Envia's technology could potentially change all that, boosting EV range to as much as 300 miles, while cutting battery costs to between $125/kWh and $150/kWh. The company's engineers accomplished that by creating their own anode, cathode, and electrolyte. The anode is made from a silicon-carbon composite, while the cathode uses a high ratio of manganese, with lower percentages of cobalt and nickel. The use of manganese is said to be particularly interesting to automakers because it is inexpensive.
Envia's energy and cost numbers represent such a major jump that they are creating some skepticism in the battery community. At the same time, however, even the skeptics agree that Envia's credentials are impressive. Tests on the new technology were performed by the Electrochemical Power Systems Department at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, under ARPA-E's sponsorship. And the fledgling company has the backing of General Motors, which invested $7 million in its technology in 2010, as well as a $4 million grant from ARPA.
Battery experts contacted by Design News said they are taking a wait-and-see attitude on the technology.
"This is so much better than what is known to be working out there that it deserves a detailed explanation based on technical data," said one anonymous designer and expert. "If they have the data to back it up -- including the cycle life data -- then they've got something really good here."
Other experts said cycle life will be a key issue for the technology. Tests, they said, should involve high numbers of cycles at high depths of discharge, if the battery is to be fairly evaluated for automotive applications.
The unit discussed below operates on SLCNBF, stimulated liquid contained nano buble fusion princiable.
This WELL TESTED system being prepaired for market is called ****-*****. The system uses doped pure wated contained within a circulating vesel that generates and sustains power after being started. The power is AC & DC controlled and with selectable voltage values, (normally 220 VDC) and (220 VAC @ a lower crrrent). Engergy used to driver a 500kw to 2.5 Mega watt unit is 14,500 watts. Initial TBO is 5 to 6 years continous at below 50 deg.C operating temp. Cold Start to full load is 3 minutes. Design rebuild is 25 years. Total fuelload cost $10,000 dollars (at overhaul). Power selling price is 0.1 cent / kwh and the unit is modular and scaleable. NO EMISSIONS OR WASTE IS GENERATED ...PERIOD.
This is only one type of unit soon to hit the market and there are many more to come. Not only is this design affordable but it can eliminate the Grid mess built over past years. Peeking will in the future be local.
So true, Rob and I think your statement applies in any area of engineering. I know that whenever I went to upgrade a test system there was always a number of factors that needed to be considered. What are the trade offs for making the change and does it make sense to do so...sometimes we let enthusiasm prevail, which is not always a good thing and can come back to bite us later. Not to be a pessimist, I am all for innovation and improvement - I just advocate a careful approach that addresses all of the possible consequences...
I find very interesting advances on new battery technology for EV's , of course improving energy density in the battery reduces the material quantity required and therefore production costs. The real challenge with EV's is where your energy comes from, because if you can storage more energy but it comes from fossil fuels you are not solving a problem and your electricity bill will also increase when you purchase an EV, the ideal case would be that you can fuel your car from a renewable source like solar or wind power and be more efficient for storaging this power.
I was just wondering if the energy density is doubled, what does that do to the volatility? We have had a lot of news about fires caused by lithium batteries in EVs and it is a concern for all of us...has there been any progress on safety measures? I personally like the LFP batteries because of their non-volatility which increases their safety, although they can't compare to the lithium ion batteries for energy density.
Thanks, cvandewater. I certainly do remember that. Once again, the issue i about control, both of resources and of profits. Hmmm...I wonder if it's illegal to give, not sell, power to your neighbors? People in many places are starting local barter systems.
The legislation that only allows you to generete power for yourself, it is illegal to sell power to your neighbors or to anyone else unless you are a utility.
(and, because the law created this monopoly, they are forced to allow you to sell local generated electricity back to a utility - but not to any other consumer.)
cvandewater, I'm familiar in general with legislation by utilities to keep control over energy generation, but it is by no means illegal to have or use a home generator, at least where I live in California. What specific legislation are you referring to?
Oorja makes a methanol fuel cell for powered pallet trucks and tuggers. Nissan has at least 20 units on tuggers in their US plant. I have seen it demo'd at a Cat lift dealer. Instead of running the pallet mover, it sits on top of the Lead-acid battery and keeps the battery (which is running the pallet mover) topped off. The H2O byproduct from the fuel cell can be added to the battery to keep it's cells covered.
Of course this would need to be scaled up to work on an EV, and the water could be left to drip onto the roadway (along with AC condensate). Plus, you wouldn't have a tank of Hydrogen at x-psi to lug around. A fire in the Volt a week after an accident isn't nearly as bad as an exposion from a ruptured tank of Hydrogen.
Tesla Motors plans to roll out a “compelling, affordable electric car” that will sell for about half the price of its high-profile Model S by the end of 2016, company chairman Elon Musk said last week.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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