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.
tekochip: I mentioned in a previous comment that I have a tin ear that can't tell the difference between the sound quality of vinyl versus digital. I've been told for years that digital can't measure up to vinyl and I wondered why vinyl didn't sound better to me. Your comment is heartening -- maybe my assessment of sound quality isn't as bad as I was led to believe. Thanks.
:-) while I agree you should treat your CD's/DVD's that way, they are incredably tolerant of scratches etc. because of a combination of good error correction algorithms and some cleaver schemes to deal with complete loss of signal. Where as a scratch on vinyl produces a click which is spectrally different from the content, a CD player extends the last detected audio level which barely changes the spectral content and so goes largely unnoticed. One thing CD's don't like is exposure to sulphur. High sulphur paper can blacken the silver reflective layer causing much more significant effects than a few scratches might.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 3
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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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