Revolution in the charging power of storage batteries...

Electric Vehicles are limited by their battery performance. It seems that this is not a new observation, but the hope for new battery technology has been "just around the corner" for a long time.

The title of this thread comes from this quote:

"A large number of people interested in stored power are looking forward to a revolution in the generating power of storage batteries, and it is the opinion of many that the long-looked-for, light weight, high capacity battery will soon be discovered."

Which is from Gardner Hiscox's book Horseless Vehicles, Automobiles, Motor Cycles which was written in 1900 and published in 1901.

This has a similar sound to what is promised in this "discovery" from 2007.

I ran across this article that looks at what seems to be a basic lack of progress in the development of improved driving ranges in EV. I am not sure I agree with Kris in total, but he does bring up some interesting concepts.

If you read Kiscox's book you will find an interesting discussion on how batteries were made back then, and how to care for, charge, and balance them.

Tom

I think the problem isn't with new technology not moving forward, it's with the inability to just mass-produce this new technology right after it's been developed.

I like how Tesla Roadster did it, powering the car off of a bunch of 18650's. Thing is, Li-poly doesn't come in 18650 size very often. More often than not, it comes in rectangular flat cells.

I'm not sure if this thread is more about the batteries used for long-term storage, or just new battery technology in general, but progress is being made.

You can at least see some minor improvements when you look at capacities of a particular cell over the years. I still have some Sanyo 2200mAh (I think) cells, but just recently I came across a battery pack that, according to the label, contained 6 2600mAh cells, and some makers are even claiming 3000mAh capacities!

Very Interesting!

Even when i was a kid, batteries really fascinated me, the idea of a cylinder that mysteriously holds electricity...

Personally i think Capacitors are the future of batteries, but they have a loooong ways to go. right now they are mega-expensive compared to any of the chemical batteries (watthour vs watthour).
http://www.maxwell.com/ultracapacitors/products/large-cell/bcap3000.asp

Please forgive me for digressing into my worthless opinions, and i will definately be watching this new nanowire-lithium battery with great interest!

Not trolling here, but I personnaly don't think we'll see as many electric cars as people say we will.

Everyone says their's going to be a sudden jump in capacity, with a simultaneous decrease in mass, and it's going to be safe. That's when the electroc car will "come into its own..." This point: "A large number of people interested in stored power are looking forward to a revolution in the generating power of storage batteries, and it is the opinion of many that the long-looked-for, light weight, high capacity battery will soon be discovered." is a perfect example of this. They've been saying it for 109 years and it hasn't happened yet.


Let's take a look at the Chevy Volt. IIRC, they're planning for a price around $50k. The battery pack costs in the neighborhood of $16k. It's Li-ion, which, as we here all know, doesn't last forever. So, assuming the pack is designed with cooling, and very conservative charging systems, etc. It's going to last what, 8-10 years? So in 8-10 years, when the value of the car is near-zero, is an owner going to shell out $16k+ for a new battery pack? NO! They're going to spend that on a new car. So now you have a worthless car with a dead battery pack.


I also have a problem with the safety of such a power source in a vehicle. We see the danger of small cells. What's going to hapen when we have entire cars powered by them? I think sales will plummet after a few highyl publicized accidents.

Hello John,

If people could embrace the idea of slowing down, there may be hope for electric vehicles running on the current battery technology. However, that is as likely as a flashaholic choosing to run a light dimmer in order to impress his friends with run time...

I believe the safety issues are pretty well thought out. A large battery pack is made up of smaller cells, and if you take the proper precautions, you can isolate the smaller cells and make the whole pack reasonably safe, even in an accident.

Of course I also understand that deep water oil drilling is safe too...

Tom