Thanks for the advice, HC, I was about to turn blue but now I'm breathing again. Really looking forward to your update from N.I.!
There is an article in last month's EE Times about Li-ion batteries - it also covers many other subjects so I'll just quote the part that may be of interest here:
<<Sandia National Laboratory has also developed a process to modify a popular textile material found in socks and carpet fibers into a synthetic carbon to make rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The work, developed through a three-year Cooperative Research and Development agreement, was recently licensed to Bethlehem Advanced Materials Corp. (Easton, Pa.) and is expected to target applications ranging from electric vehicles and satellite communications to cellular phones and laptop computers. The research stems from plans by the U.S. Battery Consortium - including three big auto makers, subcontractors and the national laboratories - to overcome the performance limitations of electric vehicles. While lead-acid batteries meet automakers' plans for achievable battery technology for building electric vehicles in the next few years, lithium-ion technology is expected to meet their long-term goals.>>
I wonder if this fiber-based technology is similar to what Lithium Tech are doing? In any case, this month's Readers' Digest has an article that is not too optimistic about the practicality of electric vehicles, at least as replacement for the family station wagon. Comments by Ford and by Paul MacCready, who has impressive credentials in the elecrically-powered vehicle area, basically say that no battery will be able to supply adequate range when hauling heavier loads, and that fuel cells may be the way to go. I think hybrid gas/electric vehicles may end up being the answer, but who knows.
As for Valence, we need to remember that the Bellcore agreement requires that they pass on substantially all royalties from Delphi automotive (SLI) battery sales to Bellcore for the first several years.
- T - |
