A123 to collaborate with SolidEnergy on a battery to quadruple range
#1
10-27-2013, 12:41 PM
A123 to collaborate with SolidEnergy on a battery to quadruple range
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, USA
A123 makes a pretty good lithium battery that has a high-cycle life and can put out loads of power. What it's not so good at, however, is holding a lot of energy. At least, not when compared to the Panasonic cells that Tesla Motors uses in the Model S. Sure, it's great for hybrids and city-car applications like the Chevy Spark EV, but if it's going to find a place in the longer-range EVs of the future, it will need to up its game. It looks like that could happen.
A123 Venture Technologies, a division of the now Wanxiang-owned company, has taken MIT startup SolidEnergy under its wing in a collaborative partnership to produce a battery has holds four times the energy of today's cells. Instead of an energy density of, say, 200 watt-hours per kilogram, this new chemistry may be able to hold up to 800 Wh/kg. Imagine a future Spark EV going 328 miles on a charge instead of its current 82-mile range. Kind of exciting, isn't it?
As its name suggests, SolidEnergy uses a (cleverly-acronymized) solid electrolyte called solid polymer ionic liquid (SPIL) within it cells, whereas most manufacturers employ nonaqueous organic solvents, such as eye of newt. This allows for a cell that is not only energy dense, but can operate safely within a temperature range of -40C to 482F without cooling or heating.
The arrangement will see the new startup's crew move into A123's Waltham, MA development facility where they hope to produce prototypes of consumer electronics batteries by next year, before moving on to EV-specific cells. Scroll down to read the official press release along with a video presentation from last year on the technology - listen until the end to catch the ironic statement about inheriting assets from failed battery companies.Continue reading A123 to collaborate with SolidEnergy on a battery to quadruple range
A123 to collaborate with SolidEnergy on a battery to quadruple range originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 27 Oct 2013 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A123 makes a pretty good lithium battery that has a high-cycle life and can put out loads of power. What it's not so good at, however, is holding a lot of energy. At least, not when compared to the Panasonic cells that Tesla Motors uses in the Model S. Sure, it's great for hybrids and city-car applications like the Chevy Spark EV, but if it's going to find a place in the longer-range EVs of the future, it will need to up its game. It looks like that could happen.
A123 Venture Technologies, a division of the now Wanxiang-owned company, has taken MIT startup SolidEnergy under its wing in a collaborative partnership to produce a battery has holds four times the energy of today's cells. Instead of an energy density of, say, 200 watt-hours per kilogram, this new chemistry may be able to hold up to 800 Wh/kg. Imagine a future Spark EV going 328 miles on a charge instead of its current 82-mile range. Kind of exciting, isn't it?
As its name suggests, SolidEnergy uses a (cleverly-acronymized) solid electrolyte called solid polymer ionic liquid (SPIL) within it cells, whereas most manufacturers employ nonaqueous organic solvents, such as eye of newt. This allows for a cell that is not only energy dense, but can operate safely within a temperature range of -40C to 482F without cooling or heating.
The arrangement will see the new startup's crew move into A123's Waltham, MA development facility where they hope to produce prototypes of consumer electronics batteries by next year, before moving on to EV-specific cells. Scroll down to read the official press release along with a video presentation from last year on the technology - listen until the end to catch the ironic statement about inheriting assets from failed battery companies.Continue reading A123 to collaborate with SolidEnergy on a battery to quadruple range
A123 to collaborate with SolidEnergy on a battery to quadruple range originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 27 Oct 2013 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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