This is not what Mr Stemple will be talking about but I thought you might want to read it.
Ovonic Battery Company and Solectria have been a team at the NESEA
Tour since 1994, demonstrating the value of high specific energy
batteries in pure electric vehicles. That year they did 214 miles on
a charge, and they've been achieving better results ever since.
Nick Karditsas is back again this year with the same car and battery
pack that they first ran at the NESEA Tour in 1997. "The battery is
still running, still good, still doing 200 miles per charge. We are
here to demonstrate the durability and practicality of our product."
The Generation One products were quoted at 600 cycles at 80% Depth of
Discharge (DoD). In the lab, their next generation battery products
are expected to do better and also deliver higher specific power and
higher charging efficiency at elevated temperatures, although Nick
didn't have numbers he could quote me.
Vehicle Number 76
Vehicle Name Ovonic Solectria Force
Category PRODUCTION CATEGORY
Organization Ovonic Battery Company
Team Name Ovonic Battery Co.
Town Troy
State MI
Description Ovonic Force (Ovonic, NiMH)
www www.ovonic.com
new this year? returning car and team
No People in Project 6
Motor Solectria; AC Induction; 15kW cont./42kW peak
Batteries Ovonic/800 lbs.; NiMH; 27,000 Wh/180 V series
Controller Solectria; AC325
Charger Solectria; BC3300; Transformer / Rectifier
Construction Geo Metro; Steel Frame; Steel Body
Dimensions LxWxH 13' 6"; 5' 8"; 4' 6"
No of Passengers 2
Maximum Speed mph 75
Range miles 150
Weight pounds 2500
Mfg GVW 3000
Capacity pounds 500
Brakes Front Disc; Rear Drum; Regen
Wheels Tires 4 Goodyear; P155/80 RIB
Program blurb
A testament to the reliability of Ovonic NiMH
batteries, Ovonic Battery Company's 1997 NiMH
powered Solectria Force has won the Production
Category of the Tour de Sol for the last two
years. Along the way, Ovonic set the record
by traveling 249 miles on a single charge
through the mountains of New Hampshire and
Vermont. The vehicle is powered by 27kWh of
commercially available Ovonic NiMH batteries
with a specific energy of 80 Wh/kg.
Nick told me that Ovonic owns a Toyota Prius hybrid electric car,
currently being sold in Japan, which they use as a rolling laboratory.
(At one point it was slated to be in this NESEA Tour, but that did not
happen.) They want to demonstrate the value of Ovonic batteries
optimized for hybrid applications. What would make a battery
particularly suitable for a hybrid? "Very high specific power," Nick
said. "On the order of 500 to 600 Watts per kilogram. And very high
energy density, of course. Other battery technologies, such as high
power lead acid, have very high specific power also, but their
specific energy (Watt-hours/kilogram) are very low, so to achieve the
same performance they need a much heavier battery." Ovonic is also
working on programs from scooters to buses. "We have bus battery
programs with California Energy Commission and bus manufacturers in
Europe."
GM Ovonic recently open a full scale production facility outside
Dayton Ohio, and is the company is growing quickly. Nick says "we are
looking for talented individuals with enthusiasm for events like
this." Young, talented engineers can send their resumes to:
Nick Karditsas
Ovonic Battery
1707 Northwood Drive
Troy MI 48084
- - - -
The above is copyright Michael H. Bianchi. Permission to copy is
granted provided the entire article is presented without modification
and this notice remains attached. For other arrangements, contact me
at +1-973-822-2024.
- - - -
For more on the NESEA American Tour de Sol, see the web page at
nesea.org
- - - -
Official NESEA American Tour de Sol information is available from the
sponsor, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) at
413 774-6051 , and 50 Miles Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 , and
nesea@nesea.org . All media enquiries should be addressed to ...
Jack Groh
Groh Associates
Sustainable Public Relations
email: GrohPR@aol.com
401 732-1551 tel
401 732-0547 fax
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