I have been waiting on any kind of word that the new lithium ion battery technologies (nanotubes to capture leakage and route it back to the cell) will be used in upcoming cars.

I had read that a charge could last a day. That would mean EV at will.

I just read this from an article today about the President and energy (I know an oxymoron, emphasis on moron)

During his visit to Johnson Controls' new hybrid battery laboratory, Bush checked out two Ford Escapes — one with a nickel-metal-hybrid battery, the kind that powers most hybrid-electric vehicles, and one with a lithium-ion battery, which Johnson Controls believes are the wave of the future. The lithium-ion battery was about half the size of the older-model battery. In 2004, Johnson Controls received a government contract to develop the lithium-ion batteries.

Can't wait to get that Escape!!

 

There is a practical way to see the difference. The new Milwaukee cordless drill with the new lithium-ion batteries are about three times as efficient as the older batteries. This was covered in a recent WSJ article. The new battery could drill some 300 holes in a 2 by 4 while the older model could drill only 100 holes before running the battery down. Apply this to the automobile vehicle and we are looking at further advancements.

As one might expect, the new Milwaukee drill has a long waiting list although it is anything but inexpensive.

But, I couldn't wait. I'm entirely pleased with the current Escape. 50% improvement in fuel mileage is nothing to sneeze at.

I want to see the day when we can tell those ME potentates to drink their oil. Good old American knowhow will eventually win the day.

There are now solar cells for homes that will cut the cost about 90%. Go away on vacation and you'll get a check in the mail. It causes the electric meter to run backwards when you aren't using power, by feeding power back into the power grid. We're just now seeing what is going to revolutionize our economy if we don't lose our ability to innovate. So long as oil was cheap it made little sense to look at alternatives. Those days are over. Time to get cracking.

 

I had asked about a battery breakthrough, like Li-Ion at the Dearborn event, if there'd be a upgrade program, and while they were confidant in their design, if there was a way, they may offer a retrofit option to current owners, but there was no guarantee.

If there is one, it'd be rather sweet.

 

If Ford does not offer a retrofit, hopefully a third party might. Maybe Calcars or someone like them. Once my warranty is up, I'd be interested in mods like an improved battery and maybe a more powerfull electric motor to get my soon to be delivered FEH (I hope!) to higher speeds with the electric motor.

Cheers,

Roch

 

Oh yes, lithium-ion batteries are all over the place (most laptops) and are recognized as better. But also as more expensive.

Hal

 

The difference is that current Lithium-ion batteries cannot be charged very fast, nor can they be drained very fast. This latest round of batteries is starting to change that. I believe the drills can be charged to 90% capacity in 5 minutes. That is much different than the 1 hr of previous batteries.

 

$10K a pop raises some questions. At current gasoline prices, one would never recover the cost of the battery...ever. There's the rub, as usual: gas is cheap.

This would do very little for me, anyway. Most of my driving is made up of
long rambles down back roads on long drives around the US and Canada. The
current FEH does pretty well, and much of my trips through small towns and
down farm roads is in EV mode. The Li-ion or whatever battery would only
help as I set out each morning (until the motel owners cap the electric
outlets). After that, it would be 300+ lb of dead weight for many miles.

But if battery prices drop and gasoline prices rise in comparison to marginal electric power costs--this will have a big effect overall. Too bad electric power generation is so often such a dirty business.

(Hi, Hal!)

 

As far as I know the true hybrids are the only vehicles that recapture lost energy from braking. You can see this on the voltmeter as it is occurring. That's just lost energy with conventional engines.

$10,000 a pop? I doubt that; may $3000 or even less in a couple of years. We're probably looking at 60 mpg as standard expectation within five years and 30-35 mpg on heavier vehicles such as pickups and large SUVs. The electric motors can be made larger and the gasoline engines made smaller with the new batteries. We are only now in the embroyo stage of hybrid development.

 

I'm not so sure. $10K is from the websites of those offering the technology. And I don't know if the new batteries can be recharged on the fly. I doubt it.

 

Just to be clear, I understand how batteries work. So I am adding this information because some of the replies post afterwards were off base from what I was posting.

Li-Ion batteries tend to leak charge, thus the need to recharge more often and are more costly. I would think that does not lend well to hybrid technology. The recharge cycle is not a capacity problem but more from leakage. I had read about a research project that used carbon nanotubes to capture the leakage and redirect it back to the cell. This would be in addition to the regenerative nature of our FEH. The study used it in several smaller powered objects but the important thing is, the Li-Ion footprint is much smaller. Losing weight would add to efficiency and available power in EV mode. The ability to use this in hybrids is in the near future and I was hoping the delay to market for the FEH would include it.

Using the excerpt from the press release I posted earlier, that may mean that it is in the works and on the horizon. That is great news.