Posted on 06/04/2013 2:09:53 PM PDT by Red Badger
The University of Wollongong has reached a breakthrough with its research on lithium-ion batteries which could make electric vehicles (EVs) more viable in the near future.
The university’s Institute for Superconducting & Electronic Materials (ISEM) has used a new Germanium-based material, capable of storing five times more energy than a ‘conventional’ lithium-ion battery.
Researchers at the university believe this new technology to EVs could at the very least double the distance that the car can travel on a single charge.
And the benefits don’t end there, with the new batteries bringing a significant reduction in charging times, and a relatively inexpensive manufacturing technique.
The price of Germanium is higher than materials currently used to make batteries, but Professor Zaiping Guo from ISEM is confident that prices could fall under mass production.
“The novel anode materials are very simple to synthesize and cost-effective,” Ms Guo said.
“They can be fabricated in large-scale by industry and therefore have great commercial potential.”
“We’re truly excited about this breakthrough and are looking forward to transitioning this technology to the commercial marketplace.”
As well as improvements to EVs, the new battery technology could also be used in consumer electronics - such as mobile phones and laptops - and is even capable of grid-scale energy storage.
Now, that's progress. Like buying a conventional car with a two gallon tank!
Technology like copper wires over an inch in diameter? You'll get 5 miles out of a kWH at best in your car so you'll need 100kWh (assuming no losses). 100 kWh at 400 volts and 15 minutes (assuming no charging losses) is 1000 amps. That's assuming the generator is in your shed 50 feet from the car, otherwise add to the wire size.
Look for Jay Leno demonstrating his steam powered car.
Great vehicle when you are not in a hurry to go anywhere.
Now if they can do the same thing with Carbon.... and/or Silicon, both in the same column of the periodic table as Germanium.
Carbon and Silicon are plentiful. They have recently come up with Silicene and Germanene analogs to Graphene.
Another step closer to telling the troublemakers they can keep their oil and use it to make camel lube.
Better American nuclear.
Politicians are always confusing energy sources with energy storage. A rechargable batter is not an energy source. It takes oil, gas, coal, hydro, etc. to “create energy.” Better rechargable batteries generally make electric cars run better and less reliable sources of energy (solar, wind, etc.) more practical.
Or Lead is also in same periodic table column as Germanium.
Either up or down the elements in that group can be plentiful. Only in the middle are they scarce.
Back before WWII, an additive was made for gasoline using germanium that prevented knock. Later, came a more effective analog using Selenium. Finally, a very effective analog using Lead was developed. Of course tetra ethly lead made sense when there were 10,000 cars on the road, but less so when there were 10 million cars on the road.
You cannot discuss the viability of an electric car unless and until you include in the discussion:
1. The life span of the battery under real world conditions
2. Cost of replacement of that battery
3. Cost of disposal/recycling of that battery
Of course, if government $ub$idy is involved, you may ignore the content of this post.
Because people will be able use the heater or air conditioning.
Geraniums?
So flower power is real? Nebber woulda thunk it.
I second that motion. Nothing is more proven than gasoline, derived from oil, as an efficient mover of vehicles. The only way that battery/electric vehicles do well, is if governments force people out of their cars. They can't make enough battery cars for all of us, at an affordable price point. If they tighten restrictions on who is allowed to drive and own cars, then the reduction of cars on the road will make the percentages of electric cars rise higher of the total cars on the road. Gasoline is efficient, the technology is very mature, and it's safer for the environment.
The major problem with lithium batteries longevity has been the anode deterioration over time. If this solves that problem, then 1,2 and 3 are no longer a factor..........
New bus system tops off batteries in just 15 seconds:
http://phys.org/news/2013-06-bus-tops-batteries-seconds.html
At a shopping mall on my way home I stopped and watched them install an electric car charging station. The men were wrestling with 1 inch diameter stranded copper, it was not easy.
Should have said volts times amps times time.
Real confidence requires "will".
We use 1 inch stranded copper cable in our products here where I work everyday. It comes on huge spools requiring forklifts to move. The guys installing the station you saw were probably not used to having that size cable to work with...........
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