New Lithium Battery Developments from MIT

Both Bill Moore and Mike Millikin quickly reported, when MIT researchers announced improved lithium nickel manganese oxide electrodes. I believe that a primary reason is that the lithium nickel manganese oxide batteries could be less expensive and more stable than lithium cobalt oxide cells.

ITS (Institute for Transportation Studies) researchers at UC Davis, among others, already have demonstrated that lithium batteries provide suitable performance. Thus, there is considerable hope that, in addition to being a better substitute for NiMH batteries in current, HEVs (Hybrid Electric Vehicles), manufacturers like Toyota would introduce plug-in, flex-fuel hybrids.

As a rule, rechargeable battery packs in plug-in HEVs, a.k.a., GO-HEVs (Gas Optional), or in BEVs (Battery-powered all-Electric Vehicles), need to be larger to handle peak loads and larger energy demands of standard highway performance by a passenger vehicle to go the first 50-60 miles solely on electric power. In other words, the traction batteries need to “combine high energy density with high charge and discharge rate capability.”

Lithium batteries are expensive; and, car makers, like Toyota, have stated that PHEVs equipped with a more substantial amount of these advanced lithium batteries, which, until recently, were considered quite experimental, would be prohibitively expensive.

As recently noted, these market dynamics are changing. A123 Systems and China BAK recently announced full-scale, mass production of lithium batteries had begun in China. Electric vehicle advocates have been saying that over time prices would decline with mass production, which has been a common phenomenon in electronics.

Besides heralding development of a new type of lithium battery that, according to Green Car Congress, offers unexpectedly high rate-capability, another significance to the new lithium battery developments from MIT was an expectation that, with further development, the manufacturing process could be made less expensive and the batteries offered commercially.

Continue reading here: Series Hybrid Signifies Electricfying Changes

Was this article helpful?

0 0