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Toshiba's Fast-Charging Battery Could Triple the Range of Electric Vehicles (newatlas.com)

Big Hairy Ian quotes New Atlas: A key focus of electric vehicle (EV) makers is maximizing the range users can get from each charge, and for that reason new battery technologies are poised to play a huge part in driving their adoption. Toshiba has developed a new fast-charging battery it claims could allow EVs to travel three times as far as they do now, and then be fully recharged again in a matter of minutes.

Toshiba's SCiB (Super Charge ion Battery) has been around in various forms since 2007, with its chief claim to fame an ability to charge to 90 percent of capacity in just five minutes. It also boasts a life-span of 10 years and high levels of safety, and has found its way into a number of notable EVs, including Mitsubishi's i MiEV and Honda's Fit EV. The current SCiB uses lithium titanium oxide as its anode, but Toshiba says it has now come up with a better way of doing things. The next-generation SCiB uses a new material for the anode called titanium niobium oxide, which Toshiba was able to arrange into a crystal structure that can store lithium ions more efficiently. So much so, that the energy density has been doubled.

Toshiba calls the battery "a game changing advance that will make a significant difference to the range and performance of EV," and hopes to put it "into practical application" in 2019.

14 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. Will be nice when the patents run out by Pinky's+Brain · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We need either a patent unencumbered replacement for Lion which is far better, or multiple technologies which are far better. One technology which is far better will help fuck all for the next 20 years.

    1. Re:Will be nice when the patents run out by CRB9000 · · Score: 2

      You are free to do the research, and then put the results out there. But, you'll have to get the backing for all the equipment and if you can't find someone to back you that isn't expecting to lock it down, don't be surprised.

    2. Re:Will be nice when the patents run out by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 2

      Basic research is something the government used to do. Then multiple companies would compete to monetize the discoveries.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    3. Re:Will be nice when the patents run out by jellomizer · · Score: 2

      Way to swap units there.
      Nothing says political motivated manipulation like swapped units.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    4. Re:Will be nice when the patents run out by dgatwood · · Score: 2

      That means they are only a battery capacity factor of 2-4 away from range parity.

      If you only care about range, then my 6-cylinder 2007 RAV4 has an estimated 300 miles average range, and the beefiest Tesla Model X has a 289 mile average range, so we're already roughly at parity as far as I'm concerned.

      BTW, the efficiency numbers for gasoline engines get even worse when you factor in the supply chain. For every gallon of gasoline refined, it takes about 6 kWh of power to refine, plus a lot of fossil fuel power to extract and transport. That same amount of energy input would get an electric car almost half as far as the gallon of gasoline would, even before you factor in the energy in the gasoline. So your overall efficiency is likely to be more on the order of 20%.

      Of course, you're moving around more weight with the EV, because they don't get lighter as they discharge, and their specific power (energy per unit weight) is only about 1/50th that of gasoline. When full, that 14-gallon tank of gasoline weighs ~87 pounds plus whatever the plastic tank weighs (15-20 pounds, typically). So assuming you get it near empty every time, it weighs on average about 44 pounds plus 15-ish. Let's call that 60 pounds.

      The Tesla pack weighs 1200 pounds. And the rest of the Model X weighs about 500 pounds more than the RAV4 in question, for a total difference of a whopping 1700 pounds. If the ICE-based car weighs only 68% as much as the electric, then instead of being ~5x as efficient, the EVs are only ~3.4x as efficient. Of course, this discounts the efficiency/inefficiency of producing electricity, but that's hard to quantify.

      --

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  2. Charging is a serious issue. by technical_maven · · Score: 2

    One other side of the fast charge issue is the power requirement required to do so. A "five minute charge" will require a very high peak power demand and that is extremely expensive to deliver as most power companies charge based on peak demand. There will need to be some sort of battery buffering or the like to provide sufficient power at a reasonable cost...

  3. Re:This script is still running? by jellomizer · · Score: 2

    Well now there is interest in the area. There hadn't been much research in this area for generations, where we have been having minor incremental improvements. However knowing that products are being pushed to be using more batteries means there is more Research in the area.

    The problem with these breakthrough that are getting released, is that it will take a few more years to get it out on the market, and the previous breakthroughs will get to the market earlier, so all we see is a smooth improvement over time.

    Being that current electric cars can now range a one or two hundred miles, which is enough to be practical for most commuters allows enough growth towards the next generation to make such cars hit 300-400 miles range which is about the same range as our gasoline cars, combine that with fast charging, there will be less need to consider gasoline cars.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  4. Niobium - another rare earth by mattr · · Score: 2

    I googled niobium rarity and...
    http://www.businessinsider.com...
    Due to its relevance in aerospace and defense, Niobium is considered a “strategic metal” by the U.S. government, meaning there are few or no substitutes for the metal’s essential use. Furthermore, of all strategic metals, Niobium is regarded as one of the most highly critical. But its supplies are considered potentially at risk. This is because only a few sources throughout the world produce the metal. Almost 90% of the world supply comes from Brazil. Nearly all of that comes from only one mine. Most of the rest comes from the Canadian Niobec Mine, owned by IAMGOLD (NYSE: IAG).

  5. Re:This script is still running? by Rei · · Score: 4, Informative

    This is almost head-smackingly bad.

    LTO (like Toshiba's SCiB) has only recharge speed and durability going for it. Everything else about it is terrible, including energy density (vastly inferior to other li-ion chemistries - their best ones are something like 100Wh/kg), and the most important aspect, price. LTO is extremely expensive ($1000/kWh at present; most EVs use batteries in the ballpark of ~$150/kWh).

    So now Toshiba has announced that their next generation is going to include.... niobium? A metal that costs about $200 per kilogram?

    I guess that they better get this one out on the market before the come out with their next battery based on cesium, holmium and platinum ;)

    --
    I'll BUILD someone to replace you. Some kind of gamma-powered monster, with a heart as black as coal!
  6. Re:This script is still running? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2

    I guess that they better get this one out on the market before the come out with their next battery based on cesium, holmium and platinum ;)

    No,. the next battery is going to use unobtainium.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  7. Re:This script is still running? by mattmarlowe · · Score: 2

    I'm not sure what the whole rush is to get rid of gas engine cars is about.....sure, most people drive commutes that can be more efficiently handled in plugin hybrid. Why do we need to go full EV? I'm perfectly happy with having both an electric and gas engine in my car, and the electric battery is big enough already to meet 99% of the daily drives I make. On the off chance, I go on a long trip or need power to go fast, I'm happy to have the gas engine kick in. As is, I only need to fill up the gas engine 2-3 times/year and I have a range of around 700 miles.

    I certainly don't want a huge expensive electrical battery that needs to be replaced every 10 years. And, I like the reliability of having two engines and two fuel supplies.

  8. Re:This script is still running? by rahvin112 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Battery research has been ongoing at a phenomenal rate of advancement for 16+ years at this point. You appear to have no concept of how rapidly batteries are advancing. When the lead-acid battery was invented more than 100 years ago it became the one and only battery technology up until the 90's. The advancements during that time period were slow and nearly insignificant in comparison to the current breakthroughs with a major advancement about every 20-50 years.

    Lithium Ion batteries in turn have advanced so quickly that capacity is growing 20% a year. The same size and weight battery in 2008 now holds more than triple the charge and costs 90% less. Every year there are new advancements that roll into the supply chain a few years later sustaining this continuing innovation. In 2008 Lithium Ion batteries were near on $1000kwh, now prices are $125 and expected to reach $50 by 2020. This is revolutionizing the world, already numerous countries, including China the largest automotive market in the world, have announced that by 2030 they won't allow petrol based vehicles to be sold.

    If you told someone in 1990 that the Gas and Diesel automobile would be dead in 40 years and it would be killed by a battery electric car they would have laughed their ass off.

  9. Re:This script is still running? by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    1. Pollution: CO2 and other nasty stuff that automobiles emit. A factor in global warming, general air quality, Spilled fuel gets into our drinking water supply. While there is pollution trade off with EV for the most part they can be better contained and managed vs the wide spread damage gasoline uses.

    2. Political Stability: Gasoline isn't a resource we can get anywhere. Some countries have more of it and others do not. We go to war over rights to purchase it, countries setup unstable alliances not based on common values but on the need for this resource.

    3. Limited supply: Oil is useful for more than just fuel that we burn, and it is a limited supply by cutting gasoline usage we can assure that other hydrocarbon usages are still available.

    4. Energy Independence: We can use mutable sources to generate Electricity, Solar, Wind, Hydroelectric, Nuclear... Some of these sources we could generate on our own property, vs having to be reliant on a large companies to provide this fuel we need at prices they determine as fare.

    Are Cars the sole part of our energy problems... No, however it is one of those areas where we a an individual can make a choice to switch. Other areas will need to try to change big businesses, and government. But we can go I will get myself a Chevy Bolt, or a Tesla for my next car.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  10. Re:What I'm waiting for by mattmarlowe · · Score: 2

    Once again, false choices here.....we don't need pure ev versus pure gas fanatics. Plugin hybrid gives the advantages of both with little, if any, drawbacks. Purchased mine a few months ago for $32K, it handles 99% of my commutes on pure electric, and yet has 600-700 mile range for travel. Goes whatever speed I want it to. When I'm in a rush, I can fill it up w/ 5 minutes of gas -- when I'm at home, it charges overnight in around 2.5hrs. Using both engines, my MPG average to date is around 75. When on pure electric, I'm averaging around 135 MPG equivalent. Even with expensive electric costs here in Southern California, my monthly fuel cost is now 25% of what it was before (although, my previous car was an inefficient SUV). The new vehicle has less cargo space, but it's still relatively spacious and carries all that I need.