Exxon says film may lead to car battery like laptop's

Houston Chronicle ^ | Nov. 27, 2007 | BRETT CLANTON

[Hunterite]

Interesting. Maybe the wasted heat can be put to good use. Too bad sterling engines are so bulky.

[bmwcyle]

With problems there is opportunity.

[ovrtaxt]

Ping...

[kittymyrib]

This development, along with the new thin solar sheeting that can replace heavy solar panels on buildings, may finally signal the end of the oil era. With oil supplies currently in the hands of our enemies, we should welcome these break-through technologies.

[GOPJ]

bump

[chilepepper]

A car battery like a laptop battery! Thats just great, so now we will have cars that explode or catch fire?

[thackney]

With oil supplies currently in the hands of our enemies

That includes environmentalists and democrats in this country. We should produce our own resources.

[Hunterite]

high energy density is the key.

[Labyrinthos]

Thats just great, so now we will have cars that explode or catch fire?

Yes, it's called the Ford Pinto.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

“high energy density is the key.”

Kind of like Algore, or more like Cheryl Crow?

[NRG1973]

Am I the only one thats skeptical about this? Batteries require a chemical reaction in order to work. That is ions must attach themselves to anodes and cathoses. Clearly the ions must be in some sort of solution (or emulsion) to be available for that. No one seems to notice the amount of chemical needed in a battery when the battery powers a flashlight or mp3 player. But I wonder how big a battery must be (with all of the chemicals) in order to move a one-ton auto 200-300 miles (up and down hills). I simply don’t believe that you can downsize a battery and get that sort of power from it.

[YoungHickey]

But hybrids still cost roughly $3,000 more than their gas-powered counterparts, and can weigh up to 900 pounds more, leading to sluggish performance.

And by "performance" they mean gas mileage.

But will they have any power?

[thackney]

You do realize that electric cars have been around for a very long time, don’t you? Some countries even have battery powered buses. By going this thin, the surface area of the anodes and cathodes become huge compared to traditional batteries of similar volumes.

[NCBraveheart]

Adam Smith was right, the “invisible hand” works

[thackney]

Most electric motors used for automobile’s provide great torque, especially from a complete stop.

[NRG1973]

“”You do realize that electric cars have been around for a very long time, don’t you? Some countries even have battery powered buses. By going this thin, the surface area of the anodes and cathodes become huge compared to traditional batteries of similar volumes.””

You still haven’t addressed the basic issue...its the chemicals that contain the ions that need to be greater in size...not the anodes and cathodes. Thats why you can’t downsize the batteries.

[thackney]

You still haven’t addressed the basic issue...

I thought you basic doubt was the ability to have an automobile powered by a battery. That has been done quite a while ago. The Tesla's range is 245 miles. This battery is just an improvement.

[Eye of Unk]

Personally I would like to see the car body itself a solar cell but would not appear as so, it can be painted with a certain paint to simulate colors or graphics, just the car sitting in a car lot, shopping mall lot, at work or at home it can charge into a local grid.

[thackney]

Painting over a solar cell is going to block the light used to power the solar cell.