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The graph shows average input energy of about 20W for AC Kinetics vs 40W for the others. Unless their graph is off by 1000x the claimed improvement is probably based on energy used in the control electronics themselves instead of total energy used by the motor.
Their press release claims they can save 104 billion kWhs annually. That's a bit over 1% of the electricity they claims motors consume, consistent with a 10-40% savings applied to control circuitry and not the motor itself.
AC Kinetics to showcase next-generation motor control software at ARPA-E Summit; 10-40% reduction in energy consumption and improved performance
Internal AC Kinetics testing used an AC induction motor coupled to a large inertia, following a modified EPA city traffic cycle. The AC Kinetics drive used about half of the energy of competitor commercial drives, while also having the smallest tracking error. Source: AC Kinetics. Click to e...
20kw is really weak for 1000cc. Not sure what's up with that. It's also insufficient for the long highway grades you see in the western US. No need to worry about such trifles in a concept car, of course.
SsangYong shows plug-in hybrid crossover with 1L, 2-cylinder range extender
Building on its previously seen XIV and KEV design concepts, SsangYong Motor Company is showcasing the e-XIV (electric - eXciting user Interface Vehicle) ‘range extended EV concept at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. e-XIV concept extended range electric vehicle. Click to enlarge. SsangYong dis...
70 kW motor on a car this heavy means gas engine will kick in virtually every time you accelerate. That cuts system cost, which is a good thing, but it also means the concept of "all electric range" doesn't really apply.
Porsche introduces plug-in hybrid concept Panamera Sport Turismo; 60 mpg US
Powertrain elements of the Panamera Sport Turismo. Click to enlarge. At the Paris Motor Show, Porsche presented the Panamera Sport Turismo concept, a plug-in hybrid that offers 416 hp (306 kW) of peak system power. The Panamera Sport Turismo is designed to be driven in pure electric mode up...
Should have put in a 3rd row seat. Even if only suitable for kids it would put this car in a completely different class.
Prius v first member of expanded family to go on sale in US; 58% more cargo space than original Prius, with 42 mpg combined
Toyota expects Prius v to account for about 15% (incremental) of conventional Prius sales. Click to enlarge. The new Prius v (earlier post)—the first of three coming members of the Prius family joining the original Prius in the US—will go on sale here at the end of next month. (The other two...
Average volts would be more like 3.6. But I suspect 122 mAh/g is for cathode only, not the whole battery.
New Vanadium Phosphate Nanocomposite Li-ion Electrode Material for High-Power Batteries
A team from Central South University, China; the US’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); and the University of Washington have developed a new nanostructured composite vanadium phosphate material for Li-ion battery cathodes for use in high-power batteries. The team prepared the nanost...
A 15 hp range extender will work for a lightweight, aerodynamic car as long as it retains enough battery capacity for hill climbing. Always keeping that much spare battery capacity is expensive, though, because you pay for a lot of battery that you almost never use. Tricks such as the Volt's "Mountain Mode" might help here.
Volvo Planning Driveline Architectures All To Be Plug-in Hybrid Capable; Considering a Range-Extended Electric-Drive Architecture in the Future
The V70 plug-in hybrid demonstrator highlights Volvo’s current PHEV architecture: front-wheel drive combustion engine, electric motor on the rear axle. Click to enlarge. Volvo is planning all its future driveline architectures with the ability to accommodate a rear-axle electric motor and batt...
if the 8 year life is median then the warranty expenses would be horrendous.
At one point Bob Lutz said they provisioned for one full battery replacement per car during the warranty period. Of course Bob says a lot of things.
GM and ABB to Develop Projects for Re-Use of Volt Battery Packs
General Motors and ABB Group, a global leader in power and automation technologies, have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop pilot projects for re-using the batteries from the Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle, examining whether the batteries may be a source for renewable energy that c...
ExDemo - I find it better to compare an EV's motor and power electronics to a normal car's engine and transmission. Those costs are fairly close for similar performance levels. I then compare the battery to a gas tank. At about $10k battery cost, the Nissan LEAF has a very expensive fuel tank. But it uses much cheaper fuel.
Off-peak electricity costs 1-2 cents/mile vs. about a dime per mile for gasoline. Over a 150k mile vehicle life that's a $12,000 savings. So the "tank+fuel" cost is similar for an EV vs. today's cars. And the EV's fuel comes from domestic sources instead of being imported from a global market controlled by enemy states. The EV can run on low carbon fuels like wind or uranium.
GM Extends EV Development with S. Korean Demo Fleet of Battery-Electric Chevrolet Cruzes; LG Chem Batteries, LG Electronics Propulsion Systems
Cruze BEV on the road. Click to enlarge. General Motors announced a demonstration project (earlier post) to explore market needs and customer acceptance of battery electric vehicles in Korea. The project involves a fleet of electric vehicles based on the Chevrolet Cruze. The Cruze EV is equi...
Anne, electricity generation rejects almost the same percentage of primary energy as transportation. EVs won't shrink overall rejected energy by much, just move it to a different part of the chart.
You're right about wind's 0.70 quad. They seem to have scaled up actual wind kWhs to be on equal footing with 33%-ish efficient fuels such as coal, natgas, etc. for the "primary energy" column. Same with hydro and (I presume) solar. For Nuclear I think they use actual powerplant thermal energy for the primary energy column.
Americans Using Less Energy Overall and Using More Renewable Energy Resources
The United States used significantly less coal and petroleum in 2009 than in 2008, and significantly more wind power. There also was a decline in natural gas use and increases in solar, hydro and geothermal power according to the most recent energy flow charts released by the Lawrence Livermore ...
Actually, Tesla started out with 2-speed to get both a sub-4 0-60 time and an unembarrassing top speed. Despite their "up to 10%" claims, multiple ratios does not provide a large efficiency gain for an electric motor. It could provide a large performance gain in some configurations.
Zeroshift Developing Clutchless Multi-speed Transmission for EVs
Zeroshift’s multi-speed transmission concept changes gear without interrupting the torque, allowing EVs to run for longer at peak efficiency. Click to enlarge. UK-based transmission specialist Zeroshift has devised a multi-speed gearbox for electric vehicles (EVs) that needs no clutch—a damp...
Scaling LiCoO2 cell size up amplifies the chemistry's thermal stability problems.
"We'll be looking at a commodity price of about 200 euro/kWh" is a not quite the same as "we are paying......". And of course he ignores the much higher costs for assembly, testing, thermal management, etc. Classic Eberhard. I don't know of any car company other than Tesla using LiCoO2 18650s, and even Tesla went to lithium nickel, but Martin soldiers on.
Also, his "we were using 1.4 Ah five years ago" is crap. Here's a Tesla blog from 4 years ago which says their cells were 2.2 Ah. I think even the old Tzero cells were 2.0 Ah.
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog2/?p=39
Altairnano Launches Application Kit to Increase Adoption of Its Lithium-Titanate Battery Technology
Altair Nanotechnologies, Inc. released an Application Kit designed to give original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) the ability to apply its advanced lithium-titanate battery systems in a test environment simulating real-world operating conditions. The Application Kit includes Altairnano’s 24 vol...
Flywheels are not a solution for off-peak storage, they're way too expensive. They might even be too expensive for frequency regulation, the target of the Beacon test.
Of course batteries, even NaS, are not cheap. Phase II of this Xcel test will evaluate cost-effectiveness.
Xcel Terms First Phase of Sodium-Sulfur Battery Wind Energy Storage Test Project Successful
Xcel Energy has released the preliminary results from its wind-to-battery (W2B) storage project in Minnesota, and termed the technology successful. In October 2008, Xcel began testing a one-megawatt sodium-sulfur (NaS) battery (earlier post) to demonstrate its ability to store wind energy and mo...
This isn't a pricing issue, it's an issue of where A123 should focus their limited resources. They need volume customers, not token programs which roll out a few cars at press conferences and auto shows.
It killed A123 to lose the Volt. They were never in the running for LEAF or Tesla; those guys don't need 4000 cycles.
I've always wondered why A123 doesn't OEM starter batteries for sports cars. 30 pounds makes a difference for Porsche, BMW, Lotus, Corvette, Miata, etc.
A123 Systems Withdraws from Fiat 500 EV Project
The Detroit Free Press reports that Chrysler is looking for a new battery supplier after A123 Systems withdrew from the Fiat 500 electric vehicle project after the battery maker reported a second-quarter loss of $34.2 million, compared with a loss of $21.9 million a year earlier. “A123 will not...
And effectively that has happened with CFO Liddel's restructuring of the GM debt so that the IPO extinguishes any remaining government loans.
Liddell did no debt restructuring. GM used a few billion of the $50b+ in taxpayer money given to them to repay a government loan.
GM Posts Second Consecutive Quarter of Profitability
General Motors Company announced its second quarter 2010 results, marked by revenue of $33.2 billion and net income attributable to common stockholders of $1.3 billion, resulting in earnings per share on a diluted basis of $2.55. GM’s second quarter earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was $2...
The LEAF is perfect for islands, especially one like Yakushima with a huge hydro resource. Not so sure about Hawaii, which ships in diesel to run generators.
Nissan Signs Zero-Emission Partnership With Kagoshima Prefecture to Promote Development of a CO2-Free Island
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Kagoshima Prefecture signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly embark on the “Development of a CO2-Free Island” project to create an advanced low-carbon society on Yakushima Island. Japan’s first World Heritage Site, Yakushima Island is home to some of the ...
Exxon says they paid 63b in total US taxes from 2005-09. This is not just income tax but also sales tax, severance tax, etc. In other communications Exxon says they did have 2009 US income tax liability but they overpaid in 2008 enough to offset that. The spokesman refused to give any actual numbers, though, so it's hard to tell what's going on.
http://www.exxonmobil.com/corporate/energy_issues_taxes.aspx
Tax-dodging via offshore subsidiaries is a real problem, but it's not as clear-cut as most clowns in the media and on message boards say. A Norwegian company who operates entirely in Norway will, obviously, pay Norwegian taxes. If GE buys that company should they continue to pay Norwegian taxes? Sure. Should they additionally pay US taxes, just because of a change in ownership? That's what the clowns say. But such double-taxation can create situations where it's mathematically impossible to profit. Simple-minded zealots never consider the absurd implications of their childish world view.
BATT Program Awards More Than $8 Million for Innovative Research Projects on Lithium Battery Anodes
The Batteries for Advanced Transportation Technologies (BATT) Program is awarding more than $8 million to eight R&D projects on lithium battery anodes. BATT is funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Vehicle Technologies and is managed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as part ...
It is absurd to count self-energy as an input. It is certainly true that high self-energy consumption affects emissions, but EROEI is neither designed nor suitable for emission analyses. Reasonable minds will not only disregard this study but any others by this self-discredited group.
New Review Concludes Very Low EROI of Oil Shale Combined with High Carbon Intensity Likely Makes it an Unsuitable Alternative to Conventional Crude Oil
A comparison of estimates of the energy return on investment (EROI) at the wellhead for conventional crude oil, or for crude product prior to refining for oil shale. Source: Cleveland and O’Connor. Click to enlarge. A new report commissioned by Western Resource Advocates, a non-profit enviro...
I don't remember a big announcement when they cut 2012 production from 60k to 30k units. Was that due to "weak public interest"?
I hope the Volt is successful but I'm still dismayed by the $41k price. LEAF plus range-extending trailer rental is looking like a more mainstream solution.
GM to Boost Volt US Production Capacity by 50% to 45,000 Units in 2012
Due to what it termed “strong public interest” in the Chevrolet Volt, General Motors will increase US production capacity of the Volt by 50%, from 30,000 units to 45,000 units, in 2012. The announcement came as US President Barack Obama toured the Detroit-Hamtramck facility, where the Volt is b...
I once thought 100 mile EVs were too limited and that less expensive EREVs would dominate. GM's $41k price tag for the Volt changed my mind. I now see BEVs such as Nissan's $33k LEAF as the best solution, especially once they hit critical mass and range-extending trailer rentals pop up on the outskirts of every city:
http://www.evnut.com/rav_longranger.htm
Ford Anticipates 10-25% Of Its Global Fleet to Be Electrified by 2020
Ford anticipates that electrified vehicles—hybrids (HEV), plug-in hybrids (PHEV), and battery-electric vehicles (BEV)—will represent 2-5% of its global fleet by 2015, and then increase rapidly to 10-25% of its global fleet by 2020, said Nancy Gioia, Ford’s Director of Global Electrification, in ...
Treehugger, I think you meant every 16 minutes. Assuming an average one-way trip distance of 20 miles at 40 mph and 5 mpg, that's a fleet of 4 trucks (realistically 5 to allow downtime) and 267,000 gallons of diesel per year. A 100m gpy ethanol plant is equivalent to 60m gpy of diesel, so fuel transport usage is only 0.4% of your fuel output. Note that POET's Project Liberty is 125m gpy total but only 25m of that is cellulosic, so the actual cob transport is about 1/4th of these amounts.
The dominant energy input is still process heat. The big story with Project Liberty is they burn cob* for heat to distill both their conventional and cellulosic ethanol, almost eliminating fossil fuel use. It's a huge EROEI win.
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*They don't burn cob directly because that wouldn't qualify for massive cellulosic funding. So they make some cellulosic ethanol from the cob then burn the rest to make steam. Combined plant output is 125m gpy, of that 25m is cellulosic and 100m is conventional. I estimate the cobs provide 3-4x more BTUs as process heat than as cellulosic ethanol.
I bet their $2.35/gal cellulosic cost includes a credit for process heat. In other words, it actually costs 4.35/gal to make the cellulosic ethanol but the cobs to make each gallon also provide 2 bucks worth of fuel for distillation. So the NET cost of the cellulosic is only 2.35.
POET Reduces Cellulosic Ethanol Production Cost from $4.13 to $2.35/Gallon in First Year of Pilot Operation; <$2.00/Gallon Target for Commercial Start
Over the first year of operations of its pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in South Dakota (earlier post), POET has reduced its per gallon production cost from $4.13 to $2.35, exceeding its expectations. Cost reduction came via reductions in energy usage, enzyme costs, raw material requiremen...
5x more efficient. The Volt will use a normal 4 cyl engine to generate electricity. Should be about 35% efficient. So these guys are targeting 175%?
Michigan State University Receives $2.5M ARPA-E Award to Build Wave Disc Engine/Generator for Series Hybrid Applications
Schematic model of a wave disk engine, showing combustion and shockwaves within the channels. Source: MSU. Click to enlarge. Researchers from Michigan State University have been awarded $2.5 million from the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program (earlier post) to complete its prototype develo...
Toppa, this is a hybrid so AER=0. No silly battery leasing schemes, but of course you can lease the battery along with the rest of the car.
I really like the twin clutch parallel approach. Unlike Serial (Volt) or PSD (Toyota, Ford, Nissan Altima, etc.) you get the power you pay for:
Prius (NHW20):
ICE - 57 kW
MG1 - 30 kW
MG2 - 50 kW
------------
Purchased - 137 kW
Delivered - 82 kW
Volt:
ICE - 53 kW
Gen - 53 kW
Motor - 111 kW
--------------
Purchased - 217 kW
Delivered - 111 kW
Twin clutch parallel (example):
ICE - 100 kW
MG - 50 kW
-----------
Total - 150 kW
Delivered - 150 kW
Twin clutch parallel delivers more power to the drive shaft with less money invested in motors and engine. Bingo, we have a winner! Note that Honda's IMA also does this but does not provide EV mode.
HSD still has a transmission cost advantage, but this advantage goes away as you become more battery-dominant because a twin-clutch parallel system can downsize or eliminate the transmission.
Nissan Confirms Production of Infiniti M35 Hybrid; On Sale in Spring 2011
The M35 Hybrid. Click to enlarge. Nissan has confirmed production of the Infiniti M35 Hybrid, due to go on sale beginning in Spring 2011, depending upon market. Nissan recently introduced the new M range line of luxury performance sedans. The Infiniti M35 Hybrid picks up styling cues from the...
Jim, despite urban myths to the contrary the Ovonics NIMH patents were licensed widely enough for mass deployment had any OEMs wished to build NIMH EVs. Furthermore, Chevron has no control whatsoever over these patents today -- Samsung and Bosch bought Cobasys a few months ago.
In a rational world this development would finally kill the "we'd all be driving wonderful NIMH EVs if not for the evil oil company who keeps the patents buried" meme. But of course mere facts are powerless to overcome the appeal of a convenient conspiracy theory.
Toyota Concerned About Market Viability of Plug-ins, Sees Clear Path to Commercialization of Fuel Cell Technology in 2015
Based on its 15 years of experience with advanced battery technology and the now-mainstream Prius, Toyota has key unanswered questions regarding market acceptance of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles and who the target buyers—in numbers sufficient to meet California ZEV mandates—might be, acc...
Sulleny, the main Rowan researcher was doing "hydrino" work with Blacklight more than a decade ago, back when they said they had a working device and would commercialize it in six months or so. Also, Blacklight funded these "independent" verifications.
UC Davis Study Finds That Ultracapacitor-based Micro-Hybrid Systems Can Deliver Substantial Fuel Economy Improvements
Using a micro-hybrid system featuring carbon/carbon ultracapacitor units as energy storage can result in significant increases in fuel economy over a baseline conventional vehicle, according to a study by Dr. Andrew Burke at UC Davis. In a series of simulations of mid-size passenger cars using u...
Yeah, that's why everyone I know quit using cell phones. Plugging in all the time was just too much hassle.
GM’s Approach to Integrating Smart Plug-ins to the Smart Grid Leverages Emerging Standards and OnStar
GM is embracing the use of communications standards that operate with optional data transports to enable smart charging and integration with the emerging smart grid. EVSE=Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. PLC=Power Line Communications. Source: GM. Click to enlarge. While the ultimate vision o...
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