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Electric Car Battery Breakthrough?

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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.

EEStor's ambitious goal, according to patent documents, is to "replace the electrochemical battery" in almost every application, from hybrid-electric and pure-electric vehicles to laptop computers to utility-scale electricity storage.

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 implications are enormous and, for many, unbelievable. Such a breakthrough has the potential to radically transform a transportation sector already flirting with an electric renaissance, improve the performance of intermittent energy sources such as wind and sun, and increase the efficiency and stability of power grids--all while fulfilling an oil-addicted America's quest for energy security.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/18086/page1/
 
I've read that one, articles like that give me hope that sustainable alternatives to oil/gas are possible.

I read a lot on peak oil and not a 'doomer' but can't see a furture without a lot of variablity due to man's pure shortsightedness, solar cells over 40%, Thorium reactors clean energy alternatives, hopefully we will get buy-in before we have to crash.
 
I heard a guy talking about these on the radio a couple of months ago. I can't wait for this kind of stuff to start showing up in in the market.

Speaking of capacitors, they used to charge up some that were about the size of AA batteries in Principles of Technology class, and toss them to people when they asked for a battery. ZAP!
 
Well first off I'll beleive it when I see it. Secondly, the though of ultracapacitors in cars is somewhat worrisome due to the amount of power they would put out in a short circuit condition. I can easily see a crash causing the capacitors insulation to be damaged resulting in exposive discharging of the capacitor.
 
Originally posted by: BrownTown
Well first off I'll beleive it when I see it. Secondly, the though of ultracapacitors in cars is somewhat worrisome due to the amount of power they would put out in a short circuit condition. I can easily see a crash causing the capacitors insulation to be damaged resulting in exposive discharging of the capacitor.
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Hmm, gasoline is explosive and extremely flammable and we have been using it for over a century. You are the kind that just likes to worry about everything, huh?
 
Originally posted by: Ronstang
Originally posted by: BrownTown
Well first off I'll beleive it when I see it. Secondly, the though of ultracapacitors in cars is somewhat worrisome due to the amount of power they would put out in a short circuit condition. I can easily see a crash causing the capacitors insulation to be damaged resulting in exposive discharging of the capacitor.
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Hmm, gasoline is explosive and extremely flammable and we have been using it for over a century. You are the kind that just likes to worry about everything, huh?
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LOL, you have me pegged pretty much exactly worng in that regard, however, capacitors are much more dangerous that a gas tank. For onething consider the fact that the capacitor in question had a 3500V potential over less than a millimeter, all that has to happen is that the insulating layer is breached in any way and boom its gonna blow up. A gas tank is considerably more forgiving, gasoline would require sparks from a crash to ignite it, and VERY rarely do you hear of a car jsut spontaneously blowing up. Capacitors on the other hand blow all the darn time. Obviously the only way to come up with a correct view of the mean time ot failure of these capacitors, and their ability to sustain damage is to test them very thouroughly, but jsut looking at it theoretically I would predict a considerable drop in safety over the current approach. If you want to disagree you can, I'm jsut bringing up something I think could be a serious problem to the implimentation of capacitors as an energy storage medium in cars.
 
wow
look at all the people who didn't read the article but have some kind of two bit opinion askeed and answered in the piece :roll:


OK for the lazy

Weir says the voltage will be stepped down with a bi-directional converter, and the whole system will be secured in a grounded metal box. It won't have a problem getting an Underwriters Laboratories safety certification, he adds. "If you drive a stake through it, we have ways of fusing this thing where all the energy is sitting there but it won't arc ? It will be the safest battery the world has ever seen

 
Originally posted by: BrownTown
VERY rarely do you hear of a car jsut spontaneously blowing up.
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I don't know, it really depends on what side of town you live on. Around here everyone drives pontiacs made in the late 1980's so it's bound to happen sooner or later. 🙁

 
Originally posted by: desy
wow
look at all the people who didn't read the article but have some kind of two bit opinion askeed and answered in the piece :roll:
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Welcome to ATOT, you junior member you......
 
Originally posted by: Howard
Beating Li-ion in energy density? I'm definitely skeptical.
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Me too, but that is how technology grows.... Eventually some form had to beat the current top dog.

 
Originally posted by: desy
Weir says the voltage will be stepped down with a bi-directional converter, and the whole system will be secured in a grounded metal box. It won't have a problem getting an Underwriters Laboratories safety certification, he adds. "If you drive a stake through it, we have ways of fusing this thing where all the energy is sitting there but it won't arc ? It will be the safest battery the world has ever seen
Click to expand...

He can SAY whatever he wants, words are easy, prooving them is much harder.
 
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