If this has already been posted, my apologies. Got tired of reading every post. The article is dated Monday, July 26, 1999.
New Batteries Help Electric Cars
Building an electric car was the
easy part. Building the battery to
power it was the hard part.
After more than a decade of trial
and error -- mostly error -- by
automotive and chemical
researchers and engineers, the 3M
company claims to have broken
through the battery barrier, with a
powerful, lightweight, long-lasting
cell that can propel an automobile
about 150 miles in one charge.
That's not all it can do: 3M sees
uses for its ``lithium polymer
battery' -- which has cost $88
million in public and private funds
to develop -- in future aerospace,
medical and consumer electronics
applications that require compact,
lightweight, affordable power.
But it's the electric car that has
long been the battery-operated
dream with enormous implications:
less polluting, more fuel-efficient,
cleaner and quieter than gas or
diesel power plants.
Two problems have stymied the
idea's marketability so far: the
batteries have been too bulky and
heavy to fit in anything resembling
a conventional auto; and the
lighter, more efficient batteries
have been far too expensive to
mass-market.
Scientists at 3M say they've
broken through the cost and
weight barriers with their
high-powered lithium polymer
battery. 3M, in partnership with
two other labs and working with
sponsors that include Ford,
General Motors and the U.S.
Department of Energy, has focused
its efforts on a rechargeable power
source made of lithium, the lightest
known metal on Earth. Previous
batteries have used heavier, less
efficient lead acid or nickel-metal
hydride.
sfgate.com
steve |
