Posts Tagged ‘lithium batteries’

Can lithium make a stand, without tax credits?

The revolution is waiting, but is lithium ready?

Can lithium push hybrids beyond 3 percent?

Lithium, lithium, lithium. Is it all just hype?

When Toyota decided not to use lithium in the 3rd gen Hybrid Synergy Drive and the 3rd generation Toyota Prius, it was hard not to be disappointed. It’s obvious that NiMH isn’t the future of the battery vehicle, whether plugged-in or not, but it seems almost equally as obvious that today’s lithium batteries aren’t any more up to the task. Read more…

Toyota’s 600 mile battery. Did everything just change?

Are today's lithium batteries already obsolete?

Or is the battery space full of disruptive potential?

For many years now Toyota has been working on a number of advanced battery technologies. Yesterday, Toyota announced that they are going to try to commercialize one of these new technologies — a solid state lithium battery capable of 621 miles of range — sometime between 2015 to 2020.

So, what does commercialize really mean? Did everything about the hybrid and plug-in space just change? Read more…

If NiMH is so outdated, where is the lithium-powered Prius-killer?

Toyota's hybrid sales don't matter because they use NiMH

Any hardcore battery-powered business plan HAS to include hybrids

Through the next decade, even through 2030, numerous analysis — including that by the plug-in friendly Obama Administration — demonstrates via a preponderance of evidence that hybrid cars will outsell plug-ins for decades.

Sure, a breakthrough could change everything, but until then, the idea that NiMH is an “old” battery technology that needs to be replaced with lithium just isn’t supported by reality.

If lithium provided a hybrid battery that was SOOOO much better, then why hasn’t an automaker put forth a Toyota Prius-killer considering the long term sales potential of hybrids? Read more…

Plug-ins: Automakers playing a dangerous game

Chevy Volt at its concept debut. An electric Corvette?

In the chase for the halo effect, automakers might have stunted plug-in growth

Like it or not, but a key role of hybrid and plug-in vehicles is marketing. Today, few things can drive new sales and conquest new buyers like advanced technology. In the past this halo effect was driven by the likes of Corvettes and Mustangs, then it switched to the Toyota Prius and hybrid cars, and has now evolved into plug-in hybrids and electric cars like the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf.

But with plug-in vehicle prices already increasing as battery supplies begin stretching into a bubble waiting to burst, automakers seem to be painting plug-in potential into a corner.

And, I wonder, was it all part of the plan? Read more…

Too many batteries, not enough sales could be a big plug-in problem

A plug-in battery bubble is primed to burst

Significant amount of losers to be shaken out of battery industry

For years now a number of battery studies have suggested that the battery industry will eventually hit a time of serious over-production, as newcomers and established players race to battery-powered dominance, but overshoot market needs. The result, claim the forecasts, could be a glut of batteries, industry consolidation, and a lot of bankruptcies.

Lux Research is the latest to address this issue claiming that a “severe mismatch” is building between battery supplies and actual demand. Read more…

Plug-in batteries could be game changers, but it won’t be easy

Just not cheap or energy dense enough

A 300 mile, cost-effective battery probably isn’t just around the corner

When will plug-in electric cars really take off? Basically when they offer the same range and ease of fueling as conventional vehicles claims conventional thinking. Oh yeah, and when they’re obviously more cost-effective. Of course, there is always the chance of a revolution in car consumer psychology, but the consumer studies offer little hope in that direction.

Unfortunately, creating a cheap, safe, quick-charging 300 mile battery isn’t going to be easy. Read more…

Making energy storage a key to cheaper plug-ins

Tomorrow's back up power generator? Peak load manager?

GM and ABB provide new life for ‘dead’ Volt batteries

Since almost the inception of the Chevy Volt, GM has been working on ways of lengthening the value proposition of the expensive battery packs powering the Volt. This week GM and ABB Group demonstrated a unique way of cutting down plug-in costs, turning an old Volt battery into a backup storage system.

But can such an idea really reduce the cost of battery-powered cars? Read more…

Disruptive technologies: Lithium-ion batteries

Is lithium a disruptive technology?

Can chemistry change the way America drives?

“To compete with advancing gasoline/diesel engines, EV traction batteries have to be much more than twice as energy dense as lithium-ion ever will be, at least three times cheaper, and last much longer before replacement,” states a recent TrendTracker report.

So, does that mean that lithium is a dead end technology? What will it take to make lithium a truly disruptive technology? Read more…

The strange connection between plug-ins, Libya and Bolivia

The world's biggest addict also has the biggest guns

Is the plug-in revolution more theory than reality?

Several years ago I predicted that the lithium revolution would be in high gear by 2010. Obviously, I didn’t know what I was talking about. Since then I’ve paid a lot of attention to lithium battery science, lithium mining and lithium politics. And I better understand why my forecast didn’t come true. Unfortunately, I also understand why my forecast might never come true.

And weird things like the odd connection between Bolivia and Libya continue to increase my worries. Read more…

How to bring down the costs of lithium-ion battery technologies

Is lithium or some other battery technology the key to mainstreaming plug-ins.

Making hybrids and plug-ins cheaper

One of the keys to hybrid and plug-in vehicle success is obviously cheaper costs, and that basically boils down to cheaper batteries. So, what’s the potential of achieving cheaper lithium-ion batteries?

To help answer that question, the Townsend Group offered an interesting perspective posted on GreenCarCongress yesterday. Read more…