Battery Technology

Till now we have battery operated cars or hybrid cars. Hybrid cars reduce your gas consumption and air pollution. If you are using battery operated cars, you can’t drive on the spur of a moment. You have to PLAN and recharge the batteries. Otherwise your vehicle will carry you for a few miles and then it will stop and you will be stuck somewhere you don’t want to. You also have to compromise on the size, space and speed of the car. And since you are using a storage device in the car, you have to fear and respect that too. No Comments

Frontiers for electric vehicles have changed: 10 years ago or even more recently it was almost impossible to consider an electric solution for all-terrain purposes, now on the market we see new products with highly improved performances. Pioneer in this field is the Italian company Alkè (www.alke.com) who invested research and time to develop the new ATX E range of high performance electric vehicles. They have been able to provide electric utility vehicles that face till 40% slopes (with RID version engines), sandy and icy grounds, loading capacity of 500-1000Kg and towing capacity of around 2000-3000Kg. 1 Comment

California based company Green Vehicles recently began selling an affordable $20,000 electric car called the Triac. The small but efficient 3-wheeled car has a range of 120 miles and can travel up to 70mph on the highway. Charging the lithium-ion batteries that power the 20kw electric motor takes about 6 hours, and there is an optional capacity boost battery pack available that extends the range by 20% (why not include it with the car?). The Triac comes in 8 different color combinations and is available from the dealership in San Jose. See the company website for more details. 7 Comments

Canadian Inventor Ben Gulak of BPG-Technologies has developed a wild new green motorcycle that uses gyro technology to stay upright on its two side-by-side wheels. Acceleration is controlled by leaning forward to go faster, and leaning back to slow down. The gyro tells the ECU how much to accelerate and that in turn delivers the proper amount of current to the electric motors, one for each wheel. Weighing in at a mere 129 pounds, the 'bike' has a top speed of 25mph and a battery life of 2 1/2 hours. The bike was recently unveiled for the first time at the 2008 National Motorcycle Show in Toronto. 3 Comments

A new hybrid vehicle prototype could make cargo transportation a lot more energy efficient. The add-on system uses a special trailer that provides a power assist on hills and uses regenerative braking technology to recharge the onboard battery system. The system works similar to a hybrid car; the motor generators produce electricity via regenerative braking instead of normal friction brakes, and a bank of batteries can be mounted under the trailer chassis to store this energy. When the truck/trailer combo needs to accelerate or go uphill, electric power flows from the batteries to the motors to provide some or all the power needed to propel the truck. It is one of several potential systems that aim to increase fuel economy and reduce the carbon emissions from heavily polluting tractor trailers. 4 Comments

Ambient energy generators have the potential to replace battery power as an energy source in a variety of practical applications, particularly in remote locations. Research has shown that it is possible to produce electric power from ambient sources like human energy, radio waves and transmission wires. Traditional electrochemical batteries and fuel storage systems are limited by factors such as battery life, fuel supply and weight. Recent advances in electronic components and sensor technologies are steadily reducing the energy requirements of many remote components and devices, further advancing the potential capabilities of ambient energy power generation. 6 Comments

A battery developer is claiming its technology can extend the range of hybrid electric vehicles. Technology Research Laboratories Inc. (TRL, Research Triangle Park, N.C.) claims its battery technology can extend the range of hybrid electric vehicles to 75 miles or better per charge. The company claims its battery operates on physical chemistry principles different from conventional lead-acid batteries, and is made almost entirely of carbon and plastic materials. Problems with battery technology have hindered large-scale development. Technology advances are needed to improve consumer confidence in hybrid vehicles. 2 Comments

Interview with Martin Eberhard, Engineer and Founder of Tesla Motors. The company was co-founded in 2003 with fellow Engineer Marc Tarpenning. Their plans to develop electric cars were met with skeptical curiosity. The release of the Tesla Roadster has proven a success even though the price tag is still around US $100,000. Some 'green' celebrities like George Clooney have been spotted taking a ride in one. This interview by Plenty asks some questions about their vision for an electric car future and plans to introduce a mainstream electric vehicle in 2009. 8 Comments

Trials will start next year on what is being billed as Europe's first hybrid high-speed train, which can cut emission levels by up to 50%. The system, which has been developed by Hitachi in Japan, consists of a battery-assisted diesel-electric traction engine. The traction unit uses the battery when the train is at rest and in the early stages of acceleration up to around 30 kilometres an hour (19mph), at which point the conventional diesel engine kicks in. 1 Comment

Freeplay Energy has released a human-powered electricity generator for commercial sale. Power is generated by pushing up and down with your foot on a step-action treadle. The FreeCharge can be re-charged by any 110v to 240v wall sockets and power input from other sources such as solar and wind. FreeCharge uses a lead acid gel battery which has enough power to jump-start vehicles, boats and many other electric appliances and gadgets. The unit comes with a 7Ah sealed lead acid battery, charge indicator, 3V-12V variable DC output adapter, jumper cables and a 12V cigaretter lighter adapter. 5 Comments

Researchers at the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) in Japan have devised a new type of cathode that improves the performance of lithium-ion batteries that use an ionic liquid as the electrolyte. Unlike the organic solvents usually used as the electrolyte in a li-ion battery, room-temperature ionic liquids (RTIL) are nonflammable and nonvolatile. However, the RTILs lack electrochemical stability up to the reduction potential of lithium. No Comments