On second thought, he might think it is his idea how to pay for the "wall". Imagine how much cement the wall is going to take to build. Seems like it could add up to several $bazillion which he could siphon off to his bank account.

Whow, hoping cement factory owners start standing in line to cash in on this opportunity. No doubt lots of engineering challenges will cost lots of time and money to get a large scale operation going - good luck! Don't tell Donald about this, he'll just screw it up like everything else.

Yes but the programmers pulled the trigger. No way they can be seen as innocent. These folks were all in it together.

Am I the only one that has a big "Tweets" box that is blocking my ability to read much of the content here? This has been going one for many days now with my iPad Air.

Lithium-air is not being abandoned everywhere. At Argonne, Michael Thackeray is directing work on a novel hybrid battery combining lithium-ion and lithium-air. The result is the potential for a battery with specific density of 500 watt hours per kilogram, two-and-a-half times greater than today’s best commercial lithium-ion cell. IBM is working on both lithium-air and sodium-air types. Yes, early last year, IBM’s Winfried Wilcke, director of the Battery 500 Project, did say that he now believes that the economics of an EV using a sodium-air battery stands a better chance of competing with a conventional car. Peter Bruce, a leading at the University of St. Andrews, said battery scientists should work both on technologies with a high certainty of success—such as better lithium-ion and riskier ideas like lithium-air. It wasn't that long ago when Peter said that so far he hasn’t seen any show stoppers for lithium-air. Just remember that the specific charged-state energy density is close to 12,000 Wh kg−1, which is not far from the energy density of gasoline (13,000 Wh kg−1). The energy density per unit mass and per unit volume of non-aqueous lithium–air batteries is about 10 times and 6 times higher than those of lithium-ion batteries, respectively, with a carbon anode and LiCoO2 cathode. Thus, I am not surprised that Goodenough is pursuing Li-Air. If anyone on the planet can succeed technically with it, Goodenough can. He has had a long standing vision for Li batteries and must enjoy the challenge. I am still blown away by A123 M1A/M1B cells in terms of their cycle life, safety and 0-leakage seemingly infinite shelf life which makes all NiMH cells look like junk.

A123 cells are not gone at all, my company still receives pallet loads of M1B cells. Wanxiang is a good American company, don't fool yourself!

This has been an ongoing saga that has lasted many years. I find it freeking unbelievable that this story just won't quit. Citron Research should investigate Zenn (sym: ZNN.V) and drive the SEC and the courts to mandate that a formal technical investigation be conducted by an organization like NASA. What a story, even Lockheed has been included in it. I just can't wait for the day when all this finally settles out one way or the other. Hopefully, this will happen before I die.

It’s the same type of 3-Ph AC Drive used in GM's EV1 (Impact) that dates back to the 90's. This represents an acknowledgement and maturing of the technology as well as a broader acceptance of it. Field-orientation control is highly complex compared to the easier to understand DC-Drive technology. Costs are finally coming down as it gets into the main-stream, high-volume markets.

Active cell-balancing technology is based on switch-mode power supply (SMPS) circuit design. Energy is basically "pumped" north of a given cell by a simple inductor-based V-boost circuit. The basic technology allows cell balancing at any time including discharging. There are distinct advantages but there are also cost and noise impacts to consider in the BMS design tradeoff. TI has patents as well and a variety of products that incorporate the technology (under the name of PowerPump) for smaller multi-cell batteries and EV battery stacks. http://www.ti.com/lit/an/slyt322/slyt322.pdf http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/bq77pl900.pdf http://www.ti.com/lit/ug/sluu481/sluu481.pdf These products include the bq77PL900, bq78PL114 and 116. TI is apparently having some tech problems with the 114 and 116 chips which don’t seem to be limited only to lower-voltage LiFePO4 cells. I’ll be on the phone with a TI FAE next week to learn more.

A123 builds modules for stationary power apps from cylindrical cells, unlike the prismatic cells for EVs. These cells are incredibly stable, have long life and are reliable.

Skinny side mirrors.

I don't get the interest in Lead Acid when the world is heading to Li-ion. I think Germanium Schottky is a processed that never happened. Freescale doesn't do power devices - only chips. Look to Int'l Rectifier, Fairchild, OnSemi, STMicro and several others for power devices. They know what process works. Cell-reversal is best avoided using cell management electronics (passive or active balancing circuits). Power diodes are expensive and waste too much energy for use in power electronics.

I can assure you that wind turbines started out much smaller than they are today. After this technology matures and is further down the learning-curve GE will take hold of it and make 10MW or larger machines.

No doubt a 10-year venture in competition with dozens of others persuing the same outcome - large increase in capacity. Cycle life will be the key along with production cost. Harvey D: What is meant by "cycles at a rate of 1 Li per h"?

The (ZT) or "dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit" in Bismuth Antimony Telluride (BiSbTe) bulk alloys has remained around 1 for more than 50 years. Nanostructured Bismuth Antimony Telluride Bulk Alloys show that a peak ZT of 1.4 at 100°C can be achieved in a p-type nanocrystalline BiSbTe bulk alloy. These nanocrystalline bulk materials were made by hot pressing nanopowders that were ball-milled from crystalline ingots under inert conditions. Electrical transport measurements, coupled with microstructure studies and modeling, show that the ZT improvement is the result of low thermal conductivity caused by the increased phonon scattering by grain boundaries and defects. More importantly, ZT is about 1.2 at room temperature and 0.8 at 250°C, which makes these materials useful for cooling and power generation. Cooling devices that use these materials have produced high-temperature differences of 86°, 106°, and 119°C with hot-side temperatures set at 50°, 100°, and 150°C, respectively. This discovery sets the stage for use of a new nanocomposite approach in developing high-performance low-cost bulk thermoelectric materials.

I like Maxim's MAX11068 part and their MAX11080 Secondary Protection IC. The 11068 part has a sampling rate of 1KS/S, handles 12-cells as well and you can stack 31 chips for 12x31 series cells. Price is a bargain compared to Intersil's pricing. For you medical pack guys forget Intersil, they will run for the hills if they find out what industry you are working in.

Mostly likely 40% of the world market. They have had 100% of my companies battery cell business for many years and now they are on a "rampage" with their Li-ion products. No dought this has caught the attention of A123.

Geee.......that's only $67.50/gal. What a deal with Y O U R money. I wonder is the price will drop with volume buys (like -95%)? Where is the GAO went you need them.

Unfortunately, there is a huge difference in the application & construction of Li cells. Nowhere in this article does it say the application is for EVs or HEVs. These NCR18650A cells are "power cells", not energy cells and have an internal resistance of ~60 milliohms which makes them useless for EV applications unless many are paralleled. The high heat loss due to this resistance creates an expensive thermal management issue that has to be financed.

Looks like it really is 50,000. Following the link by clicking on the word "developing" at the begin of the article.

These guys are taking a high profile position by using BASF's name. "BASF will use its expertise in material science as well as electrochemistry to further advance the technology. BASF will supply key component materials and jointly developed subsystem elements necessary for the continued development and commercialization of ReVolt’s rechargeable zinc-air batteries". They have a material contract with BASF and are hoping that investors come to bear and help finance their venture. The fact is, it will take years of work and many millions of dollars to get this chemistry to go much above a 100 cycles. Would you spend $10-$20K on an EV Battery that lasts ~1-2 years knowing that you will have to spend it again every couple of years afterward?

Please don't be scared, find humor. http://www.thehumorarchives.com/joke/Proof_of_global_warming

Too little, too late. 1.5 trillion tons of frozen carbon coming your way.

A million Japanese Yen = 10,362 US Dollars A billion Yen - $10.362 million US 2-3 billion Yen = $20-30M US 1 Yen = ~1 cent US 1 Yen = a little less that a penny Now is that simple enough?

Hello Harvey (again), Back in 2-June, 2008 Hitachi stated 75Wh/kg (unimpressive): "Specific power output @ 50% SOC is 2,400 W/kg and specific power input @ 50% SOC is 2,120 W/kg, said Tatsuo Horiba, Chief Engineer for HVE. A mock-up of a 3 kWh pack based on the new modules yielded a calculated specific energy of 75 Wh/kg, and specific power output @ 50% SOC of 2,250 W/kg." I am tired of hearing about power density when energy density is really the short-coming. Forget Lithium Focus on Di-lithium Crystals instead, they are used to power space craft and you can buy them now with your credit card. http://www.dilithiumcrystal.com/