Research Promises Drastically Increased LiOn Capacity

daem0n1x writes "Could this be the breakthrough we've all been expecting that will finally make the electric car a reality? Researchers of Northwestern University USA discovered a new way to build lithium-ion batteries that changes dramatically both the charge time and capacity [original paper, paywalled]. Guess what it involves? That's right, graphene."

Comments

Better Place

[Enderandrew]

This is a must read article on the subject. Electric cars fail because batteries are too expensive, and because they required infrastructure of charging stations. This company however solves both these problems. You make an electric car without the battery, which is cheaper than a standard car and more reliable to boot. Then this company leases you a battery, which costs less per month than gas. And they handle the infrastructure, which includes stations that swap your battery out for a fully charged one. You never wait to charge your battery, and they can swap it out since you don't own it.

http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-09/ff_agassi?currentPage=all

Part of this model is the assumption that battery technology still moves along rapidly. So the company can phase in newer, better batteries and you aren't tied to a battery you purchased when you bought your car.

Re:Better Place

[scamper_22]

Managing that battery inventory is going to be a huge problem. How are you going to make sure each 'gas station' has enough batteries on hand. Since they're not cheap, it's a huge cost. This might not be a huge problem in the city, but that's not where people have a fear of running out of battery. Heck, a simple EV you charge at home would suffice if you simply traveled in the city.

It's the spaces in the cities or commuters.
The roll out and management of this is a huge problem.

But even assuming you could manage that well enough, there is another minor problem.

Maybe I'm just paranoid coming from Africa where people will steal anything making infrastructure hard to build out... but you're talking about an expensive batter than can be 'easily swapped out'. Something tells me that makes it 'easy to steal'.

Re:Better Place

[Enderandrew]

Last time I checked, this company was rolling out in select places like Denmark, Israel and Hawaii. It is easier to roll out initially in places with dense populations, and harder to roll out when the population is spread out. Once the model is proven to work, I expect it to spread.

Re:Better Place

[Enderandrew]

Gas is relatively cheaper in the United States than England. The last time I traveled to England, gas was something like $3/gallon in the United States and the equivalent (pounds and litre conversion) to $7/gallon in England.

Filling up a sedan with a 14 gallon tank for $50 isn't unreasonable in the United States. That being said, it isn't fair to say that a fill up costs $5000.

The battery on hand might cost that, but the fueling station isn't paying $5000 each time they swap a battery. And keeping several of these batteries on hand is a one-time fixed cost. A gas/petrol station pays daily to have their fuel tanks filled. I actually managed a gas/petrol station while in between IT jobs. Giant tanker trunks have to drive the fuel to each station, which is horribly inefficient and costly.

I haven't seen the Better Place design, but they could use underground conveyors. The batteries aren't just sitting around where they can be stolen. The conveyor moves the battery underground to the robotic arm that swaps it at your car. It wouldn't be vastly different from how gas/petrol stations store all their gas underground.

Re:Better Place

[Big_Breaker]

Close... They are rolling out in areas that have closed traffic systems, so called traffic islands. In Hawaii they have a traffic island because Hawaii is physically a collection of islands. Israel is a traffic island because Israelis rarely drive out of Israel, relations with the neighbors being what they are. Density is certainly a part of it but the closed nature of the roadways is a bigger one.

Re:The magical ingredient

[TheLoneGundam]

I believe "graphene" is single-molecule-thick silicon, isn't it?

Cars? Who cares about cars?

[afabbro]

Will this improve the battery life on my cell phone, laptop, and tablet?