Between oil prices, political issues, and developing technology, electric vehicles are starting to expand beyond niche novelities into useful vehicles that will eventually challenge fossil-fuel conveyances. On the technology front, ultracapacitor technology is promising to create energy-storage systems that would finally give electric vehicles the power density they need to travel realistic distances between charges.
A secretive Texas startup developing what some are calling a “game changing” energy-storage technology broke its silence this week. It announced that it has reached two production milestones and is on track to ship systems this year for use in electric vehicles.
The company boldly claims that its system, a kind of battery-ultracapacitor hybrid based on barium-titanate powders, will dramatically outperform the best lithium-ion batteries on the market in terms of energy density, price, charge time, and safety. Pound for pound, it will also pack 10 times the punch of lead-acid batteries at half the cost and without the need for toxic materials or chemicals, according to the company.
The Texans aren’t the only ones who are leaking news of secretive electric vehicles (nothing is up on the MotivNation site yet about this announcement):
MotivNation, a California-based provider and manufacturer of “tools and toys for the automotive enthusiast,” today announced the introduction of a light electric vehicle through Damon’s division.
George R. Lefevre, MotivNation CEO, commented, “We’re excited about this upcoming product featuring innovative motor, controller, battery and manufacturing techniques from this alternative energy line of product.”
Another energy-storage company, A123 Systems, is using their products to sponsor an electric drag bike to demonstrate their energy storage and transfer technology. That’s a lot of power to route, control, and use for such a demanding application.
The KillaCycle is the result of years of effort on the part of Bill Dube’, his sponsors and team members. It is currently the quickest 1/4 mile electric drag bike in the world. Recently driver Scott Pollacheck did a record 8.76 second @ 145.44 MPH run in Las Vegas.
The motorcycle is powered by 374 volts of electricity stored in 880 small, but powerful, Lithium Ion cells (batteries) provided by A123 Systems. The cells are connected to provide 7kWh of energy storage and are capable of supplying up to 1350 amps. The entire battery pack weighs just 175 lbs yet puts out about 350 horsepower.
Who knows? My prediction is that the new energy storage technologies will be used in plug-in hybrid systems before a “real” electric car is created.
January 27, 2006 – EEStor Ultracapacitor Shuns Publicity
http://tinyurl.com/q2uet
It claims that it can make a battery at half the cost per kilowatt-hour and one-tenth the weight of lead-acid batteries.
Imagine a power station that builds up a huge amount of volts – not amps – to flash this new battery – that isn’t really a battery.
It’s an ultracapacitor that won’t lose it’s charge very quickly, and doesn’t have an electromagnetic problem.
If it works out, this will have an energy density higher than hydrogen and be easier and cheaper to recharge, as no electrolysis is needed.
They (EESTOR) want to pair up with the ZENN car, which would give the tiny car the power boost needed to go faster than 35mph and a greater than 50 mile range.
The most important aspect is than ZENN & EESTOR are in this business to make money, and are not part of the regular auto industry.
That means the prototype to production model will be quick.
My wife wants a ZENN if it can go faster than 50KPH…
What most people don’t realize is electric motors deliver 100% power at 0 RPM… which means when you accellerate it just goes! Of course you use up your charge very fast unless you’re using a “Mr. Fusion” generator like in ‘Back to the Future’ to generate juice. The other really good thing is an electric car would be ‘simple’ mechanically compared to a ‘gas motor’ . I would think some kind of ‘runs on anything’ kind of vehicle would be the future.
I’d buy one..
#3 Of course you use up your charge very fast unless you’re using a “Mr. Fusion” generator like in ‘Back to the Future’ to generate juice.
No problem… Just make room for Mr. Fusion on a power generating bike in the back of your car and have him pedal like crazy to generate the necessary juice. Don’t forget to feed him three times a day.
10 years ago these were popular too with people who had the money (because the tech was new). These are new batteries though. They were taken away due to threats from big oil. Now it is hard for them to stop the inevitable electric car, with all the ice caps melting and such.
When you put this system into something that can go off-road in 4WD and also haul 4×8 sheet goods and also go 800 miles in one day at 70+mph with only 2 short recharging stops, then you have something.
Here’s an obvious idea from years back.
First, the boring part. Batteries can store motive power for vehicles, but an unwanted quality of batteries is that they are heavy. Gyroscopes (flywheels constantly in motion) can also store motive power for (and stabilize) vehicles. A crucial quality of gyroscopes is that they are heavy. So why not make flywheels that are also batteries?
Now, the exciting part: imagine the possibilities for catastrophic failure. In the event of a crash, you have heavy fragments flying around at high speed, voltages, and the other vehicles in the accident leaking flammables.
What most people don’t realize is that electric vehicles won’t really save us from using fossil fuels. All that electricity has to be generated somehow, and right now that means burning lots of oil, gas and coal. Ed Begley, Jr. charges his electric car from solar cells on his roof, but he can afford them — most people couldn’t.
The only way a large number of electric cars will save fossil fuels is if they are very light and energy-efficient, which they will tend to be in order to be able to go fast or far enough to sell. But there will always be, especially in America, a struggle between energy efficiency and the desire for big cars.
#8. All that electricity has to be generated somehow, and right now that means burning lots of oil, gas and coal.
You’re right that they don’t eliminate the use of fossil fuels altogether, BUT it’s is still a GREAT improvement – if only because because one of the fossil fuel burning steps is removed (you have to burn fossil fuels in order to heat the crude in the refining process). Also, there are alternate sources of fuel (solar, wind, nuclear) for the production of electricity.
Most importantly, the combustion engine is simply not a comparatively efficient means of converting fuel to work. As the guy who started the Tesla remarked: a gallon of gasoline produces enough energy to power an electric car 100 miles or more.
Matt, so true. In a regular combustion engine, over 60% of the kinetic energy from the explosion is lost. Mazda’s rotary engine, while a huge improvement, still loses a lot.
Then there’s the loss with the transmission.
If you use a small gas powered, rotary engine coupled directly to a generator in a 1:1 ratio, you minimize most of your loss.
Make it diesel, and you have a winning combo. You can then use bio-diesel, ethanol, natural gas, hydrogen, you name it.
A car without a transmission, four small electric motors, one for each wheel, a small battery pack, like the size of the Prius which is an EV-2 (2 miles autonomy).
With regenerative braking, a high performance generator, no heavy transmission, and you have the worlds very best hybrid car.
As an option, instead of the generator sub-system, add an EV-30 battery pack – you’re pure electric, limited range.
With the generator sub-system, you’d get 150+ MPG and be a SULEV.
Bonus : use the generator in your car to power your house as needed.
Why they don’t build this car with existing technology is beyond me.
We HAD an electric car.
FYI — It was called the EV-1.
People who leased it (you couldn’t own one) LOVED it!
Have a gander at what GM thought about the EV-1 here: http://www.ev1.org/
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Nobody supports electric vehicle development more enthusiastically than Sherry Boschert. During a recent interview, she told me, “We’ve got about a ten-year window to stop burning carbon. After that, the worst effects of global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions will be unavoidable. We need to get lots of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) on the road, and we need to do it RIGHT NOW!”
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