Electric Car Nano-Batteries Aim For 500-Mile Range

An anonymous reader writes "Consortium members read like a Who's Who in technology research for the Battery 500 Project which aims to use nanotechnology to extend the range of all-electric cars 200 miles beyond the 300-mile range of gasoline powered cars. IBM, the University of California at Berkeley and all five of our US National Labs are collaborating to make the 500-mile electric car battery. Within two years, they promise to have a new kind of battery technology in place for the 500-mile electric car. If that happens, then I predict a mass exodus from gasoline to electric powered cars that will make the Toyota Prius look like a fad."

Comments

Already A Fad

[GrahamCox]

I predict a mass exodus from gasoline to electric powered cars that will make the Toyota Prius look like a fad.

The Prius is already a fad. It's dead-end technology - over complicated, hundreds of moving parts, and not really all that effective. A Prius works by trading faster-running efficiency for slower-running efficiency - i.e. it moves the optimal efficiency point from about 55mph down to about 20mph, and adds a bit of regenerative braking. Big deal. It's still very, very inefficient. It's slightly useful if you do mostly city driving, but little use on a long run. The Prius is not what you'd call a performance car - drive it hard and it's much worse than many ordinary cars. It also has a lot of embodied energy in the form of its batteries and other exotic parts that other cars lack. That's an issue that all electric cars will have to solve too though. But by ditching the IC engine, drivetrain and so on, they already have a huge advantage in terms of weight and simplicity. The Prius is the worst of both worlds - a complicated IC engine AND all the electric paraphernalia.

The Prius is pure greenwash - its (mostly yuppy) buyers think they are saving the planet, but it doesn't stack up. It might be a slightly better option than an SUV but its time is going to be very limited. Enjoy pulling the wool over everyone's eyes while you still can, Toyota!

impossible for consumers to operate it.

[goombah99]

It's how fast you can recharge it. If you have a 500 mile range then presumably the reason for thisis so you can use it up all in one go for true x-country travel not just commutes.

How long does it take to charge a 500 mile battery? well this is very easy to compute.

divide 500 by 50,miles per hour gives ten hours to drain it.

it takes roughly 30 KWatts to push a honda accord size car at a stead 55Mph on level ground.

Now how long do you want to wait to recharge it? let's say 5 minutes (1/12 hour) at the filling station is the normal time to fill a tank.

30KW * 10 Hours / (1/12 hour) = 30*120 KWatts

3.6 Megawatts.

So for a perfect efficiency system (not likely!) the minimum amount of power the user is going to be connecting to his car is a 3.6 megawatt line.

No way in hell is that ever going to happen. You simply don't let people who think Sara Palin is a good idea touch even a 10Kwatt power connection, let alone a 3.6 Megawatt one.

When highly trained linemen work on energized systems even a fraction of that power they wear 40 Calorie suits and everyone stands back.

I just don't see how the hell you get around this.

Now for commuting the problem is not so bad. You trickle charge it over many hours, plus your not trying to fill it with 500 miles in one go.