M.S. Whittingham, inventor of Li-ion tech to speak locally. Questions?

[Wonderboy]

M Stanley Whittingham is going to present "Finding new materials for advanced energy storage and production" on December 13th in Binghamton NY (He is a chemistry professor at SUNY Binghamton). I didn't even realize this guy was living or at least teaching locally, so I want to take this opportunity to help the curious here get questions to him and pick his brain. Please post any serious questions you have for him here, and I will come back with whatever I can get out of him. I could tell him I'm "from" EM or not, but I have the feeling with so many (I predict) specific questions, he'll wonder who wants to know.

[Wonderboy]

I guess I didn't choose the best forum to plop this in eh?

[orange4boy]

What is this forum. Hey, where am I?

Just kidding...

These are pretty general questions but here goes...

Ask him what he thinks of lithium as an EV battery. Whether it is good for that application considering the high discharge rates and deep cycling. How long till we are "there" with lithium for EVs or are we there just not in sufficient number for lowered costs?

What's the most important or exiting new development in EV batteries that are ready for production or close?

How are those carbon nano tubes coming along? Is anyone actually successfully producing experimental capacitors with them or are they still just expensive nano sculptures at this point?

Thx.

You could ask Darin to move it to the EV section. You might get more bites there.

[dcb]

I was going to ask "how do I make my own", but was worried that the peanut gallery would react with so many safety concerns that there was bound to be some unnatural expression of milk involved.

[Christ]

Is it an open forum? I might have to find a baby sitter...

[MadisonMPG]

Originally Posted by Christ

Is it an open forum? I might have to find a baby sitter...

Send em to me First Class (USPS that is).

[Wonderboy]

It is an open forum for anyone who wants to actually come, but I seriously doubted that, which is why I offered questions by proxy. I may videotape it as well and post it here.

SUNDAY
DECEMBER 13
12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
FIRESIDE ROOM

UNITARIAN-UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATION
183 RIVERSIDE DRIVE
BINGHAMTON NY

Currently Director of Binghamton University's Institute for Materials
Research, Professor Whittingham will address:

"FINDING NEW MATERIALS FOR
ADVANCED ENERGY STORAGE AND PRODUCTION"

[Christ]

Yeah, I'd have to find someone to watch my kid, and it's like 1.5 hrs out there, 1.5 back, 1 there... I'd be all damn day.

Questions by proxy it is!

If the subject comes up, what are the projections for power/weight of future battery technologies?

Cost/Capacity ratio? (Consumer cost or construction cost, either way)

Efficiency improvements in Lithium variant technologies?

I know, they're pretty vague, but those are the questions.

[RobertSmalls]

I am also full of vague questions, including questions about when BEV's and PHEV's will become a market success, and what sort of progress has been made in super-rapid charging of Li-ion batteries?

They're obvious enough of questions that I'm sure someone else will ask them.

[Christ]

If you're allowed, I think you should just record the event. I'd like to go personally, but I can't.