After Gutenberg

Development and commercial launch of the all-electric SUT (Sport Utility Truck) for Phoenix Motorcars, Inc., is the result of an alliance between UQM, which manufactures the electric motor, power generator and power electronic components with Altairnano, which is providing their NanoSafe lithium-ion battery packs for the American made, electric drive.

Referring to the plug-in serial hybrid platform that General Motors has dubbed “E-Flex”, GCC commentator Freddy noted, “This is by far the best attempt from GE to get back into the game.”

He then expressed a concern about GM choice of advanced lithium batteries. Not due to Cobasys and A123 teaming up, rather Freddy has a technical concern.

A123 Systems batteries are great but at only 16 KW*hr, the battery pack will be required to be discharged at rates greater than 1 C, shortening the life of the battery (minor flaw). The specific energy of the A123 system batteries is about 110 W*hr/kg. However, if the SOC (State Of Charge) is not going to fall below 30% (only 70% of capacity is available) the effective energy density of the battery pack drops to 77 W*hr/kg.

Freddy then makes a pitch for Altairnano batteries that use lithium titanate spinel electrodes, which shorten the rate at which polymer lithium ion batteries recharge.

Altairnano batteries on the other hand have a lower energy density of 90 W*hr/kg but they can be discharged to 0% SOC for 15,000 cycles (not a typo!) which means the effective energy density is higher than those of A123 Systems. With 15,000 cycles and 40 miles/full charge, you can drive the car for over 600,000 miles. As an added bonus, the power density of the Altair batteries is 4 KW/kg versus 3 KW/kg for A123 systems.

GCC commentator gr corrected an assumption that Freddy made; GM has yet to decide on what batteries to use. Nevertheless, Freddy’s critic seemed to agree with the focus on Altairnano. There has been significant buzz recently about Altairnano actually delivering product to Phoenix.

GCC commentator Rick Leeland observed that Phoenix Motorcars SUT is a good measure of how the new generation of lithium-ion battery will perform (The following is being made available for government fleets only):

- Phoenix Motorcars sport utility truck (SUT):
Battery: 35 kWh (Altairnano, est $12000-$14000 based on latest information), 70kWh by 12/2007.
Battery Peak Power: 100 kW
Battery Power Density: 4,000 W/Kg
Battery 85% charge retention @ 20,000 cycles
Battery Calendar Life: very long
Battery operates from -50C to +75C
Battery Safety – will not explode and no thermal runaway.
Motor Peak Power: 100kW
Motor Torque: 550 Nm (406 lb-ft)
Acceleration: 0-60 miles in less than 10 seconds.
Top Speed: 95 MPH
Cruising Range: 130 miles (260miles by 12/2007)
Price: $45000 (after aid of ZEV credit from CA government that will be expired in 2010)

* On EVs the Altairnano warranty is restricted to three years.

Still there are doubts about a transition to grid-able vehicles. Can the battery industry deliver the necessary quantities at low enough prices and with acceptable quality? Autoblog Green editor Sam Abuelsamid notes that Phoenix and AltairNano have made some big claims too, whether they can deliver on those claims, remains to be seen.

Lithium batteries have far more energy density and better power delivery than previous types of cells and all the car-makers know it. The real problem is making sure the battery packs last without catastrophic failure. If a company like Phoenix making a few hundred cars a year has a bad battery design that fails, the company is likely to just go bankrupt, and disappear, with the investors losing their money and a few dozen or hundred workers lose their jobs. When a company like General Motors or Toyota, builds several hundred thousand cars, and encounters a problem like that, costing upwards of $10,000 per vehicle to repair, not to mention the inevitable lawsuits it could conceivably bring down the company, costing billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs.