Falls Church
Among it�s famous vestrymen are such folks as George Washington, his father, Augustine Washington, and George Mason. Francis Scott Key, composer of our National Anthem, was a lay-reader in this church. Falls Church is located seven miles west of Washington, D.C., our nation�s capital.
calcars-news carried a message from Falls Church, VA, which for those not in the know is a suburb of Reston.
The message? America, we need batteries. (Gamers imagine Halo-2, the Nigerian Terrorist version.)
The article covers four possibilities: NiMH, which are what “ordinary” hybrids now have; advanced lithium batteries just coming on the scene; plus, two other recently announced developments: a new type of lead acid battery from Firefly Energy and 2) new lithium battery developments at MIT..
- When we move beyond the “available now” category to the “just announced” category, we come to Peoria and Firefly Energy, a spin off of Caterpillar Tractor. These folks have just received a US patent on a completely new form of battery in which the heavy lead battery plates are replaced with lightweight graphite foam. It sounds too good to be true, but Firefly claims their battery can provide the performance of nickel metal hydride batteries at one-fifth the cost and fraction of the weight. If all this pans out, affordable plug-in hybrids and all electric cars just might be available in the near future.
- Another interesting battery technology, which has just been announced by MIT, is an improvement on the lithium battery. By modifying the crystal structure, scientists have found that a battery can be recharged ten times faster. This would open the possibility of all electric cars, with a reasonable range of 100 miles or so, that can be recharged in 5 or 10 minutes from an electric outlet. When you look at the alternatives, all this is starting to sound pretty good provided we have enough resources left to build them.
As Tom Whipple of the Falls Church News Press decries, “even the most free-market Congressman will soon get the message that there are priorities.” Well, I certainly hope so, Mr. Whipple.
One Comment
Referring to the Falls Church article, James Fraser asks, “When will you buy an electric car?”
Well, Jim, I already did. Unfortunately, my NEV is somewhat similar to those vehicles spoofed in a Lexus SUV commercial that recently appeared on television, in that it is slow with limited range and something around which a soccer mom can nimbly zip on the way to the gas station.
2 Trackbacks
[...] The European Union had funded a specific research project on the subject: Bipolar Lead Acid Power Source For Hybrid Vehicles. No mention made of any experimentation with construction of the plates, e.g., carbon foam or plastic, nor any mention of experimentation combining super capacitors with lead acid batteries. The point, which has been evident for many years, is that standard lead acid batteries are insufficient for highway traction applications and America needs better batteries, whether mono-polar or bi-polar, and Big Oil needs to hear that message loud and clear. [...]
[...] The possibility of a plug-in, flex-fuel hybrid is promising. The possibility of incentives for purchasing cleaner transportation is hopeful. What needs to happen to make the hybrids sustainable is lower cost for electricity storage. Hybrids are EVs and electric vehicles need batteries. [...]