>Even after 15,000 cycles the cells still retained over 85% of their original charge capacity. This represents >a significant improvement over conventional, commercially available rechargeable battery technologies >such as lithium ion, nickel metal hydride and nickel cadmium. That does sound good if not great. Now the big question how much will this cost per cell and when will it hit the market in reasonable numbers so that cars can be built for consumers.
Doing a bit more research into their batteries, things look extremely promising. Not only do they allow extremely fast charge/discharge cycles and really long life, there is no risk of "thermal runaway", AKA exploding batteries, because the negative electrode doesn't react with the electrolyte (in lithium ion batteries, the two are separated by a thin barrier because they react with each other - at high temperatures, this barrier breaks down, cause fire and explosions) It definitely sounds like the solution to the problem, the big question is, of course, cost... A little movie they have of their batteries at work, inside a prototype vehicle: http://www.gravidfilms.com/deliverable/AN_Sac.mov
The raw material costs for the Altair batteries (and A123 cells) should be less than standard lithium-ion, as they do not use any rare expensive elements. Cobalt (expensive, toxic and prone to thermal runaway) is replaced with phosphate (cheap, non-toxic, not prone to thermal runaway).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Oct 27 2006, 08:44 AM) [snapback]339304[/snapback]</div> Well, I first heard about it here on PC earlier this fall. I have a bookmark for Altairnano, and IIRC aside from the terrific charging rates, the energy storage per unit weight is less than for lithium-ion. I haven't found the link to confirm that now though. Hey, maybe I should change my handle to DaveinCheneyWA. Dave M.
i have a bookmark to the site as well and it was made Nov 2005 Daveincheneywa... hmmm, not bad... you heard about the state tourism department dropping the "Say WA" add slogan... good move on their part i think.
The problem with these and A123 batteries is they are optimised for power density not energy density. To get the same capacity as a traditional lithium ion battery would require a battery that is 2/3rds heavier So they are not great for pure electric vehicles or long range plug-in hybrids. They would probably be good in a traditional hybrid application and would allow more regenerative braking energy capture than nickle based batteries. I recently read a presentation from A123 that stated they didn't recommend using their cells for EV usage. However, they are looking to adapt the technology to produce higher energy density.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Oct 27 2006, 09:32 AM) [snapback]339376[/snapback]</div> Nope. I hadn't. Dave M.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Oct 27 2006, 09:32 AM) [snapback]339376[/snapback]</div> lol.. yeah, it caught me by surprise when I first saw that ad.
Cracking indeed. I'm chuffed to bits. More substance would be nice though. I assume that there havn't been any "real world" test yet? How big are these cells? I assume that you'd wire many of them together to have a battery. How much would a 20 kWh battery cost? Despite all of the questions it does seem like press releases about advances in battery technology are happening frequently. Let's see some products!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tripp @ Oct 27 2006, 07:10 PM) [snapback]339742[/snapback]</div> They do have them in "real world" tests today, actually. They've got cars built around them that are being driven daily. And yes... I agree that I"d like to see more products to go along with the increase in press releases!
to be honest with ya, its the only real hurdle i have to going for the plug in mod. if it cost $5 grand or less, ill do it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Oct 27 2006, 08:47 PM) [snapback]339755[/snapback]</div> Have they published any data yet? I knew that some of these advanced batteries were in PHEVs but they never seem to site data from these studies in the press releases. You'd think that the laptop and power tool crowd would be all over these things (and perhaps they are, I just havn't heard anything about it).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tripp @ Oct 28 2006, 10:24 AM) [snapback]339966[/snapback]</div> Not that I'm aware of. While they blab all day long about how great their stuff is, they seem to hold the real data pretty close to the chest.
well i m sure with this large a leap in technology, they want to make sure that there are no hidden bugs with the technology. a small company like them would be buried under the suspicion of doubt with one wild unconfirmed statement along with other possible patent infringement issues as well. if this technology can be mass produced cheaply this company's profits will explode. but none of that will happen if their reputation is sullied first.
