All "Future" battery technology thread

[LEAFfan]

I just heard about this today and don't have a link, but it can be searched. It's from UCLA and they found a way to make Super Capacitors from graphene on a disc by putting them in a CD Burner. The battery discs are so green that they just throw the disc away after it's expended.

 

[JRP3]

Old news. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oEFwyoWKXo

 

[EVDRIVER]

I heard that battery research companies, universities, and start up companies have come up with a new technology to have a press release monthly about a breakthrough battery tech that is just a year or two away. Too bad they did not find a way to actually do that in the last ten years and it is always "a year away". Like concept cars.

 

[GRA]

I heard that battery research companies, universities, and start up companies have come up with a new technology to have a press release monthly about a breakthrough battery tech that is just a year or two away. Too bad they did not find a way to actually do that in the last ten years and it is always "a year away". Like concept cars.

:lol: :lol: :roll:

Along that line, "GM Working On 200-Mile Electric Car, Says CEO Akerson":

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1082761_gm-working-on-200-mile-electric-car-says-ceo-akerson" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He said breakthroughs are 'on the horizon'. Envia is mentioned.

 

[GRA]

I heard that battery research companies, universities, and start up companies have come up with a new technology to have a press release monthly about a breakthrough battery tech that is just a year or two away. Too bad they did not find a way to actually do that in the last ten years and it is always "a year away". Like concept cars.

:lol: :lol: :roll:

Along that line, "GM Working On 200-Mile Electric Car, Says CEO Akerson":

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1082761_gm-working-on-200-mile-electric-car-says-ceo-akerson" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He said breakthroughs are 'on the horizon'. Envia is mentioned.

And here's _this_ week's battery breakthrough story ("Why does the horizon keep receding, daddy?"):

"New aqueous rechargeable lithium battery shows good safety, high reliability, high energy density and low cost; another post Li-ion alternative"

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/03/arlb-20130308.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[GRA]

FWIW, via autobloggreen:

Toyota: Solid-state batteries coming in 2020, 3-4 times better than lithium-ion."

http://green.autoblog.com/2013/03/12/toyota-solid-state-batteries-in-2020-better-than-lithium/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

FWIW, via autobloggreen:

Toyota: Solid-state batteries coming in 2020, 3-4 times better than lithium-ion."

http://green.autoblog.com/2013/03/12/toyota-solid-state-batteries-in-2020-better-than-lithium/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So what's the takeaway, everyone should stay calm and keep buying Camrys and Sequoias for 7 more years?

 

[gsleaf]

LTLFTcomposite, seems like the takeaway Toyota would want.

 

[GRA]

Further in the "who knows if any of this ever reaches commercialization" category, here's some more press releases via Green Car Congress:

"Researchers at Rice University develop vanadium oxide-graphene materials for high power-density Li-ion batteries with ultrafast charging and discharging" [Note: for cathodes]

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/03/vo2-20130315.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"EnerG2 nano-structured hard carbon boosts Li-ion anode capacity by >50% compared to standard graphite"

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/03/energ2-20130327.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"China team develops hollow porous silica nanocubes for anodes for Li-ion batteries"

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/03/ustc-20130329.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[GRA]

Today's future tech battery press release via Green Car Congress:

Fraunhofer researchers report significant extension to Li-S cycle life with silicon anodes and CNT-sulfur composite cathodes

". . . The energy density of a sulfur-silicon-lithium cell will be below the achievable values of a lithium-sulfur cell, the researchers note. Over the long term, the Fraunhofer team expects to reach a practical energy density of up to 600 Wh/kg. By comparison, the maximum energy density of the lithium-ion batteries currently in use is around 250 Wh/kg.

"In the medium term, figures around the 500 Wh/kg mark are more realistic. In practical terms, this means you can drive twice as far with the same battery weight."

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/04/fraunhofer-20130402.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[RegGuheert]

Today's future tech battery press release via Green Car Congress:

Thanks! Interesting.

Unfortunately, as is typical of these articles, they speak of specific energies, but they fail to mention specific power. My conclusion is that power must not be this chemistry's forte.

It seems like something they would at least want to mention, given they are replacing a metal with an insulator (which I will assume they have doped into a semiconductor material):

The anode of the team’s prototype is made from a silicon-carbon compound rather than the more common metallic lithium.

They've been working with button cells so far, but since silicon carbide is brittle, I wonder if that might be a limiting factor, as well.

 

[GRA]

From Green car Reports:

Cheaper Electric-Car Batteries: Slow & Steady Wins The Race

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1083392_cheaper-electric-car-batteries-slow-steady-wins-the-race" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[braineo]

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/512206/years-in-the-making-promising-rechargeable-metal-air-batteries-head-to-market/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/416150/betting-on-a-metal-air-battery-breakthrough/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1359601-tesla-patent-applications-reveal-next-generation-ev-technology?source=email_rt_article_readmore" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

From BBC news:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22191650" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Could 3D electrode technology lead to a Leaf with a 700 mile range for the same pack size, that can be recharged in 10 minutes?

 

[GRA]

I've decided to stop linking the seemingly weekly press releases from some company or other trolling for venture capital by touting their new, improved battery breakthrough that we will likely never see, but this press release appears to refer to an actual commercial product:

"Amprius launches new high-capacity and high-energy-density Li-ion batteries with silicon anodes"

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/05/amprius-20130521.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[DaveEV]

I've decided to stop linking the seemingly weekly press releases from some company or other trolling for venture capital by touting their new, improved battery breakthrough that we will likely never see, but this press release appears to refer to an actual commercial product:

"Amprius launches new high-capacity and high-energy-density Li-ion batteries with silicon anodes"

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/05/amprius-20130521.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A little more detail here: Amprius has built a lithium ion battery that can last 25% longer than today’s batteries

SUMMARY:
Venture capital-backed lithium ion battery startup Amprius is finally moving into commercial production, with an announcement that it has OEM partners in place, and will start making its second-gen batteries later this year.

Amprius said the anode can be charged and discharged more than 500 times while retaining 80 percent of the original capacity

If it can do that in the Arizona heat it will be better than the LEAFs batteries.

 

[Sublime]

Ohh how I'd love for this to be true... or even half true.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/06/zsw-20130604.html

“After 10,000 complete charging and discharging cycles with a complete charge and discharge cycle per hour (2 C), our lithium batteries
still have more than 85 % of the initial capacity,”

the cells have a power density of 1,100 watts per kilogram <snip> The small cells are produced semi-automatically in a plant in the ZSW
Laboratory for Battery Technology (eLaB) in Ulm.

If I understand it right, the key to the longevity and power density is balancing the capacity of the cathode and anode.

No talk of energy density, but just the longevity and power density is insanely promising. Even if you completely cycled the cell everyday it would have over 85% of its capacity 27 years later. As for the power density, a pack the size of the one in the LEAF could generate 2x the power of the 85kWh performance Tesla. So even if its half right, that means a LEAF that accelerates like a Tesla and has 85% of its capacity 13 years and hundreds of thousands of miles later.

Sounds way too good to be true.

 

[JRP3]

Sounds very much like existing titanate cells such as Altairnano and Toshiba Scib, even A123 is in the ballpark. Without specific energy density numbers I'm not impressed.

 

[DaveEV]

Even if you completely cycled the cell everyday it would have over 85% of its capacity 27 years later.

Just keep in mind that cycling a cell continuously for 10,000 cycles (assuming this was done without any rest time, it would take about 417 days taking about 1 hour for a charge/discharge cycle) is not the same as cycling the cell once a day for 27 years since just letting the cell sit there for 27 years will age it. Still, the technology does seem promising (as does nearly all "future battery technology" announcements).

 

[DanCar]

I asked Masato Inoue chief designer of the leaf what he thought about all of the battery research that is going on and all of the announcements about battery revolutions. He said that for the past 10 years he has been told a battery revolution is coming in 5 years and is always 5 years away. Masato is of the opinon there will only be evolution not revolution.