The race is on to power the next generation of electric cars

This article outlines the possible technologies used in electric car batteries.

A major shift from gasoline-powered to affordable electric vehicles feels tantalizingly close, but the battery technology that could make it happen still needs to catch up to its own hype. Although luxury-car maker Tesla is banking on lithium-ion to power future generations of electric vehicles, others are taking a chance on promising new approaches, according an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society.

The article briefly forecasts technologies of sodium-ion, lithium-metal, lithium-sulfur and lithium-air used in battery production.

I drive a Jeep Wrangler. I'm waiting patiently. There is a electric conversion for Jeeps: REV Conversions
I'm just not satisfied with the range of the batteries or the charge times. I'm forecasting that in addition to the next generation of electric cars, conversions for your car will be available.
Motiv is a commercial truck conversion company that has been featured in the news. news article

Soon the cost of transportation is going to plummet. People will more around more. Goods will cost less and be delivered to more places.
Tomorrow, the world will be a better place. and i'll have an electric jeep

a reply to: ChefSlug

Battery power is getting insane! I use a Sony battery in my e-cig, has 35amp continuous output with 100amps peaks. We are definitely getting there, but hit me up when they can replicate the takeoff of my Audi TT RS with batteries!

Thanks,
doompornjunkie

a reply to: ChefSlug

they've got the know-how
how else are they planning on powering their robotic war-augmentation wearable machines
they're just dragging their feet on it
seems like when it eventually comes out it's going to revolutionize a lot of things
(like you said, cheaper everything)
i think behind the scenes there must still be some last minute deals & "offshore companies" being set up for all this?

a similar thing is happening with the emerging solar technology (ie: the pythagorus group) -they're first opening up to third world markets for a bigger revenue slice..
..and that's part of the plan innit? drag the first world down while lifting the third world up so we all meet in the middle of a socialist utopia

still, i wouldn't mind having an electric jeep in all that

a reply to: UNIT76

they are dragging their feet on development. How long does it take to build a battery? Build five different types and test them out.

They're dragging it out to make it new, affordable, and available at the exact same time the engine in my Jeep goes.

Charge times aren't too bad, the ones in most EVs today can charge to around 80% in 30 to 45 minutes. The main thing needed for that is a powerful DC Fast Charger.

Lithium Titanate can be charged to 80% in around 5 minutes, but the energy density is significantly inferior to other types.

Also developing new battery technology is hard. They do build them and test them out. Usually they have issues which need to be resolved, so they try to fix them and test again.

a reply to: ChefSlug

This technology is well over due. How long have we been running cars using the combustion engine? Way too long. I believe the technology has been there a long time ago but the powers that be have been thwarting it as long as they can.

The combustion engine is as old as the electrical grid. If money was spent to improve infrastructure and the environment instead of destroying it and financing a war machine, we probably would have been living in a much different world years ago.

a reply to: ChefSlug

How long does it take to build a battery? Build five different types and test them out.

i'm sure there's all sorts of power sources in all sorts of drones too
but they've also got all sorts of self-destruct devices in them
hopefully that "makes sense" this time around..

i think your rendition of the story is a bit "romantic"

originally posted by: ChefSlug
Soon the cost of transportation is going to plummet. People will more around more. Goods will cost less and be delivered to more places.
Tomorrow, the world will be a better place. and i'll have an electric jeep

Interesting article thanks. However, transportation costs wont plummet . Electric cars are less efficient than internal combustion cars overall because most electricity is generated from fossil fuels. It is only the tax on car fuel that makes electric power seem cheaper. And if everyone switched to electric the missing tax revenue would probably be added to electricity.

In addition we would require massive electrical generation and distribution infrastructure changes if even just 20% of vehicles were changed to all electric.

My neighbor's daughter has an electric Jeep.
It is bright pink and has colorful Barbie logos on it.
It's not very fast.

So, why don't they put serpentine belts on eletric motors that drive a few AC alternators to recharge a bank of batteries?
Electric engines have way more torque than a gas motor, and if a gas motor can turn a serpentine belt with no problem, then
an electric motor could easily do this. Even if you couldn't recharge a bank of batteries up all the way while driving, any extra
power regenerated could extend the driving range. This is certainly more logical than regenerative braking, since you drive more than you brake.

I'm sure someone with Aspergers will come and tell me why this can't happen. But show me where someone has tried it, before replying it won't work.

a reply to: CAPT PROTON
Well, I don't have aspergers, but I do know that the greater the load on a dynamo etc, the more torque you need to turn it.
So, by using an alternator/dynamo/ to charge a battery you are increasing the load on the motor and thereby causing it to drain the power from the battery faster than if it just provided motive power.
Since electrical generators are less than 100per cent efficient, you don't need to be rain man to see that the total miles per kWh. Is actually less with the charging system.


On a side note, check out those new electric Harleys. Now that's what I call green power.

a reply to: EasyPleaseMe

No, electric cars are vastly more efficient than vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. Centralized power stations are much more efficient, and electric motors are also extremely efficient. Generating electricity is also vastly cheaper than burning oil in vehicles, regardless of distribution costs.

The biggest problem is the cost of the battery.

a reply to: CAPT PROTON

Right, because anyone who disagrees with idiotic ideas has aspergers. It's called basic physics. You don't need to test something if it's already known not to work.

a reply to: EasyPleaseMe

How can you say that most electric producing is done by fossil fuels. The cost of generating electricity on a industrial scale then distributing it out to the masses is far less then the cost of burning oil. The efficiency of power stations could be around 80% but the automotive is less then 60%. THat's a 20% reduction in cost without even factoring in the use of solar plants, nuclear plants, and hydro turbines. A supervisor at the Hudson River Dam cried a tear when he read your post.

a reply to: C0bzz

I agree, the major cost here is battery production. I heard the batteries only last for ten years as well. But Tesla is about to lay ground on their 5 billion dollar battery factory. I doubt TPTB will let that turn into a monopoly so as soon as the battery factory is profitable you'll see other major manufacturers producing batteries and the price should go down based on the laws of supply and demand.

a reply to: ChefSlug
Oh man, jeeps are awesome. Love em. I agree electric cars will get better. Right now, it's not practical for everyone to have one.

They need to get better alongside our electrical grid and our power generation getting better too. Otherwise, charge will be slow.

originally posted by: doompornjunkie
a reply to: ChefSlug

Battery power is getting insane! I use a Sony battery in my e-cig, has 35amp continuous output with 100amps peaks. We are definitely getting there, but hit me up when they can replicate the takeoff of my Audi TT RS with batteries!

Thanks,
doompornjunkie

Somewhere in the episode below, (not in posted vid, btw) it shows how the servo had to be trimmed so as to maintain better control...it screamed like an out of control banshee up to that point!

originally posted by: CAPT PROTON
So, why don't they put serpentine belts on eletric motors that drive a few AC alternators to recharge a bank of batteries?
Electric engines have way more torque than a gas motor, and if a gas motor can turn a serpentine belt with no problem, then
an electric motor could easily do this. Even if you couldn't recharge a bank of batteries up all the way while driving, any extra
power regenerated could extend the driving range. This is certainly more logical than regenerative braking, since you drive more than you brake.

I'm sure someone with Aspergers will come and tell me why this can't happen. But show me where someone has tried it, before replying it won't work.

Instead of me tying both batteries in my jeep to an isolator to power my audio amplifier;
I run a little electric motor rated @ 12vdc with a little fan blade on it, on my roof. It has a one-way diode pointing in the direction of the battery.

It does work, but not so efficiently that I can disturb the peace for hours on end...

a reply to: C0bzz
80% of electricity is from fossil fuels. See the wiki link below.

Using 100w as a comparison:

Electric car:
Average fossil fuel power station efficiency 51% = 51W
Transmission loss 6% = 48W. eia.gov
Electric car efficiency 60% = 29W www.fueleconomy.gov..." target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow">fueleconomy.gov
Percentage fossil fuel for generation 80% = 36W. en.m.wikipedia.org..." target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow">wiki

This gives the electric car a total fossil fuel efficiency of 36%. The average US gasoline car is about 20% efficient according to one of the links above, so it appears that electric cars are better. I'm pretty sure this figure is for older cars as most modern gasoline cars are 25 to 30% efficient. Modern diesel engines are around 50% efficient, which is much better than electric for fossil fuel efficiency.

engine efficiency wiki

I accidentally used european average power generation efficency above. US power generation is below 37% ecofys.com

a reply to: ChefSlug

Someone better start the upgrade on the power grid right now, rolling blackouts are common in summer time in California, and you know where the number sales state will be. This is the thing I think is missing from the MSM discussion on electric cars. Talk about a scary thought of a emp with all electric vehicles.