Plug In 2008

The Plug in 2008 National PHEV Conference in San Jose by most accounts was a big success. Here's one of the announcements that came out of the conference:

EPRI, GM, 34 Utilities Collaborate to Advance

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

PALO ALTO, Calif. – July 22, 2008; The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) announced today a research and development collaboration with General Motors and 34 top utilities to facilitate integration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the grid, a key step in providing the nation’s drivers an alternative to petroleum fuels.

“The EPRI-GM-utility effort is the result of many years of work by EPRI and its members to advance plug-in hybrids and related infrastructure technology to a point of feasible implementation and eventual commercialization,” said Arshad Mansoor, EPRI’s vice president of Power Delivery and Utilization. “Seamless integration of PHEVs into the electric grid will require close collaboration between the automobile and electric sectors.”

PHEVs use domestically produced electricity delivered through the grid, with a lower cost to fuel the vehicles than that of petroleum fuels. Additionally, research released last year by EPRI and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) pointed to the potential of PHEVs to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The entire PHEV environmental assessment is available on the EPRI website .

“Electrically powered vehicles are going to provide tremendous benefit and excitement for the customer, while also hastening the move to a more diverse choice of energy alternatives,” said Jon Lauckner, GM vice president of Global Programs. “But we know that there are some key elements that need to be understood and put in place so customers can enjoy those benefits and get maximum use of these vehicles when we bring them to market. That’s why this relationship with EPRI and the utility partners is so important.” (clip)

“This research program will help link a low-carbon generation portfolio and a smart grid, which in turn will facilitate widespread adoption of electricity as an alternative transportation fuel,” Mansoor said. “PHEVs have the potential of creating tremendous value for society by use of lesser emitting and lower cost electricity.”

The collaborative will also address issues that ensure safe and convenient vehicle charging, public education, and public policies requirements to enable a smooth introduction of PHEVs as a transportation alternative to conventional vehicles.

Participants in the collaboration include Alabama Power, American Electric Power, Austin Energy, BC Hydro, CenterPoint Energy, Consolidated Edison of New York, Dominion, DTE Energy, Duke Energy, FirstEnergy Corp., Georgia Power, Great River Energy, Hydro-Québec, Manitoba Hydro, Nebraska Public Power District, New York Power Authority, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Progress Energy, Public Service Electric & Gas Co., Sacramento Municipal Util. Dist., San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison Co. and Southern Company.

In another announcement at the convention, Google announced two more recipients of their "Recharge It" largesse. Here's part of the story from CNET:

Google.org is investing $2.75 million into electric-vehicle maker Aptera and battery start-up ActaCell. The announcement, which follows Google's request for proposals from companies with electric car technologies, came Tuesday during the Plug-In 2008 conference in San Jose, Calif.

.
Aptera, of Carlsbad, Calif., makes street-legal three-wheelers with a unique, aerodynamic design.

The company aims to sell its Typ-1 model for less than $30,000 by the end of year. It's marketing a pure electric as well as a gas electric plug-in hybrid achieving more than 200 miles per gallon. The vehicles are supposed to accelerate to 60 miles per hour within 10 seconds, drive 120 miles on a full charge, and recharge from a 110-volt outlet.

ActaCell of Austin, Tex., aims to develop long-lasting lithium-ion batteries. On Wednesday it announced $5.8 million in series A financing led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and including Google.org, Applied Ventures, and Good Energies. " And the technology may be groundbreaking.

If you missed Plug in 2008, you can still make another exciting conference, and you get to come to Austin in the beautiful fall of the year.

So, make plans to join Plug in Partners and Austin Energy as we host the AltCar Expo & Conference, October 17 & 18, 2008 in Austin.

Join Us Today

Sign the On Line Petition

News Summary I

HOME

editors note:

Check out the links, they include a wide variety of PHEV stories since our last post.

Super Charge It

This has been a good week for new advanced battery announcements. Here is a big story from the Japanese electronic giant Toshiba:

"Toshiba have stunned the world with their announcement of what's pretty much the holy grail in Lithium battery technology – the Super Charge ion Battery, which recharges up to 90% of its energy in just five minutes, and has a lifespan of over 10 years. Slow charging has been the key hurdle to public acceptance of battery-electric vehicles as viable distance travelers, so this breakthrough has all sorts of implications for the automotive industry as well as being a very welcome upgrade to a whole host of other portable devices.

The first of Toshiba's groundbreaking SCiB packs will ship in March 2008 to an industrial systems market that Toshiba forecasts being worth 100 billion Yen by 2015.

There's no mention of when the technology is likely to hit the consumer market, but with such rapid charging ability, ultra-long life and high resistance to rupture and combustion, the SCiB looks like the first of a new generation of battery cells that will allow electric vehicle drivers to top up their cells in nearly the same amount of time a petrol vehicle takes to fill.

To this end, Toshiba is working on a high-performance version of the SCiB targeted at the automotive industry.

The development of high-powered, long-lasting, rapid-charge battery cells offers the automotive industry a simple and extremely efficient alternative to Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, whose competitive advantage thus far lies in their ability to refuel in a similar manner to petrol-powered cars. Batteries, it can be argued, are much more energy-efficient, delivering as much as three times more power from the electricity grid to the wheels as fuel cell vehicles are able to.

And thanks to the Energy Blog , here is another announcement from a consortium consisting of Misubishi and GS Yuasa.

GS Yuasa Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation announced that, effective December 12, they have formed the joint venture company "Lithium Energy Japan" to produce large capacity and high performance lithium-ion batteries.

GS Yuasa possesses advanced technologies in large lithium-ion batteries and is striving to broaden their applications. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Corporation intends to enter the battery manufacturing business and aims to create other related businesses as well. Finally, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation is working to promote greater use of electric vehicles, which is the ultimate in environmentally-friendly automobiles.

Through the development, production, and sales of these batteries, the new company will demonstrate how environmental technologies can be incorporated into society and accelerate the use of these technologies as well, including electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, and energy recycling systems.

Not to be out done, another battery called "Li-tech" has been developed by a consortium of German companies, including Bosch, BASF, and Volkswagon. Here is part of the story from Geek.com,

Li-Tech claims to have created a new lithium-ion battery, called Separion, that out-does the current offerings from the likes of Toyota and some French car makers.

What differentiates it from similar batteries is that the electrodes are separated by a flexible ceramic membrane that provides greater thermal stability, according to the German group.

Felix von Brock, director of German Akasol research center, commented, "It’s a true technological break … It is a crucial boost for the success of lithium-ion batteries … We think the first series of electric cars could arrive within five to 10 years. "

Meanwhile in the United States, General Motors has launched what it calls the auto industry's first design studio focused exclusively on electric plug-in vehicles. Its first order of business is getting the Chevrolet Volt on the road by 2010.

The E-Flex Design Studio will employ 45 designers, engineers and scientists to develop vehicles featuring plug-in hybrid technology.

The ambitious program offers the strongest evidence yet that the world's largest automaker is serious about its campaign to improve fuel efficiency, embrace hybrids and develop alternative-fuel vehicles.

So, as the Plug in Hybrid momentum continues, the technology "to make it happen" develops at an accelerating pace.

Join Plug in Partners today.

What's New

Sign the On Line Petition

News Summary I

HOME

Easy as A123

Perhaps the most important milestone in developing Plug in Hybrids is the availability of an affordable, practical, and powerful battery pack. Here is a significant announcement by David Vieau, CEO of A123 Systems.

A123 Announces Standard Retrofit Module

Energy Blog
May 2, 2007

On May 1 in testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Finance, Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure, David Vieau, CEO of A123Systems announced that they will be testing a standard production hybrid with a supplemental battery module filled with their current production lithium ion batteries, converting it to a plug-in hybrid (PHEV), in various fleets in 2007 and intend to market it nationwide in 2008.

A123Systems produces Nanophoshate based lithium ion batteries with a combination of power density, durability and safety in excess of anything mass produced on the market today.

clip

The battery module used to convert hybrid vehicles to plug-in hybrid vehicles will be certified to meet all applicable new car test standards and will be installed by trained mechanics in less than 2 hours. The module is small enough to fit into a vehicles spare tire well.

This module contains their current production battery cells and delivers enough usable energy for the vehicle to travel the equivalent of 40 miles on electricity, achieving as much as 150 MPG in urban driving and 100 MPG in highway driving.

This module is charged overnight from a regular 120 volt extension cord which plugs into the bumper. Since the average commuter travels under 30 miles per day, off peak nightly charging of this module both improves a utility's load factor and efficiencies while reducing total gasoline consumption and emissions dramatically. snip

At an initial 40 mile module installed price of $10,000 supported with a $3500 tax credit, the payback period for a fleet owner with $3.00/gallon gas is 2.5 years, against an expected life of 10 or more years.

The payback period for the average commuter driving 11,000 miles per year would be 5.5 years. These calculations place no value on the net reduction of approximately 100 tons of carbon dioxide and other emissions over the life of the vehicle and take no account of the cost reductions which could accrue from additional materials research and increasing production volumes.

The original equipment PHEVs due out early in the next decade utilizing even better batteries integrated directly into the vehicle at the factory will be more efficient and less costly. But there can be as many as 15 million standard hybrids on the road when plug-in volumes skyrocket from 2012 to 2017. more

In another important energy storage development Zenn has invested in EEStor.

Join Plug In Partners today.

What's New

Sign the On Line Petition

News Summary I

HOME