The Israeli company Alchemy Research offers a new method to power electric cars by using energy stored in aluminum grains. According to the company, cars powered with this type of energy can reach 2,400 km per tank. - http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/06/cars-powered-aluminum-grains/

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I am proposing a new solution to the algae biofuel industry. Using electrical stimulation, I have created biodiesel from algae for $0.96/gallon. Come view this presentation of my project

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The modern standard for electric vehicle batteries is lithium-ion, often with an iron phosphate or manganese cathode chemistry.
Lithium-ion batteries are also made of non-toxic elements which makes them easier to recycle and dispose of. They also maintain their charge when parked up rather than gradually cannibalising their own energy for temperature control.
Energy density is the key to battery development, translating into greater range for electric vehicle (EV) drivers. Range currently averages from 80 miles up to 100 miles.
Range, payload weight and battery size are inextricably linked; the further you want to go or the more you want to carry without recharging, the larger or more energy-intensive the battery must be.


http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/feature/electric-vehicles-battery-technology/41776/

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California is becoming an epicenter for electric vehicle innovation and jobs. Businesses in the state collected $467 million in electric vehicle venture capital investment during the first half of this year, or 69% of the global total, according to a study by Next 10, a nonprofit founded by Silicon Valley venture capitalist F. Noel Perry.
California also is now tied with Michigan, the traditional center of the U.S. auto industry, in the number of patents filed for electric vehicle technology. Both states generated 300 patents for electric vehicle technology from 2008 to 2010.
Globally, California trails only Japan and South Korea in electric vehicle patents and leads other nations, including Germany, Taiwan and France, Perry said.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/12/electric-vehicles-venture-funding-jobs.html

in Batteries for Electric Vehicles Electric, Hybrid and Plug in Hybrid Electric Cars Electric and Hybrid Bikes and Bicycles

Nexeon has created the silicon powder that it hopes is the key to creating batteries on a commercial level, which will be used in everything from laptops to cars.
The new technology started in 2004, 53 miles away, in the department of electrical engineering at Imperial College London, when Professor Mino Green found the key to what Nexeon believes is the next generation in lithium ion batteries.
This "magic" dust is a powder created by running silver through particles of silicon to create spikes of matter – what Nexeon calls a hedgehog effect – that is used to help the movement of lithium in the battery cell. The powers of the silicon powder mean that, unlike carbon-only anodes, the batteries created from this will last longer, are lighter, and their rechargeability would not fade over time.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/nexeon-tips-magic-dust-into-our-batteries-6271847.html

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Professor Gerbrand Ceder and graduate student Byoungwoo Kang have published details of their battery breakthrough - http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/03/the-li-ion-holy-grail/?dhiti=1

in Batteries for Electric Vehicles Electric, Hybrid and Plug in Hybrid Electric Cars

In the wake of a post-accident fire at a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration facility and with a safety probe underway, GM is considering a redesign of the battery used in the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt.
Where many EV manufacturers source their batteries from other companies, GM builds their own battery packs at their Brownstown, MI plant. The liquid-cooled 16-kWh lithium units have been a critical component of the Volt design from the outset. The individual cells in the battery are provided by LG Chem Ltd. of South Korea.
Following publicity about the NHTSA incident, GM offered to buy back Volts from owners who were about the safety of the vehicle, but so far they are reporting that only around 50 out of the approximately 6,500 Volt owners have opted to return the vehicle.

http://green.autoblog.com/2011/12/06/chevy-volt-battery-may-be-redesigned-for-improved-safety/

in Batteries for Electric Vehicles

The advanced fuel cell could eliminate range anxiety and make electric cars more practical, while keeping carbon-dioxide emissions low.
Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed new electrolyte materials and have changed the cell’s design to make it far more compact and generate 10 times more power than a conventional one. They have also reduced the operational temperature. This will reduce the costs greatly, while changing the results dramatically.
The fuel cells currently operate at 650 degrees Celsius. The team hopes to bring it down to 350 degrees. With low operational temperatures and smaller size, the cell needs lesser insulation materials which will reduce the cost. The researchers have also modified the solid electrolyte material at the core of the fuel cell, and the use of multi-layered electrolytes has increased the power output further.

http://www.technologyreview.in/energy/39203/page1/

in Fuel Cells Batteries for Electric Vehicles

An extract from brown algae could give rechargeable lithium-ion batteries a boost by allowing silicon nanopowder to be used as a high-capacity alternative to graphite electrodes. A natural polysaccharide, extracted from oceanic brown algae - seaweed - can be mixed with a silicon nanopowder to form a stable battery anode. The algal anode has a reversible charging capacity eight times greater than even the best available graphite-based anodes. The alginate binder improves electrode integrity and protects the surface of silicon particles from degradation.
Tests on the new anode material showed promise. 'Charge-discharge cycling performed with lithium insertion capacity limited to 1200mAh per gram of silicon showed stable anode performance for over 1300 cycles,' the researchers say.

http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?nid=69898

in Batteries for Electric Vehicles Electric, Hybrid and Plug in Hybrid Electric Cars

The electric car was just as popular as its gasoline counterpart when it first went into production around the turn of the 20th century. But with the advent of highways, people wanted to go farther than their battery life allowed. Today, new electric cars in the market face a similar challenge as consumers admire their cleanliness but balk at their limited range. Read More: http://www.npr.org/2011/11/21/142365346/timeline-the-100-year-history-of-the-electric-car

in Batteries for Electric Vehicles Electric, Hybrid and Plug in Hybrid Electric Cars

The Value Chain of Electric Car Batteries consists of 7 steps according to the consultants at BCG, as they have outlined in their report:
http://www.bcg.com/documents/file36615.pdf

As shown in the image, one can see them as 1-component production, 2-cell production, 3-module production, 4-assembly of modules into the battery pack, integration of the battery pack into the vehicle, use during the life of the vehicle and reuse and recycling. This report focuses on the first 4 steps.

in Batteries for Electric Vehicles Electric, Hybrid and Plug in Hybrid Electric Cars

Energy conservation and the development of new energy vehicles are inseparable from the updates of battery, motor and electrical control technologies, and among which the battery technology is the ke.. - http://www.energytrend.com/node/2556

in Batteries for Electric Vehicles Electric, Hybrid and Plug in Hybrid Electric Cars

Honda has selected Toshiba’s SCiB rechargeable Li-ion battery to power the Fit EV. Toshiba will supply battery modules for the FIT EV, which Honda will launch in mid 2012.
http://electriccarsreport.com/2011/11/toshiba-batteries-for-honda’s-fit-ev/

in Batteries for Electric Vehicles Electric, Hybrid and Plug in Hybrid Electric Cars

A team of researchers from Northwestern University, have discovered a way to make battery charging far more quicker and efficient. The lithium-ion battery electrode allows 10 times the capacity of today’s batteries and charges 10 times faster. It is expected to be available in the market in 3-5 years. The research titled “In-Plane Vacancy-Enabled High-Power Si-Graphene Composite Electrode for Lithium-Ion Batteries”, was published in the “Advanced Energy Materials” journal.
The researchers achieved this extra-ordinary result by layering silicon between graphene sheets and then creating small holes, up to 10-20 nm wide in the sheets, using chemical oxidation, terming it “in-plane defects” process. This offers the lithium ion a ‘shortcut’ into the anode and can result in faster charging. The research also found that the battery remained highly effective, by nearly 5 times than today’s lithium ion batteries, even after 150 charges, which would mean a usage time of 1-1.5 years.

http://www.cleantick.com/portal/news/pages/1300

in Batteries Batteries for Electric Vehicles

Startup Sakti3 expects to have prototypes of a solid-state lithium ion battery that it hopes will increase the range of electric cars and enable cheaper electronics -
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20122797-54/doubling-ev-range-with-solid-state-batteries/

in Batteries for Electric Vehicles

Honda Begins Demonstration Testing of EVs in Guangzhou, China | Electric Power News | Energy Central - http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=22277003

in Batteries for Electric Vehicles Electric, Hybrid and Plug in Hybrid Electric Cars

The Green Flight Challenge asked teams to make a 200 mile flight in less than two hours, deliver a decibel level of less than 78 dBA, and take off in a distance of less than 2,000 feet while using the energy equivalent of less than one gallon of gasoline per-passenger...
...this plane flew 200 Miles at 0.5 Gallon Equivalent Per Passenger!

in Ecotourism Batteries for Electric Vehicles

Michigan set to provide about 20% of carmakers' battery market

Michigan is poised to make about 20 percent of the world's lithium ion batteries for autos, as the market for battery-powered hybrid and electric cars expands to a projected 1.7 million vehicles by 2015, according to a panel of experts at the Detroit Economic Club Wednesday.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110630/AUTO01/106300355/1148/Panel--Michigan-set-to-provide-about-20--of-carmakers’-battery-market

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