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Juan Carlos Zuleta Calderón
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Have written extensively on Nissan's E-power technology. My latest take on it can be found in the following link: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4185100-nissans-e-power-technology-annihilating-toyota-prius-japan-can-also-threat-tesla-lithium
Nissan launches Note e-POWER NISMO S in Japan
The Nissan Note e-POWER NISMO S has gone on sale in Japan, offering buyers of the country’s best-selling car more power and sportiness. With a maximum power of 100 kW and 320 N·m of torque, the model is a higher-spec version of the Nissan Note e-POWER NISMO, released in December 2016. The Nissan...
See my critique of this study published today on Seeking Alpha: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4207799-argonne-wrong-gasoline-consumption-reduction-evs-united-states-2010minus-2017
EIA: plug-in vehicles displaced 216 million gallons of gasoline in US in 2017
When gasoline consumption of conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles is compared with similar sized plug-in vehicles operating on electricity, plug-in vehicles on the road displaced 216 million gallons of gasoline in 2017, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EI...
Fits well into the new technological trends of the years to come. If this works with seawater, it will sure do with brine.
Nanjing team develops solar-powered electrolysis process for extraction of lithium from seawater
Researchers from Nanjing University have developed a new method for the extraction of lithium metal from seawater using solar-powered electrolysis with a NASICON solid-state electrolyte as the selective membrane. In a paper in the journal Joule, they report that their electrolysis method made ...
Just wonder whether niobium could have any role in magnesium alloys.
Saarland researchers investigating role of niobium in steel alloys
The Brazilian mining company CBMM, which supplies approximately 80% of the world’s industrialized niobium products, is providing funding for a researcher at Saarland University for three years through the project ‘Niobium in Steel’. The aim of the research work is not only to achieve a more deta...
Unlike Tesla (See my Seeking Alpha piece published in 2015: http://seekingalpha.com/article/3294695-battery-recharging-why-is-tesla-not-going-wireless), Honda does seem to like wireless charging. However, the question remains as to whether it will bet seriously on this technology in the years to come. I do have some doubts it will but I may be wrong.
Honda R&D developing high-power dynamic charging system for EVs at speeds up to 96 mph
At the upcoming WCX 17: SAE World Congress Experience, a team from Honda R&D will present a paper on their study of a dynamic charging system that uses high power to charge a traveling EV, with the goal of realizing an unlimited vehicle range. Major issues facing EV include range, charging (h...
Is the Hydrogen Economy Toyota is trying to build a threat to lithium? Beware that here there might be a strategic alliance with Big Oil.
Toyota to collaborate in research for the creation of H2-based society in the United Arab Emirates
Toyota Motor Corporation has agreed to collaborate with Masdar, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Air Liquide, and Toyota distributor Al-Futtaim Motors in a joint research program to explore the potential of hydrogen energy use in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the creation of a susta...
It does seem like use lithium metal in batteries is the way forward for the years to come. The question is whether this will imply use of more or less lithium overall.
Caltech, CMU researchers measure mechanical properties of Li at small scale; implications for Li metal anode development
Likely next-generation battery chemistries such as Li-sulfur or Li-air envision the use of a Li metal anode coupled with an advanced cathode. However, the use of lithium metal anodes in rechargeable batteries has been restricted due to dendrite growth that can cause short-circuits or explosions....
It's great to know that much progress has been made since I first approached this interesting subject. See: http://evworld.com/blogs.cfm?blogid=1156.
Wireless charging bench testing complete, proving interoperability and validating SAE TIR J2954
SAE International is working to ensure that electric vehicle wireless power transfer systems from different manufacturers can interoperate seamlessly with each other to prepare for commercialization in 2020. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and TDK R&D Corporation, along with the US Department of...
Unplugged vs. wireless charging? See my latest article published today on Seeking Alpha: http://seekingalpha.com/article/4019641-unplugged-vs-wireless-charging-nissans-e-power-got-probable-lithium-supply-crunch?v=1478272396&commenter=1&comments=show
Nissan introduces series-hybrid powertrain with Note e-POWER in Japan; small pack, small engine, LEAF motor, low price
In Japan, Nissan Motor introduced its new series-hybrid drive system called e-POWER along with its application in the Note. This marks the first availability of e-POWER technology for consumers, marking a milestone in the electrification strategy under Nissan Intelligent Mobility. e-POWER bor...
Wireless charging is the future. Though see here why Tesla is not going wireless: http://seekingalpha.com/article/3294695-battery-recharging-why-is-tesla-not-going-wireless
Antelope Valley Transit orders up to 85 electric buses from BYD; first US all-electric public transit fleet
The board of directors of the Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA) in California voted to award BYD a contract to manufacture up to 85 electric buses over a five-year period. Under the order from AVTA, BYD Motors will build and deliver a variety of all-electric bus models including a 40-foot...
It seems like Toyota is the only carmaker betting essentially on hybrids and fuel cells in their medium and long-term strategy. Unfortunately, their approach appears to be flawed. See my article published today on Seeking Alpha: http://seekingalpha.com/article/3847866-low-oil-prices-cause-toyota-hybrids-fade.
Volkswagen Group confirms 20 more EV or PHEV models by 2020; Müller says Europe needs to lead with electric mobility
At the Volkswagen Group’s New Year reception in Brussels, Group CEO Matthias Müller said that the Group would concentrate on sustainability more than ever before—encompassing products, strategy and management. Müller will present the new Strategy 2025 for the Group this summer. Among other thin...
See my latest article published today on Seeking Alpha (http://seekingalpha.com/article/3847866-low-oil-prices-cause-toyota-hybrids-fade) where I find a positive, causal, unidirectional mechanism running from oil prices to Toyota's hybrid sales. This puts into question TM's medium- and long-term "green car" business strategy, which is pretty much linked to hybrid and fuel cell cars. In times of low oil prices, sales of conventional hybrids are likely to be affected more seriously than those of plug-ins, regardless of whether they're lithium-powered or not. This provides support to my 2009 contention that use of lithium in hybrids may be a short-lived approach to be surpassed by another relying on REEVs and all-electric cars.
Toyota hybrid sales in Europe up 17% in 2015, representing 24% of total TME sales
Despite the lowest gasoline prices in Europe in 5 years, Toyota Motor Europe’s (TME) sales of hybrid vehicles continued their 5-year increase to reach 209,000 units for the full year 2015, up 17% year-on-year. Sales of Toyota and Lexus-branded hybrid vehicles now represent 24% of the group’s sa...
For a comprehensive analysis of the influence of structural factors, EVs, and peak oil on oil prices see my recent piece published on Seeking Alpha: http://seekingalpha.com/article/3128336-what-will-prevent-oil-prices-from-dropping-or-increasing-forever-structural-factors-global-warming-evs-peak-oil-or-all-of-them
Opinion: The Saudi Oil Price War Is Backfiring
by Gaurav Agnihotri of Oilprice.com Saudi Arabia has long enjoyed the status of being the top crude oil exporter in the world. With record production of 10.564 million barrels per day in June 2015, Saudi Arabia has been one of the major driving forces behind the current oil price slump. The Saud...
This reinforces many of the arguments in my recent article published on Seeking Alpha. See: http://seekingalpha.com/article/3294695-battery-recharging-why-is-tesla-not-going-wireless?ifp=0&v=1436096700.
China’s ZTE pushing ahead with high-power wireless charging vehicle test deployment
ZTE Corporation, China’s largest listed telecommunications equipment company, is developing high-power wireless charging systems and services for electric vehicles, with a focus on public charging infrastructure. At a China-US workshop on electric vehicle standardization held in June (earlier po...
I wonder whether this technology could be applied to hybrid (CNG-electric) buses as well.
Hybrid-electric powertrain for road sweepers; natural gas genset
Empa, ETH Zürich and the road sweeper manufacturer Bucher Municipal have jointly developed a pioneering hybrid-electric powertrain for road sweepers in a CTI (Switzerland’s Commission for Technology and Innovation) project. The concept is based on a natural gas-driven engine, which provides pow...
Following a more recent Platts' podcast (See:http://www.platts.com/podcasts-detail/oil/2015/january/china-crude-imports-0127), much of China's oil demand increase last year can be explained by incremental commercial and strategic reserves. But Platts' analyst also suggests that China is not likely to increase substantially its oil imports this year because Chinese traders don't want to import too much oil to store, particularly in an environment where oil prices are falling continously.
Platts Report: China oil demand up 5.3% in December to historic high; overall demand in 2014 increased 3%
China’s apparent oil demand in December rose 5.3% year over year to 44.96 million metric tons (mt), or an average 10.63 million barrels per day (b/d)—the highest absolute demand on record—according to a just-released Platts analysis of Chinese government data. China’s apparent oil demand in 2...
I have the feeling that this type of Li batteries (and perhaps other, even more advanced, ones) will be ready for prime time by 2017, that is by the time the first Li batteries produced by Tesla's giga-factory are commercialized.
Report: GS Yuasa developing high-capacity Li-sulfur battery, commercialization by 2020
The Japan Times reported that Japan-based battery maker GS Yuasa Corp. said it has developed a next-generation lithium-sulfur battery with three times the capacity of existing products. The battery reportedly uses sulfur as a key material in the cathode and a silicon-based anode. The company ...
This finding seems more an academic exercise than a technological breakthrough. For one thing, both Ti and Zr are much heavier than Li, or any of the other elements suggested thus far as possible substitutes of Li in metal-air batteries, which could make their competitive use (for example in electric cars) rather problematic. For another, I see no reason why any of those other types of batteries should not become commercially feasible earlier.
Ti- and Zr-based metal-air batteries
Researchers from the University of Michigan and Osaka University in Japan propose in a paper in the Journal of Power Sources a high-temperature, rechargeable metal-air battery that relies on Ti or Zr metal as the anode and the shuttling of oxygen anions between the cathode and the anode through ...
HarveyD, not too long, unless it starts adopting Li-ion batteries for its hybrids, see my latest piece published on Seeking Alpha: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1542112-are-ford-and-tesla-pushing-toyota-to-adopt-li-ion-batteries.
Toyota: we sell 6 out of 10 hybrids in California
As Ford has rapidly gained hybrid marketshare in the US—and become even more aggressive about pointing that out especially vis-à-vis Toyota (earlier post)—Toyota has swung back with an analysis pointing to its sales strength in California—the leading hybrid market in the US—as well as its leadi...
It has been said that Li-air batteries will tend to use more Li per kWh because, unlike Li-ion ones which use Li2CO3, they require metallic Li. I wonder whether this discovery will imply utilization of even more Li - in the form of Li2CO3 - in production of Li-air cells.
Probing the effect of CO2 on Li-air batteries
A team of researchers in South Korea found that Li−air battery performance is significantly altered by the presence of CO2. In particular, they reported in a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, they showed that Li2CO3 can be selectively produced as a final discharge ...
mahonj,as for Boeing see: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1343771-apple-and-boeing-stumble-was-outsourcing-innovation-part-of-the-problem-part-ii; and http://seekingalpha.com/article/1360691-lithium-goes-forward-the-faa-approves-boeing-s-battery-design-changes. In relation to BYD, see: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/08/byde6-20120810.html.
Report: Toyota to boost Li-ion production for hybrids to more than 200K packs per year
The Nikkei reported that Toyota Motor Corp. plans to increase its output of lithium-ion batteries for the Prius and other models to more than 200,000 units a year. Most of Toyota’s hybrids still rely on NiMH batteries. The Nikkei report said that Toyota hopes to extend the range of its hybrid...
Davemart, Zhukova, assuming that both Li-ion and Li-air batteries use the same amount of Li per kWh, and that they have the same volumetric energy density, a future Leaf with about a 400 mile range would need 4 times as much lithium. Furthermore, that lithium would not be lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide as in standard Li-ion batteries, but Li metal, which gives rise to other economic complications.
Research team demonstrates Li-air battery capable of long cycle life
A team from Hanyang University (Korea) and University of Rome Sapienza (Italy) have demonstrated a lithium–air battery capable of operating over many cycles with capacity and rate values as high as 5,000 mAh gcarbon−1 and 3 A gcarbon−1, respectively. The team, led by Yang-Kook Sun and Bruno Scr...
Davemart, Does this mean that Li-air batteries are much more efficient than Li-ion ones in terms of Li use? My previous guess was that they used more Li!
Research team demonstrates Li-air battery capable of long cycle life
A team from Hanyang University (Korea) and University of Rome Sapienza (Italy) have demonstrated a lithium–air battery capable of operating over many cycles with capacity and rate values as high as 5,000 mAh gcarbon−1 and 3 A gcarbon−1, respectively. The team, led by Yang-Kook Sun and Bruno Scr...
Zhukova, Any guesses as to how much lithium will these batteries require? It has been estimated that a Leaf requires about 4 kg of lithium metal for a 24 kWh Li-ion battery. Of course in that case Li is used in the cathode and the electrolyte. In a Li-air battery Li is utilized for the anode and it is believed it will most likely use much more Li than a Li-ion battery.
Research team demonstrates Li-air battery capable of long cycle life
A team from Hanyang University (Korea) and University of Rome Sapienza (Italy) have demonstrated a lithium–air battery capable of operating over many cycles with capacity and rate values as high as 5,000 mAh gcarbon−1 and 3 A gcarbon−1, respectively. The team, led by Yang-Kook Sun and Bruno Scr...
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