:32 +0000

In a press release yesterday, A123 Systems, an advanced lithium-ion [Li-ion] electric vehicle [EV] battery manufacturer, announced what investors and owners feared and expected, bankruptcy. Since its IPO in 2009, A123 Systems initially attracted a lot of investors to its new, high-energy battery technology, driving the stock price up to a high of $25.77 per […]

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New Flower-Like Germanium Sulfide Structures Could Improve Batteries, Solar Cells

Mila Luleva — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:53:05 +0000

New flower-like structures, made from germanium sulfide (GeS), have the potential to be the next-best-thing in the field of energy storage and solar cells. The “nanoflowers” have only 20-30 nanometers thick petals, with a large surface area in a small amount of space. Assistant professor Dr. Linyou Cao, from North Carolina State University- one of […]

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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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General Electric Develops New Long Lasting Battery

Maria Reyes — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 18:15:35 +0000

GE is now developing a more durable and long lasting battery that charges more quickly. It will make off-grid power generation more efficient and help utilities incorporate power from a wide range of sources including solar and wind power. A $100 million battery factory was recently opened by GE to make this new kind of […]

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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 Battery Maker A123 Dropping Fast, Funding Needed

Guest Contributor — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:37:55 +0000

There are sharp declines in the financial position of lithium-ion battery manufacturer A123 Systems, fanning in a lot of heat on this 10-year-old company founded and based on technology developed at MIT. To have a more clear picture of how terrible the situation is A123 just posted a $125 million net loss in its most […]

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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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EV Battery Prices Will Drop 87.5 Percent by 2020, Says U.S. Energy Secretary

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:19:14 +0000

The only roadblock in the way of electric car development nowadays are batteries. Be them lithium ion, nickel-metal hydride or any other type, batteries are the only thing keeping our polluted world apart from a much cleaner one, with cars that don’t break as often, without oil wars and so on. Good news: batteries will […]

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Newly Invented Energy-Storing Organic Membrane Better and Cheaper Than Batteries and Capacitors

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:52:08 +0000

An organic membrane may be the world’s next best battery and may revolutionize energy storage as we know it – it can bear far more energy than capacitors can, and can charge quicker than ever. Not to mention that it’s also dead-cheap. The energy-storing membrane has been invented by a team from the NUS Nanoscience […]

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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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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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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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Deutsche Bank Estimates EV Batteries Price Will Drop 50% In Next Decade

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:05:51 +0000

People tend to think electric cars will be more expensive and unaffordable than their petrol/diesel relatives. Furthermore, people usually expect high maintenance costs, because of the batteries.

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