Ford Launching Electric Transit Connect in 2010
February 9, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
The first product in Ford’s new electric vehicle plan will be a battery electric-powered version of the Transit Connect commercial vehicle. Ford is collaborating with Smith Electric Vehicles to bring the electric Transit Connect to market in North America in 2010. Read more
Lead-Carbon Batteries An Energy Storage Revolution
February 3, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Lead-Carbon batteries are a possible game changing energy storage technology. The Economist published an article about Axion Power International titled “Lead-acid Batteries Recharged” and Sandia National Laboratories released a report detailing side-by-side testing of lead-acid, lead-carbon and Li-ion batteries.
A conventional lead-acid battery is a simple affair, made up of a series of cells each containing a positive electrode made of lead dioxide and a negative electrode of metallic lead. These are immersed in an electrolyte of dilute sulphuric acid. Read more
Mercedes-Benz Unveils Concept BlueZero at Detroit 2009
January 11, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Mercedes-Benz showed off its new Concept BlueZero at an off-site reception held before the opening of the Detroit Auto Show. The car is both an example of clean technology and a preview of the styling for the next generation Mercedes B-Class. This concept uses a sandwich floor design like the current A and B class models, and adds a modular powertrain system.
There will be three powertrain options depending on the range requirements. The BlueZero E-Cell uses a 35 kWh lithium ion battery pack to provide a 120-mile range, while the BlueZero F-Cell variant gets a 90 kW hydrogen fuel cell for a 240-mile range. The efficiency of the fuel cell version is rated at the equivalent of 81 mpg (US). Read more
Ener1 Lithium Ion Battery Prices May Halve
September 2, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Charles Gassenheimer, Chief Executive over at battery maker Ener1, has announced a possible 50 percent reduction in the price of their batteries. This change in price will require a huge increase in volume. Gassenheimer says they will need to have volumes in the hundreds of thousands to achieve this price drop but silver-lines that cloud by saying, “But the important point of this here is the demand side of this equation doesn’t seem to be the problem.” He says demand is “off the charts in Europe and Asia” and expects American demand to keep increasing as well. Read more
