The US battery manufacturer A123 Systems Inc. has developed lithium-ion cells that it says could eliminate the need for costly cooling systems in electric cars.
The Nanophosphate EXT cell chemistry is said to be more stable than previous versions of lithium-ion systems. If the battery does what A123 Systems claims, it could affect the electric car market, because cooling systems add significant cost to electric vehicle battery packs.
"With this chemistry, it's possible to reduce or completely eliminate the cooling system, depending on the vehicle," Andy Chu, vice president of marketing and communications for A123 Systems, told us. "In a hybrid with a high-power battery, you might only reduce the size of the thermal management system. But with an electric vehicle, which doesn't generate as much heat, it's possible to eliminate the thermal management altogether."
A123 Systems says its Nanophosphate EXT chemistry could be employed in large prismatic cells, like those used in electric cars, and in smaller cylindrical batteries. (Source: A123 Systems)
Chu said the Nanophosphate EXT also offers the opportunity for automakers to boost a vehicle's battery life by a factor of two or even three. "Either you get the life benefits or you reduce the size of the thermal management system."
A123 says the new battery cell offers those advantages because its chemistry is more stable than the company's earlier version, known simply as Nanophosphate. In addition to the improved chemistry, A123's engineers used new components -- electrode and separator materials -- to bring about the change. The chemistry will be applicable to large-style prismatic cells, such as those used in electric cars and hybrids, as well as smaller cylindrical cells. The batteries are expected to reach the market in 2013.
First never believe anything Pike says as they are mostly wrong. Not sure who is paying them off or if they are just incompendent. Likely getting paid to give a customers viewpoint/bias.
Next as an EV designer, builder and driver one should never design a larger battery pack without cooling. Cars get 60C just sitting in the summer sun turned off. Just ask anyone in the south.
EV's shouldn't have more than 100-150 mile range as after that a ICE generator is far more cost effective and gives unlimited range. All my EV's have or will have a 40lb generator giving unlimitede range. 80 mile range is probably the sweet spot.
A123's have so little resistance they put out huge amounts if specific power with little heat generation. I agree this is just a small improvement mostly gained by higher battery weight/kwhr. This means more material though as they said, Iron, alum, Lithium, plastic, etc is cheap with most under $4/lb and averaging about $6/lb. Most Lithium batts are about 22 lbs so it's just not that costly.
I buy complete A123 battery pack systems/BMS, etc for about $700/kwhr custom made from cylinder cells that can and has done 170mph and 7.9sec 1/4 mile though that was recently broken to 200mph and 6.9sec EV IIRC.
Beth, you are right there. Time is an issue. It takes time to prove a technology does in practice what it does in the lab. I think they have something here, and it is a good trend. Let's see if investors think so too.
On paper, or maybe even in limited testing, it seems like A123 has made a big leap with its lithium-ion cells in terms of reducing cooling requirements. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of skepticism that the company will have to over come. Commercializing these efforts will take a lot of time and money, which is something A123 and its battery maker competitors don't necessarily have.
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