Yet Another Revolutionary Battery Technology
I was very excited when I read a news article on March, 12 2009 about a new battery technology developed at MIT. Basically, these new battery cells can charge up very very quickly.
The EV1
This technology enhances Lithium Ion energy storage and speeds up charging to just a few seconds. The news was released in a letter written by Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder of MIT. The letter described their work on enhancing lithium iron phosphate electrodes. The letter was published in Nature.
With li-ion batteries it normally takes hours to fully charge. This new technology means that EVs (Electric Vehicles) that take all night to fully charge can now fully charge in only one hour. Further, cell phones could be charged in a few minutes.
Apparently charging this fast requires high levels of power that could require wiring changes at homes.
I was thinking WOOHA! Now we will finally have Electric Vehicles, they can no longer claim that battery technology is not good enough for 100% Electric Vehicles. But, it seems I might be wrong.
Later on, I found that batteries that can fully charge in a few minutes are not really news, they’ve been around for a while and have been used in EVs that are allegedly nearing commercial usage.
left: EV1 and right: Toyota RAV4-EV
A friend of mine that knows much more about Electric Vehicles (and has converted a few EVs) wasn’t so excited by the news when I told him. He said this was not the first time such good battery technology was developed. He doubts that this technology will ever make it to commercial use. Similar to the other battery technologies, he expects this one to never see the light of day and to be bought out and shelved. Sadly, I tend to agree with his opinion.
MIT claims that Kang and Ceder’s technology has already been licensed by two companies.
I guess, time will be the judge. Will this technology revolutionize everything that uses batteries? How long should we wait for an answer? Say a couple years before the streets are filled with EVs?
I hope so… But I seriously doubt it.
Shelved "Crushed" EV1 Vehicles
It doesn’t seem that GM or any of the car manufacturers are considering a better product, none of them are building a 100% EV, the Chevy Volt is only a concept car and will cost $40k. EVs are not as difficult as they make them sound. Just ask people that used the EV1
They are still touting the old story, selling the same old polluting technology ignoring the elephant in the room, i.e. Electric Vehicles. People LOVE Electric Vehicles. I however will not pay $40k for an EV when I can convert my own at a total cost of less than $10k.
About the new battery technology — let’s just hope it doesn’t get shelved. But, we will see.
Read news articles:
http://news.cnet.com/mit-chips-away-at-lithium-ion-barrier/
http://www.usnews.com/articles/science/technology/2009/03/16/building-a-better-battery.html
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/03/11/tech-090311-battery-recharge.html
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-03-13-voa1.cfm
Other Resources:
Chevy Volt Deception – http://fuelzilla.com/chevy-volt-bucket-loads-of-deception/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1
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