The Batteries EV's Have Been Waiting For?

[Cobb]

Yuuuup, this is one of those articles that once you have used all the pages up that are in your pop science and mechanics magazines that you print out and use it to wipe yourself after you go to the bathroom.

Originally Posted by redpoint5

The low hanging fruit of chemical reaction knowledge has already been discovered.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Cobb

Yuuuup, this is one of those articles that once you have used all the pages up that are in your pop science and mechanics magazines that you print out and use it to wipe yourself after you go to the bathroom.

Like I said, I'm pessimistic; but I do like to be surprised

Another mention of the technology on greencarreports

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Except there's still the problem of handling the amount of current it would take to recharge the batteries that quickly.

Simple, let the charging station have its own set of turbocharging batteries and trickle-charge those.
At fill-up time the two sets of batteries can exchange their load at their limits.

[Blue Angel]

Originally Posted by Xist

What about 220v?

A dedicated 220V charging circuit installed in the garage is the simple answer to most peoples EV charging concerns. For a given current draw, a 220V circuit will allow charging in roughly half the time of a 110V circuit.

BUT, if most people were having a dedicated 220V circuit installed in their garage I think they would make sure it had an even higher current capacity. Even a 220V/20A circuit will provide ~2.7x as much power as a 110V/15A circuit, which would drop the charge time for that iMiEV from ~10 hours to ~3.7 hours.

For a daily driver type vehicle that seems pretty practical to me... two days of driving for less than four hours of charging, or one day for someone with a longer commute.

[Blue Angel]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

Simple, let the charging station have its own set of turbocharging batteries and trickle-charge those.
At fill-up time the two sets of batteries can exchange their load at their limits.

Or maybe a super-capacitor. Good idea.

I'm not sure what the current limits of the standard "high current" charging plug are? It may require another even higher current design, but that's the least of the concerns.

[TheEnemy]

Using the Nissan Leaf as an example 24kwh battery pack

On 220v to charge in 5 minutes requires over 1000 amps

(24000kwh*60min/hr)/(5min*220v)=1309 amps. It will be interesting, but we need a plug that any idiot can handle safely and that can deliver that current for years without catching fire.

I like the idea of having a large battery pack at charging stations, it should help even out the draw, and surges. But even then the draw on the power grid will be insane, especially for a large buisy 24 hour station.

[Cobb]

I see lights flicker when the ac, compressor or fridge kicks in, I cant imagine plugging in a Leaf or 2 with a stage 2 or 3 charger.

[Ryland]

DC fast charging often needs a commercial grid connection.
The J1772 plug is designed to handle up to 80 amps at 220v and most lithium batter packs can handle being charged that quickly if the charger that is connected to them can handle it.

Thing is there are a lot of EV owners who don't bother charging every day even because their car has way more range then they need, personally I like to charge every day or even twice per day because I like having full range all of the time but it takes 4 days to drive enough to use up my full range!

Being able to charge fast is a good novelty but the average EV isn't going to use it much if at all.
I also don't that a battery that has to be grown then dissolved away is going to hit production that can meet the needs of vehicle drive batteries, I think it's more likely to be used in small devices where someone doesn't mind paying $50 for a cell phone battery that can be charged in a few minutes.

[RedDevil]

I would not mind paying $2000 for a smaller and lighter battery that can accept the full charge of hard electric braking and give me full assistance when accelerating. High capacity is not very important for a hybrid, except in the mountains.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I'm a chemistry pessimist. The low hanging fruit of chemical reaction knowledge has already been discovered. The law of diminishing returns says that giant breakthroughs will become less common, and yield less improvement than previous discoveries.

This isn't a chemistry breakthrough, it's a mechanical breakthrough.

These huge advances stem from a brand new cathode and anode structure, pioneered by the University of Illinois researchers. In essence, a standard li-ion battery normally has a solid, two-dimensional anode made of graphite and a cathode made of a lithium salt. The new Illinois battery, on the other hand, has a porous, three-dimensional anode and cathode.

I agree that cost is probably going to be a primary factor. The cellphone addicts will pay the initial costs of getting the technology viable; the Apples of the world won't be able to resist a battery the thickness of a credit card that charges in seconds.

And let's face it. The prospect of an electric car that can be recharged - even partially - in the time it takes to fill a tank with gasoline or diesel - is a game changer. Infrastructure issues are still there, and I hear ya on the safety aspects of rapid charging, but the fact is that people are setting themselves on fire at gas stations daily. Being safer than a gas pump should not be terribly difficult.