Slashdot Mirror
Aluminum-Celmet Could Increase EV Range By 300%
LesterMoore writes "Japanese company Sumitomo Electric Industries have developed a new material that they believe can significantly improve the capacity of EV batteries. The material is a form of porous aluminum called 'Aluminum-Celmet.' 'The positive electrode current collector in a conventional lithium-ion secondary battery is made from aluminum foil, while the negative electrode current collector is made from copper foil. Replacing the aluminum foil with Aluminum-Celmet increases the amount of positive active material per unit area. Sumitomo Electric’s trial calculations indicate that in the case of automotive onboard battery packs, such replacement will increase battery capacity 1.5 to 3 times. Alternatively, with no change in capacity, battery volume can be reduced to one-third to two-thirds. These changes afford such benefits as reduced footprint of home-use storage batteries for power generated by solar and other natural sources, as well as by fuel cells."
*nt
I suspect this should be "Aluminum-Cermet" since the metal apparently is deposited on a ceramic base.
Japanese often mismaps the "R" sound into an "L" sound ... perhaps that happened here?
I'm working on a battery entirely powered by stories about battery improvements. It is due "within the next 3-5 years" and should improve our buzzword threshold by 2 fold!
TFA is full of words like "reportedly" and "could". It's marketing baloney. If this stuff is so great, let's have a story about a working battery. Also, the technical details in the summary about electrodes and battery size reduction don't appear in TFA. Please remember, No Original Research is one of the core content policies of /.
http://xkcd.com/678/
As a side note, a hovercar might be nice later this summer when my commute floods.
I read stuff on the internet all the time. Words are routinely spelled wrong, even when set off in quotation marks--especially on Slashdot. If I didn't correct spelling errors as I read I wouldn't be able to read nearly as much. Yes, occasionally I have to back up and read something again, but how often does someone invent a new word?
Search for the term "Aluminum Celmet" and all the returns are from the last month or so, all reference the company mentioned here, and are either press releases, stories on tech sites made from press releases, or astroturf on forums. The term "celmet" appears to be a trademark of the company.
I'm very interested in novel battery research, but this one tastes like Ovaltine.
These changes afford such benefits as reduced footprint of home-use storage batteries for power generated by solar and other natural sources, as well as by fuel cells.
All that matters for home storage batteries is that they be cheap and recyclable. "Footprint" is completely irrelevant. And mentioning fuel cells as a power source is just asking for a flame war.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
I read it as "Aluminum-Celmet", which is exactly what it says. Stop being so lazy. Protip: generally, if a word is set off by being within quotation marks and/or is capitalized, it is being emphasized for a reason.
Or its just part of a title....
...and can be applied at sizes smaller than a car battery, the first practical applications of it won't be car batteries. They'll be consumer electronics. If you've ever seen the inside of an iPad or iPhone, you already know that the largest single component is the battery. Being able to shrink it means that the technology companies can shrink the form factors of devices like those. I know in the case of the iPhone, the camera is one of the current major constraints on thickness, but for laptops you may be able to see drastic reductions in thickness and weight. And for smaller electronics, you may be able to simply make the device lighter, or else can afford to make fewer compromises due to space constraints. It could be very interesting indeed.
Now, granted, this sounds like a lot of astroturfing, but if there is any worth to it, you can bet that the technology companies that are trying to make slim and stylish devices will be all over it. Apple in particular, since they've already started developing their own battery technologies to save space and increase capacity.
EESTOR had a super capacitor storage technology that was supposed to work at 1800 (V). They have filed 30+ patents. Last I checked, I couldn't find any announcements from them. I couldn't even find an EESTOR sign in front of the EESTOR office building on Google Earth.
Anyone know if they are still alive?
The Sinclair C5 ran for 40 kilometres with a fairly simple battery, so this is clearly just another excuse for the car industry to not bring out more electric vehicles, or to bring out only highly inefficient ones.
The actual press release is rather conservative.
This is Sumitomo Electric, annual sales about US$20 billion, not some startup. Their major businesses are wire and cable, which includes fibre optics and associated laser diodes. Looking back at their press releases, there are items like "Arrival of the "Era of High-Temperature Superconducting Wire with 200-A-Class Critical Current", followed a few months later by "World's First In-Grid High-Temperature Superconducting Power Cable System is Now Online at Albany, New York". This company doesn't typically overhype their technology.
Their "celmet" materials have been around for a while, but until recently, they were nickel-based only. They've made some NiMh batteries with this technology, but there wasn't a big win. Now they have an aluminum version, which is more useful for batteries.
This might actually work.
...transparent by any chance?
This is great news! Only 20 years until the patent expires and products can start being made using this technology.
I really shouldn't have used someone else's email address for this account.
...as 'transparent' is defined as 'not existing within the specified space' :)
I have no other definition for a group so well entrenched and yet supposedly so well educated in science. First off take a course in the history of science and understand just how developments actually work. We've been wowed by computer sciences for the last two decades and the lightning speed of updates but in the real world of mechanical parts and economics moore's law just doesn't apply. The first EVs used nickel-cadmium batteries the newest models use lithium ion technology. In ten years this aluminum-celmet which is a process that is widely known and thus likely will be trademarked but not patented. We're close to breaking the magic 300 mile range barrier and when we do the EVs will sell.
The overall cynicism of the posters is getting depressing and irresponsible. Science occurs at the speed of humanity, advancements happen every day that takes years to filter into our world. If you don't like reading about cutting edge future technology then stop reading these articles.
Looking at the stated figures for battery volume, the increase in range is "by up to 200%" NOT "by 300%" as the title states. The correct use of the 300% figure would be "increase range to 300% of current range". An increase of range by 300% would mean the range would be 400% of the original range. It may seem like a little difference between the words "by" and "to", but misuse of words and percentages occurs far too much to exaggerate things that do not need exaggerating.
of people can't deal with percentages... upping the capacity by a factor of one point five to three means an _increase_ in capacity by 50 to 200 percent, NOT 100 to 300!
If you must use the bigger numbers then you could say "new batteries with a capacity of 150 to 300 percent of current ones ", but not "increase"
I fail to see how changing the wires can possibly increase the energy density of the battery. Sorry but I'm calling BS on this one.
If they could show some actual examples of their tech in action I'd be more willing to overcome my scepticism.
I used to have a better sig than this, but I got tired of it
"Sumitomo Electric’s trial calculations indicate that in the case of automotive onboard battery packs, such replacement will increase battery capacity 1.5 to 3 times. Alternatively, with no change in capacity, battery volume can be reduced to one-third to two-thirds."
No shit, Sherlock.
Jesus Christ - do they have to spell it out?
Well colour me stupid but what the heck is a EV battery?
Typical misunderstanding with Japanese pronunciation:
Q: "When do you have elections in Japan?"
A: "Ah yes, have one plactically evely molning!"
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
... means that the laptop falls over backwards when you open the screen! the reason is that the screen weighs 0.5kg and the rest of the laptop is now only about 300 grammes - including only a 100 gramme battery. so it's necessary to put a counterweight at the front, or to redesign the laptop and have the screen moved forward. no, you can't reduce the weight of the screen, because it's thin glass (which is heavy itself) but it's not self-supporting and so needs to be surrounded by a metal frame.
so, yes, lots of speculation, but the writing is clearly on the wall.
will increase battery capacity 1.5 to 3 times
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Instead, focus on ultra-caps and then have charging stations every so often that allows for FAST charges. For example, from stop to stop, a bus can pull up and charge in 10 seconds with enough power to go to the next 2-3 stops. With that approach, you can have a VERY lightweight, efficient, and CHEAP bus.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I see no need for such complex vehicles for the majority of uses. While autonomous vehicles certainly are necessary for many uses, the majority of the trips are along regular routes - city streets and freeways - and adding some sort of tracks with a power source in some sort of third rail is old tech. We only don't have it because it doesn't sell cars, but that's an economic problem, not an engineering one. Yes, lots of people are crazy about cars and proclaim public disasters and military dictatorships at any sign of providing them with the option to not depend on one, but that's also not technical, that's just marketing, politics or entertainment. Millions of people everywhere have no personal car and live quite fine. If you add up their negatives, it becomes a long list.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_the_automobile_on_societies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_rapid_transit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_rail
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
Lets see, a 3 fold increase would be from 'a' kwh to '3a' kwh. The percent increase would be 100%*(3a - a)/a = 200%. So is it 3 fold increase or 300% increase (which would be 4 fold increase).
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!" -- Dr. Strangelove
While I agree 100% with your comment i think there is the "Boy who cried wolf" situation happening.
We have seen story apon story for many many years about all these wonderful techonologies for batteries. But have we seen any of these techonologies, no. The "researchers" have been spouting so called improvements for so long, no one seems to take them serriously anymore, and thus the comments you see now. The upside of it is that they seem to be correct 99% of the time. The downside is that the one researcher that does hit on something will not be taken seriously until they can say more then "I 'THINK' this will give us X improvement". Until then, they will be grouped in the hovercar group...
Although, I would rather see comments about WHY this may or may not work, I understand the current comments to a degree.
Your grammar is pathetic!
"Japanese company Sumitomo Electric Industries have developed"
This should read "has" developed! Please make an attempt at an education before trying to publish articles!
If I understand correctly, the application of this technology to aluminum *is* new, and I suspect that there will be a number of (legitimate) patents surrounding it. It's not just deciding to replace one metal by another, different metals behave quite differently.
OTOH, it may be something that will break "the magic 300 mile range". But I doubt that it will allow for quick refueling short of a battery exchange. I don't think that even super-capacitors could do that, as the power requirements for a fast charge are a bit appalling.
That said, I'm certain that it will have MANY uses. Some in power transmission, some in other areas. (Earlier comments have lead me to believe that this company won't be interested in pursuing powering consumer gadgets, but in that case they'll probably be open to licensing for that purpose. Which could be very useful.
But I don't think that electric cars will ever be practical as a general purpose vehicle without implementing a battery exchange program, or something equivalent. (Some types of battery operate on a flow-thru principle, so in principle you could treat that just like a two-part fuel, with regeneration done at fixed stations.) FWIW, a general purpose vehicle must be capable of driving from Nome, Alaska to Mexico City (given suitable roads) in one trip without extensive layovers. I do admit to the necessity for stops along the way to refuel, but they can't require more than 45 minutes if they are very infrequent, or 5 minutes if they are frequent. (Yeah, that's quite vague. Intentionally. I don't consider "general purpose vehicle" to be a category with hard edges, but rather with very fuzzy ones. And I acknowledge that some people would reasonably include off-the-road requirements, but I don't. And I'm willing to consider a shorter maximum trip length...but 300 miles isn't long enough. San Francisco to Los Angelas is a bare minimum.)
So I end up thinking quite highly of battery exchange programs for electrical vehicles. Which means standardization requirements for battery shape and connectors. But it's best to wait for the proper battery technology...or to have a standard that is flexible enough to allow variation as technology improves. Which is tricky in and of itself. (Note that under a battery exchange program, you wouldn't own the battery in your vehicle, just the power that it contains. So this would mean that there were various social adaptations necessary, e.g., Mobile would need to be willing to accept batteries owned by Shell in an exchange. Do they charge them? Relabel them? Ship them off to Shell? Can they charge a premium for accepting someone else's battery?)
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
They are a profit-making venture just like every other company on the planet. Are you new to the planet? is this why you are confused by this phenomenon?
Why are you so off-topic? Are there not enough Apple-themed threads that you have to find a way to dig at Apple on a topic about battery technology?
This is great news and could actually make EV's actually be considered for many commuters. Currently EV's are pathetically relegated to "urban toy" status because, as it turns out, they simply cannot perform serious commuting. Even if an EV could complete a one-way trip, you still have to recharge a depleted battery; assuming you are going to be at your workplace and not have to leave for family emergencies, picking up kids from day care or school, etc-
Although still not up to the sort of numbers the original Aptera TYP-H electric/fuel hybrid could do, a big increase in battery capacity could help alleviate the issues common to current EV's and put them on track in the right direction.
Speaking of the TYP-1H that Aptera killed off, I can't help thinking it is a similar story to that of GM killing the EV1....hmmm.
FWIW, a general purpose vehicle must be capable of driving from Nome, Alaska to Mexico City (given suitable roads) in one trip without extensive layovers.
While I agree with your basic sentiment here, I disagree with this point in particular. Nobody but a crew team-driving is going to be able to make a cross-continental trip non-stop except for short refueling breaks. I do agree that a vehicle ought to be capable of being driving about 6-8 hours non-stop at highway speeds, or about 10-12 hours for commercial vehicles for the most part. That is the DOT limit for commercial drivers anyway, where driving more than about 700 miles in a day is consider grounds for a ticket if you are driving by yourself (as a commercial driver).
On "average", a typical suburban house-wife only travels between 40-60 miles per day, and a long-distance commuter even in a large city is "on average" generally less than 100 miles in each direction. Yes, there are exceptions, but those are exceptions and not the standard to compare to. Electric vehicles using Li-ion batteries can now easily get to these distances, which is why they are starting to enter into the market. The presumption that you need to constantly fill-up is not completely necessary.
Certainly when I'm doing my ordinary driving routines of going to work, buying groceries, and other odd trips like collecting my kids after soccer practice, I only fill my gas tank about once a week. Long trips are the exception, not the rule.
Besides, I've heard of after-market add-ons for electric vehicles that come in a variety of flavors which can help extend driving range. This can range from a direct ICE (internal combustion engine) which simply pushes the vehicle to a generator that plugs into an accessory slot to "recharge" the batteries on the fly as you are going down the highway. Even if you are using gasoline, an ICE works best when it is running full-speed at maximum efficiency, which is why highway mileage is usually substantially better than in-town driving efficiency for an ICE. For hybrids, the opposite is usually true. If the ICE engine in a hybrid is merely a trailer to be used only for long trips but the shorter trips only need to be plugged in at night (possibly automatically in your garage so you don't even have to think about it), the case for electric automobiles is a much easier sell.
Obviously it won't work in every case, and there are certainly some people who will still need an ICE for their commuter trips or how they are driving at the moment for other purposes. But helping out 30% of the current market for automobiles could do wonders for cleaning up the air quality and doing other positive things for our cities, even if the electricity is generated by coal-powered plants.
I fully agree with you. If one has done any fundamental research in any area (not the applied or supplied research), they will understand the slow but steady improvement of any new invention. Most readers who post in this site are immature at best. I feel sorry for their ignorance and arrogance. They may have a degree but not the insights or real thinking power that needs to appreciate new inventions and technology. That is why we are behind China, Japan, Korea and India in general where only 1% may be the best, but they are nevertheless the best.
The cynicism has everything to do with the inability to distinguish real advances from marketing hype and vaporware claims that make up just as many articles. That is the fault of poor quality moderating on Slashdot's part, not the community.
while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
You're missing the point of the "Nome to Mexico City".
1) I'm assuming overnight stops, lunch breaks, etc. That was the reason for "45 minutes if very infrequent". I could easily stretch it out to an hour, but every extra minute makes the option less desirable. (As I said, the concept doesn't have sharp edges.) The purpose of the "Nome to Mexico City" was to ensure that there was a requirement for refueling during the trip. (If it could handle that without problems, then it could handle any expectable trip.)
N.B.: I'm assuming that you overnight at motels with charging capability. So I'm assuming that that's not a problem. But you still need to be able to put in a day driving with a bit of reserve in case your motel is full and lost your reservation.
2) The other consideration is: most people don't keep a separate car around for when they go on vacation. So the "general purpose vehicle" has to be able to handle the "going away for a week" trip. A battery exchange program would solve this.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
In Japan, do they have aluminum foil, or aluminium foil?
You may waste a lot of hours and money form your life to increase your page ranks and also popularity of your blog.You may searched in google for tips and browse thousands of websites for tips but you can get 10000 tips form one site here is its link. http://tipstomakeblogpopular.blogspot.com/