mrl.itri.org.tw
EV Applications
S. J. Wu of Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) reported the implementation result on the EPA's plan to promote electric scooters. It was announced in 1995 (and executed from 1998) for the mandate of 2% electric scooters of the total sales. There are now more than 2000 sets of electric scooters on the road right now in Taiwan. The main reasons for Taiwan to promote this mandate is be-cause that more than 70% of the scooters are used less than 10 kilometers per day and are the biggest source of air pollution in Taiwan's urban areas. There are a lot of incentives from Taiwan's government to promote electric scooters at this time.
Recent development trends of EV and battery technologies in the world were summarized by Masaru Ohmori from Yuasa Corp. He started his speech with the news release of the joint-development project in fuel cell EV between GM and Toyota on the very same day. He pointed out that the recent focus of EV development has been transferred to HEV (hybrid electric vehicle, such as the Toyota Prius) and two-set ultra-compact EVs.
T. C. Wang of SYNergy ScienTech Corp. compared the pure EV and HEV systems by using GM-EV1 and Toyota Prius As examples. Because of te limitation of batteries, the development of pure EV has been slowed down. However, the complexity of the transmission system and power train in HEVs has increased the total cost of the cr and also the difficulty of maintenance. He reminded attendees not to forget to count the pollutants from the power plant while comparing the advantages of the EV over the ICEV (internal combustion engine vehicle). As for the equivalent fuel economy, it is 40.1 miles per gallon for GM EV1 while it is only 29.2 miles per gallon for the Chevrolet Lumina.
In its joint venture with Toshiba Battery Co. [covered in the June issue of ABT]. Walsin Energy Corp. is the first company in Taiwan to commercialize NiMH batteries for two-wheel EV applications. Dr. W. W. Tseng presented the D- and F-size NiMH cells with the capacity of 8 Ah and 12 Ah, respectively (Figure 7). By using the D-size NiMH battery in an electric bicycle, a rider can have 10 to 15 kilometers more running range compared with a lead-acid battery of the same capacity (Figure 8). The current price of walsin's NiMH battery for electric bike application is about US$800 per kilowatt hour and will b reduced to US$500/kWh in 2000.
As for Li-ion batteries for EV applications inside MRL of ITRI, Dr. M H. Yang summarized the advantages and disadvantages over several types of batteries to be used for EV applications. From her point of view, Li-ion batteries are the most promising batteries to be used in EVs. Three key technologies for developing Li-ion batteries in this application are performance, cost, and safety.
Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University was the first institute to develop EVs more than 15 years ago. Now they are the key pushers for promoting the zinc-air battery in Taiwan for EV application. Dr. T. S. Chin introduced this type of battery and the current status. They are now cooperating with both ERL and MRL of ITRI for developing this technology. Also, at least three Taiwan companies are trying to introduce zinc-air technology into Taiwan by cooperating with foreign companies.
Masahara Tsubota of Japan Storage Battery Co., explained his company's progress in VRLA batteries for EV applications. To improve the cycle-life, the key technologies developed by them are: (1) positive electrode: adoption of high density active mass with new assitive, (2) negative electrode: optimization of the amount of additives, (3) charging method: adoption of two-step, constant-current charging which is able to limit the charged amount according to depth of discharge and ambient temperature (Figure 9).
According to Bill O'Brien of Hawker Energy Products Inc. the key technologies to improve VRLA batteries for the EV marker are (1) thin pure-lead-tin grids and (2) absorptive glass mat (AGM) separators. By using a special quick-charging algorithm, Hawker's Genesis battery can be recharged within 15 minutes (Figure 10). It is very suitable for the Genesis to be used for electric scooter application. Figure 11 illustrates the power profile of electric scooters.
Contact Mr. Liang at Mo. 3, Ln. 15 Sanlehsan St. Chungli, Taiwan, e-mail: kcaliang@ms2.hinet.net
PRODUCT NEWS
Nickel-Zinc Rechargeable Battery
With the continued growth in interest in portable electric devices and vehicles, the weaknesses of the lead acid standard battery are becoming the key issue in the success for these items in the future. Evercel has developed and is beginning production of a new rechargeable battery systen called nickel-zinc that is able to out-perform lead acid in all areas of capability from energy density to cycle life by more than two times and sometime six times. The advent of high cycle life nickel-zinc batteries is a major enabling technology for rapid growth in the EV, E-bike, E-scooter and E-mower businesses.
For 10Ah of energy, for example, the Evercel nickel-zinc battery id equivalent in size but weighs half as much as a lead acid battery. It can operate from -10¢J to +60¢J in normal load ranges and performance levels.
Contact Glen Bowling, Evercel, Inc., 2 Lee Mack Rd., Danbury CT 06810, (877)383-7235. |
