To boost the range of pure electric vehicles (EVs), automakers need more onboard energy. To get more energy, they need bigger battery packs.
That's why manufacturers such as Tesla Motors and BYD Automobile are rolling out vehicles with massive EV battery packs. Tesla's Model S offers a choice of three packs -- 40kWh, 60kWh, and 85kWh. The smaller packs have approximately 5,000 cells in them, while the bigger packs incorporate 8,000 cells, and weigh up to 1,200 pounds. Similarly, BYD's highly anticipated e6 will use a 1,400lb, 71kWh battery.
Not all automakers are building such massive packs. Nissan's Leaf uses a 24kWh model, while the Chevy Volt employs a 16kWh battery, and the Toyota Prius PHV (a plug-in hybrid) incorporates a 5.2-kWh unit. We've collected photos of a wide range of EV battery packs, ranging from production to research devices.
Click on the photo below to scroll through our EV battery slideshow:
The electric DeLorean's battery bay houses the vehicle's electric motor and half of its battery pack. (Source: DeLorean Motor Co.)
For further reading:
For a close-up look at GM's Chevy Volt, go to the Drive for Innovation site and follow the cross-country journey of EE Life editorial director, Brian Fuller. In the trip sponsored by Avnet Express, Fuller is taking the fire-engine-red Volt to innovation hubs across America, interviewing engineers, entrepreneurs, innovators, and students as he blogs his way across the country.
Hi, diskguy. You're referring to the Ford Pinto, I assume :)
As for global/circuits, it's my sentence structure that confused you, not my intent. I mean that this LiIon battery issue is everywhere, not just the Volt.
Re the crashed vehicle, you'd only be in it for a week if you ran off the road in Colorado during a blizzard. But then the battery would be a secondary concern.
As for your LEAF, you bought it for exactly the right reasons: Not cause you wanted to save the planet but because you wanted an electric car.
In running into fixed objects, I think you're right. Mass alone doesn't help. But in collisions with other vehicles, conservation of momentum favors the heavier vehicle, simply on the relative delta-velocities experienced by the two. If you end up in the middle of the crumple zone, it won't help you, but mass does have a beneficial effect independent of stuctural design. Extreme example: a one inch rock and a ping pong ball collide. Both objects may survive with minimal damage, but I'd rather my brain experience the accelerations of the rock than those of the ping pong ball.
Now about your other comment about why unsubsidized EV's don't sell? I agree with you there. Liquid transportation fuels provide energy density and 're-charging' convenience thus far unmatched by plug-only EV's.
Inherently risky technology compared to what? Oh compared to a gasoline tank full of or half full of gas? I'll take my chances with a battery that takes a week to catch fire.
What's the global effect of circuit protection - you lost me on that statement.
And why would one remain in a crashed vehicle for a week?
Looks like Nissan LEAF battery got it right with a simple approach. No coolant ect.
Sorry I didn't buy an EV to save the planet. I bought an EV because I wanted an electric car and to save money. After 8,000 miles on the LEAF I am saving $0.20/mile in gas cost ($4.07 gas 17mpg and $0.14 KWHr @ 3.5mi/KWHr) so after 9 months I have $1,600 offset cost. If the battery goes 80K miles that's $16,000 for a new battery, if 160K miles it's a free car!
As for insurance the cost for the LEAF is the lowest for the 4 vehicles I pay insurance for. What else can I say?
So what's so bad about electricity? It can be made from many energy sources including coal, natural gas, hydro, and wind but my preference is to use nuclear based electric generation to power the planet and if you insist, you can use petrol to generate electricity at higher cost.
Instead of recycling or disposing the used LEAF battery (20KWHr remaining capacity), it can be charged by PV panels to store the electricity. I don't understand your taxing situations. There are many ways to tax EVs and I'm sure there will be additional ones soon.
Well PETE you need to let yorself be heard! Write your CONGERESSMEN! Let them know you dont want to pay for SUN especially when you can turn the power it creates off so easy; and ask them to JUSTIFY your rain tax?
FACTS: well run nuecler Fissionplants ARE (today) the greenest and lowest KWH cost generation @ about 1.5 cents, coal @ 3.0 cents /KWH, natural gas @5.4 cents/KWH, and oil @ 6.1 cents /KWH. Other Nano based nuecler FUSION derivites are NOW IN THE WORKS all yeild a CLEAN (NO ATOMIC radiation hazzards or polution product) 1 KWH @ 0.1 cents! This and other methodology is under investigation presently for automotive use.
TOP I do believe you need to reevaluate your position. My point in PAST replysIS, WE DON'T EVEN NEED a HV distribution GRID system IF we use NEW GENERATION methodes and forget the Grid!
Your statement 3&4 is ONLY true at this TIME, for WHERE/& TO WHOM, YOU PAID the BILL. It may go up, OR it may go away!
ONE SHOULD REALIZETHIS IS A TEST AND DESIGN PERIOD BEING DONE ON YOUR MONEY !!! I am sure DN readers aplaud you as I do for your early adoption efforts which we should all support if we ever want to use the improved technology and have the fical means to do so.
As a footnote I have 25 years of test information to tell you what I am eluding to is not only possible but EXTREEMLY afordable. Some firms ARE working to bring this to market cautiously here AND internationally.
The winner of the $5M 2011 Automotive X-Prize, Edison2, is taking a different and more practical track for their EV. They have focused on minimizing weight and aerodynamic drag, so that the energy requirements are minimized.
While their X-Prize winning car used an ICE, they found that venture capital was only avilable for EV's. So...they have paired their groundbreaking efficiency technology with electric power. Their spec's blow away any other EV I've ever seen (in terms of efficiency). The small battery reduces weight and cost, yet performs as well as large batteries spliced into rather conventional cars (Volt, Leaf, etc.).
Their 10.5 KWh battery gives 114 mile real-world range running the std. EPA cycle. read: http://www.edison2.com/blog/
What is so refreshing about Oliver Kuttner and his team is that they are 100% honest and transparent about their results, their successes and even failures. I followed his team's progress during the X-Prize, and had many email conversations with him. In short, they are taking an excellent ENGINEERING APPROACH to solving the core problem, instead of a MARKETING one where spin is created using half-truths and lies (like most current EV companies today).
If any EV is to be commercially successful, I think it needs to follow a path similar to theirs.
If you buy a second car (electric ) to save the planet, you are now going to pay twice as much insurance even though you don't drive any more miles than you did with one car. You also increase the burden from sales tax and whatever the BMV demands from you. That alone keeps you from saving any money without even factoring in the inital price of the car.
I hear the horror stories about burning coal to charge the EV batteries. Then I hear the sad lament about having solar panels with nowhere to store the generated electricity. If I had an electric car, I would sure have solar panels to charge the battery. Then I would have to worry about Sun tax. We already have rain tax in Indiana.
Back in the 1970s, I built an electric riding mower and an electric motorcycle. No regrets.
I agree. One of the biggest killers of electric technology wold be standardization at this stage although standardization of charging station technology would potentially be a big help.
Other blogs on Design News have mentioned the need for better batteries, etc. This is the challenge to today's designers. Current designs have to allow for big improvements in technology so they won't become orphans when that "super battery" comes down the road.
Hey Jerry I hear some TRUE incite making it's way to this discussion group! I would agree with your comments as where we are in the state of the art, price, etc. I surely DON'T agree with those encouraging ANY standardization at the stage of the game, which I see as killing a competion that just got started!
So I ask everyone one following this channel:
What players have well focused designs NOT guided by marketing committes but, rather incitefull engineering leaders willing to advance the state of the art?
What players are ALSO rans?
What players are most capable of imaginative SCIENTIFIC energy break-thrus that history deams the making of a new world and closing of our current era. (YOU WILL HAVE TO GO OUTSINE THE CHANNEL FOR THIS ONE)
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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