Aluminum-Celmet May Boost EV Ranges 200%

I've been hearing a lot about various improvements in battery technology, but it'll still be a while before we see any of them put to use. The main concern I have is how this would also effect the price compared to the materials used in current batteries. A cheaper EV is always welcomed.

The concern on EV may not be just range, but how fast can I get back on the road after replenishing the energy source. Any wait longer than filling up the gas tank will not be acceptable.

What the hell ever happened with the liquid carbon nanotube battery??

You took the words right out of my mouth! It just seems that the improvements never come to market. We have been using the same battery technology for years it seems...minus a few improvements here and there.

Well first I'd like to see the supposed 200% battery improvements first for Netbooks and Laptops.

And not only, for cell phones and tablets even more. Just imagine going 4 days with standard battery on a sgs2 or similar phone and 7 days with an extended one.

I think we can agree that a battery improvement would be welcome everywhere. However, this new tech will probably be in distinct markets years before it reaches our AA and AAA batteries. Many people just don't see the reason to buy the expensive batteries for common household electronics. EV batteries would be a hot market as well as mobile phones. As far as how it would affect the prices of current battery materials, I would not immediately worry. I'm sure the current process for making this metal is far from efficient and wouldn't be any difference from any other manufacturer. Until we start pulling away from the combustion engine we probably won't see any supply shrink besides the going mobile phone growth.

An example of supply shrink due to innovation (sort of): Moving away from drilled oil was ethanol. Ethanol was the cheap alternative to oil. The Gov't subsidies allowed ethanol to compete with oil, even though it really was not and I don't even know if it's efficient enough to continue w/o the Gov't yet. Now the price of corn along with other grains have increased at an insane rate, instead of having $2/bu corn like in 2002 it's almost $8/bu today. So our Gov't paid money to create an industry that can't support itself, has increased the price of corn that put other businesses out of business, lost jobs and will cost every American household more money to feed their family. My family is involved in agriculture. Ethanol was a great answer to increase the price of corn to make agriculture as a whole more competitive, but with the overuse of subsidies it has been a cannibalistic change that favors one portion of that industry.

Another thing they could do but every auto maker cries "Its too expensive" is use carbon fiber and sandwich construction in the body. That would save extensive weight, and it would also significantly improve fuel economy even in today's vehicles. If automakers were to start using carbon fiber, the price would drop quickly.

As to "batteries," personally I think super capacitors are the way to go. There is some exciting research going on; now if only one of the developments would be commercialized.

EVs will be common place sooner than people expect. Most households have 2 vehicles, and it makes perfect sense to have an EV along with a gas, giving the benefits of both. Gas for long trips or when the EV is recharging, EV for around the city.

What are the safety implications of storing so much energy in a battery? How quickly can it discharge on a short circuit, will it cause the casing to explode/catch fire? Does this tech improve these things or exacerbate them? I ask because I know this very type of failure destroyed a submarine that "upgraded" to a denser high wattage battery system. Whole thing had to be scrapped.

Uhh, do you even have a concept of how new technology comes to market?? If they are just getting a prototype out the door, it will be quite a while before the process matures. Until then, the supply will be very small and the demand high. Hence costs for the product will be really high. Until there is volume, cool shit costs a premium.

I want to say I've hard of a very similar material being used as a construction material. It retains most of the strength of aluminum but is MUCH lighter.

When I first read the article, I was thinking they were going to construct more of the components of the cars from this material and thus reducing their overall weight.

EVs are leftist and liberal. Oil is cheap, let's use it.

You wouldn't want to build the body of a vehicle out of a material like this. It would create safety issues, due to being more brittle and slightly weaker than regular metals. For example there is a reason why the main body frame of all vehicles is still made of Steel, while the rest of the shell frame and exterior is made from aluminum or plastics. I do agree though, we should of started using carbon fiber materials a long time ago.

Now as far as the battery thing goes, it will be great if they have the ability to mass produce the stuff or are willing to license it to other companies to meet demand.

Sounds nice till big oil forces them to shut down the research.

Is this better than transparent aluminum?

a few years back, electric cars were produced and prototyped. they had a range of 150 miles. and with a new batter that was made just as they killed the project, the cars could get 300 miles, and these were basic cars. with this, those cars could get 450-600 miles, and not be bank breakingly expensive.

past research got killed seemingly because the car manufactures didn't need to make many parts. as in they were clean cars, and nothing mechanical broke down or needed replacing as often because fo it, and it cut into manufactures profits.

This advancement in battery technology should go through rigorous process before it is deemed feasible for manufacturing and consumer use as some of you have implied. My concern is that there are so many breakthroughs, research and development in technology and science made in the recent years outside of US. We heard a lot about how US is slipping down on our competitiveness in those areas. Funding for R&D and education are being sacrificed in this economic crisis. We do not have any other option. We, including the politicians, have to choose not to be selfish and/or ignorant, and repair this nation's economy and put our focus on boosting the R&D in science and technology and improving education.

make the battery tech hot swappable like propane tanks or electric forklift batteries and you could be back on the road in 1/2 the time it takes to fill up your gas tank.

We're seeing some interesting improvements not only in the materials that go in batteries but also for the body of vehicles.Carbon fiber can reduce vehicle weight by 1/2. Lamborgini is investing heavily in carbon composites for their lineup of vehicles and is a part owner of BMW. BMW is laying down infrastructure and partnerships to build their I3 and I8 electric cars that extensively use fiber in their frames. As this material becomes less and less exotic (expensive) and more of a standard they'll be used more in passenger vehicles.

I will not be satisfied until all available monetary resources are directed towards realizing a modern teleporter.


...yeah.... i mean that

And what exactly does that have to do with anything?

Carbon fiber is NOT CHEAP, and it's much more difficult to mass produce carbon fiber body parts (especially ones that have a complex form) over steel. Not to mention have fun repairing it in the event of an accident. There's a REASON they only use it for high performance and/or high cost vehicles. If they used enough of it to significantly reduce weight of entry and mid level vehicles, costs would skyrocket and it would NOT be the manufacturers complaining, it would be the consumers!

There's still room for improvement with steel alloys, and that's where they're focusing right now. Affordable weight reduction.

You need to share whatever you're smoking, pal. Have you seen the battery packs that EVs use? Yeah, good luck having Mr. Smith swap that out in front of his local 7/11 "in 1/2 the time it takes to fill up your gas tank". Even if they deleted the trunk and/or back seats to make the battery pack more accessible and swap-friendly, still no. Even if they got all manufacturers to agree to use the same pack, still no. Even if it DID make a single grain of sense (hint: it doesn't), you'd end up with damaged and/or counterfeit packs on the market - it's bad enough to have a laptop with a cheap Li-ion battery catch fire, but your car while you're on the highway?

Actually alex it makes perfect sense.. Just because we're not there yet, doesn't mean it won't ever happen.. If their able to improve battery packs, and make them more efficient, and obviously smaller this could very well end up working. And honestly it maybe what it takes.. Unless they find a way to charge up within minutes as in 5 minutes.

Counterfeit wouldn't be as bad as you claim.. Because the same reason you don't get propane tanks filled with simple air, is because the gas station knows it has to go through a reputable dealer. Otherwise their the ones that risk being sued.